What Does a DMT Trip Feel Like

I often find myself trying to explain to others what a DMT trip is like. When I catch myself mid-sentence, I feel like I sound like a crazy person. It seems impossible to put into words that would be even remotely accurate or fully encompass what is happening. But here’s my best attempt:

Let me begin by being blunt and saying DMT is not for the casual trip experience. DMT, in my opinion, is more of a sacred doorway. It must be used in the appropriate setting. If you’re looking for something to liven up the party, go somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong, it’s enjoyable for its own reasons, but it’s best experienced on a more wholesome level, in a quiet setting with very few people or distractions.

First you have to understand there is a physical experience and what I believe is a spiritual experience. They are separate, but also happening simultaneously. Depending on your method of smoke, vape, or whatever suits you best, you’re looking at a physical experience that is several minutes long and upwards to 20 or 30 minutes if you’re lucky. The length of spiritual experience is going to rely on you and how focused or distracted you are. Your ability to understand and interpret it is all on you, but it helps to have someone available to talk too and reflect with. Not all experiences are the same, and sometimes the message doesn’t hit you until days or weeks later when you have the ‘aha’ moment while doing something completely unrelated. Most of all, be honest with yourself.

The physical part of the experience, I feel, is the barrier which most new people can’t breach without a little practice or coaching. If you’ve used psychedelics in the past, try to imagine all the waves of emotion, energy, and euphoria that you might feel over the course of a few hours and then condense it down to about a minute. I have compared it to the sudden big downhill of a roller coaster, and the sensation of almost passing out. It’s almost like a bit of an ego check before you’re allowed to proceed further. This I assure you is a normal part of the process.

You will be at the cusp of an experience, one or two hits away, when you feel the body load start to set in. The scared ego voice in your head will start to walk you back from the commitment and you will start to think you’ve already done too much. The voice in your head is telling you to wait and see how it feels before taking more. You might think you have forgotten how to breathe. It comes on fast; one second you’re questioning if it’s even working, the next second it’s hitting you all at once. My advice at this point: The experience flows like a river- You can’t fight the current and swim against it, let the current take you. This is the moment to forget any hesitation you have, and while you’re still physically present, pick up the pen/pipe and get another hit or two in before it’s time to let go of this reality. Hopefully you have done your pre-trip preparations and have a nice place to lay back with no distractions, because in my opinion this is best experienced laying back with your eyes closed. Go completely internal and forget who you are for a few minutes. Open your mind to whatever visuals you might start to see in your mind’s eye. Typically, the vision starts with a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes. Just accept whatever you see and be curious enough to explore it and look further. This is where we start to get into the spiritual part of the experience.

I’ve noticed, at least for myself, the heavy body load that comes with the onset of the experience seems to coincide with the movement of the kaleidoscope patterns. When the kaleidoscope slows or transforms into what I would consider the actual (spiritual) experience, the body load seems to subside and it’s a little easier (mentally) to focus on what I’m seeing and communicate with it. At first, it may seem too overwhelming for most people to slow their mind down or even try to communicate with the experience. It’s very easy to just lay back and enjoy the show, but I find it to be a deeper, more rewarding experience to engage with what I’m seeing. Your thoughts and energy have a lot of influence on what is presented to you, and it might surprise you and communicate back to you or show you something.

As for the spiritual part of the experience, it is probably all up to interpretation, but bring no expectations for what you want to see. As a disclaimer, I will say it is only what you allow it to be, and don’t let yourself get too carried away with your newfound spiritualism. This is where the healing and internal work is done. You may or may not experience something that goes straight to the core of who you really are. You might only see some fun colors but come out of it with a newfound perspective on your childhood, old relationship, or a broader outlook on life and existence. You might also see or experience nothing (or claim to have experienced nothing), and this is when I would start to reflect and question your intentions. That said, every one of my own experiences has been different from the next, except for a few reoccurring themes. I find it very interesting when hearing of other peoples experiences compared to my own, there are a lot of parallels with not just other people, but with religious symbolism and even near death experiences. (not to be confused with what is commonly referred to as ‘near death experience’ in regard to the psychedelic ‘ego death’). To sum up my own experiences, I’ve encountered and communicated with multiple intelligent beings that seem or feel to be separate from my own consciousness. Many of them resemble those of eastern religious deities, namely Buddhism and Hinduism, with the occasional white-guy Jesus. The vision is usually a message of love or self-improvement, and I’m always so intrigued that they seem to know me better than I do. But there are also those that are referred to as jesters or elves. These guys are pranksters, jokers, and usually have a message too but it is more tough love and humor. For myself, I try not to get too caught up in the potential religious connection. I prefer to just take the lesson or message and move forward with that. Because for all I know, I’m only dealing with my own deep subconscious mind, and not some other entity from a different dimension.