Hi Reader,

Welcome to the psychonaut's newsletter with learnings, tips, musings, ideas, and resources to keep you exploring and growing deeper on the psychedelic path.

🍄 High or Low? It depends.

There is a somewhat recurring belief out there that when it comes to doses of psychedelics; bigger is better.

Now I do appreciate the merits of a high dose, especially because they've been helpful to me personally. But as always, we need to remember that everyone is different, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Or even, the dose that worked for you on retreat last year might not be best for your weekend plans.

I'm currently reading Psychedelic Integration by Marc Aixalà. At the start, Marc looks at the two main approaches that psychedelics were used within the context of psychotherapy in the 50s and 60s.

There is 'psychedelic therapy', which is the mainstream in studies and trials today. It focuses on one to three high-dose experiences, intending to induce some kind of peak or ego-shattering experience, and for the psyche and personality to be re-organised after that.

Less known is psycholytic therapy.

In contrast to psychedelic therapy, the psycholytic approach is lower doses taken more consistently over a longer period of time.

The idea with it is that these lower doses still boost some of the therapeutic and psychological mechanisms by which the therapy works through, and this leads to a changing of the person in a more gradual way.

The psycholytic approach was seen as an effective means and was used by one of the psychedelic godfathers, Stan Grof. Grof would do an original version of the ‘start low and go slow’, increasing his patients' doses each therapy session until they found a sweet working spot.

I mention this today just to say that it is not all about the high-dose, ‘go big or go home’.

Sometimes, you might want to go low and stay home.
Sometimes, you might want to go medium and go into nature.
(And sure, sometimes you might wanna line up that deep dive).

If you feel like you might benefit from a psychedelic experience, just remember you don't necessarily need to go for a high dose. You might find something rich with something less.

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What doses do you work with? How often?

Personally, I still make time for a high dose something one to three times a year, but I've come to appreciate and incorporate low and medium doses more in the last few years.

Hit reply and share your thoughts. Always great to hear from you :)

🎵Psychedelic Supplements

A lot of medicine music is finding it's way to me recently, so I'll be giving my database an update soon :)

Here's one I heard good things about this for ketamine playlists. Two medicine music big dogs collaborating (Poranguí and Liquid Bloom).

Long songs and "the whole album is the perfect length for a journey. I prefer one piece of music for ketamine so I don't get distracted when the song ends"

Kuya Sessions: Akasha • Pora... Path of Illumination • Poran... PREVIEW   ​

There is a free online Mental Health and Wellness Summit in a couple of weeks. They have dedicated the whole final two days to a psychedelic symposium. Cool to see!

Saw these play an amazing show on Saturday. V-pop with sprinkles of punk and rock...

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❤️ Much mettá

John

John Robertson​
​Psychedelic Facilitator & Educator​
​Maps of the Mind​

My Offerings:

• ​The Conscious Psychedelic Explorer community-based course is open for you! Unlock your invite with a discount by checking out my free psychedelics class (will take you onto my intro email sequence). ​
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• Is this the year for you to step into the role of becoming a psychedelic facilitator? Check out the newly updated course Facilitating Psychedelic Experiences.
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• Would you like to have a psychedelic session with me? I have 1-2 spots for sessions in the UK in July and August. Find out more info and contact me to set up an intro call.
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Lantern Mews, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 4AP
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