Psychedelic medicines and mindfulness are potent catalysts for healing. How can they work together to help you be well?

First things first… what do psychedelic medicines do?

Psychedelic medicines – such as psilocybin, MDMA, ketamine, and DMT – open doors into subconscious awareness. They hold a mirror up to the psyche, inviting you into a deeper, clearer relationship with yourself. In a state of non-ordinary consciousness, you see what’s beneath the tip of the iceberg – old wounds, inner wisdom, unprocessed emotions, and undiscovered parts of self. Your journey may facilitate profound emotional release and transcendent experiences.

Psychedelic medicines are not a fast-pass to enlightenment, though. Getting from point A to point B is not always easy.

Journeying on psychedelics can feel like riding a mountain bike through uncharted terrain.

It’s intense, unpredictable, and mind-bending. You’re not sure where the next turn will take you, or what the destination looks like.

You don’t know what you’ll encounter on this path. A wild animal? A kind stranger? Another mountain bike?

You may be white-knuckling your way through each bump of the road.

Guess what can make the ride smoother? That’s right – mindfulness.

So, what is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a quality of awareness: non-avoidance, non-reactivity, and non-judgment. Put another way, it is:

Openness to observing your experience without trying to change it
Presence without an agenda
The practice of being with what is happening, exactly as it is

When you are mindful, you are aware of your emotions, thoughts, sensations, impulses, and judgments. You feel connected to yourself. You are able to notice the pause between a stimulus (your phone buzzing with a notification) and a reaction (physical impulse to check your phone).

Now, back to the mountain bike analogy.

When you journey on psychedelics without mindfulness, it can feel like:

The mountain bike is driving itself, and you’re hanging on for dear life
You don’t have control over the gears or the brakes
Scenery is flying by faster than you can process it
You’re utterly lost, and there’s no map
You’re learning to ride the bike as you go. There was no prior training. There is no instruction manual

When you journey with mindfulness, it can feel like:

You have (some) control over the mountain bike – it’s moving fast, but you can press the brakes as needed
During the stomach-dropping bumps in the road, you notice your muscles tensing and your breath catching in your throat. You’re able to pause and take a few deep breaths, calming your nervous system
You observe the scenery as it goes by, appreciating the kaleidoscope of colors, textures, and shapes
There’s no map, but you trust in your ability to make it to the destination in one piece
This is not your first time riding a mountain bike. You’ve trained for this, albeit on much smoother terrain

Breaking it down: how can mindfulness enhance psychedelic experiences?

Mindful presence helps you experience more of the medicine of a psychedelic journey. When you’re mindful, you’re not wasting energy resisting the experience. You’re allowing the experience to happen, and staying connected to yourself along the way.

You don’t feel trapped by the experience, because you feel your mindful awareness wrapping around the experience. You are the observer – open, receptive, and curious.

In this state of presence, you’re able to follow your stream of consciousness, instead of fighting it. You get to discover important information about yourself – deeply rooted patterns, sources of pain, and insights for healing.

Let’s get practical: how do you combine mindfulness and psychedelic healing?

Mindfulness can show up in 3 parts of the psychedelic healing process.

#1: Preparation

Practice mindfulness prior to your psychedelic journey – hours, days, weeks, or months before. It’s never too early to start. It’s also never too late to start.

Drop any expectation of what your mindfulness practice should look like. No one starts out with a 1-hour seated meditation in absolute silence, transported to a state of total bliss. That’s simply not realistic.

Start with what works for you. Set aside 1 minute to pause whatever you’re doing and notice your inner world – passing thoughts, emotions, and sensations. You can keep your eyes open or closed. You can be seated, lying down, or moving around.

Any moment in which you are aware of your experience is a moment of mindfulness.

This opens up a whole world of possibilities. Maybe your mindfulness practice means taking 3 deep breaths before you sip your morning tea.

Maybe you take a walk and notice the sights and sounds around you.

Mindfulness could mean petting your cat and noticing how their fur feels against your skin.

Eventually, these micro-moments of mindfulness may evolve into a formal practice – such as sitting with your eyes closed for 30 minutes each morning. Or whatever other ritual makes sense for you.

Remember, these are options, not mandates. There’s no end goal. There’s no such thing as a perfect mindfulness practice. And there’s no trophy for being “good” at meditation.

When in doubt, come back to these pillars of mindfulness: non-avoidance, non-reactivity, and non-judgment.

In other words: presence, curiosity, and compassion.

The more consistently you show up for your practice, the more these qualities will show up within you.

#2: The Journey

The mindfulness skills you practiced during the preparation phase can support you during the psychedelic journey.

Be aware that in an altered state of consciousness, your senses may be amplified, your thought patterns may shift, and your emotions may feel more vivid and dynamic.

Let mindfulness be your anchor as you ride the waves, big and small.

If the journey becomes overwhelming at any point, use mindfulness to stay centered. You might focus mindful attention on:

taking slow, deep breaths (making the exhale longer than the inhale)
holding a grounding object (such as a stone or a pillow)
looking at a pleasant visual stimulus (such as a candle or a plant)
repeating your intentions, internally or out loud (be curious, allow, surrender, let go)

Often, psychedelic experiences are extremely somatic. You might feel the effects strongly in your body – as waves of energy, heat, cold, heaviness, lightness, tingling, and tension.

Practice mindful body scans, sweeping your awareness from head to toe. Observe your body as a field of sensations. You are the awareness inhabiting this field.

Pay attention to the message behind each sensation. At times, physical pain stems from places of immense emotional pain. The body reveals powerful information when you pause to listen.

#3: Integration

After a psychedelic journey, lean into mindfulness. In the days, weeks, and months afterward, make your practice a priority – whether it’s a 1-minute breather or a 1-hour meditative hike. Mindfulness is your superpower.

Here’s some motivation for you: psychedelic journeys and deep meditative states tend to yield strikingly similar effects, among them feelings of peace, bliss, and awe. Both experiences lead to reduced activity in the default mode network (DMN) — a region of the brain whose overactivity correlates with depression and anxiety. Put another way, meditation and psychedelics induce similarly altered states of consciousness.

Your psychedelic journey may be a glimpse of where a committed meditation practice can take you.

If you don’t have a consistent mindfulness practice at this point, now is a great time to start. Science is on your side: Your brain is more neuroplastic – flexible, adaptable, and able to be rewired – immediately following a psychedelic experience. This means that new habits are more likely to “stick” in the days after a journey.

And the best part? The good feelings keep growing. Over time, mindfulness meditation helps to transform altered states of consciousness — feelings of joy, connection, and gratitude commonly experienced during a psychedelic journey — into permanent traits.

There’s no limit to how well you can feel, and how often you can feel that way.

So, what are you waiting for? Mindfulness is the medicine you carry with you effortlessly, everywhere. All you have to do is notice that it’s here.

If you’re seeking skillful support on your path of mindfulness & psychedelic integration, let’s connect.

SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION TO WORK WITH ME

{FOR COLORADO RESIDENTS}

Therapy services are available virtually, for adults located in Colorado.
Please note that I do not provide medical advice. I do not promote the use of psychedelics in illegal contexts or harmful situations.

About the Author

I’m Liz Zhou, a holistic trauma therapist (MA, LPCC, she/her). My work integrates teachings from psychology, neurobiology, multicultural awareness, and spirituality. I provide compassionate therapy for highly sensitive people across Colorado.

How to Use Mindfulness to Navigate Your Psychedelic Experience