Psychedelic integration

Altered states of consciousness, also known as mind alterations or non-ordinary states, are inner experiences where our external sense of reality begins to change because of a deep alteration to our inner state. The inner state can be altered through various methods. such as during meditation, hallucination, hypnosis, trance, and the dream state; or under certain substances such as psychedelics. In every moment of our lives we have the experience of life through the external event and the inner state. Our normal sate of consciousness is relative to the conditioning of our inner states by external events. This is how personality is formed.

When someone experiences altered states of consciousness, the inner state in a person is changed in such a way that ones perception of the external world is altered as well as ones inner state; and to different degrees ones state of awareness within that inner state.  For example, dissociative states of consciousness are inner states that a person may go into unconsciously when they become very terrified of an external event. When someone dissociates they may have the experience of moving away from their emotional states into a state of numbness or even forgetfulness. In the case of dissociation, the person tends to have a reduced experience of being consciously aware and can even have difficulties remembering what occurred.

Whereas with practices like meditation, mindfulness or psychedelic experience a person may enter into an inner sate where consciousness gets amplified through either states of concentration or in the case of using a psychedelic substance or medicine, they may have the experience of consciousness becoming so amplified they feel an inner separation from habitual subconscious thoughts and feelings that influence the person normal perception of the themselves.

In indigenous cultures that use the psychedelic experience as a psychospiritual teaching, such as those throughout Latin America and Africa, After a ceremony, individuals would discuss their experiences with the other members of the tribe or group and share the insights, teachings and struggles that they saw in their inner experiences. This is important as it helps us to come to an understanding of our journey with others who are also familiar with the exploration of the psychological language and landscape of consciousness.

After experiencing a profound psychedelic experience, people often begin to reflect upon these experiences and sometimes have difficulty with some of the profound and vivid emotional comprehensions they have received. They may have seen archetypal imagery or had realizations about their place in life that feel in conflict with how they have been living their lives up until that point. Having had these unusual experiences with consciousness can be life changing but also disorienting at times.

Some psychedelic experiences can feel both emotionally profound as well as exhilerating and overwhelming. Some experiences have created a shift in our personality that we need help getting used to and adapting into ourselves. Sometimes experiences that create inner paradigm shifts are difficult to interpret with the mind or so emotionally moving that we want to reflect our experience with others to get used to our new understandings of self and reality. Integration is a crucial step in which insights and emotional shifts that occur during the psychedelic session are assimilated into the individual’s daily life and psychological understanding.