What happens when women drop judgment and pick up the practice of compassionate self-observation? In this deeply moving episode, host April Pride guides us through the real-time psilocybin journeys of three sister trippers—Maria, Lalin, and Adelia. With spiritual and science-informed insight from integration coach Natasha Lannerd, this episode unpacks the meaning of “cultivating the witness,” a practice of observing yourself with neutrality during and after altered states of consciousness. Through song, symbolism, grief, and even a Viking vision, you’ll hear how these women processed everything from ancestral trauma to body trust. The psychedelic self-awareness they uncover isn’t about fixing what’s broken—it’s about remembering who they are.
🔵 Key Takeaways
“Cultivating the Witness” means holding space for your experience without judgment—especially in psychedelic states.
Ritual and intention (altars, playlists, ancestor invitations) can deepen the emotional and spiritual resonance of a trip.
Physical discomfort isn’t failure—it can be a portal to presence, embodiment, or emotional release.
Integration coach Natasha Lannerd explains how journaling, breathwork, and self-compassion anchor long-term healing.
Each trip is unique: from Viking ships to voodoo songs, sister trippers share what surfaced—and how it changed them.
🔵 Timestamps
[01:22] April introduces the sister trippers
[03:26] Ram Dass on the inner observer and non-attachment
[06:23] Adelia on preparation, shame, and expectations
[07:25] Natasha explains witnessing vs. emotional spirals
[08:46] What it means to “break through” in a psilocybin trip
[11:01] Inviting ancestral guidance with morning rituals
[12:17] Maria’s mindful prep: altars, flowers, Viking visions
[17:43] Lemon Tek, missed grinders, and shroom stomachs
[19:25] Singing, keyboards, and healing through sound
[24:45] Natasha on physical discomfort as energetic signal
[25:46] Breathwork and the parasympathetic nervous system
[27:21] Adelia’s emotional release and embodied sensuality
[29:37] Shared energetic waves between partners
[30:48] Empowerment, group texts, and integration via connection
[32:03] Journaling tips for psychedelic trips
[33:19] Intuition and the unexpected messages that matter
[35:28] Intentions, journeys, and integration: the three sacred questions
🔵 Featured Guests
Adelia Carrillo | @missadelia
Lalin St. Juste | @lalin_music | lalinstjuste.com
Natasha Lannerd | @breathe_with_natasha
Maria Prieto
🔵 Additional Resources
SetSet Blog: “Psychedelic Integration for Women”
🎙️SetSet Podcast: “Psychedelic Mindset Preparation Tips”
🎙️SetSet Podcast: “Psilocybin Mushrooms 101: Effects, Dosing, and Tips”
🎙️SetSet Podcast: “Setting the Stage: Preparing for a Psychedelic Experience”
Substack: “What does it mean to be “prepared” for a medicine journey?”
How do you hold space for yourself—especially when things go “wrong”? Have you ever witnessed yourself mid-trip?👇 Let’s talk about it in the comments after the transcript below.
🔵 Transcript
[00:00] Natasha Lannerd:
And if you really want to make a shift in your life, you have got to [Cultivating the Witness], that part of you that is always coming from a place of compassion and curiosity, nonjudgmental, it's not about ragging on yourself, it's about being endlessly curious with what's going on in your own mind.
[00:26] Natasha Lannerd:
Hey, I'm April Pride, your host on The High Guide Podcast. This is a show for women who have an open and curious mind, and this is a show all about women changing their lives, thanks to [altered states of consciousness]. You just heard from Natasha Lannerd, our high guide who this season is teaching us [Cultivating the Witness] while we're in an [altered state of consciousness] so that we can replace judgment and shame with curiosity and compassion. Have you ever wondered, "How do I avoid a bad trip?" An obvious but oft overlooked reason our trips can go "bad" is how our bodies show up for us in this vulnerable state. So we'll talk about the physical component of a trip for sure. Another way to steer clear of the drugs doing you dirty or staying in a playful space during a trip is conjuring up a healthy dose of curiosity versus attaching judgment to what will inevitably come up.
[01:22] April Pride:
On this episode, it's time to journey with our sister trippers, finally. We are gonna get into listening to each of our sister trippers share how their trips began, and in individual follow-up episodes, you'll hear the extended dialogue between Natasha, our high guide, and each woman as she integrates her experience after taking two grams of psilocybin mushrooms. But before we get into the trippy part, remember to stay to the almost end for our trip tips and remain after I sign off because we'll end every episode this season with a 10-minute excerpt from one of the high guide's very own guided [psychedelic self-awareness] audio journeys produced in partnership with Patch Works.
[02:06] April Pride:
All the sounds you'll hear throughout this episode are sampled from A High Guide's Journey number three, featured in Episode 28 of this podcast. And I chose this audio because its title is exactly the energy I hope that you bring to your [psilocybin journey]: Tripping to Trust Your Gut. So find a quiet spot, put on some headphones and listen to this short sample with a simple intention of telling yourself that you trust yourself because confidence can be cultivated. And speaking of cultivating, that which will serve us best, this brings us to our word of the week, and by word, I mean more of a phrase, which is [Cultivating the Witness]. You've heard me talk about this throughout our previous episodes, and if I were to set an intention for our, dear listeners, journey together this season, it is to make sure that when we finish here, each of you can appreciate the importance of this practice in your [psychedelic experiences] and IRL. Rather than paraphrase or cut this crucial principle short, I went straight to the source of such wisdom of [Cultivating the Witness], Ram Das. The following are his words taken directly from his website, which I've linked to in the show notes for this episode.
[03:26] April Pride:
So I'm quoting here. "One way to get free of attachment is to [Cultivating the Witness] consciousness, to become a neutral observer of your own life. The [inner observer] placed inside you is simple awareness, the part of you that is aware of everything, just noticing, watching, not judging, just being present, being here now." He wrote a book about that too. "The [inner observer]... " I'm still quoting. "The [inner observer] is actually another level of consciousness. The [inner observer] coexists alongside your normal consciousness as another layer of awareness, as the part of you that is awakening. Humans have this unique ability to be in two states of consciousness at once. Witnessing yourself is like directing the beam of a flashlight back at itself. In any experience, sensory, emotional or conceptual, there's the experience, the sensory or emotional or thought data, and there's your awareness of it. That's the [inner observer], the awareness. And you can [Cultivating the Witness] in the garden of your being." I'm still quoting. [chuckle] He continues, "The [inner observer] is your awareness of your own thoughts, feelings and emotions."
[04:41] April Pride:
"[Inner observer] is like waking up in the morning and then looking in the mirror and noticing yourself, not judging or criticizing, just neutrally, observing the quality of being awake. The process of stepping back takes you out of being submerged in your experiences and thoughts and sensory input and into [psychedelic self-awareness]. Along with that [psychedelic self-awareness] comes the subtle joy of just being here alive, enjoying being present in this moment. Eventually floating in the subjective awareness, the objects of awareness dissolve and you'll be able to come into the spiritual self, the 'atman', which is pure consciousness, joy, compassion, the one. The [inner observer] is your centering device. It guides the work you do on yourself. Once you understand that, there is a place in you that is not attached. You can extricate yourself from attachments. Pretty much everything we notice in the universe is a reflection of our attachments."
[05:44] April Pride:
I included that entire, it's the entire webpage, [chuckle] because this is the point of this season, learning to understand why we are the way that we are and not judge ourselves for being that way. If after these wise words from Ram Dass, you're still like, "But April, what does this mean? How does this play out in real life?" sister tripper Adelia Carrillo offers a perfect example of what it looks like to attach negative emotions to our behavior and how that can affect our experiences while under the influence of [altered states of consciousness].
[06:23] Adelia Carillo:
I had a journey the other weekend with my partner, and I think it was like I felt like everything I tried to do didn't work out. I tried to make sure we had snacks. I tried to do all these things and the snacks ended up not being done right or whatever... I don't know, it was just like everything... So I guess it's just, how do you reel yourself... I mean do you reel yourself back in for something like this, or do you just allow yourself to kinda go through those emotions? If let's say I do these setups and it doesn't work out and it starts to bring me down that path, do I just allow myself to kind of connect and say, "Why do I care so much that it's almost like letting go of that... " I don't know. It was just an interesting thing I ran into.
[07:08] Natasha Lannerd:
Well, this is the thing that I think is so amazing about these experiences, and the more you do them, the more you're gonna be aware of this is [Cultivating the Witness] within yourself.
[07:18] April Pride:
And Natasha continues by explaining how we're conditioned to define the things that happen in our lives.
[07:25] Natasha Lannerd:
Well, and I think so much of our culture, it's all... It has really been predicated around straitjacketing it. Right? Like, "Oh, I feel grief, I gotta tie this buddy up," or "Oh, I feel joy, I gotta really get it together." And in an opportunity like this, with [altered states of consciousness], it's the exact opposite. By feeling something fully, giving it a 100% of your attention, it just opens the door for depth that you would not get otherwise. And something I spend a lot of time in contemplation with is around [Cultivating the Witness] in yourself. Like can you give yourself that awareness of just witnessing, not judging, not attaching, just full witnessing? And it can be very, very rewarding and incredibly powerful in my personal experiences and the experiences that I've seen with other people too.
[08:24] April Pride:
The language that Natasha uses in her self-talk when she's in a [witnessing state] is very matter-of-fact.
[08:32] Natasha Lannerd:
I know that that's not who I am in the core. I'm just experiencing this right now. And I'm not gonna judge it. I'm just gonna let it unfold, see what it has to show me.
[08:41] April Pride:
Natasha further explains the difference between [witnessing] and fixating.
[08:46] Natasha Lannerd:
If you can take that mentality of that level of presence into a [psilocybin journey], that's how you get stuff out of it because you don't get caught up in the content. That's the breaking through. If you would lay on a mat for five hours and replay the most horrible things that have ever happened to you before until you return to some point of sobriety, that's not breaking through because you're not able to get anything... You're not able to learn anything. You're not able to glean any insight from it 'cause you're so caught up in your loop.
[09:17] April Pride:
Does that make sense? To know what is true and allow yourself to be consumed by the horrors of it, re-living a trauma for instance, isn't the most compassionate or effective way for us to move forward. We're stuck in a loop. It reminds me of a scene from Fantastic Fungi, legendary mushroom cultivator and advocate Paul Stamets relays his [psilocybin journey] while in high school that cured him of his stutter. While tripping, he asked himself something to the effect of, "Why do you do that? You really should stop doing that." It doesn't say it in a way that's judgmental, he just matter-of-factly, "You should really stop doing that." And the reason he wanted to just stop doing that was because there was a girl that he liked that he really wanted to talk to her. He came out of this trip having shed his lifelong stutter. He didn't stay in the loop of all the ways his stutter had held him back and forward trip of how it would always do so, and then spiral on what a life with a stutter will look like. He got curious and he healed himself. Just as Natasha has explained in this series, the point of integration in [Cultivating the Witness] is to allow us to tap into the healer within.
[10:27] April Pride:
This is the only way it happens. We decide when, and trips take our ego offline long enough to assign new thinking to our old shit. In a previous episode, number 44, Growth Mindset Tripping, we discussed the ways in which mental training can lead to emotional strength. This doesn't cease being important the day of your planned trip. Keeping your mindset strong and clear is important on the day of your journey. Since Lalin and Maria are intending to commune with their ancestors, Natasha offers this advice:
[11:01] Natasha Lannerd:
You begin your day with your ancestors. When you're drinking your coffee in the morning, that would be when I really invite them in and really start to form that connection and... I think one of the things that I personally do, which can be kind of helpful in these types of scenarios, is like, "Show me... How will I know that you're here or whatever?" like inviting them to make their presence known in a loving and gentle way. And then from there, obviously, as you prepare yourself for your ceremony, then that energy is already in the mix and they can kind of help guide you, and then you have an opportunity also too to really open up that channel and touch down into that connection in a deeper way.
[11:44] April Pride:
Although Maria's plan was to take her dose in the afternoon, she committed the entire day upon waking to her [set and setting].
[11:52] Maria:
I'll run you through the day, 'cause I think it was just really important for me to go into it with a very... Obviously an open mind, but being really mindful of my headspace the whole day, so waking up, doing a good work out, treating myself to a delicious breakfast that I cooked and all the while just kinda taking my time and not rushing through my day.
[12:17] Maria:
And then I went to get flowers and everything to build the altar as you'd suggested. And yeah, it was really nice 'cause I find that I tend to rush through my day and that's something that I really wanted to work through. So being incredibly mindful that day helped just keep me in a very calm, even-keeled space, and then yeah putting the altar together was really relaxing, meditative. And I chose to take the [psychedelic medicine] during the day, around 2:30 PM, just 'cause I wanted that afternoon sun, I wanted to go on a walk.
[12:55] April Pride:
Remember what we discussed in the previous episode on [set and setting]. You can start your trip outdoors, then retire inside when your thoughts and energy want to turn inward.
[13:06] Maria:
The playlist you made me, I'm like...
[13:11] Maria:
That was just, I think, the best part, 'cause I ended up spending the majority of my experience kind of like laying in bed with my eyes closed, just listening to the music, and where during that time it's just... It's crazy how with your eyes closed, it's almost like you're seeing dreams or you're feeling emotions that you've never felt or... There was one song in particular, and this is gonna sound wacky, but it had very mythical vibes to it, and almost like, I think the way and what I was kind of seeing was being like on a viking ship and I was just kind of like Viking captain, red-headed, like... [chuckle] But in terms of the imagery, I could see being on a boat and the water rushing through and feeling the kind of wind, like the gusts of wind, and I think it was more like the feeling of being on a quest, I guess, was just really present. I have to say that water is definitely something that comes up a lot when I'm going on these journeys, especially when I'm, with eyes closed, I just feel this movement, and yeah, also the breeze, like that happens often.
[14:33] Natasha Lannerd:
Beautiful.
[14:34] Maria:
Yeah.
[14:36] Natasha Lannerd:
So I'm curious if you would be open to it, of elaborating a little bit more about what came up you were saying in this Viking imagery.
[14:45] April Pride:
Although we'll listen to more about Viking Maria and the significance of symbolism and imagery related to water and wind that she experienced during her [psilocybin journey], you'll have to tune in to her integration episode coming up later this season. For now, Maria's trip continues.
[15:02] Maria:
Yeah, [chuckle] I was working through issues with my son, we had a tumultuous relationship. Yeah, it was... With the son, that was more of like a feeling. I never actually saw the son, but like...
[15:15] Natasha Lannerd:
I was gonna say, "Do you have a child?"
[15:16] Maria:
No. [chuckle]
[15:17] Natasha Lannerd:
Okay.
[15:19] April Pride:
When I heard this, I was so thrilled to have it on tape because one day, Maria will probably have a son. Natasha offered this on Maria, not actually seeing her "son".
[15:31] Natasha Lannerd:
As it's not necessarily a scene... A scene sense experience doesn't mean you can't have a sensory experience otherwise.
[15:39] April Pride:
This same sentiment applies to communing with our ancestors. The definition of spirit is the non-physical part of a person, which is the seat of emotions and character, the soul. As we know, you cannot see what is not physically there, but that doesn't mean you're not aware of its essence, which is defined as the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract that determines its character. You may recall that communing with ancestors was the intention set by both Maria, who you just heard from, and you'll hear more about that in her integration episode, our other sister tripper, Lalin, was looking to do the same.
[16:18] Lalin:
My intention was just to connect on a spiritual level, to be open to any messages that my ancestors may have for me or to seek any guidance, also to feel whatever feelings could possibly come up. I was in Greenville, which is surrounded by redwoods, and I could see the redwoods out my window and that was just amazing feeling the energy. I went outside and saw a bajillion stars 'cause it was totally dark.
[16:58] April Pride:
Like Maria, Lalin split the time of her [altered state of consciousness] between indoors and outside. Also, like Maria, she set up an altar, reinforcing her [set and setting] with intention.
[17:08] Lalin:
I set up an altar with flowers, a cup of water. I did have a couple of candles.
[17:18] April Pride:
Tsk, tsk, Lalin.
[17:23] Lalin:
I took the shrooms. I did do the Lemon Tek.
[17:27] April Pride:
For those of you wondering what the Lemon Tek is, listen to episode 43 in this podcast for ways you can prepare psilocybin mushrooms to dial in the potency and onset of your [psychedelic self-awareness]. I can so relate to the fumbles Lalin shares with us in the following.
[17:43] Lalin:
I forgot the grinder, so I just tried to cut them up as small as I could. I was a little nervous about that, figuring that I didn’t know if I was doing this right or if it was going to be effective. There were a few little stumbles along the way.
[18:04] Natasha Lannerd:
That’s what makes it fun.
[18:06] Lalin:
Right? And then I lost some of the pieces. I was trying to figure it out. I ended up chewing and eating them after I drank the juice because I wasn’t sure if it was enough. I also forgot my ginger chews.
[18:34] April Pride:
Going back to what Adelia shared earlier in this episode, and the intention I’ve set for us this season, [cultivating the witness] means just noticing the fact that the grinder didn’t make it. Things happen—like shrooms stuck in your teeth—but this is not the time to attach feelings of failure or shame. We all know how small mishaps can spiral into self-criticism. The ginger chews, though—that’s a physical reminder. [Cultivating the witness] means noticing the mistake and offering self-compassion without bypassing the physical discomfort that results. Lalin, unfortunately, experienced some classic shroom stomach.
[19:25] Lalin:
It was a bit of discomfort in the beginning, and I just allowed myself to rest. I laid in bed, and I actually couldn’t even listen to music. I just laid in silence, observing my thoughts coming in and out. After some time, that’s when I started to feel the effects, noticing sensations that were beyond the usual—almost like they were behind my eyes. Some imagery came through. I had a sensation of being underwater, but in a good way. Because of the bodily sensations, I started singing, which helped me feel better. I sang a cappella for a while about healing.
[20:47] Lalin:
I focused on healing myself. There happened to be a keyboard in the room, so I played around on it and sang whatever came to mind. I interjected with lots of vocalizations because the sensations in my body came in waves. It wasn’t a visually intense trip, but physically it was very powerful. At the start of my [psychedelic journey], I had wanted to listen to So Anne, a Haitian voodoo singer. I didn’t know what I would play, but I had Spotify open and clicked on one album. The first song was “Marasa,” which symbolizes twins in the Haitian pantheon of spirits—the lwa.
[21:47] Lalin:
My mom is a twin, and there are many twins on my maternal side. In Haitian spirituality, when twins are present in your lineage, it’s believed that you serve the divine twins. My mom’s twin passed away many years ago before I had the chance to meet him—he was in Haiti. But through this [altered state of consciousness], I felt like I was truly connecting with him for the first time.
[22:47] Lalin:
I could suddenly feel that he has been with me, that he has been supporting me. I felt a channeling of healing energy. I played the song over and over—probably a hundred times—singing to the Marasa. I reflected on the blessings and healing in my life and how my ancestors have been part of that. I fell asleep beside my speaker, listening to the drumming and vocals. It was comforting, like being held. Other insights came up about taking care of myself, staying healthy, and continuing to nurture my connection with the Earth. Feeling unwell reminded me to honor my body, and it made me wonder: maybe the discomfort is part of the process. Maybe in life, just like in [psilocybin journeys], you can’t fully experience one thing without the other.
[24:45] April Pride:
As you might imagine, Natasha knows a thing or two about the meaning behind Lalin's physical discomfort, which we'll hear her address in Lalin's upcoming [integration] episode. For the purposes of better understanding our body and our [psychedelic journey], Natasha has this to say.
[25:03] Natasha Lannerd:
When we get into these very elevated [altered states of consciousness], the physical discomfort is sometimes a reminder of just the basics of humanity—you have a body. That doesn’t mean that it’s not uncomfortable. The other part too, that I’ve witnessed in my experiences holding space for other people, is that sometimes physical discomfort is a sign or a symbol or a calling or an urge to move some energy.
[25:34] April Pride:
As we learned in the first episode this season, in addition to facilitating sacred plant ceremonies, Natasha is a certified breathwork facilitator. She explains how our breath can help us stay calm while tripping and how it plays a vital role in [cultivating the witness].
[25:46] Natasha Lannerd:
I really think that breathwork is such a powerful tool, and it is a subtle magic until it's not subtle. It's incredibly powerful—just not the type of in-your-face power people usually expect. And I can’t really think of a better tool. The more aware we are of our breath—because that’s the presence thing—like breathing is an automatic bodily function. As long as you’re alive, you’re breathing, but that doesn’t mean that you are present with your breath. Also, when you think about it from a pure science perspective, the nerves that activate the parasympathetic nervous system are lower in the lungs. That’s why when you breathe deeply, you feel calm—it’s hitting all of those nerves and allowing you to reset your nervous system into that rest-and-digest mode. Having the ability to realize that a lot of what we experience could be remedied by simply being aware of and taking presence in our breath—it becomes very powerful.
[27:01] April Pride:
Speaking of very powerful, you may recall from episode 44 that our final sister tripper, Adelia, is working through the emotional pain of the challenges she and her partner are facing trying to conceive a child. Trust me, this is definitely a powerful trip that started off simply as planned.
[27:21] Adelia Carillo:
So I set up my office. I made it like a whole little thing. I got pillows, coloring books—all the things I thought I would want for that time period—and I got a great playlist. I took the recommended dosage, so it was Golden Teachers, the two grams.
[27:41] April Pride:
And then...
[27:43] Adelia Carillo:
Wow. The first thing I gotta say is just, wow. I have not experienced anything like that before. It's a crazy story of what all went down. I think I’ll just go into it.
[27:58] Natasha Lannerd:
Yeah, so let’s start with what happened and then we’ll go into the meaning of it.
[28:04] April Pride:
In Adelia’s [integration] episode, she and Natasha go into the meaning of it, but in this episode, we get to hear the “this only happens when you’re high” specifics. Take it away, Adelia.
[28:18] Adelia Carillo:
I went through so much. I cried tears of grief and sadness for all the loss that has come over the years. I was able to let it go in a way I hadn’t before. That was amazing. Then I would go into different kinds of peaks—there’d be the sadness and crying and release, and then there would be beauty and love. The tears would be happy. Then another wave would come, and I’d feel overcome with a kind of empowered sensuality—fully embodied within my body. It was the craziest thing. I kept saying, “I’m no longer afraid of what the future might hold,” especially regarding my pregnancy journey. It has been so up and down and filled with loss, but now I felt confident with my body. I felt in love with my body. So many things were happening during this [psychedelic self-awareness] process.
[29:37] Adelia Carillo:
My partner took mushrooms too—he had a different strain. Later, I went into the other room and he was like, “I don’t know what you were doing, but your energy—I felt the walls shaking.” He said, “You are powerful.” I was like, “What happened?” He could feel the energy. He had his own moment where, while I was deep in thoughts about pregnancy and my body, he felt like he was being reborn. He went into the bathtub and said he felt like a baby. We hadn’t discussed any of this beforehand—we were both having different versions of a shared experience. It was crazy. I needed it.
[30:48] Adelia Carillo:
Also, I had never taken two grams before. I’ve done about 1.5, so this was more. That made sense—it lasted longer. But honestly, what stood out most was the empowerment. I felt like I could become a force of good energy to share with others. I even started texting a bunch of girlfriends little empowering sentences, just to honor themselves. I didn’t plan it. It just happened. It was one of those moments where you allow yourself to feel everything: empowered, beautiful, and even the pain. That’s what came up during the [psilocybin journey]. I went through a lot.
[31:42] April Pride:
Adelia definitely went through a lot of things—the kind of things that only happen during powerful [altered states of consciousness]. All trips involve going through something. So how do you keep track of what arises while you’re tripping?
[31:58] April Pride:
Maria was also curious about this and addressed it with Natasha during her intake.
[32:03] Maria:
I have a question. During the whole [psychedelic journey], sometimes it might be hard to journal. I’m sure if words come out, I can write stuff down. But would you recommend after the experience—when I feel more settled and within my body—should I jot down what I went through so that in our [integration] session, I can go through that?
[32:23] Natasha Lannerd:
One of the things for me personally, when I am journeying, I always have my journal next to me. I don’t write full sentences, because one thing you want to be mindful of is not to hyper-engage the cognitive mind. That can shut the experience down. Usually, what comes to me in these [altered states of consciousness] is exactly what you’re saying—words, phrases, maybe symbols. I just jot them down as they come. Then, at the end of the night or the next day, I review.
[33:00] Natasha Lannerd:
Another thing is looking at it fresh in the morning and asking, “What was really sticky?” Out of all the stuff that came through, what were the themes? What had a particular depth? Reviewing like that allows more of the experience to unfold in the dreamscape too. It helps continue [cultivating the witness] beyond the moment.
[33:19] April Pride:
Like Natasha, I too keep a journal handy when I journey. What I’ve recorded on the page is often chicken scratch. Yes, there are words that help guide my [integration], but often, like Adelia, I find I’m reminding myself to connect with a person whose name came up. That name is usually enough to urge me to reach out. I don’t always remember the specifics of what came up during the trip related to that person, but a simple, “Hey, I was thinking about you during a very rare moment of hyper-focused intentionality,” can become a powerful message. It connects deeply. When friends have said this to me—that I came up while they were tripping—it’s usually filled with well wishes and warmth.
[34:30] April Pride:
My notes also include things that felt urgent and emotional during the trip, but after reflection, felt less significant—or sometimes more. One thing might seem mundane at the time, but months later proves to be pivotal. That’s part of the medicine: reminding us not to ignore our intuition. Even small thoughts like, “Should I stay in a hotel or an Airbnb?” can matter. Your gut might say Airbnb, and then you show up to find a book on the coffee table that inspires a creative project. That’s intuition. And do you know how I feel about tripping? It has been vital in both fostering and affirming how much I can and do trust myself. That’s part of [cultivating the witness].
[35:28] Natasha Lannerd:
So the intentionality is really what focuses everything—body, mind, soul. Whatever it is: why are we doing this? Let’s say my intention is to feel a greater connection to the essence beyond my human form. Okay. That’s the “why.” Then comes the “how.” How am I going to do that? I’ll set up a beautiful space at home that’s comfortable, warm, safe. I’ll dedicate the next four hours to whatever unfolds from taking the medicine. So we have the why and the how. Then the [integration] is the “what.” What came up?
[36:26] April Pride:
Okay, to repeat our trip tips: First, setting intention answers “what are we doing?” Then, the [psychedelic journey] answers “how am I going to do that?” And finally, [integration] answers “what came up?” Before signing off, Lalin and Natasha shared these final words.
[36:54] Natasha Lannerd:
The one last thing I will say to you, that I say to everyone I work with, is that in the realm of infinite possibilities, anything is possible. That magic you’re talking about—it’s real.
[37:10] April Pride:
These are words to write down, place on your altar, recite as your mantra before your trip, or use as a daily affirmation. I’m going to repeat it: in the realm of infinite possibilities, anything is possible. Magic is real. Thank you for listening to this episode of The High Guide. I’m your host, April Pride. Please tune in next week when we meet our three sister trippers as they prepare for their [psychedelic journey]. Visit our website, thehigh.guide, for more on The High Guide and show notes from this episode. Don’t forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, and give us a heart on Spotify—it helps more people find us. I’ll leave you with a 10-minute sample from The High Guide’s audio series. You’re listening to the Psychedelic Audio Journey Number Three, featured in Episode 28 and produced in partnership with Patchworks. See you on the other side.
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