Hello friend!
In this article, we’re going to dive into my mushroom trip checklist: what to do before a trip, during a trip, and after a psychedelic trip.
We’re also going to talk about the 3 stages of a mushroom trip: The Ascent, The Flight, and the Afterglow.
Finally, I’ll share some tips around integration; how to make the most of the homework and insights from a mushroom trip.
About Me
I’m James, psychedelic and consciousness explorer. I’m the host of The James Xander Trip podcast. I also run a YouTube channel where I help people with their psychedelic and spiritual journeys.
My mission is 1BillionHumans.com — to get 1 billion people around the world educated about the power of plant medicine.
Before the Trip:
On the day of your trip, eat a light breakfast (fruits), avoid heavy foods, and aim to fast 2-3 hours before the trip.
Get clear on your intention: why are you doing this trip? Why now? What do you want to learn?
Write down some of your intentions for the trip in a notebook, this will help solidify what you’d like to learn and work on during the trip.
Double check your environment. Is it safe? Are you comfortable?Will you be undisturbed for the next 6-8 hours? Is anyone else in your environment and are they aware you are tripping?
Note: A cluttered or messy environment can conflict with your mindset during the trip, so if you need to do some tidying up, do it before you begin your trip.
Prepare music ahead of time. A 4-6 hour mix that you can leave playing in the background is ideal. See my playlist page for great, mushroom-tested options: mushroomplaylist.com
Set your phone on silent and Do Not Disturb; do not check it during the trip. When you trip, you trip.
Make sure you have water close by. You may get dehydrated in the middle of the trip and it helps to have a glass of water nearby.
Get a pen and notebook and keep it close by. You probably won’t be able to write during the trip, but it’s a good idea to have a notebook nearby so that at the tail end of the trip, you can jot down insights, downloads, and perceptions while they’re still fresh.
I often do solo trips, but for maximum safety, you’ll want to either have a trip sitter in-person, or at the very least someone nearby who you could call during the trip if you need them. Let them know when and where you are going to be tripping.
Typically I like to start my trips around sunset (5-6pm), so that as the trip progresses, it gets darker and quieter. You’ll want to turn off any lights. I do like to light a candle during the trip.
Have a comfortable place to trip in; somewhere you can sit up and lay down. Typically a bed works great, though if you feel more comfortable on a sofa, that’s fine too. Just make sure you’re comfortable. Have pillows and blankets nearby.
Feel free to do what makes you feel the most comfortable. This is your trip. The more comfortable you are, the more you can relax in your environment, the deeper you can go into your mind.
If you are not sure about how much mushrooms to take, start small (1 gram of dry mushrooms). Set a timer for 1-hour. If you do not feel any effects after 1 hour, that is the perfect time to take more, if you need to.
During the Trip
Your main goal in the trip is to surrender to the experience and allow the mushrooms to work on you and through you. Go into the trip with intention, but no attachments or expectations. Anything could happen, or nothing could happen. Your work is to surf the waves of energy that come up.
I think of a mushroom trip almost like a 6-hour meditation: you surrender to what comes up, you work through the energy that needs to be unblocked, you process the emotions and insights that come up. The mushrooms and the music guide you through the experience.
You are not trying to make anything happen. If you are seeking healing, you do not have to try to make the healing happen. Let the mushrooms work on the healing. Your job is to be present, to listen, to pay attention, to surrender, and to process the images, emotions, and insights that come up.
You are not forcing any specific results to happen. You are open to all possibilities, but no expectations. Simply enjoy the ride. Let the mushrooms work through you. See yourself as their dance partner and collaborator during this journey.
If a difficult emotion or memory comes up in the trip, do not resist. Stay with the emotion. Sit with it. Surrender to it. Do not deny it, resist it, or turn away from it.
Resistance is the main cause of a bad trip. Surrender is the cure. Watch my video on the power of surrender for more on this topic: jamesxander.com/surrender
The 3 Stages of a Mushroom Trip
There are typically three stages to a mushroom trip:
The Ascent (1-2 hours) – this is where the trip begins, and you acclimatize to the mushrooms. You may feel strange or disoriented during this time; it may feel as if you are a hard drive being re-fragmented.
My friend calls this the “dark tunnel” of a mushroom trip.
I like to compare it to a flight taking off — sometimes the ascent is smooth, sometimes it’s a bit bumpy. If you have been having a particularly challenging time in your life recently, expect emotions and thoughts around that challenge to float up to the surface.
This is good. This means the mushrooms can bring the subconscious into the conscious, and work with you on the challenge.
Don’t panic, don’t worry, don’t stress. Just sit back, surrender to the experience, learn what you can from what is coming up, and ride the energetic waves.
Avoid prematurely labeling a trip ‘bad’ because of a difficult moment.
Surrender to the moment and stay open to the fact that a trip will often have peaks and valleys, and just because you might be in a valley now doesn’t mean you’re going to stay there. Allow the mushrooms to work through you and you will flow through the experience. Embrace the valleys and peaks.
The Flight (2-5 hours) — This is the ‘trip’ trip. The take-off is complete; now you’re flying. This is the part of the trip where you may experience strong closed-eye visuals, open-eye visuals, insights and downloads about your life.
You might feel like you are having a dialog in your mind with the mushrooms. Music will sound exceptionally good. You’ll be super sensitive to sound, frequency, vibration, and light.
It is vitally important that you continue to ‘surf the waves’ of the trip; continue to surrender to every moment that comes up.
Do not get ‘taken off course’ by a bad memory or a stray thought. Stay present with where the trip is taking you, and surrender to where it takes you, even if you feel nervous.
I talk about this topic more in my video, Lessons from a Deep Mushroom Trip, which you can find at jamesxander.com/deeptrip
If you feel the urge to write down notes or insights from your trip, this is where your notebook comes in handy! Write down any important insights or homework that the mushrooms show you.
Avoid checking your phone, as an errant text message from someone else can send your trip flying into a new direction.
Keep your focus in your own world; minimize external influences as much as possible.
This is the part of the trip where you can also ask questions of the mushrooms, create new intentions for your life, or simply dialog with the mushroom energy.
The Afterglow (1-3 hours) — You’ve gone up the mountain, you reached the peak, and now you’re coming down. This is where the trip becomes more gentle. You may still be sensitive to light and sound, but it’s no longer as strong as the peak experience.
During this time, it’s very important to continue to refrain from checking your phone. Allow yourself to stay in the trip. You may still get very interesting insights and downloads at this time, and you don’t want to ‘interrupt’ your trip prematurely by checking your texts, calling someone, etc.
Stay with the trip.
This is the perfect time to reflect on what you learned and experienced, and think about how you can integrate the lessons into your day to day life. Use this time to take notes on everything that you learned, while the memories and insights are fresh.
You can also use this phase of the trip to feel deep gratitude, to set new intentions for your life, and to reflect on your life and where it is going.
Eventually, the effects of the psilocybin will wear off. You’ll know when the trip is complete.
After the Trip
Congratulations. You’ve completed your trip and you’re safely back on the ground, back in 3D reality!
Make sure you hydrate, eat some fresh fruit if you feel hungry, and get plenty of sleep and rest after the trip.
The day after a trip, you’ll often feel a renewed desire to make the most of your life. Take the time to integrate your experience, journal about what you learned, write down any key insights, and create a list of ‘next steps’.
Do not procrastinate during this time!
For the next two weeks, you’ll be particularly open to making new changes and installing new habits. Use this time to create establish new patterns and align your life to the frequency you experienced during your trip.
Whatever lessons you learned from your trip, implement them and integrate them in your life as soon as possible. Otherwise, you ‘lose’ the lesson. You may have experienced an insight during a trip, but now is the time to truly integrate it into your life.
Aligned action creates integration. Did the mushrooms pass on any homework for you to do? Is there a person you need to call and apologize? A person you need to forgive? An open loop you need to close? An obligation you need to drop? Tune into what the next steps are for you.
Don’t despair if you ‘lose’ the frequency that you achieved in the mushroom state. It is perfectly normal to drop back to your default mode. The goal is to try and bring a little piece of that higher frequency back to your 3D reality, each time integrating more and more of that frequency into your life.
Take some notes on how you can make your trip experience better for next time – make your own personal checklist.
What would you have preferred to have in your environment? What would you do differently for next time? Write it down and keep refining your own personal protocol.
If you need help with preparation or integration, feel free to book a 1:1 call with me at jamesxander.com/guidance – I’m here to help.
Give thanks and gratitude to these amazing plant teachers for guiding you and teaching you lessons about your soul’s path.
Take action on what you learned during the trip.
Get back into the video game of life and play full out. When you feel you need another calibration, come back to the mushrooms for another tune-up!
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I hope this guide helps you have a beautiful journey.
Stay in touch and let me know how your trip goes. You can write to me via my newsletter, at jamesxander.com
All my best,
James
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