• Header picture by Gianluca Iarloir AKA Wolf •
How one prepares for a psychedelic experience and cares for it afterwards plays a precious role in the way the experience can go and can be integrated into daily life afterwards. On this page, you can find some general indications and suggestions. Given those, my preparation work with you will consist also of talking about any aspect regarding your situation specifically; everybody and every journey is different, and whatever works for you and makes you happy can be the key.
May this be a safe space for you to feel free to be yourself, exactly as you are.
I invite you to feel free to share with me anything that you want or that feels relevant and to ask me anything you need or wish to know. It will be up to me to potentially not share something if for any reason seems best to me (e.g. of course, I do not share the private details of other clients). Similarly, I invite you to feel free not to answer something, if I touch on a topic that you don’t want to explore. All this applies to all phases: before the session, during, and after.
THE FAMOUS “SET & SETTING”
MAKING TIME FOR THE JOURNEY HELPS BENEFIT FROM IT
A psychedelic experience can be deeply helpful in understanding how one feels about habits and patterns; to really make time for it, and to take a break from the normal routine, especially if that is stressful, can be very convenient: if possible, it’s advisable to have a free day the day before the session, and, even most important, to have one or two free days afterwards. Again, everyone is different, so for some people could work best to have work planned until the day before. Generally speaking, the most are the aspects of your life that you feel need adjustment, the most time you could prefer to have “free” afterwards. This can be something too hard to achieve sometimes, it’s easy to end up in spirals of work and important responsibilities that require our presence: as for anything, we can talk about it, so to help you plan this when the time is ripe for you.
INTENTION AND INNER PREPARATION
Why do you want to have this experience? Is there something specific you want to work on? Maybe you want to get ready for a new exciting chapter in your life, maybe you want to process grief, or perhaps you feel like stimulating yourself with new perspectives. Perhaps you feel the call but you don’t know why. To have a clear intention—like a star to follow—can be very inspiring, yet also to simply show up with openness for whatever comes can be the best key to enjoy it all: let’s see where you are. If you like, you can prepare yourself by working on these elements, perhaps meditating, perhaps journaling, or in whichever way it fits you, may that be dancing in your room or going for a run: listen to yourself, see if you want to bring questions to your trip, issues, or maybe wishes.
THE ALTAR
It’s a beautiful simple practice to create a little altar that can be with us through the journey. There are certain objects that I usually love to place myself, and you are invited to bring your own as well if you like. The altar is our sort of anchor and it helps us feel how that moment is precious. You may want to put on it some natural elements, maybe a leaf, maybe a stone, you may want to put there some objects that come with a memory or energy that can make you feel protected or that can remind you of your inspiration. If you do not bring anything for it, it is totally fine anyway; if you are fine with it, anyway my candle will be there. ❤
DIET
In the days before the experience, it’s good to eat healthy food, vegan preferably, to avoid or minimize alcohol, refined sugar, caffeine, or other psychoactive substances. None of this is strictly necessary, but it can help increase the sensitivity to the psychedelic effects.
In the three hours prior to the session, it is necessary not to eat anything; doing otherwise wouldn’t harm, but it would compromise the possibility of experiencing the effects of the truffles.
While on psilocybin, usually, one is not very interested in eating, but it’s good to have something warm and healthy, especially when the effects are fading out, so it’s always my delight to prepare a good vegan soup that can welcome you when “landing back”; I also provide more vegan snacks (e.g. almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc) in case we do feel a bit hungry during the trip. Of course, I take account of any known allergy you might have. Food expenses are covered by me.
Continuing a healthy diet after the session can help us establish the memory and meanings of the trip in ourselves, process them better, and eventually integrate them into our daily lives.
THE DAYS AFTER
The day after your trip and sometimes the one after again, you may experience mild headache (especially if you are easily subject to that), extra sensitivity to light, and a bit of “down”, in terms of emotions and energy. It’s a physiological process; it’s common to be a bit “down” after having been very “up”, yet it’s not necessary to happen either, especially when a psychedelic experience is taken care of.
THE EFFECTS LAST AROUND 6 HOURS AFTER CONSUMPTION
Everyone’s journey can be different, but, approximately, effects are gradually felt after 45 minutes since consumption, and reach their peak through a couple of hours of full experience; the peak lasts about an hour and then the trip very slowly fades out in the last two hours.
