Tripping for the first time can be an amazing experience, especially if you’re emotionally and physically prepared. In this post, we’ll give you a few tips for preparing for your first trip, including information about common vocabulary around tripping, how to ingest the shrooms, the people you should surround yourself with, and more!
Set and setting
It’s extremely important that you have the proper mindset (set) and a good, clear, physical space in which to trip (setting). For setting, you want a clear space in case you want to get up and move around, or do other physical movements that make you feel good. The setting can be outside, as long as it doesn’t require a lot of manoeuvring like rock climbing or cliffs or anything dangerous like that. Your depth perception and sense of balance can be altered significantly when you’re on shrooms, so it’s important to make sure your setting is as safe as possible.
When considering your mindset before a trip, think about the head space you’ve been in for the last two weeks. Has anything major happened in your life? Have you been at peace with the world or have you had a very high level of anxiety or even a breakdown? If you’re feeling like you’re in a good place, then you can go right ahead! But if you’ve been in a tumultuous place personally, then it might be a good idea to not trip quite yet. The things that can be brought up while you’re on a psychedelic trip can cause negative emotions even when you’re in a good head space; meaning that tripping in the wrong head space could hurt you more than are already hurting.
Water
If you’re going to be somewhere without a water source, like an outdoor setting, then you should definitely remember to bring water with you. Staying hydrated is extremely important.
Something else to consider, when staying well hydrated, is the proximity of a bathroom. Are you going to be able to go to the bathroom easily when you’re on your trip? Even if you’re having an amazing trip, digestive distress is common when tripping shrooms, so having a bathroom close by will likely make your experience far more comfortable than if you’re popping a squat in the woods repeatedly.
Trip Sitter
There is a direct correlation with lack of experience with psychedelics and increased likelihood of adverse events. Because of that, it’s extremely important to have a friend around who is sober, not tripping, who can hold space for you in the event of one of these adverse events. If your sober guide is up for it, there is a chapter in James Fadiman’s The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide which outlines best practices for guiding trippers through their journeys.
It can be tempting to get a group of people together and have everyone trip together. And you might even have a great time when you have one of these experiences! But it can be risky, because of the adverse experiences that are possible. Having a sober guide around allows you to freely experience the trip without having to worry about the collective safety of your group, because someone else is already doing so – and is far more mentally up to the task than someone on shrooms would be!
Intention
Some people who do shrooms for recreational purposes only may tell you that it’s okay to bypass this step, and you can definitely have a perfectly enjoyable mushroom experience without having an explicit intention. However, setting an intention can give you a rough guide map on where to aim your energies. We recommend writing down your intention, to remind yourself why you’re doing the trip.
It’s important to remember that there’s a big difference between having an intention and having expectations. Expectations might hinder your ability to adapt to the changing conditions of your trip, especially if your trip varies wildly from your very specific expectations. An intention allows you to view your trip through a particular lens, but without being attached to the outcome or process.
Dosage
When you’re doing shrooms for the first time, it’s so important to make sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew. Too much, and you’ll experience far more than you might be prepared for and be scared off of future experiences. Too little, and you might feel like you’ve wasted your time. You can always dip your toes in with a low dose, though, and get comfortable before going for a higher dose later.
With that in mind, there are a few common names for dosage amounts. A micro-dose is 0.05-0.25g, and this dosage amount has sub-perceptual effects, so if you want to actually experience shrooms, this is not necessarily the way to go. A mini dose is anywhere between 0.25 and 0.75g, which can lead to mildly altered perception and feelings of being a bit stoned. The so-called museum dosage amount is 0.5 to 1.5g of shrooms, which usually leads to enhanced visual perception and slightly distracted thought patterns. A moderate dose (which is the maximum recommended dose for a beginner) is anywhere between 2 and 3.5g. At this dosage you’ll see warped visuals, possibly have some synesthesia, and have distorted perceptions of time. A mega-dose is anything over 3.5 and under 5g, and a heroic dose is anything over 5g. We definitely do not recommend mega or heroic doses for first timers!
Method of Ingestion
There are many different ways that you can consume shrooms these days. Psilocybin mushrooms, caps, teas, and chocolates are widely available at various dosages. If you’re a first timer, using one of these options is probably the most approachable method. Lemon tekking is when you use a solution of lemon juice to make the digestive side effects less prominent, but it also tends to strengthen the dose of psilocybin and shorten the trip length, so be careful if you choose to lemon tek!
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