Hi All, Thanks for having such a great space here. I'm joining because this seems like the place to have rational, non-dramatic discussion with knowledgeable people.

I have been using psychedelics for healing purposes for about 20 years. I used LSD recreationally in my teens and always felt that I got something more from it. I knew right away that many of the insights and realizations I got were real and not just drugs or hallucinations. Then I started dabbling in mushrooms and things got weird. I actually had a full unity experience, but didn't know what it was, and after that started having scary trips, became deeply phobic of aliens, though I never encountered one. I swore off psychedelics for about 10 years.

Then a friend started leading Ayahuasca ceremonies. I trusted her and the space she created so I started working with Mamasita. I have now been working with her for about 8 years, at least 3 times a year. I have also worked with San Pedro and received deep healing from him as well. I have quit drinking alcohol (which I was probably an alcoholic, in truth) and caffeine over this time as well and have been clean for 4+ years.

I'm here to connect with like-minded people, to learn more about how others use psychedelics positively in their lives, and to further my research. I used to be very into research and got away from it as my life got busy. I'm ready to learn more now. I'm also interested in working with mushrooms again. I'm not really interested in working with DMT by itself. I have done that once. It was okay, but I'm more interested in the shamanic ways and the plants themselves.

Thank you for reading!

Welcome to the Nexus.

Please do not feel offended, but the thing I do not understand is why people (in general, you are not the only one) quit drinking alcohol and coffee so abrupt and strict. I love both. And if you do it once in a while, there is nothing wrong with that.

Alcohol, coffee, DMT, there is a time and place for everything .

Hello kshemaraja and welcome on board!

Since years, I am really into mushies and they are still a great teacher to me. If you fully open yourself to them, they will welcome you heartly and lead you to the same realms as the other glorified typtamines do. Let them peel you like an onion, full trust. Mushie = I = 1.



Looking back on my own way, probably because during an intense psychedelic experience people can become aware of their abusing attitude, but are, at this time, not ready and able to see themselves as the responsible ones but project their abusing intention onto f.e. a substance.

When something loses its meaning/function, one has to find another context/access and intention to meet again. F.e. when I stop using alcohol as a strategy for distraction (of boredom) and avoidance (of unpleasent feelings), I probably think that it was the alcohol which hindered me on my way and if I get over it, that means confess myself as the user, I maybe find a new context/access (f.e. pleasure) in which I enjoy alcohol as what it is. When losing its primary function, it is also possible to let go forever, if it is not on my way (of love/truth) anymore.






Love all, all love, tseuq

hahaha..lol ....now that that has been cleared up....

we keeps coffee/tea and shag-non-purity-behaviour for better approachability at least for now....

In my particular case I was drinking 1/2 bottle to a full bottle of wine nightly. And I would think each night "What's the harm in just drinking this one night?" or "whats the harm in this one glass?" or "What reason do I have to skip a night?" I couldn't think of one, so I'd drink. And it became a habit. Something I could not choose not to do. I had to quit completely and allow my brain to rewire itself. (They way Ayahuasca and yoga helped me was giving me a reason, a clearheaded and positive state of being that I knew I would tarnish if I drank. That was a good reason not to drink.) I thought about drinking every day for about 2-3 years, I would estimate. And I had to choose not to drink daily for at least 1 year. I wanted to have a choice, and the way my brain was wired, I did not have a choice.

Now I do. I have had a drink occasionally, and it's been okay. I can still see a tendency to want to drink the next night, because this night was fine, why not? My mom, my deceased father, and my alive stepfather are all daily alcoholics without intention to quit. They are functioning. So it's also in my family culture. I will have a drink occasionally with dinner or when we go out. But only one. And my rule is only once per month or less, because I don't want that habit, which is so ingrained in the wiring of my brain, to come back. I am free from depression now. Was it because of Ayahuasca, or because I quit taking a depressant drug daily? haha

My reason for quitting caffeine is different. I haven't drank coffee for many many years so it wasn't coffee that I quit. I drank a lot of green tea. I am very sensitive to caffeine. And I noticed when I didn't drink it (due to the dieta for Ayahuasca) that I would feel better, would have less energy fluctuations, etc. I don't feel any compulsion to drink green tea. But when I quit all forms of caffeine I noticed after 6 months, and then after a year, that I felt ever increasing and steady levels of energy. I have no aversion to drinking tea at all, and will happily do so if I need it, as a medicine, to stay awake, like for a long drive or something. But I know that daily, or even weekly consumption will decrease my natural energy levels, and I have no desire to do that.

Here's the TL;DR

For people truly addicted, that pathway of "do it once in awhile" is literally not available in their brain. Stopping cold turkey for an extended period is required for the rewiring of the brain.