🫠 Ask a Guide Anything

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We're the psychedelics newsletter you can read at your desk or in your garden. Just don’t skip the SPF. 🧴

Ah, the great outdoors. 

Nothing like communing with the cosmos beneath a canopy of lush foliage, as a passing breeze reminds you your thoughts—no, everything—is ephemeral. Only this moment exists.

… that is, until a wasp buzzes by your ear and spikes your cortisol like a fallen water bottle in savasana.

Hm, maybe it’s time to head in and leave the trees to their breathing.

For today’s newsletter, we asked our network of licensed psilocybin facilitators: What are the tradeoffs between journeying outdoors in nature and indoors at a center? 

They speak from experience after the jump.

There are more legal psilocybin options now than ever before.

Which is great! Until you’re trying to pick one. So before you get stuck in analysis paralysis, let us help.

Althea can personally match you to a facilitator, center, or curated experience that’s right up your alley.

You just fill out a quick form, then hop on a 30-minute call with one of our care navigators. They’ll ask about your goals, answer any questions you have, then connect you directly with one of many vetted and licensed providers in our network.

Whatever you’re bringing, there’s a facilitator for you.

First, get clear on your intention. If awe is what you seek, Nicole Ehrbar recommends tripping in nature: “Wind, moving clouds, and the feel of raw earth can soften the edges between ourselves and the world around us. Being outside is better suited to expansive work such as reconnecting to aliveness or our place in the world.”

Likewise, if the goal is to fully let go, Mikki Vogt says a little organic matter goes a long way: “Many people find it easier to surrender when surrounded by living systems that naturally embody impermanence, growth, and renewal.”

But for turning the focus back on yourself, Kate Schroeder prefers the indoors, where there are fewer distractions: “When someone no longer has to attend to the external environment, they often have greater capacity to attend to their internal experience.” 

No matter your intention, it’s critically important that you feel safe. Lora Benson explains why: “In clinical practice, the 'container' is what allows the nervous system to let go of vigilance.” You can't meet what surfaces while part of you is still on alert. 

And to be fair, nature can feel kind of threatening sometimes. Clayton Ickes lays out some of the risks of taking mushrooms in the wild, including “physical dangers like tripping and falling, getting lost, challenges in regulating temperature, and weather. There's also the chance of encountering a group of random people while you're in that open and sensitive state.”

For some folks, those wild cards are acceptable. Maybe even exciting! But Masha Steiner-Renoir suggests a predictable (i.e., indoor) setting “is especially valuable for those who are new to this work, engaging in deeper trauma processing, or participating in higher-dose experiences.”

As long as safety’s accounted for, it doesn't have to be either/or. Terry Turner offers one compromise: “Have the journey in a healing center and then arrange for formal or informal integration time in nature.” Or a self-guided approach might look like staying inside for the peak and stepping out for the comedown. 

As of today, the legal models don’t allow outdoor sessions. That said, the regulations are constantly evolving. Jamie Ware is optimistic more flexibility is coming: “Once Colorado changes its rules to allow outdoor journeys with licensed facilitators, the benefits of both can be realized together!” 

[Update: Colorado's rules technically do allow for outdoor sessions, as long as the center designates an outdoor administration area with indoor access. Few centers currently have outdoor premises in place due to zoning challenges, though more are opening.]

Wherever you end up, just make sure the person beside you is top tier. Melissa Grossman has her priorities straight: “The most important consideration for any journey is whether you have an experienced, compassionate, licensed guide, or a trip sitter with you who you trust.”

We won’t pick a side. Both indoor and outdoor journeys can be eye-opening, transformative, and healing.

(They can also both be harrowing, but that’s a topic for another newsletter.)

What we’ll add, though, is that dosage should be a major factor in this decision.

We love a hikrodose through the forest (preferably old-growth Sequoias, but we’re not picky) on a gram and a half of mushrooms. In 2-2.5 gram range, we’d rather be sheltered. 3+ and we’re 100% going horizontal underneath a fluffy duvet.

Keep in mind, everyone’s sensitivity is different, so these aren’t hard and fast rules so much as personal preferences.

We’d just hate for you to find yourself facedown in a meadow begging a squirrel for directions home.

Thanks to Marissa L. from St. Joseph, MO for submitting this week’s question. 🫠

Reply to this email to shoot your shot. If it’s a juicy one, we may select it for a future issue.

That’s all for today, Cyclists! Whenever you’re ready, here’s how we can help.

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DISCLAIMER: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. The use, possession, and distribution of psychedelic drugs are illegal in most countries and may result in criminal prosecution.