Renee takes a deep breath as she walks up the path to the venue where she will have her first guided psychedelic experience. Her coach, Lotte, greets her with a warm smile at the door. “Welcome Renee! Come in, let me show you around.”
Lotte gives Renee a short tour of the peaceful space, showing her the venue, the private garden, and the room where she will lie down later. Renee feels her nerves settle as she takes it all in. This feels like a safe, comforting place to explore the deeper recesses of her mind.
T +15-60min | Preparation
After the tour, Renee sits down on the couch with a cup of tea. Lotte sits across from her. “Before we start preparing the psilocybin tea, let’s go over your intentions one more time. What do you hope to get out of this experience?”
Renee takes a sip of her tea. “Well, as we discussed, I hope to gain clarity and insight into my addictive behaviour. The drinking, smoking, overeating… I want to finally get to the core of it and hopefully find a path toward more balance.”
Lotte nods. “We’ll hold that intention gently during the session. Remember that you might not get clear ‘answers’, but trust that your deeper self knows what you need.” She guides Renee through a short meditation to become grounded and centered for the psychedelic journey ahead. Renee feels centered and ready. The journey is about to begin.
T +60/90min | Ingestion
After about an hour of preparation, Lotte enters the room with a cup. “It’s time,” she says softly. She places the cup of psilocybin tea on the table in front of Renee. “This is the doorway. When you’re ready, you can drink this and surrender to the journey.”
Renee’s hands tremble slightly as she reaches for the cup. She pauses, takes a few deep breaths, and whispers to herself “I’m ready for this.” She brings the cup to her lips and drinks the earthy liquid.
Lotte guides Renee through another meditation while they wait for the psilocybin to take effect. They chat lightly, but soon Renee falls quiet and turns her focus inward. She feels the first waves beginning to lap at the shores of her consciousness.
T+2-6h | Peak Experience
The effects build over the next hour until Renee is fully enveloped by the mystical waters of the psychedelic experience. Lotte helps her lie down on the couch, covers her with blankets, and places an eye mask over her eyes to support deep immersion.
Renee surrenders to the tide and lets herself be carried wherever it takes her. Visions and insights arise, some beautiful, others challenging. Lotte checks in now and then, an anchor that keeps Renee’s boat from drifting too far. Renee finds herself confronted with core wounds related to her addictions. It is painful but feels like the truth.
Sometimes she reaches for Lotte’s hand; at other moments she dives into herself alone. She loses all sense of time, floating through inner space.
T+6-8h | Coming Down
After what feels like eons, Renee begins to feel the effects subside. The visions fade into shadows. Gradually she becomes aware of her body on the couch, Lotte sitting nearby. Her anchor to ordinary reality.
Renee slowly sits upright, still feeling raw and sensitive. “Would you like some water? Or maybe a short walk?” Lotte asks softly. Renee nods, and they walk mindfully around the garden as Renee lands further into her body. They don’t talk yet; this is a time for processing. Renee feels transformed, exhausted, and grateful.
T+7-9h | Back to Earth
After her gentle walk outside, Renee heads back into the retreat space. She sits down on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, not quite ready to talk yet. Lotte busies herself preparing a light vegetable soup for dinner. The rich broth grounds Renee as she eats slowly.
Eventually she takes a deep breath and looks at Lotte. “That was… intense,” she says with a shaky smile. She then tries to put her experience into words – the visions, the insights, the emotional cleansing. Lotte listens without judgment.
After sharing her journey, Renee falls quiet again. She feels raw and vulnerable but also optimistic. Her intentions feel closer than before. There is work ahead, but she senses that today she discovered keys to unlock old patterns.
As the effects ebb away, Renee begins to feel more like herself. Lotte reminds her to be gentle with herself over the coming days as she integrates this experience. Renee hugs Lotte, grateful for her guidance, before heading home to rest. She falls asleep, hopeful about the path that lies ahead.
[this story is a combination of experiences from our coaching clients, told through the eyes of Renee, one of the characters who explain psychedelics through stories]
