Preparing for a Psychedelic Journey

Set & Setting

Your set and setting will have a powerful effect on how you experience the psychedelic.

Your set includes your intention, attitude, personality and mood, while the setting is the physical, social, cultural and interpersonal environment in which the psychedelic is taken.

The setting will influence the set. Changing environments can elicit substantial and helpful changes to mental set when facing difficulty.

Set and setting will contribute meaningfully to all experiences and at any dose. The effects of a psychedelic will increase sensitivity to all stimuli — internal and external. As a result, you will be highly vulnerable and suggestible to your mental set and environmental setting. Setting is essential in ensuring a safe, supportive and comfortable environment in which you may process pleasant or unpleasant psychological material as openly and safely as possible, while the set ensures that you are psychologically prepared and suited for using psychedelics.

Studies investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics note the importance of a quiet, safe, comfortably lit environment, with access to a washroom, music, and art supplies as an appropriate setting for healing. These studies also prepare the journeyer through an extended process of mental set preparation via discussion and education about the effects of psychedelics.

Preparing one’s set and setting includes understanding if you are suitable for psychedelic experience. Please attentively consult the assessment before embarking on a psychedelic journey. Your health and safety is a priority.

Set

Set, internal set, or mindset, is the internal environment of the journeyer. Set includes intention, attitudes, personality, moods and more. Whatever makes you the individual you are will influence your psychedelic experience. Religious, cultural, social and political upbringing, conceptions and opinions about the world, and life experiences will all play a significant role in the nature of the experience.

Do not underestimate the reach of your internal set. Also remember that your internal set is affected by the external setting in which you have the experience, including the complete context in which you were raised and currently exist.

How to Prepare a Set

For healing and growth, therapeutic protocols involve meeting with a therapist or guide a few times before the actual use of any psychedelics. These therapy sessions are a means to prepare the journeyer’s mental set through information about the effects of psychedelics and open communication about the personal issues and psychological difficulties the journeyer may work with. The following information, as well as the about nature, science, culture and law sections will help you prepare your mental set for the psychedelic experience.

A set can also be effectively prepared through meaningful ritual or ceremony.

A mental set does not have to be perfect. After all, psychedelics have been and continue to be used as medicine by millions of people. As long as you are not in an extremely negative or unstable mental state, you may consider proceeding with the psychedelic experience in a safe and careful manner.

Cultivate Good Attitude

The best attitudes to foster when using psychedelics are openness, curiosity, surrender and courage. Focus on developing these attitudes through intentional behaviours. Let go of any expectations for your psychedelic experience, as the fewer you have, the happier and less anxious you’ll be.

You can increase your understanding of the dynamics of consciousness and ability for self-control via regular meditation practice. You may also deepen your self-awareness through regular journalling. Finally, you may contribute to personal and collective wellbeing by cultivating virtues of character and healthy habits, such as exercising, eating well, sleeping well, spending time surrounded by nature, taking care of loved ones, volunteering, and partaking in other benevolent acts.

Accept Discomfort

Discomfort during the psychedelic experience is common for many journeyers. Trust that whatever physical or psychological effects you encounter are natural, they are part of your inner healing intelligence. Remember that there is nothing to fear, you are safe, and all will pass. Welcome every sensation with curiosity. Accept and fully surrender to whatever arises. To surrender will often instantly transforms the experience from a challenging one into a more pleasant one.

Accept Not Knowing

Wisdom comes from realising that one does not know much, if anything at all. Holding onto ideas, philosophies, or ideologies will only lead to resistance and difficulty. When you catch yourself struggling or resisting, remember to relax, surrender, and let go. The more you surrender, the more you make space for your inner healing intelligence to work effectively. You are on this journey to explore, learn, heal and grow, so stay open to the flow of consciousness.

Accept Emotions

During a psychedelic journey, you may encounter hidden aspects of your self, such as strength, vulnerability and compassion. You may come across painful thoughts, feelings, and impulses that you don’t usually allow yourself to feel, such as shame, guilt, grief, anger, restlessness, frustration, and suicidal ideation. In order become whole, you must be conscious of the whole by learning to remain open to every aspect of your self, and by expanding the range of emotions you allow yourself to feel. You cannot hide any parts of yourself. Be honest. Be whole.

Emotions may be expressed or released in many ways: yelling, cursing, crying, wailing, laughing, dancing, singing, speaking, writing, making sounds, rolling on the ground, praying, shaking, trembling, punching a pillow, or vomiting. At certain points, you may feel like you have lost partial or full control of your body’s movements. It’s usually wise to let your body do what it must by trusting in your inner healing intelligence, no matter how weird or scary it may seem. 

Recognize & Embrace Fears

Fearing the unknown is natural. A comfort zone feels familiar and reliable, whereas anything outside the comfort zone can feel overwhelming. During the psychedelic experience, the fear of losing self-control is common, especially among novice journeyers. Those who are willing to surrender and who do not fear are better prepared to tolerate psychedelic experiences. Remember to grow with the flow.

Facing difficulty is common is natural and a invaluable part of healing and growth. These experiences are natural and common. It’s important to release the desire to control, and surrender to whatever shows up. Remember that you are safe, and breathe. When you accept life as it is, energy flows and struggles dissipate.

As you move beyond your familiar sense of self, you may encounter a sense of emptiness or nothingness. Letting go and surrendering into this feeling may be scary and may feel like dying. Face this feeling by surrendering to it, allow consciousness to do the work it must, it is by facing these unpleasant feelings with openness, curiosity and courage that we can heal and grow.

Mental Set Considerations

• A good conscience is the best preparation you can have for your set. So practice being open, curious, surrendering, compassionate and courageous, while cultivating patience, stillness, and equanimity towards all that happens. Intentionally cultivate positive attributes, such as gratitude, humility, optimism, courage, honesty, curiosity, playfulness, generosity, awareness and calm.

• Intentionally cultivate awareness of your inner healing intelligence.

• Be completely honest with yourself. Whether you are conscious of it or not, consciousness knows when you are lying to yourself. Be honest. Be whole.

• Support systems contribute to the meaningful preparation of a set.

  • Commit to developing a regular meditation practice. Aim to practice meditation daily before and after the psychedelic experience.

  • Commit to developing a regular journalling practice. A day or two before the inner journey, write a brief autobiography and explore your desires, goals, expectations, and fears regarding the upcoming journey.

  • Design a personally or spiritually meaningful ritual or ceremony for your upcoming psychedelic journey.

• Be in good health: properly nourished, hydrated, exercised, rested and at peace. Consider doing a “detox” days or weeks before the experience.

  • Spend more time in nature.

  • Sleep well. Go to bed a regular times.

  • Disconnect from screens and the internet.

  • Avoid violent or exploitative forms of entertainment.

  • Avoid alcohol, nicotine, processed sugar and caffeine.

  • Eat whole and organic foods such as vegetable, fruits, nuts and seeds.

  • Consider fasting for 12 or more hours before ingesting the psychedelic.

• Be free from any negative feelings or thoughts towards anything around you and anyone accompanying you during the psychedelic experience.

• Be free from overbearing stress, anxiety or paranoia before the experience.

• Spend one, two, three or more days in contemplative retreat, in nature and away from the city bustle before and after the psychedelic experience.

• Restrict access to the internet, world news updates, and social media at least 24 hours before and after the psychedelic experience, and more if possible.

Setting

Setting, external space, or environment, is the physical, social, cultural and interpersonal setting or environment in which the journeyer is using psychedelics. You want to be in a setting where you feel supported, safe, comfortable and relatively content.

The setting includes the physical environment: temperature, weather, lighting, time of day, surrounding decorations and cleanliness; the interpersonal environment: people surrounding you; and sociocultural environment: predominant culture and political views, and current socioeconomic conditions.

The setting in which the psychedelic is taken must be safe, controlled, supportive, and comfortable, as the journeyer’s body and mind will be extremely vulnerable. Psychedelics may also occasion highly emotional reactions, which require an appropriate environment for free expression.

How to Prepare a Setting

A setting is prepared by planning the environment in which you will be having the psychedelic experience. A safe, controlled, supportive, and comfortable environment surrounded by nature, completely free of factors which can elicit negative or unexpected reactions, is ideal for the psychedelic experience.

For healing and growth, therapeutic protocols call for a well decorated room with a couch or bed for the journeyer to lie down on with eye shades, a chair for the facilitator or guide, access to a washroom, water, lighting controlling, temperature control, pen and paper, a voice recorder, and a prepared playlist or albums consisting mostly of classical and ambient music without lyrics.

A familiar indoor space, such as your bedroom or living room can allow for a more introspective mental set, while providing a greater sense of safety and insulation from unpredictable elements, such as people, weather and sounds.

A safe outdoor environment can help you reconnect with nature, an essential source of healing and growth. Being surrounded by nature while in a state of increased sensitivity can inspire a profound rediscovery of a sacred essence.

An ideal option, if it is available, is a setting that provides the benefits of both indoor and outdoor spaces. For example, journeying at a calm and secluded cabin in a forest, on a beach, or in the desert, with quick and safe access to controlled and comfortable indoor and outdoor space. No matter your setting, plan accordingly to avoid strangers, getting lost, or being at the mercy of the elements. Also ensure easy access to a toilet or natural area to relieve yourself. Consider your needs, while in a fragile emotional state, you may benefit from a cozy and contained space, while when in need of expression and externalization of emotions, you may benefit from a safe and private outdoor space.

A stressful, fearful, noisy, and or dirty environment may result in an unpleasant experience. Conversely, a warm, cozy and safe place is more conducive to a relaxing, pleasant and fruitful psychedelic experience. In any case, have a safe, comfortable and quiet place to lay down and relax.

An environmental setting must be as ideal as possible. A inappropriate setting is the primary cause of harm produced by psychedelics. Unexpected events may lead to unnecessary complications, difficulties and even dangers.

Setting Considerations

• Plan the when, where, how, and who with, of your psychedelic experience.

• Ideally, stay in one place to minimize the risk of unexpected events.

• Ensure complete freedom from responsibilities for the day of the experience and the day after. This includes chores, work, operating heavy machinery and any other obligations that may require your attention.

• Ensure complete privacy and freedom from interruption. Avoid people who are irrelevant to the process of having the psychedelic experience. This may include friends, strangers, a plumber, a neighbour, family members or anyone who may accidentally intrude on the inner journey.

• Access to a quiet space with minimal external stimuli. Ideally, this space is comfortable, has a couch or similar furniture for the journeyer or journeyers to rest, recline, or sit on with support from pillows and blankets. A chair for the facilitator to sit comfortably during the session is also recommended.

• If journeying with companions, ensure the availability of private space in case anyone feels like spending time alone — a very common occurrence.

• The presence of a sober, responsible, and trustworthy facilitator is strongly recommended, especially if the journeyer is inexperienced with psychedelics, or if an experienced journeyer is looking to explore larger doses.

• Avoid potentially dangerous, loud, unfamiliar, cluttered, and public environments. The external world will influence one’s internal world.

• An aesthetically pleasing space with fresh flowers and artwork is recommended for interior decor. Images with powerful or potentially negative connotations should be avoided.

• Access to water and whole foods such as fruit.

• Access to a toilet.

• Access to eye shades.

• Art supplies to assist with nonverbal expressions. A voice recorder, a voice recording app, or pen and paper to take note of insights.

• Ease of access to the journeyer’s preferred music, prepared specifically for the psychedelic journey, and played through headphones. Music without lyrics is preferred by therapists, because words may ground a person in a social and rational mindsets, which may lead to difficulty with surrendering.

• Avoid access to phones, computers, or internet during the entire experience.