There Is No Such Thing As a Bad Trip
How to mindfully navigate a ‘bad’ trip.
Sometimes a psychedelic experience can be frightening. Especially if you’re confronting your inner demons on a shamanic journey. But also when you and you’re friends book a weekend to Amsterdam and decide to devour a box of magic truffles without any framework for the psychedelic experience, magic tends to unfold.
As an avid psychonaut, I have traveled to the dark underworlds of my own psyche. I’ve seen a monster or two. Hell, I’ve even tried to flee an ayahuasca ceremony when confronted with a demon inviting me to surrender to the dark side — just so you know: I didn’ t take the invitation.
My adventures in the dark realms led me to believe that a bad trip holds the biggest potential for personal growth — if you can navigate it victoriously, that is.
I have listed my insider travel tips so you can explore other dimensions and return safe and sane.
The myth of the bad trip
What makes a trip good or bad? In essence? Your judgment of the experience. We tend to label a pleasant experience as a good trip and an unpleasant experience as a bad trip.
But what if we dropped the label? The experience simply is. If you can shift yourself to the position of the observer of the psychedelic encounter, you can regard it in the same way you would watch a movie.
When watching a movie, you can be identified with the characters, but the plot doesn’t define your life. If your trip becomes too terrifying, strive to appreciate it as a 5D movie projection.
You are not your trip.
Resistance is futile!
In a state of resistance, everything is strainful. Considering a psychedelic experience could last 8 hours or more, I guess you don’t want to be in strain that whole time.
You know the saying ‘Wathever you resist persits’? This is so true when journeying.
So, what to do when you really don’t want to experience what you are actually experiencing? Check if you can find allowance within yourself to let what is happening happen. I do this by asking myself the following questions:
- Can I let this happen? — Duh! But it helps to create space within yourself, seriously.
- What is my takeaway in this moment? What is my lesson?
- What am I projecting onto the situation? What does my projection say about me?
- What does my fear/resistance tell me about myself?
Often these questions can drag you out of the gruesome hellhole and move you to happier planes of existence.
Moreover, if you can answer these questions, you will have gained profound insights into your personality. These will support you in everyday life. Appreciate this gained knowledge as the remarkable gift of the bad trip. You can even find solace in the fact that your suffering won’t be for nothing.
It might be an unpleasant experience. But is it bad if it holds tremendous value?
This too shall pass
If all else fails? A trip is a temporary state of altered consciousness. Simply sit it out until you get back to normal.
No, you havn’t gone insane. And yes, you can pick up life where you’ve left it.
Through the cruelest episodes of my personal 5D projections, I focus on my breath, connect with my body — you know, just checking it’s still there — and repeat the following mantra: This too shall pass.
Ready for my number 1 secret? Navigating a bad trip is parallel to navigating negative life circumstances in general. Every tip written in this article, when applied, will make your day to day suffering more bearable.
So go forth, experiment! With the tips I mean — caution with psychedelics, kids!
