105 | Recognizing When & How to Take a Break from Psychedelics
“I think that we are shown these ecstatic expanded states to see what is possible. And then our job is to recreate and cultivate that using our own inner resources rather than seeking outside of ourselves.”
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In this solo episode with Lana, we explore importance of taking a break from psychedelics and medicine work. While these powerful tools can facilitate profound healing and transformation, there are times when stepping back can be the medicine you need. I discuss five key signs that it might be time to pause, including having too much to integrate, chasing the highs of the experience, and noticing compulsive habits forming around psychedelic use. This episode offers valuable insights for anyone who may be questioning whether they are still benefiting from their psychedelic practices.
Additionally, I provide practical strategies for how to take a break effectively, including focusing on integration, exploring other modalities, and prioritizing other areas of life. This conversation is rooted in the importance of listening to your intuition and recognizing that everyone’s journey with psychedelics is unique. If you are considering a pause for psychedelics and The Work, this episode provides guidance on finding balance and ensuring that your psychedelic experiences continue to serve your highest good.
In this episode, I talk about:
The nuance of how much psychedelics is beneficial
When you already know what you have to do
Chasing the highs of the expanded state
Bringing the peak experiences into the every day
Looking at compulsive or dependent psychedelic usage
When life starts to feel out of control
Tips to take a break and focus on integration
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Where to find Lana:
I was introduced to psychedelics in my early 20s within rave culture, and few years later I began to use plant medicine ceremonially.
Many circumstances aligned leaving me shattered, and I began the journey of putting myself back together. Plant medicine & psychedelics saved me from depression, anxiety, and a life of feeling unworthy. This is now my life’s work and I have devoted myself to sharing psychedelics and plant medicines with others because I have personally experienced how effectively they can catalyze growth, healing and connection.
This idea for Modern Psychedelics came to me during a journaling session in early 2020. I was learning so much about psychedelics at the time (while experiencing the benefits firsthand), and I had a deep desire to talk about these topics with people in the field. Upon launching the Instagram community, the page grew tremendously over a short period of time and continues to have high levels of engagement.
I am a 3x certified professional life coach, and I work with people who want to better their lives by deeply integrating insights from their psychedelic experiences. I believe that we don’t have to spend our entire lives healing, and that the purpose of life is to live in the present moment.
Looking for a professional coach to support you on your psychedelic path?
Look no further! Along with being the host of the Modern Psychedelics Podcast, Lana is a 3x certified professional coach who works with people on the psychedelic path.
Podcast Transcipt
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Lana Pribic: [00:00:00] Hello. Hello everyone. It is me and Little Hunter here. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see this beautiful little Devon Rex cat that I have had the honor of watching and being around for the past month. We're coming at you today with another hopefully helpful solo episode. So today I wanna talk to you guys about something that's just really on my mind lately, and it's about one to know.
When to take a step back from psychedelics and medicine work. Like when is it too much? When is it time to actually just take a step back and integrate and you know, just do life. It's something that's been on my mind a lot because I'm going to be about a year of no medicine work in November and I've been learning a lot about this since then.
So that's what inspired today's episode. We don't often talk about how the space in between journeys is just as important, if not more important, than the journeys themselves, and, [00:01:00] yeah, it's all about knowing, oh, there goes Hunter, and climbing. the wall. He's crazy. He is accurately named a hunter.
But yeah, it's all about knowing when it's time to take a break. So today what we're going to be talking about is yeah, how to know when it's time to take a break from psychedelics and medicine work. Before we get started today, I want to offer a quick disclaimer. If you're currently one of my one on one coaching clients, you might want to skip this episode.
If you feel that it might influence your current path in any way. I know that a lot of my current client clients are. In a deep state and place with psychedelics. Yeah, this episode is not meant to be direct guidance, but rather some food for thought for people who are questioning whether they're still benefiting from their medicine work.
I'm so sorry if you hear Hunter meowing. He really likes attention. So just know that we're both with you in spirit today. Um, Yeah, if you're a one on one client and you're deep in the medicine work, [00:02:00] maybe just skip this one. And honestly, if you're anyone who is deep in medicine work and you feel like this may sway your internal compass in any way yeah, I just want you to discern and go into this knowing that what I'm providing for you is not meant to be guidance, rather just something to think about.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, so we all know that psychedelics have incredible potential to be very transformative tools in many different ways. That's not what this episode today is about, but I'm sure that, we're all fans of psychedelics here for different reasons. However, with any powerful tool there are times when stepping back can be just the thing that helps you to move forward.
I have been on both ends of the spectrum in my own journey. There was Like a year or two. When I first started this podcast, when I was sitting in ayahuasca circles every month and that period was deeply beneficial for what I needed at that time. It was a substitute for therapy in a [00:03:00] way. And that was just what I needed.
I really needed that support, that safe space to process a lot of pain and heartbreak and just be held in that way. And that went on for a little while until it wasn't. What I needed anymore. And now on the flip side, I'm currently at almost one year. It'll be one year in November that I have not done any big journeys other than, you know, some recreational experiences.
I have not had any deep journeys with medicine since November, 2023, when I did DMT. And this break has been just as nourishing. And I don't know valuable, and it's really highlighted the importance of integration for me. And that being said, sometimes another journey is integration. When I was really deep in the ayahuasca world, more medicine was integration.
It just, it's [00:04:00] so nuanced and I want to touch on that nuance today. Sometimes more psychedelics, more journeys can be helpful because they build off of one of, one another. I've heard ayahuasca referred to before as having a curriculum, which I can definitely, understand why that person said that and sometimes we Want to keep going back to class and keep learning the lessons And at other points taking a break from medicine is the best medicine there's no hard and fast rules here.
I really want all of you guys to feel Safe and supported and validated wherever you're at There's no right way to do This work, there's no right way to do life. So I just want to open the space up for all of the nuance and my intention is just to bring awareness to what is best for you, right? So I'm gonna go ahead and get into five signs that it might be time to take a break from psychedelics and medicine work.
So let's dive in. [00:05:00] Starting with one that might seem pretty obvious yet, you know, even I admit to having overlooked this one in the past. And that is that you have a lot to integrate. This is the most obvious place to start. When you realize you have a lot to integrate, you've had probably several powerful experiences, or maybe even one powerful experience, and now it's time to do the work off the mat, so to speak.
How do you know that you have a lot to integrate? I think a good sign of that is if you find yourself saying, I know what I have to do, I just need to do it. I hear people say this all the time. That's a really big clue that you have. You know what you have to do. You just have to do it. And usually that isn't another journey.
You might also notice that you keep getting the same messages or the same insights or the same realizations over and over again. If the depth of your insights are not getting deeper, if it's like the same thing at the same level over and over again, you know, as Alan Watts said, [00:06:00] when you get the message, hang up the phone.
I hated that quote for so long because I was like I don't want to hang up the phone. I want to keep the conversation going and I think that's valid sometimes. And sometimes, yes, it is time to hang up the phone. It's time to focus on living out those lessons in your daily life and it's time to focus on the integration.
So if you find yourself in this situation, maybe you're nodding along as I'm speaking, it's time to really buckle down and let the rubber hit the road and focus on your integration process. Focus on your homework. Trust that the medicine has already guided you and will continue to guide you even if you decide to take a break.
Okay, so let's go to number two. Sign number two that you might benefit from a break from psychedelics is that you're chasing the highs. So it's really easy to get addicted to the intensity of the psychedelic state, the breakthroughs, the rawness, the vulnerability, the connection within the community. Trust me, [00:07:00] I've been there and while this isn't like An addiction that is a matter of life or death. It's something that can definitely keep a stack or kind of keep us from moving forward.
Really want to focus in on the community aspect. While that can be incredibly supportive during our healing periods, it's important to remember that you can and should create community outside of medicine spaces as well, or at least keep that community. A consistent thing in your life so that you're not only getting a sense of community and connection and support when you are in psychedelic states or on psychedelic retreats.
If you're finding that you're more focused on the highs or more focused on the community than on the actual integration and learning and lessons, it might be time to step back.
So if you find yourself in this position, first of all, I just want you to know that it's incredibly common. Like I said, I've definitely been here before. But a good idea is to just regulate and ground yourself into [00:08:00] the simplicity of life while also getting curious about why you're chasing the highs.
So focusing on honestly the mundane aspects of life, not necessarily the lows, but just the simple mundane everyday things like sleep, movement, cooking, connecting with your family enjoying a dinner with people, just like those really mundane everyday things. This is a great way to ground yourself back down to earth and learn that you don't have to chase the highs.
Like I am truly learning that The highs of a psychedelic experience cannot and honestly I don't think they should be maintained right? We can't be constantly living in an expanded state in a blissful state in an ecstatic state. Rather I think that the purpose of these very peak experiences are to show us what is possible so that we can create these expanded states and states of joy in the [00:09:00] everyday without needing to do psychedelics, right?
Yes, anyone can have an ecstatic, blissful, expanded experience on a flood dose of iboga or on two cups of ayahuasca or whatever, right? We can all experience The highs and the lows, this one's really focusing on the highs during an expanded state, the integration, like the real work, the reason why we're even doing this is yes, the experience itself is valid, but it's so that we can show ourselves and show our consciousness show.
The human that we are, that it is possible to access these states. So the key here is to bring those highs to the mundane parts of life. Can you find joy in cooking? Can you find joy in chopping vegetables? Can you find joy in cuddling with your kitty? I'm obviously drawing examples from my own life.
Can you find joy in, joy, or even just, can you [00:10:00] find acceptance in these really simple, mundane moments in your life? So like I said, the integration here is to bring the highs of the psychedelic state into every moment, learning to find joy in the everyday. This is a huge part of the journey. Like I actually think that this is what it's about.
In the long run. I think that we are shown these ecstatic expanded states to see what is possible. And then our job is to recreate and cultivate that using our own inner resources rather than seeking outside of ourselves. Okay. hint number three, that it might be time to take a break from psychedelics or your medicine work is that there are compulsive habits that are forming around medicine or psychedelics.
So this can show up in various ways. Maybe you're bringing medicine into recreational spaces and that's starting to feel a little compulsive. Maybe you're micro [00:11:00] dosing and it's starting to feel a little, you know, compulsive. I think it's like something you have to do, or you're like relying on too much.
The compulsion can also show up in what I was mentioning in the last point, like attending ceremonies and retreats in a way that feels more compulsive than intentional, right? It's that should, it's that have to, it's that I need to energy rather than the, I want to.
And this is something that I could do. with this compulsive, compulsive. attachment to medicine. It's all about paying attention to the energy of your relationship with it. Compulsion is a sign that we might be using medicine to escape rather than move forward in a sustainable way, which again, honestly, I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong.
With escaping, if we're doing it intentionally, but for most of us using anything to escape in a compulsive way over a long [00:12:00] period of time is going to keep us stuck. And I know that at least people listening to this podcast don't want to be stuck in life. I know you guys want to keep moving forward and keep harnessing that momentum and sharpening and clearing your energy so that you can not only experience the fullness of life, but also Be in service and give back and really make the most out of your precious life.
One way to know if you're being compulsive is to ask yourself if you feel like you need to or you have to, if there's like a dependency or maybe you already realized that you want to take a break, but you're not sure how to, like if you're questioning, maybe I should step back.
Should I take a break? It probably means that there's something there to look at. If you are in this position, just pay attention. Like I said to the energy of your relationship with the medicine or the retreat or the community, you can understand so much about where you're at with the medicine by looking at your relationship with it, treating it as a person.
Does [00:13:00] it feel loving and supportive? and safe or does it feel codependent and restrictive and like maybe like you pigeonholed yourself or like you're being contracted or restricted or stagnated in a way. If it's the latter again. It might be time to take a step back. Sign number four is that life is starting to feel out of control.
If your life starts to feel out of control because you're focusing too much on the work again, this is nuance, but there are times when being deeply immersed in healing requires putting other things on pause and that's okay, right? Healing is a marathon, not a sprint, and transformational work is a marathon, not a sprint, and it's perfectly normal to put relationships or career or finances or health and wellness or, you know, some other aspects of life to the side while focusing on just feeling better.
But if these other areas of your life are really [00:14:00] They're not just stagnant. They're like suffering, right? They're they're bleeding out, let's say, in a way that's making your life more difficult.
It might just be a signal that it's time to redirect some of your energy or even what's the word? Re resource your energy, right? Redirect and re resource your energy. And again, this is completely up to you to determine if it's out of balance for you. So the last sign here is that you're starting to feel worse, not better.
And again, the nuance here, sometimes we take us one step forward and two steps back. Perfectly normal. I want to validate that that's a very, A common reality for people on this path. But if you are starting to feel worse rather than better in a way that doesn't feel like you're moving forward, like sometimes even though we're in the thick of it [00:15:00] and we're like in the darkness and in the middle of the dark forest and it sucks and it's really hard.
We still have this like higher knowing that. It's a necessary part of the journey, right? That's not what I'm speaking about here. Because healing is not a linear process So that's not what I'm speaking about here what I'm speaking about is if you're feeling worse for weeks or months on end and You don't really see the point of it Like you don't really see the bigger picture of how this suffering or this hardship is moving you forward in a way it would be a good idea to maybe take a step back and get support.
This is especially important if you've experienced adverse effects from psychedelics or have been harmed in some way by psychedelics. If you are, I have a great episode, if you have been. I have a great episode for you that I did with Jules Evans, who's a fantastic [00:16:00] journalist on navigating challenging psychedelic experiences.
That's episode 78. Check that out. But remember psychedelics are powerful tools and they can bring up a lot for us and it's okay to take a step back on and focus on stabilizing yourself before continuing forward. Like perhaps the last experience. Just brought up a lot for you to process. And in this case, going into an expanded state of consciousness again might be incredibly destabilizing.
If you want to hear more about navigating a challenging integration period in particular, there's a really great episode that I did with Jesse West. From enfold and it's episode 94 where we really broke down her challenging integration period and if you're having these challenges whatever they might look like I Think a break is a wise Idea for a variety of different challenges that you might be going through I [00:17:00] always think a break from anything is a great idea because it helps us re evaluate but in general Just Taking the break do more for you than continuing with the psychedelics.
I think that's the question we have to ask ourselves. And it's so incredibly individual. So if you're listening to this and you're like, yeah, I think it might be time to consider taking a break, whether it's from like recreational usage or medicine or retreat experiences If you want to take a break, you might be wondering, okay how do I do that?
Let's just talk about that for a second. Number one is focus on integration. This is the most important thing to focus on. Signing up to do psychedelics is signing up for the integration process that follows as Austin says again, from enfold, use this time to really work on embodying the lessons and the insights that you've gained.
And this could involve. Anything that helps you create spaciousness, [00:18:00] journaling, therapy, coaching yoga, movement, anything that helps you create space to really deepen the insights and then strengthen yourself emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, so that you can start taking those positive actions in your life.
It's going to be very helpful. I have so many episodes on integration and different aspects of integration. If you're in a phase of, wow, I really need to buckle down and focus on integration, just search integration on modern psychedelics, whether you listen on YouTube or Spotify or Apple, and you'll have so many episodes pop up there.
Number two, explore other modalities. You know, psychedelics aren't the be all end all of modalities. Consider things like, you know, meditation, breathwork, hiking, yoga, somatic practices, cooking. I don't know, cooking has been a huge part of my integration. I find it very grounding and regulating. And it's a time where I [00:19:00] get to just turn my mind off and Get lost in the experience and that's usually when those insights come through these can help you stay connected to your healing journey without needing to be in a psychedelic state and Never underestimate the power of connecting to your friends and family.
Just keep it simple and do what you love when you are exploring other modalities To support you during this time. So the third thing to keep in mind, if you want to take a break is to prioritize your health and wellness. I think this is always a great idea, but make your physical and mental health a priority, you know, get enough good sleep, eat well, move your body, spend time in nature, all those basics,
a healthy body and mind will help you create a strong foundation for the other areas in your life. So if you're on a journey with your diet and nutrition, I have an episode with a holistic nutritionist for you to check out. It's episode one Oh two [00:20:00] and We talk all about nutrition and gut health and all of that during the integration process.
Number four is to build a very simple lifestyle. Sometimes simplifying your lifestyle can really go a long way. So focus on just creating a routine that supports your well being. Whatever that looks like for you. This could honestly include like setting up your finances, creating a stable home environment building a daily practice that keeps you grounded.
I'm not even giving you guys specifics because it doesn't matter what it is. It's just about what you want to do. Keep it simple and remove just anything that isn't essential at this time. And the last thing here is related to that to strengthen your foundations, use this time to set up or strengthen the foundations of your life that need some attention.
What are those pillars that are a little shaky? What is this integration period directing you to focus your energy on? Whether it's [00:21:00] your career, your relationships, your family, Personal goals. This will help you ensure that when and if you return to medicine work, you're doing it from a place of strength and stability, right?
Think about how far you've already come. Based on where you started and think about how much further you'll be able to go when you go back to the medicine work and you have these new foundations in place. I have an example to share with you from my own life right now. As you guys know, I've been really just building my coaching practice and the podcast for the last three or four years.
And wow, there's been a lot of medicine work dispersed in that tons of ayahuasca. Two flood doses of Iboga, a full release of 5 MeO DMT, a Shipibo ayahuasca retreat, tons of micro dosing. I've had my fair share of medicine and it's been amazing. And honestly, like kind of part of my work because I share about it with you guys, but [00:22:00] I made a pact with myself very recently and which is what inspired this episode that, I want to set up the foundations for my business and finances and this podcast going forward before embarking on any more psychedelic journeys.
I'm at a place right now where it's just so incredibly clear to me what I have to do to set myself up for stability and success in the realm of career and finances, which is the one area in my life that I am not completely fulfilled with. And so I know exactly what I need to do when I'm kind of like Okay, I need to get these foundations in place before even thinking about returning to iboga or 5meo Like I know that in the future Iboga is waiting for me.
I know I still have some work to do with Iboga and things to learn. And I cannot wait for that day. I know that I want to develop a deeper relationship with 5MEO DMT, but thinking about diving into an intense psychedelic state and [00:23:00] experience right now is just not something that I want to do. Honestly, I want to go back to that.
Once I have the foundations for my business, You know my banking like all these little things behind the scenes. I've been working on that are incredibly dull and mundane I really want to have those set up because that's part of my integration It's like setting up these foundations so that the energy can flow freely in my life, right?
That's 5meo integration for me and i'm like Eight nine ten. I don't know a lot of months in And i'm still working on it so I really like this tip to use this time to strengthen your foundations because wow, again, think about how much further you'll be able to go with those solid foundations that you didn't have with the previous medicine work at the end of the day.
Just remember that everyone's journey is different. Everyone is different. Some people thrive with more frequent psychedelic [00:24:00] experiences, while others benefit from taking extended breaks or maybe even having one psychedelic experience and that's it. And they're good. And it changes for each individual based on where they're at in their life, in their journey.
Like we don't just go to a retreat and do psychedelics. Like signing up for a retreat initiates an incredibly powerful process from the moment we sign up to, you know, potentially years down the line. And I think going into these experiences incredibly intentionally helps us get the most out of them and taking these breaks.
Lends us the spaciousness to be even more intentional. I'm just, I'm so happy that I'm covering this topic today. I feel like, I'm like, why haven't I talked about this yet today? Like, why is it 105 episodes in that I have decided to talk about this topic?
The key [00:25:00] here is really to listen to yourself and to trust your intuition. You're on this journey of just that. It's hard to listen to yourself if you don't know yourself. So I trust that each of you listening out there are getting to know yourselves better. Every day. And with that knowledge of yourself, you are better able to listen to yourself and to trust yourself.
Only, you know, when it's time to amp up this work because it's serving you and when it's time to wind it down because it isn't, and I just want to say, again, it's all valid, no matter where you're at, if you're like, no, I want to amp it up because more journeys are integration for me. Cool. As long as you're doing it intentionally and with the full awareness and it's serving you.
And if you're like, no, you know, I want to take a break and wind things down and focus on these other things and focus on integration. Amazing. Amazing. The option is always yours at the end of the day. As always, if you have any [00:26:00] questions for me or topics that you would like me to cover in future solo episodes, please just DM me on Instagram and I will Reach out to you and I'm here to support you in any stage that you're in.
I really am loving that this podcast is moving in the direction of focusing more and more on integration. I feel like that's landing really well with you and I think that it's something that is really missing in the space. So that's that. I hope you enjoy this episode and before I sign off, I want to let you know that I do have to one on one clients that are finishing up in September.
So that means that I have two spots that are open in my one on one coaching practice. So if you want to work with me and really strengthen the integration period and honestly use a modality, a coaching modality to expand your consciousness. Without doing psychedelics, please reach out to me. You can fill out the application form at modern psychedelics.
[00:27:00] net slash apply. I'll have that linked in the show notes. And what happens after you apply is that we just get on a call together for an hour or so. And just chat, tell me about you, where you're at going to ask you some questions, you can ask me some questions and we're just going to make sure that it's the right fit before going forward.
So thank you as always for listening. If you're listening on Spotify, we're still trying to get to 200 reviews. We're at one 78. So if you're listening on Spotify, please just scroll to the top of the modern psychedelics page. Click those three dots on the top, right? Click rate show and give it a five star rating.
It's incredibly appreciated. I hope you're looking forward to the fall season as much as I am. Lots of changes coming. I feel like there's just so much that's coming our way before the end of 2024 and also this year has just flown by. So Wow. If you found this conversation helpful, as always, please share it with a friend.
Please share it on social media. It really helps and just helps me reach the people who need it. So yeah, I hope that you are taking [00:28:00] care, that you're enjoying the final days of summer and until next time, just stay safe out there. All right, guys. Sending you lots of love. Bye.
