How to Prepare for a Safe Magic Mushroom Trip in 5 Easy Steps

Preparing for your first mushroom trip can be very exciting. Even if it’s not your first experience with psychedelics, the thought of going into a big unknown yet again can make you feel a litle nervous too. However, it can help to know that the more thought and effort you put in preparation for your mushroom trip, the more relaxed, safe, and ready you will feel. Together, we will explore the best ways to ensure a good and fruitful magic mushroom experience for you!

1. The Good Old ‘Set and Setting’

In simple words, a ‘set’ is the mindset and emotional state you bring into a psychedelic experience. Ideally, give yourself enough time to prepare your inner world for what’s to come. Make sure you feel good, stable, and ready to embrace the unknown on the day of the trip. Beforehand, get comfortable with meditation and breathing through stronger emotions. Psychedelics work like amplifiers, so anything you will be feeling, will become much more intense, therefore, it is important that you feel generally well and stable in your life when having a trip so that there is a good base to hold steady space for the unknown to unfold. Psychedelics can at times bring up old, pent-up emotions as well as unresolved trauma. Don’t be surprised if you feel emotional and discover a new depth to your feelings. It’s good to know that if you surrender to the experience and explore it fully, psychedelics can bring a great insight and help resolve the ‘old stuff’ from the past if you are open to it. While getting clear on your intentions for the trip, check in with yourself, and ask yourself if you are truly ready to step into the unknown.

A ‘setting’ refers to the outside environment during your trip. While some people can have a great time having a psychedelic trip in large crowds, at loud parties or at festivals, this generally goes against typical advice, especially if this will be your first psychedelic experience, or if you will be taking a high dose. For your own safety and comfort, it is best to trip in a controlled environment with limited noise, plenty of privacy, easy access to the bathroom, clean water, and a warm space or a fuzzy blanket to wrap yourself in if you get cold. If you are having your trip with other people in the space, make sure these are people you know well, trust fully, and feel comfortable with.

2. The Importance of Having a Trip Sitter

If this is your first trip or you’re taking a high dose of magic mushrooms, one of the best things you can do for yourself is organize having a ‘trip sitter’. A trip sitter is a person who stays sober and can take care of your needs as well as make sure you are 100% safe during your experience. This person can be your friend or a professional trip sitter that you feel safe and comfortable with. Ideally, they will have at least a few magic mushroom experiences themselves, so they can know and feel what you may be experiencing and respond accordingly. Having someone there to take care of you when you perhaps cannot take care of yourself can make a world of the difference so you can fully surrender to the magic of mushrooms and go deeper into your experience without having to worry about the outside world or taking care of the physical things. It can be also valuable to have someone listen to you and respond to any worries or concerns that may come up during the trip, or even hear your insights during your experience and after it. Have at least one or two conversations before the trip to go over your intentions, set boundaries for each other, and go over some ‘likely-to-happen’ scenarios to know what you can expect, and how to respond in a way that works well for you both. Communication beforehand and careful planning is key to ensure a good experience!

3. Consider Your Magic Mushroom Dose

First thing to know is that no matter what dose you take, it is impossible to overdose on psilocybin (magic) mushrooms that could harm your physical body. The high dose can, however, bring a very unpleasant experience mentally and emotionally if you are unprepared. This is something many people experience as a ‘bad trip’. To avoid that, it’s important to research your mushrooms and the right dosage.

Generally speaking, a low or medium dose is considered 1-1,5 grams, a medium to normal dose around 2-3 grams, and a high dose is anything after 3,5 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms.

This advice will change if you’re going to use magic truffles. In this case, you can multiply the dosage 3 to 4 times to achieve a similar effect. It’s good to also keep in mind that certain types of magic mushrooms or truffles can be stronger than the other kind. For example, if you consider taking Copelandia dried mushrooms, even 1 gram of those ones will be ‘too much’ for most people. Therefore, it’s important to know and research the kind of psilocybin mushrooms you’ll be taking.

4. Pick Out the Right Music

Gentle, flowing, ideally, non-lyrical music will probably be your best choice when picking music for your magic mushroom trip. Look for something that sounds positive as well as soothing, and feel free to always change the music mid-trip if necessary! You can always put on your favourite songs, however, keep in mind that they may sound a bit too much under the influence of magic mushrooms. To help you out with selecting the best music for a magic mushroom trip, we wrote a blog post selecting the most suitable music lists. Check it out here!

5. The Most Challenging Part of the Trip – Letting Go

A psychedelic trip is hard to describe… It can be a wonderful, exhilarating, deep, and very rewarding experience, but it can also be a little hard to let go and surrender to the journey, especially at the beginning of the trip. Once you experience your perception of time and space changing, it can be natural to try and ‘fight back’. If you resist for too long, however, the trip can become unpleasant as resistance to what is happening internally is often what can cause a ‘bad trip’. Easier said than done, but try to let go, surrender, and go with the flow of where the trip is taking you. It’s natural to want to stay in control, but when it comes to magic mushrooms, it’s important to let go.

If you get overwhelmed, here are some things you can try to help yourself:

• Close your eyes and surrender to what is. Try to not control the thoughts and the flow of your mushroom trip. Let it take you on a journey, and flow with it. If it’s challenging, know that it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Explore what is while knowing that it will pass, and you will gain new insights in the end.
• Know that your perception of time, space, and even your own thoughts and consciousness can change. This is normal and will also pass once the trip is over. You are not stuck there forever; you are not going crazy (even if it may temporarily seem so).
• Talk to your trip sitter about what you’re experiencing. Communicate if you need a listening ear or a confirmation that you are safe, and all is well, and ask them to confirm it to you. If you don’t have a trip sitter present, it can be helpful to arrange someone you can call. A family member who’s never had a psychedelic experience though, may not be your best bet. Better to call somebody who’s had a psychedelic trip before, is non-judgmental, and will do their best to support you.
• Change the scenery if possible. For example, going inside if you are outside or vice versa, or even changing rooms if that’s possible. You will also notice that the music you’re listening to can set the tone for your trip. Change it up if wanted! Shift your focus to something else if you are done exploring a certain area, an object, or even a certain thought from your own mind.

5. Take Time to Integrate Your Experience

Just like you take time preparing for a magic mushroom trip, it is also important to take time to integrate it into your daily life afterwards. For many people, this can be quite difficult to do, however, the process is not much different from what you did in the preparation. You will need to make time to reflect, meditate, journal, and allow yourself to be with the new insights throughout the next few weeks or months that come after a magic mushroom trip. To fully integrate your experience, it's best to slowly break down what’s important, what needs to change, what needs to go, and what can stay. Be prepared to be honest with yourself - is there something that came up during your trip that needs attention, even if it’s something you didn’t expect? Perhaps the mushrooms showed you that you need to be more caring, loving, or to let go of something specific in your life. Perhaps you realized that your job is slowly draining the life out of you, and it’s time to explore new options. Or perhaps you need to reach out to your community more or ask for help from others. Does that still make sense for you after your trip? Observe carefully with your newfound perception and awareness and take time to slowly prepare yourself for these changes. In the end, the purpose of magic mushrooms is to make you a better person, and to improve your life.

• Here are some extra tips to ensure a good magic mushroom experience for you!  
• Don’t combine magic mushrooms with other drugs.
• Take magic mushrooms on an empty or light stomach.
• Check the legality of magic mushrooms in your country, city, or state.
• Don’t use magic mushrooms if diagnosed with a mental health disorder without first consulting with your healthcare practitioner.
• Don’t use magic mushrooms if pregnant or breastfeeding.
• And of course, don’t drive a car or operate any machinery under the influence of magic mushrooms.
• Keep a positive and open mind, and enjoy the journey!

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Here at Next Level, we have a large variety of fresh magic magic truffles to choose from! And if you are keen to grow your own, we also sell magic mushroom grow kits with easy-to-follow steps and instructions. Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy the journey!