Daniel123

Registered because of your post after lurking for some time. Hello everyone!

I like Vipassana retreats, because they are free to attend, you get food cooked for you and you can focus fully on meditation. Also, centers are all over the world, so mostly easy to reach. If you resonate with the technique, the strict timetable and the long sitting, I find it is also a good 'reset' if you were out of spiritual practises for a while. Here is the Website if you need more info

First some context: I am 31 years old and have been interested in meditation, self-observation and self-development since I was 20 years old. Today, I experimented with psychedelics for the first time, marking the beginning of a wonderful journey. I had wanted to try psychedelics for some time but was always a bit deterred, mainly due to legal concerns/sourcing issues. Recently, I found out that some LSD variants are legal where I live, so I decided to try 1D-LSD. I'm a fairly cautious person, especially when trying chemicals, so I thought 70 ug would be a good starting point, especially since I'll be doing this alone. I decided to trip on a Saturday, had no plans for the rest of the weekend, and had taken care of my responsibilities for the week. After waking up and showering, I took the tablets and went for a walk outside until the effects kicked in. It took about 20 minutes for me to start feeling the initial effects and 60 minutes to reach the peak. During the comeup, I felt some nausea and a little headache, but I was prepared for that. Upon returning home, I noticed visual changes; patterns in the carpet were moving and flowing into each other. It felt familiar to me; I had similar experiences in the past when I used to meditate more regularly and frequently than I do now. I sat on my meditation cushion and was amazed at how quickly and effortlessly I reached beyond my thoughts to the sense of "I", which sometimes is difficult for me. I could literally watch the sense of myself oscillate between small and human to impersonal and expanded. This, too, felt familiar, as I have been practicing self-inquiry for some time. After meditation, I had breakfast, and while eating, I burst into laughter without any apparent reason or funny thoughts. It just felt right to laugh, and it had to come out. Then I walked through my room, letting my gaze wander over the walls. I noticed details I had never seen before. In one part of the room, I have a picture of my brother who passed away a year and a half ago. I believe I have processed his death well. However, I sat in front of the picture and burst into tears. I cried for several minutes, convulsively, as if I hadn't cried in years. But I wasn't sad; over time, I cried out of gratitude. I was so grateful for the people who accompanied my brother and my family. After that, I felt lighter than I had in a long time. Slowly, I realized that the drug was wearing off, and I decided to take another walk in nature. The colors were still more vibrant than usual, but barely noticeable. I felt a great inner peace and thought to myself: It is possible to live like this every day. So connected to life. And yet, sometimes I am too lazy to do the groundwork for it. All in all, it was a very mild trip but it showed me the potential psychedelics have. I am looking forward to experimenting with higher doses in the future. Edit on the day after: I had trouble falling asleep, so I felt a bit groggy the day after. I don't know if it was just because of the lack of proper sleep or maybe some lingering effects of the drug. In my meditation session today, I was able to go more easily into my self-inquiry than usual, although not as easily as yesterday. Will be very interesting how long some of the effects will linger.