Common integration practices include conversations after a psychedelic session that help patients recall, discuss, and understand the experience.
However, the use of mindfulness practice for integration does not need to be confined to after a session, but may be helpful at all stages of psychedelic-assisted therapy: before, during and afterwards.
PRE-SESSION BENEFITS
- it can buffer against anxiety and loss of cognitive control during the experience.
- In the case of more difficult experiences, meditators are better prepared to confront difficult thoughts, memories, and emotions: consistent mindfulness meditation allows people to adopt a mindful and relaxed attitude toward emerging cognitive and emotional content.
IN-SESSION BENEFITS
acutely bringing awareness to and slowing down the breath may increase relaxation and comfort and reduce feelings of anxiety. In fact, relaxation practices and inwardly directed attention are meditative elements that are already incorporated in psilocybin-assisted therapy trials.
POST-SESSION BENEFITS
After a psychedelic experience, the effects of mindfulness practice may help patients sustain treatment outcomes in the long-term.
Psychedelics can alter the content of a person’s thoughts and destabilize negative belief systems.
However, if a patient does not develop new healthy belief systems after the session, they are more likely to relapse eventually. Engaging in a continuous practice of non-judgmental awareness may make negative beliefs and thought patterns less compulsive. It may also ensure continuous, healthy mental strategies for coping with unhealthy thoughts.
In conclusion, mindfulness practice and psychedelic-assisted therapy make a symbiotic match.
In conclusion, mindfulness practice and psychedelic-assisted therapy make a symbiotic match. They have complementary effects on the psychological and biological deficiencies associated with depression and may be stronger together than either alone. They also benefit each other: psychedelic experiences can deepen one’s meditation practice, and meditation can prepare people for getting the most out of psychedelic experiences.