Letting Go

[Moonmixer]

I'm tryna get my head around more psychedelics this year, and I have a question about a feeling I get during trips.

Last time I tripped (Psilocybin Mushrooms, somewhere between +2 and +3, on the +2 side, on the Shulgin scale) I had a trip I wouldn't necessarily describe as bad, but it definitely could have been thousands of times better. It didn't help that I majorly fucked up on my setting for the trip, and that my friend was having a bad trip at the same time.

Ever since then, I've been pondering WHAT made my trip bad. Beside obvious things like set and setting, I felt like there was some sort of "barrier" in my mind. Like I just wasn't getting the amazed trippin' feeling, and more of a "wow that's cool... but I don't care" feeling, if that makes any sense.

At one point during the trip, it occured to me that I might have to wake up early in the morning (false). This was on the come-up, and I began trying to set an alarm on my phone. As the trip got more intense, and I was less and less able to do this, I began chanting "7" (the time I thought I had to wake up), quietly, over and over. Soon, it became almost amusing to me that I was doing this, but I had no idea why I was doing it. Some sort of bizarre comfort came from it, but it was the kind of comfort that was temporary and not at all complete. In short, I felt like I was clinging to something that I didn't want to let go, something that was being slowly pulled from my grasp, for fear of losing it forever.

Like I said, the trip wasn't horrible, not even bad. I definitely had a learning experience, if not a "glowing" or "mystical" one, as Erowid might describe a better trip.



As you can imagine, this strange numerical chant has stuck in my mind since the trip, and has always kind of bothered me/made me wonder if something similar would happen next time I tripped.

But.

Recently, I had a BRAINBLAST . I think that what I was holding onto was reality/my consciousness. Chanting that very rational number, 7, over and over again, was a way of reaffirming my belief that this life does indeed exist, etc. etc.

Its interesting, because I have always read up about "going where the trip takes you" and "becoming immersed" and other such mantras of the successful tripping world. These mantras in no way prepared me for when the time actually came that I would have to let go, to go where the trip would take me. That there can actually be a specific moment at which I say, "it's time, lets do this, bye bye reality" was a huge revelation to me. Even more ridiculous, there was a guy that was telling me to do this THE ENTIRE NIGHT, and I always listened to him, but never understood I had to just drop the walls that contained my mind and let it all out.


Of course, next time, I'll definitely have better set and setting, and I'll definitely do all I can to prevent the possibility of anyone having a bad trip (there were actually specific circumstances that brought bad-tripping hell upon my friend). But I'd also like to think that this "revelation" I've had could influence my next trip for the better.

Anyway, that's my story and my idea. Try to understand that I'm not experienced in any way, that I might have just understood the most basic concept/tool in the use of psychedelic drugs.

Or, tell me I'm full of shit. (But only if you know I am, please 8) )

PS: Sorry for the long read.

 

[d-Dexter-25]

What is the point of this thread??? It just sounds like thinking out loud no offense and I understand what your saying but not sure what your looking for out of this thread well i'll try to change that for you.

Lets stick to the letting go theme...

Letting go is not always actually is never easy on intense trips because of our very nature as humans to survive as it can feel like your slipping away from reality thus life!!! What I do to let go is not try to let go but just instead get into it by thinking introspective and maybe listening to some music , closing my eyes and actually trying to see how far I can go rather then seeing how much I can hold on to.

Now if its immpossible to let go and I need to stay grounded then singing childrens songs like row your boat works pretty good but not letting go can lead to a bad experience but its much easier to say you'll just flow with it then it actually is to let go!!!

Ok the OP must have rubbed his magic onto me cause I just made a pointless post lol!!! Its ok this will be one of those thinking outloud threads lol!!!

 

[d-Dexter-25]

Also if you want to be a successful psychedelic user you should ALWAYS have a benzo on hand for possible bad trips as just having that option is a big help even if its not used. Now never premature kill a trip as it will lead to more premature kills and will hurt your psychedelic carreer trust me but also only kill a trip if its turning into a really bad sensory distorting trip that is of no use.

If the trip is only uncomfortable I advise against killing the trip unless you need to come down to deal with an actual situation. Only kill a trip thats clearly spiraling out of control and even then hold out as long as possible because they can level out quite often and killing it will destroy the learning process that results from a trip that starts out going bad but leads to a healing because those trips are the most useful in my opinion!!!

Many say killing a trip is wrong and you will learn nothing well thats just plain wrong yes if its only a diffulcult trip that one can deal with as uncomfortable as it is then yes killing it is stupid but there is no need for a torture trip to psychedelic hell this only leads to trauma and post issues with tripping again.

I keep some ativan in an IM solution ready to go just in case and this allows me to hold off as long as possible with the knowledge I can kill it within seconds if needed and just knowing that has got me threw many potential bad trips!!!

 

[EntheoDjinn]

Also if you want to be a successful psychedelic user you should ALWAYS have a benzo on hand for possible bad trips as just having that option is a big help even if its not used.

Well, the really brave acrobats of yore never used to have a safety net. But then I suppose a lot of people nowadays have been reared to live in a risk-averse culture.

Seems to me to defeat the point of being a psychonaut if there's always a safety-net drug handy. Engineering a safe and satisfying set and setting might be a more freestyle way of pushing one's boundaries. Only my humble opinion of course

 

[dread]

there was some sort of "barrier" in my mind

it's called "ego"

 

[Moonmixer]

it's called "ego"

Exactly what I was thinking. I don't think I would have experienced full-blown ego-loss, I just think I felt my ego in a way I never had before.

And yes, I was rambling slightly in my OP. But whats wrong with that?

In all seriousness, I guess I just wanted to know if anyone had felt this feeling before. Not ego-loss necessarily, because plenty of people have been through that. I want to know if there's a point at which you have felt like you're clinging to reality, and that you have the choice of letting go or trying (slightly miserably) to hang on to it. What do you do, details, experiences, etc.

More concise for ya?

 

[PepperSocks]

In all seriousness, I guess I just wanted to know if anyone had felt this feeling before. Not ego-loss necessarily, because plenty of people have been through that. I want to know if there's a point at which you have felt like you're clinging to reality, and that you have the choice of letting go or trying (slightly miserably) to hang on to it. What do you do, details, experiences, etc.

Yep, everyone gets this at some point.

When I feel a trip coming on I often get a bit tense and apprehensive. I just recognize it for what it is, that I have nothing to fear, just let my guard down and let it flow.

There's no real way to explain how to do this in words. Just recognize the feeling, take slow breaths and surrender to your senses. There is nothing to fear.

It helps if you lie down during this process. Once you've surrendered and gotten into the trip you can get up and do something if you want to, it's just that surrendering to your senses seems to be easier to do when you're lying down.

 

[Somewhat-damaged]

Yeah i agree with uniter. Many times i've tripped, i have become uneasy while coming up and actually regretted taking it. But i just remind myself that i took it to enjoy myself, i took it so that i would trip and so that i would test my boundaries.

There's comfort in the fact that you actually intended for this feeling to happen so you may as well enjoy it. Psychadelics are very powerful, convince yourself that you aren't having a bad/anxious trip and you will snap out of it.

 

[daysonatrain]

yeah, op you were rambling a bit, but i dont see anything wrong with that, and i like the topic brought up in this thread.

i can see how having a benzo would be good in certain situations, but i have tripped probably a hundred times and never felt i needed a benzo, just be smart about set and setting and you should be good. Personally the only time i could see doing it would be if someone got hurt or something outside the trip, not to be used for aborting a "bad trip" just my opinion.

surrendering into the trip is not something you can do consciously. having someone say "chill out and go with the flow" over and over would piss the hell out of me personally. its pretty much similar to buddhism as i see it. telling yourself to "go with the flow" is just another piece of ego. to truly relax into the moment (whether it be during a trip or any other time) is the essence of enlightenment. to let what comes come, and then let it slide away. if there were some magic words of advice that someone could say that worked for everyone we would all be enlightened (and to a much lesser extent be able to deal with a rough psychedelic experience). to truly release into the flow is something done beyond mind. so i guess the only advice i could give would be to practice vipassana meditation, watch as feelings and thoughts come into the mind, and watch as they depart and the space is filled with more thoughts and feelings. it has helped me on some of the rougher trips ive had. but like i said before, truly letting go is something done beyond mind, it cannot be willed. well, thats my buddhist take on it.

would love to hear others advice/stories.

daysonatrain.

 

[Solipsis]

Sure this threads valid, many people talk about (partial) ego loss on PD but what happens to falicitate that is indeed this 'letting go'.

We are constantly looking for security and control in our lives and use rational mind-structures to grasp at ideas and put them in space and time. Your chanting of a time to get up in the morning is the last footstalk you (well the ego trying to control the being you are) try to grapple.
It's like a leap of faith actually (I'm recalling that Indiana Jones movie :D ), not regarding any particular religious faith but just the faith that you will be all right even when you give up all control. And if you succeed it truly does feel like the complete surrender of your soul, to the elements, the flow or just life and indefinite reality. There's generally a couple of things that you can experience but it's often associated with enlightenment. I start to worry as well when I'm nearing these extremely altered states of consciousness and I have sometimes started thinking: 'what if I don't know the whole deal and there are unforeseen dire consequences?'. Well in a trip it can at times be hard to completely trust the situation and completely trust yourself and your security, hence the leap into the ultimate unknown!

Psychedelics can make it a mighty struggle, but in the end trying to escape from it is, well not exactly impossible but pretty hellish often enough. Some substances like mushrooms are very forceful in this effect while compounds like 2C-B are normally mild if at all ego-antagonizing (but yes 2C-B can still do it, don't be mistaken!). I find that in forceful trips it can actually grow stronger the more you resist. So you can see that looking like a bad trip if you are in that big a conflict. The only solution to that is not take that big a dose, take another substance, or best of all: accept it and let it in, let any psychedelic you take run it's course as freely as possible because that will make you just as free!

 

[High Yogi]

There are several different techniques you can learn to help "let go". One of the easiest and most effective is probably to just have faith. Have faith in the substance as well as what it has to offer. More importantly, have faith in your own personal ability to succeed, and to succeed for a higher power or cause greater than yourself. Knowledge on what your doing and for what purpose really helps.

 

[jamaica0535]

Stop worrying about trying to stay with reality.... If anything try to ignore reality....

You want to go to some strange places, dose yourself on some acid. lay down and get comfortable in a pitch black room and see where your mind goes....

Forget the world around you. Lose all concept of you laying there and the room even existing.

 

[PepperSocks]

There are several different techniques you can learn to help "let go". One of the easiest and most effective is probably to just have faith. Have faith in the substance as well as what it has to offer. More importantly, have faith in your own personal ability to succeed, and to succeed for a higher power or cause greater than yourself. Knowledge on what your doing and for what purpose really helps.

I echo this. It's important to have faith in yourself and the fact that no matter what you do, nothing can go wrong. It really is just a leap of faith to just let it all fall. It's the easiest thing you'll ever do, because you're not going to be doing anything. Just have faith.

 

[Moonmixer]

x

 

[jamaica0535]

Anyone have any experience doing acid in a sensory deprivation tank?

Shit is supposed to be pretty nuts sober.... The mind goes to crazy places with complete lack of sensory imput....

 

[Immunity]

This thread is kind of all over the place, (but good :D ) so I guess I'll just throw this one out there too.

In "The Spirit Molecule," Rick Strassman's book about his work with DMT, I remember something about varying degrees of people's ability to "let go," in psychedelic therapy sessions. Apparently people that were born traditionally, that is, without a cesarean section, were typically better suited/less anxious/more comfortable with letting go.

They theorize in the book that the brain may produce DMT (or rather, no longer inhibit its production) during periods of tremendous stress. This presents a possible explanation for what causes near-death experiences. So, it follows that perhaps a mid-birth DMT release that occurred in the stress of the birthing process might familiarize a person on a very basic level with an intense psychedelic experience. I'd be curious to how difficult/uncomfortable people would rate their ego-loss or "letting-go" experiences, and if their rating corresponds in any way to how they were born.

Anyway, the whole idea seems very interesting to me, and I was wondering if anyone else had any opinions they'd like to contribute.

 

[PepperSocks]

That is an interesting thought. I've always been very curious about the details of those first moments of life. I also wonder how good it is that the first person the newborn sees and is held by is a doctor in clinical dress. I feel it should be the mother who holds the baby first, but they do need to make sure the throat is clear and all that stuff.

I was born without caesarian and still have times where it's hard to let go; when I first got into psychedelics it was impossible for me to let go but I was persistent and kept taking them anyway.

 

[Moonmixer]

This thread is kind of all over the place, (but good :D ) so I guess I'll just throw this one out there too.

In "The Spirit Molecule," Rick Strassman's book about his work with DMT, I remember something about varying degrees of people's ability to "let go," in psychedelic therapy sessions. Apparently people that were born traditionally, that is, without a cesarean section, were typically better suited/less anxious/more comfortable with letting go.

That's ironic, because I was a C-section.

That really is truly interesting. I hope it's something that doesn't hamper my ability to enjoy psychs.

 

[malakaix]

Shit is supposed to be pretty nuts sober.... The mind goes to crazy places with complete lack of sensory imput....

Not a tank but i have put myself in a dark room on nothing but a high dose of LSD. It gets quite interesting to say the least, elements of giving yourself into insanity and such.. it's the most intense way of 'letting go' ive found for myself on a level i can analyze it all. Nothing you'd have to repeat twice if you went all the way

DMT sensory deprived is also quite the experience

 

[Bardeaux]

Have you tried meditation, OP? I find it to be a great method of relaxation and preperation for the psychedelic experience. Whenever I randomly dose myself without much preperation my trip is pretty empty and fruitless. But when I steady my mind before hand I can slide into the trip with a collected head, and it goes much more smoothely.

Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream