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Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

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Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#261
post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

+1: similar experience and same book recommendation. I've had one high-dose psychedelic session in each of the last three years and while the experiences themselves were sometimes difficult, the positive changes are hard to overstate. They seem mild at first, but the unshakable sense of self-worth, of purpose, and of belonging in the universe have become such strong foundations for all the positivity that I build abo…

As someone who is interested in taking a guided trip to help with some personal problems of mine, how do you go about finding these people who perform guided therapy sessions w/ MDMA/LSD/DMT etc?

Unfortunately there is no straightforward way to do this, unless you're willing to travel abroad where Ayahuasca/Psilocybin Mushrooms/5-MeO are legal and do your trip there. My recommendation would be to read How to Change Your Mind and The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide, join your local psychedelic club (meetup.com maybe), and ask around. The better informed you are, the more easily you'll be able to trust your gut and know you've found someone you can trust. If in any doubt, back out. Stateside there don't seem to be very many nefarious actors, but substances are quite illegal.

If you can afford it, these 5-MeO retreats are probably a slam dunk, although 5-MeO is not for the faint of heart. Check out the psychedelic toad - hamilton's pharmacopeia for more on that.

All you really need, though, is a high-dose mushroom session with eyeshades and music, supervised by someone's that's done it before whom you trust. Their sense of attention and compassion are more important than extensive experience using them. They're just there to hold the space. Again, see James Fadiman's book for the how-to.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#262

Why are they called "magic" mushrooms? Because they remind you that life is, in a sense that we rarely recognize, truly magical. We can adopt the materialist lens and say that they "rewire your brain" -- and in a certain sense, that's of course true. But the crucial point is that experientially, you discover firsthand that life is precious beyond belief -- beyond what the rational mind can contain -- and if cigarette…

After a decade of solitude, they helped me realize that I was living in a machine world. It showed me how to love myself, other people and nature again. Yes, it was like magic, a true perspective change, a reintroduction to the human world. It showed me what supreme contentedness and connectedness is after this long time of seeing the world purely in differences - within myself, without myself and in the relationship…

Well said...thank you.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#263
post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I have no idea what those folks were doing. I know I can get the result because I did, back in the day. I'm not a licensed hypnotherapist but I went through an exploratory phase in my 20's which included experimentation with hypnosis. It was easy to develop "profound" hypnotic phenomenon like arm catalepsy (your arm is basically asleep, if you feel it with your other hand it feels like someone else's arm, etc.)…

You seem to have a supreme self confidence that most people do not. So you think that you 'hypnotized' the person to gradually stop smoking over a month from a sort session? You have some 'magical' powers. Sorry for the skepticism...

> You seem to have a supreme self confidence that most people do not.

Only in certain areas.

> So you think that you 'hypnotized' the person to gradually stop smoking over a month from a sort session?

No. The change in rate of smoking (2 packs a day to 2 cigs a day) was immediate and durable (at least up to a month, I didn't talk to her again beyond that.) Interestingly, at the very end of the session there was a momentary unconscious movement of the hand in a holding-cigarette gesture. I think the reason that she didn't stop smoking entirely was somehow connected to that gesture, FWIW.

> You have some 'magical' powers.

Maybe..? Certainly, to myself I seem nondescript.

> Sorry for the skepticism...

It's fine. You're nicer than most. I sometimes think I should write an autobiography, but then I think, who would believe it?

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a challenge for you: Without google or other external sources, what do YOU think are the top 2 or 3 downsides of using them? Do you even know?

I know cases of very tragic results of psychedelic use. So if you think to enlight me on childish bullshit like "the war on drugs is a conspiracy against us, in reality, drugs are very good for people" - if I was some 25 years younger I could consider that, but not today. If you believe there are no downsides, FYI, around a century ago heroin was marketed as a "no downsides" cough suppressant. With time (very soon) t…

>The idea to alter one's mind with substances to have more pleasant / interesting / euphoric / hallucinogenic experience is vicious in principle, even if there were no other downsides.

This idea is based on a false dichotomy between "drugs" and "normal stuff". Chocolate is a substance I take with the sole intent of altering my mind to have more euphoria. That's just using big words to say I eat it only because it tastes really good. There are people who think that that is "vicious", but I assume that you are not one of them, and if you are then you should probably make reference to the fact that you're approaching this from a very unconventional angle in your post itself.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#265
post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who is interested in taking a guided trip to help with some personal problems of mine, how do you go about finding these people who perform guided therapy sessions w/ MDMA/LSD/DMT etc?

Unfortunately there is no straightforward way to do this, unless you're willing to travel abroad where Ayahuasca/Psilocybin Mushrooms/5-MeO are legal and do your trip there. My recommendation would be to read How to Change Your Mind and The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide , join your local psychedelic club (meetup.com maybe), and ask around. The better informed you are, the more easily you'll be able to trust your gut a…

wow great information! thanks for letting me know. Will definitely be looking into it

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#266

Why are they called "magic" mushrooms? Because they remind you that life is, in a sense that we rarely recognize, truly magical. We can adopt the materialist lens and say that they "rewire your brain" -- and in a certain sense, that's of course true. But the crucial point is that experientially, you discover firsthand that life is precious beyond belief -- beyond what the rational mind can contain -- and if cigarette…

After a decade of solitude, they helped me realize that I was living in a machine world. It showed me how to love myself, other people and nature again. Yes, it was like magic, a true perspective change, a reintroduction to the human world. It showed me what supreme contentedness and connectedness is after this long time of seeing the world purely in differences - within myself, without myself and in the relationship…

> you can contemplate these things because you are overloaded with serotonin.

And while serotonin definitely is involved, it is only a part of it.

The real "magic" can happen because psilocybin/LSD/etc. allows you to increase your frequency. This in turn allows you to tune in to other ("higher" and immaterial) dimensions that surround us all the time. Most of us normally do not yet perceive them in everyday life, but these special molecules can make that happen for us - for a few moments at least. Some call this state "heightened intuition", others call it "getting in touch with your guides", others call it "opening your clear-senses". The benefit of such a short "peek behind the veil" is that at least your subconscious will always remember that there is an infinite profoundness to life that we completely ignore in our current way of living/culture. This is why many people get out of their deep/long-lasting/clinical depression, sometimes by experiencing only a single dose of LSD. They have seen "it", maybe heard "it", or smelled "it", but most of all, they have experienced "it" and it will stay with them - "it" being this mysterious force of pure joy, love and deep understanding (which is much more profound that any intellectual understanding).

Word of caution: Before you go ahead with such an experience, make sure you take all the time in the world to educate yourself about all of it. Then make sure your source sells you the actual and pure substance; maybe test it beforehand if you can. Plan your trip carefully. Do it in nature and undisturbed.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#267

Set and setting. The drug just rattles your cage. I quoted Leary on 'set and setting' the other day on an LSD history thread and mentioned Leonard Orr used to get great results with nothing more exotic than oxygen, so rather than repeat that ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21264919 ) I'll say this: If you have a modality of therapy that works, it will work without the drug (which, at best, serves as an amplifi…

I'm sorry, I have to disagree friend. You're overlooking the basic neurochemistry of these substances. If you take Psilocybin or LSD, it will cause actual, scientifically observable changes in the brain. These actual changes can be of great benefit even if there is not necessarily an official therapy employed.

The whole recreational, non-study-able drug use phenomenon, the societal wave of recognition of the value of these experiences, it's all due to the fact that these have a real positive impact on the neurochemistry of the majority of people. Set and setting is important in all branches of medicine and self-improvement, but it's undeniable that these drugs will do wonders even with loosely structured goals at the outset, given proper set and setting as a baseline.

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#268

I used another psychedelic (DMT) to self treat my alcoholism. While it is early days still, I am almost 600 days sober. The drug allowed to me introspect and access my mind in a way which was previously blocked. From the perspective it unlocked, it was easy to see the harm I was doing to myself and others. It changed my life.

Can you share more about how you did this? Was it a one time thing? How did you figure out the dosage?

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After a decade of solitude, they helped me realize that I was living in a machine world. It showed me how to love myself, other people and nature again. Yes, it was like magic, a true perspective change, a reintroduction to the human world. It showed me what supreme contentedness and connectedness is after this long time of seeing the world purely in differences - within myself, without myself and in the relationship…

> you can contemplate these things because you are overloaded with serotonin. And while serotonin definitely is involved, it is only a part of it. The real "magic" can happen because psilocybin/LSD/etc. allows you to increase your frequency. This in turn allows you to tune in to other ("higher" and immaterial) dimensions that surround us all the time. Most of us normally do not yet perceive them in everyday life, but…

How do I measure this frequency? What would it look like on an FFT plot?

Re: Magic Mushrooms Can Help Smokers Kick the Habit

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tldr; it quite literally "killed my ego" for a short time and allowed for an unclouded view onto what was going on with me. And that way of reflecting my emotional state stayed with me ever since

A lot of the people using them mention killing the ego, I've never done anything like that and wonder what do you think under the word ego? I know the literal term obviously.

Ego death feels and seems and looks, quite literally, like you are actually experiencing your physical death. But then you come out on the other side just fine, or if you don't resist but instead let go, perhaps "enlightened" for a while ... (there are degrees of enlightenment IME)

It's strikingly similar to death experiences I've had slowly waking up as I die in morning dreams ...

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