Unique Tips for Easier Psychedelic Mushroom Journeys

This article dives into three often-overlooked factors that can contribute to challenging psychedelic journeys, while offering practical ways to prepare and reduce the likelihood of a rough ride. Specifically the focus will be on friends and family, music and technology and intention setting. Like life, psychedelic experiences can embody joy, sadness, and everything in between. While adjusting your environment is helpful, your mindset and approach to life’s challenges play the most significant role. With an open heart, curiosity, emotional maturity, and no medical concerns, most obstacles can be navigated gracefully. Keep reading for a fresh take on the lesser-known psychedelic mushroom journey tips.

In a vibrant and surreal landscape, a person meditates peacefully, surrounded by lush plants, mushrooms, and soaring birds, embracing the serene energy of a psychedelic world.

Potential Contributors to a Rough Journey

1. Friends and Family

Journeying with loved ones nearby might seem comforting, but it can get uncomfortable---fast. Even those you adore most might unintentionally serve as emotional triggers. They may not provide the validation you need, and their instinct to "help" could disrupt the natural flow of your journey. For example, if you begin to cry, well-meaning family or friends might try to comfort you, unintentionally pulling you away from what the mushrooms are guiding you toward.

Comments like "you have no reason to feel that way" or "I hope you’re not feeling guilty" can feel dismissive. Often, it’s a reflection of their inability to process their own emotions. Sharing realizations with them can also feel challenging if they’re not open to what you’ve discovered. Many people are fine offering feedback about arguments with others but grow defensive when your insights touch on your relationship with them.

Family and friends might struggle to witness intense emotions—crying, screaming, or otherwise—and may intervene prematurely. Without having done their own inner work, they risk invalidating your feelings or offering shallow support.

2. Music and Technology

Studies, like those from Johns Hopkins, literally use the word guide to describe the role of music during psychedelic journeys, evoking emotions and providing structure throughout the experience. But for some—myself included—it can feel more like a distraction.

To me, the mushroom itself is the guide, not the music. Your inner wisdom shines most brightly when external stimuli and mental chatter are minimized. Music can keep you tethered to the external world, which may cloud your connection with your inner self or divinity. While music can be helpful for sensory grounding, it might not align with everyone’s goal of deep inner work.

Another way to look at it: your body doesn’t need you to sing or dance in order to form a scab. This naturally occurs without you having to do anything – your inner healer is able to do its job without any external guidance. So the mushroom, once ingested, helps guide your inner healer, which means music isn’t needed to act as a mediator.

Technology is another external factor that can stir anxiety. For instance, some may want to monitor things like blood pressure during a journey. In an altered state, that slight change (typical to be heightened) could spark unnecessary panic which could cause an even bigger spike. Likewise, having your phone nearby might lead to unwelcome distractions—a text from an ex, for example—which can heavily influence your emotional state.

3. Intention Setting is a Waste

Setting an intention is often encouraged by influencers, therapists, and researchers—but is it necessary? Maybe not. Let’s be real: we don’t always know what we truly need. For example, you might think your journey should focus on processing a breakup, but the mushrooms might guide you toward deeper healing, like exploring your relationship with an emotionally neglectful parent. If you already know what needs to be processed, then why not skip the psychedelics and focus on what you “know”?

Remember, the mushroom is our guide, so if your mind is fixated on a specific topic, it might hinder you from connecting with whatever the "unknown" is attempting to show you. Many people have gotten upset because their journeys didn’t go as they planned, but that’s the problem—your ego hurt your own feelings by creating a desire thus an expectation.

Let me say this another way: people have left my “sitting space” upset because they had an experience where they felt loved and accepted but they had planned on connecting with trauma, or to use IFS language to connect with a “part”. This resulted in them feeling disappointed that what they desired didn’t occur. Their vision became so focused that they were upset for experiencing lightness and laughter because they thought it was supposed to be a really anxiety ridden experience. Let go of rigid plans, and allow the mushroom’s wisdom to flow freely. Remember, the most profound experiences often emerge when you surrender to the unknown.

In a whimsical meadow under a swirling, psychedelic sky, a gathering of colorful woodland creatures embarks on an enchanting journey, surrounded by vibrant flowers and enchanted trees.

Preparing for Potential Difficult Journeys

1. Assessing the Emotional Maturity of Friends and Family

• Reflect on whether your friends or family allow themselves to feel sad. You can’t directly ask them—pull from your experience instead. This will give you a sense of how they might handle your emotional responses.

• If you choose to have them nearby, remind them beforehand that you might have strong emotions during your journey. Let them know that unless you explicitly ask for help, you’d prefer they let you be.

• Take a moment to consider if you might unconsciously hold back your feelings around others, especially if you’ve experienced parentification (being made responsible for an adult's emotions or duties as a child). If this resonates, you might feel safer in a private room, with your sitter in the same house but not constantly observing you.

• Avoid putting yourself in situations that feel like mental gymnastics while on mushrooms. Think about how your sitter reacted in the past when you brought up something that hurt your feelings—this can be a useful indicator. A good sitter is someone with whom you feel safe expressing yourself, who can witness without interfering. This is crucial since you don’t want them offering opinions while you’re trying to connect inwardly.

Ultimately, having a sitter is always an experiment. Approach it with curiosity. If you find out someone isn’t the best sitter for you, that’s okay—it’s not their fault or yours. It’s just valuable information for next time.

2. Music and Technology

Find out what works best for you. While research often promotes music as beneficial, it doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for everyone. Personally, I believe your body already knows how to heal without external sound, and mushrooms don’t need music to guide you. Only you can decide if this resonates.

• Try experimenting! Perhaps your first few journeys are entirely free of music or technological distractions.

   Or start out with music and discover if it enhances your internal connection.

• Your preferences may even shift—music you normally love might suddenly feel unbearable, and your usual go-to genre might lose its charm. Be open.

• John Hopkins has a playlist on Spotify but feel free to use your own music – it is suggested to experiment with non-lyrical songs but do as you please. Allow yourself the freedom to explore.

• If you’re with friends, decide in advance who will handle the playlist, so you’re not interrupted. The last thing you want is to feel like a DJ on dose day.

• It’s also a good idea to take off buzzing devices like watches. Place your phone on silent—or even better, turn it off. Savor the altered state and its aftereffects without distractions.

Music may or may not be ideal for your journeys. Rushing back to your phone can snap you out of your journey too quickly. Observing your tech habits during this pause can also open doors to healthier digital boundaries.

3. Don’t Fixate on Setting an Intention

• Through my year-long study in psychedelics, I noticed how often intention-setting is emphasized—yet rarely are its drawbacks discussed.

• Many people get hurt or frustrated when their intentions don’t materialize because it sets up expectations that might go unmet. If held lightly, an intention can act as an "assistant manager," but remember: the mushrooms are the true manager.

•   A loose intention could sound like, “I am open to whatever the mushrooms show me,” or “I am ignorant—please teach me.” Humility is key here.

• Intentions often appeal to people craving control, but they can backfire spectacularly when unmet. Reflect on your own life: do you tend to micromanage?

• Start practicing flow now, instead of waiting until dose day.

• Meditation, deep breathing, or simply acknowledging, “I hope to work on this, but I’m open to surprises,” can help you stay flexible.

So many people discuss intention setting but fail to mention what they wanted to connect with rarely occurs. This is because, from a technical stand point, your Default Mode Network in your brain is “offline” so what you think is important… often isn’t. Long story short, don’t get worked up about having an intention.

Last but Not Least

Everyone partakes in mushrooms for different reasons: curiosity, recreation, mental health, spirituality, or community related purging are typical desires. Whatever you're shown, consider it a gift from the unknown. How you use that gift is entirely up to you—it’s the beauty of free will, dude. Resisting or denying the experience as it is occurring often creates stress, but that stress can transform into something profoundly helpful if you integrate it rather than suppress it. After all, suppression tends to become obsession.

Understand what it’s like to experience distance from your mind and desires. You are not your thoughts or your mind—until you feel this truth, it’s just words. Find a meditation style that fits you, whether it’s running, drumming, singing, or sitting. It doesn’t have to look like sitting in lotus pose pretending not to have random sexual thoughts.

I know these potential “buzz kills” because I’ve lived them. Sometimes, experience really is the best teacher—maybe the only teacher for skeptics. That said, every single point on this list can be turned on its head. For instance, during some solo journeys, having my phone nearby helped ground me and ease my nerves. The takeaway? Do what feels right for you. Experiment, stay open to the mushroom’s wisdom, and remember: you don’t have to figure it all out in one journey—maybe not even one lifetime.

Jordan