🫠 Ask a Guide Anything

Welcome to Tricycle Day. We’re the psychedelics newsletter that brings a prepared vibe to the function. We got glow sticks and smudge sticks. 🔥

You've done everything right. Cleaned up your diet, journaled your purest intentions, read every back issue of Tricycle Day (we gotchu), and color-coded your pre-ceremony checklist. Gold star for you.

All the cool kids are saying preparation and integration are dealbreakers. So the more the better, right? Ehh, not so fast.

For today’s newsletter, we asked our network of licensed psilocybin facilitators: Can you over-prepare for a psychedelic journey?

Short answer: yes. But as with most psychedelic topics, it’s nuanced. Here's where they landed.

Every Friday, you read what our facilitators have to say.

The Wednesday after next, you can ask ‘em yourself. (Don’t be shy now.)

On March 18th, we're hosting a live panel with three licensed psilocybin facilitators from Oregon and Colorado. And you’re invited.

They'll walk us through what a session looks like, how they know when someone's ready (and when they're not), and the things their clients wish they'd known going in.

Think of it like a live Ask a Guide Anything issue, where you get to ask the questions in real time.

Just like the newsletter, it’s totally free.

Every facilitator agreed that preparation is non-negotiable. Clarifying your intention, building trust with your facilitator, and getting your set and setting dialed all create the conditions for a meaningful experience. But there's a tipping point. Amy Charlesworth explains it like this: “Preparation is important, but when it becomes a way to control the unknown, it can increase anxiety and create pressure to ‘do it perfectly.’”

Adam O'Neil echoes her warning. In his words, over-preparation often “inadvertently primes the parts of ourselves who just want to control outcomes.” The goal, he says, isn't to script the experience: “You don't perform a journey; you receive it.”

Francesca Loux agrees that “over-researching or mentally rehearsing can pull someone out of their body and away from emotional honesty.” In her experience, “people who arrive with very little conceptual knowledge but a genuine willingness to feel and trust the process” often go deeper than those who obsess over crossing t’s and dotting i’s.

Several facilitators said the biggest risk is getting attached to how things should go. Clayton Ickes has seen it firsthand: “People who come in having read various books and trip reports may be susceptible to expectation which obscures reality. They may devalue their own experience.”

Michelle Ertl has noticed over-preparation leads people to “seek out a particular experience” they've read about, making it harder to accept what actually shows up. And Jamie Blackburn lays out the disconnect: “The medicine often brings what is needed, not what is expected.”

On that point, Amy offers a good reminder: “Every journey is different. Reading about other people's experiences can be helpful for context, but it can also plant expectations that don't fit your path.” Clayton suggests, “it's best to do what we can to cultivate a beginner's mind. That might mean surrendering what we think we know.”

So if you can overdo it, what does good preparation look like? Char McKendrick nails the paradox: “We prepare so we can let go.” The sweet spot is handling the practical stuff (physical safety, nervous system support, etc.) so that when the moment comes, you’re willing and able to surrender.

Michelle Harrell is direct: “Trust, not control, is what allows the deepest healing to occur.” And since no one is perfect, Sara Gael offers a practical tip. If you catch yourself over-analyzing, that's a cue to “shift away from the thinking mind and toward resourcing the body.”

Terri Shelton brings us home with a memorable analogy: “Saying you can over-prepare for a psychedelic journey is like saying you can over-prepare for a rollercoaster ride. You can buckle up and take deep breaths, but the ride still does its thing.”

Cacao is an entheogen you can take daily. By itself, it gently opens the heart. For the bold, its natural MAOIs enhance psilocybin. Kokoleka’s is ethically sourced and traditionally processed for max potency.

We’ll say it. Sometimes preparation is procrastination in disguise.

Reading one more trip report, adjusting your playlist, waiting for the “perfect” time (doesn’t exist, just fyi)… these can all be clever, subconscious tactics for avoiding the deeper fear that's holding you back.

And those fears are valid. Psychedelics can rock your world.

So an underrated aspect of preparation we want to elevate now is, honesty with yourself. Specifically around the question, are you genuinely open to change?

A psychedelic experience can show you in 4K resolution the ways you've been living out of alignment with your own beliefs and values. It might ask you to let go of crutches, comforts, or even relationships you've outgrown.

Accepting that is maybe the hardest (and realest) prep work there is.

But if annotating our emails helps you relax, hey, we’re flattered.

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.