Greetings!
About an hour ago I came down from a nice breakthrough. Overall the experience wasn't that notable compared to other breakthroughs described here on the nexus, so I'll keep this brief. But for the sake of sharing I thought I'd recap the trip for you all and maybe end with a question I'm curious about.

I loaded up about 30mg into my CVG and started off slow. I took a fairly decent first hit, held, and released. Immediately the effects set in and I quietly sat to allow them to sink in as mush as possible before going for the final 2 tokes.
I went in for the second hit, and ripped it way harder than I thought I would. I was overwhelmed by the rush and I knew I was in for a ride, so I set down the vaporizer and frantically prepared myself.

To my horror, my roommate came upstairs and walked into my room just as I was "breaking through the veil" so to speak. I accepted the set of circumstances, however, and acknowledged his presence with whatever vocal sound I could muster at the time. (I think I said 'Yo', but for all I know I could have just moaned). He could see what I was doing and quietly got what he needed from the room and returned downstairs so as not to disturb me. I was very thankful, and laughed to myself at his obvious surprise and humor of the situation.
At this point, I was pretty deep into the experience, but the distraction from my room-mate held me back from fully breaking through with the second hit. So I went for a final third toke....

(I'm not going to bother with the minor details of the breakthrough, as many and most of you are familiar with the experience and all its subtleties)

I was engulfed by pink and red energies, and inevitably felt the rush of anxiety set in. The colors overwhelmed and enveloped me completely, they pulled me in (and yet tore me out and apart at the same time). Eventually these colors took form, and suddenly I was in the presence of several entities (I want to say maybe 3 or 4). They had no humanoid characteristics; no body, no face, it was strange in that these were different from entities I generally encounter. They were welcoming me as I entered their space, and I was happy to know that I had ended up in a positive place.

For most of the experience, the entities just observed me and seemed to feed off of my emotions. One moment I would be in pure ecstatic bliss, and they would draw in closer and closer, and the colors would intensify. They seemed pleased with this, so I focused as much energy and attention as I could on positive emotions and love. I thought of my sister for most of the experience to draw the emotion from.

The emotional state was not constant though. While in one moment I was in bliss, another moment I would be filled with dread and terror. When I felt these emotions I became aware of other darker forces and energies at play. Unseen entities that were distracting me, trying to feed off of my negativity. The pink forms lost their luster and for a timeless moment I felt like I would be engulfed in despair.

But the positive energies were re-enforcing, and the entities seemed to put a lot of effort into focusing my attention on them and not on negativity. This pitfall only lasted what I'd assume be a fraction of a second in real time, but it felt drawn out.
After the dark part, which I'm glad was short, I enjoyed the rest of my time with these pink entities. They were proud of me for having resisted and not giving in to anxiety and despair. It seemed like the rest of the trip was a reward for not freaking out--like the scary part was a test.
"Well now that we know you're cool, you can chill with us for as long as you'd like"

It felt like forever, but in fact it was only a minute or two, but the rest of the experience I did not really communicate with these entities. I simply shared the space with them and basked in their love, glory, and light. It was these last few moments that really affected me--I can't quite describe it. I'm familiar with peak and enlightening experiences, as I've had several myself (each a life-changer, for sure), but this was just so different. It wasn't your typical psychedelic peak--eg cosmic consciousness, union of paradox, etc... It was more than that. It was like I was really there, with those who were once where we are, wondering all of the same things. They persevered and they got it! It's all true, this is real, and you're actually here with us in this heaven/hyper-dimensional plane of existence that is free from the cycle of birth and death, you will go back soon, but remember that we were once where you are and if you persevere this will actually happen!

No blinding white light, no cosmic union, no paradox, no rebirth, no discovery of the selfless 'I'. It was as simple as "I went to the dimension where enlightened consciousness resides".

I mean, I don't think I'm really quite qualified enough to say this is what happened. But shit, that's sure as hell what I experienced.


Now for the question. (So much for keeping this short )

I always meditate before a psychedelic session. However in the past week I've started doing very basic bodywork. And by basic I mean really basic. I do a series of stretches while I focus on my breathing before I meditate. I sleep on a stiff mattress on the floor, so I've been concerned a lot about my back. It's absolutely amazing how much of an effect 1 week of stretching to supplement meditation can do for your body and your practice. Not only could I feel where tension in my body was occurring; but for every knot and twist I could associate a negative aspect of myself. My stretches began very basic (like ones you'd do back in gym class). Now they have naturally begun to evolve and become more complex. I focus on different parts of my body that are uncomfortable or tense and visualize negative relationships, bad attitudes, fears and anxieties, resentment, attachments, things of that nature; and I'm completely honest with myself. Virtually every single situation I have brought up has been a direct result of personal internal conflict or a delusion of some sort. Through this practice I have learned to accept the dual and non-dual nature of things, including our emotions. I have learned to let go so much more--and once I learn to let go, the visualization slips away and I feel a rush of energy run through me. And most remarkably, the knot in my back stops hurting! The crick in my joints whenever I stand up goes away! Now I know I have to continue this practice regularly for the effects to continue--it's obviously not a quick fix. But it feels as though these tensions in my body are direct manifestations of tension and conflict within myself, and when I can learn to let go of those tensions it manifests as actual healing. The rush of energy is amazing, and It's extremely helpful for meditation directly after. My consciousness is free flowing and I can feel energy or life force course through my body and up through my spine with every inhale and exhale. It's almost like the after glow of an intense trip. I've also found that in the past week I've had a completely positive attitude towards life. I wake up feeling refreshed and not more tired than when I went to bed. I have let go of various attachments and neuroses of mine (I'm working up to quitting smoking cigarettes). I enjoy work. And my trips have been extremely positive.

So, to get back to the experience and the question I want to ask--Bodywork is obviously extremely beneficial and arguably absolutely necessary for a balanced lifestyle. I've hardly gotten into it, but just through breathing and stretching techniques my quality of life has improved dramatically.

One of the things I wonder is if this is how Yoga may have developed? People may have focused on their body and mind and the tensions within them. Depending on where the tension in the body arises, the stretch will change. I've made up a bunch of my own stretches and postures to focus on specific knots and tensions in my own body--but they look remarkably like yoga poses. So for anyone who knows anything about yoga, what are your thoughts on this and what would a good resource be for basic yoga techniques?

For everyone else, do you do any kind of body work before you trip (or meditate)? Have you found it beneficial at all, and if so how? I personally feel as though it provides a long term internal set/setting which will greatly improve the quality, capacity to learn, and the comfort of a psychedelic experience.

Sorry for the long read--kinda funny how that worked out But much thanks to anyone who got through it all! And extra thanks to anyone who has any thoughts on all this.

Awesome read. You have me interested in creating some of my own stretches myself. I have had a history of knots in many muscles, my back and neck areas for sure. These knots never go away and have caused problems. If i overwork certain muscles the knots get worse and cause quite a bit of pain sometimes.

I think this would be a great addition to my personal growth plan. Muscle tension relief can have astounding effects on mood and concentration. And just all around feeling better.

I'm sorry but I dont have any real facts to give regarding yoga, but this would seem logical to me what you are proposing.

When I take DMT often times, energy will flow through my body, directing my limbs and body to move in very specific and precise movements that are extremely reminiscent of Qi Gong (even though I am not a Qi Gong practitioner). I can't mimic the movements without the energy. I've learned to summon it through meditation and I've found it to be explicitly connected to the breath. I think yoga most likely developed from people getting in touch with the energies and learning from their observations. When I do it, I need have no thought of what it is my limbs will do, for they simply act on their own with robotic precision as if moved by forceful magnets. When I take DMT, it's like having training wheels for energy work.

Dmt is way to sedating for me to even think about my physical being, but on my last cacti journey i got really sore in my back from laying down to long so i spent most of the trip standing up performing various yoga positions and stretches,

I do study yoga and strength n condition training in general so it was no revolutionary stuff going on but the cacti did get rid of any inflamation or irritated soft tissue so my mobility was enhanced and i could really feel my hips in a good way.

After this i will def try low dose mescalin just for really long yoga sesions

Big fan of Yoga on LSD, Mushrooms or low dose DMT or after a breakthrough. The mind feels clearer and the body feels much more flexible and supple.

I found as I started getting into psychedelics I felt the need to stretch and made up a few extreme stretches of my own. I like your idea that yoga developed organically through people trying to get more in touch with their body. Makes sense to me. I would say doing your own thing is a good start.

After I did my own stretches for a while I took 6 months of Astanga Yoga. It's only 8 postures but its all about flowing from posture to posture. After I learned the postures I stopped going to class and kinda just do it whenever I want incorporating my own made up stuff too.

Definitely recommend getting a little formal training in Yoga to jumpstart your stretching routine. But, yeah, doing your own poses seems to make sense I mean its your body you have to work on right? Try to feel what it needs and go from there.

Always light stretching beforehand, and 20 minutes meditation AT LEAST. Imo stretching helps release any bodily tension, and doing at least 20 minutes of meditation allows my mind to completely center and be 'in focus'. And having my mind at ease potentiates my bodys ease, and vice versa. I used to just meditate before smoking DMT, but having recently incorporated sun salutation and bridge pose alongside meditating produces a synergistic effect on the whole mind-body body-mind symbiosis, each benefitting from the other and 'imo' optimal for inner inner travels. The DMT experience works with what you give it.

Lots of insight everyone!

I agree, it would be very beneficial for me to get involved with an introductory yoga course. That's something I'll have to look into.

And Global, that's very interesting. On one of my recent spice journeys I told myself beforehand to try and harness the energy of the initial rush. When I tried I absolutely had to sit up from my laying down position. I practically shot up and had to fight the urge to wail my arms around. In hindsight I wish I hadn't fought it, but at the time I was concerned with focusing all my energy into staying positive and keeping up with the break into hyperspace.

From my experimentation, attention affects this energy (as much as I always used to think that imagination affecting energy was bogus), breath affects this energy, sound affects the energy and light affects the energy. Sometimes (external physical) light can interact with my body so much so that it will pull me towards it in a very physical way. This only happens when I'm well-connected to the energy (so especially under the influence of DMT). If I'm sitting with my left side to the open window where the sun is shining through for example and my right side to the wall, there's a good chance by the time I end up opening my eyes (after the DMT experience), I'll find myself crooked all the way to the left, like a plant leaning towards the sun. It makes me wonder about the experience that moths have when they are so firmly attracted to bright lights.

Most trips with mushrooms or cactus I find myself releasing my tension/preflight jitters on my punching bag. It's a pseudo-violent form of exercise, but I have found no better release of stress and anxiety. I know meditation helps with this, but to me, some emotions are inherently chaotic so I might as well release them in a similar physical fashion. I tell you, hitting a bag while tripping is a very bizarre and almost supernatural experience in itself.

I haven't done anything physical before a DMT trip, but I think I'll give it a try. It may be what I've been missing, along with just needing to exercise more in general. I really think a body rush of endorphins (which stretching alone can release) can be very beneficial to the tripping mind.