Solo Retreat Advice

[gggkkk]

I have a 9 day solo retreat coming up soon and am planning several things which I would like to get some advice/suggestions on, from more experienced people.  

Techniques

Most of the day I am only going to contemplate/journal and meditate. Maybe some self inquiry as well. 
 

PSYCHEDELICS
I am also planning to take 3.5 grams of shrooms mid-week. This will be the highest dose of mushrooms I have ever had. What would be the most optimal way to use my time on this trip? Usually when I take mushrooms I get into thought loops and this neurotic need to interpret the experience. How do you actually relax, surrender and enjoy the experience?

Water Fast

I recently have stumbled upon Leo's blog post on water fasting and watched Rich Roll's interview with Dr. Alan Goldhamer. I was thinking why not incorporate this during my retreat. I will be alone in the woods, with no distractions and the cabin doesn't even have a fridge and electricity. Seems like the perfect setting for doing it. As for why I want to do it is because I do have probably 10 pounds of extra weight(which can be lost in 10 days of water fasting) and also don't have a solid diet, which can be improved if I reset my brain. 
I know that it's not recommended to fast longer than 1-3 days without medical supervision and my only experience with fasting is 24 hours.
Should I go for it or will it be too much to combine hours of meditation fasting and psychedelics together? 
Is there any other, less intense fasting technique? I know there is one where you alternate between eating and fasting every 24 hours/every day. I am wondering if this would be even harder than a full 9 day fast. 

Any other suggestions to optimize the retreat would be appreciated.  
 

[fridjonk]

Personally, I think the water fast on top would be too much. I'd rather opt to eat one meal, 500-1000 cals per day. Psychedelics blast you so far out of your desires and attachments that I don't feel like fasting 100% would be necessary, It may just become more of a distraction. 

[Snader]

I wouldn't mix psychedelics and fasting, unless you are very experienced from both psychedelics and solo retreats and want to do experimentation. I wouldn't do fasting anyway, again unless you've done many retreats before and you really seek for relief to a disease or any other medical condition.

If this is your first hardcore retreat I would maybe go even without psychedelics, especially if you are even a bit hesitant about them. Your mind will be tested really hard and it might want to use psychedelics as a distraction. It's always wise to start from the purest form possible and add variables as you go and get experience.

What comes to making a mushroom trip pleasant, I would say it's really personal. Maybe try to come up with something that makes you the most present and cultivate that into your setting. I personally found out that when the weather is nice and sunny -- whether I'm inside our outside -- I can be more present and less occupied by thoughts. I think it basically comes down to making your mood / mental state as good as possible.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Snader

[Space]

@gggkkk So my first question is, have you done retreats before? Either group or solo? And how many days?

Don't underestimate the difficulty of doing a solo 9 day retreat in a remote cabin in the woods. Theres a reason no one does it, and also a reason why people quit their solo retreats early on. This will not be a walk in the park (excuse the pun). Or maybe you will love it - I don't know you enough.

I personally would not fast unless you have experience with solo retreats and experience with fasting. Your 9 days will be miserable, i'm telling you, if you fast.

You want to make it as easy as possible for you to stick to your schedule and do effective meditation. How you gonna do that if you hungry and thinking about food all the time? Nothing wrong with having some nice comforts, good food, snacks etc, to make the experience more enjoyable.

11 hours ago, gggkkk said:

I am also planning to take 3.5 grams of shrooms mid-week. This will be the highest dose of mushrooms I have ever had. What would be the most optimal way to use my time on this trip? Usually when I take mushrooms I get into thought loops and this neurotic need to interpret the experience. How do you actually relax, surrender and enjoy the experience?

Then why are taking mushrooms again? If you've had repeated bad experiences with it you should experiment with other substances. But the way to relax and surrender is by actually relaxing and surrendering to the experience. Intentionally reassure yourself that the trip is not going to cause you any harm and that in a few hours you'll be back to a normal state of consciousness.

[gggkkk]

4 hours ago, Space said:

So my first question is, have you done retreats before? Either group or solo? And how many days?

 

@Space Yes, I have done one solo retreat for 7 days a couple of months back and it was very successful. I did about 40-45 hours of meditation during the whole retreat, so 9 days shouldn't really be a challenge. 
 

 

4 hours ago, Space said:

I personally would not fast unless you have experience with solo retreats and experience with fasting. Your 9 days will be miserable, i'm telling you, if you fast.

You want to make it as easy as possible for you to stick to your schedule and do effective meditation. How you gonna do that if you hungry and thinking about food all the time? Nothing wrong with having some nice comforts, good food, snacks etc, to make the experience more enjoyable.

 

You are probably right, I would be thinking about food all day and get distracted to do meditation. I will need to become more experienced in fasting before undertaking a challenge like this. 

 

4 hours ago, Space said:

Then why are taking mushrooms again? If you've had repeated bad experiences with it you should experiment with other substances. But the way to relax and surrender is by actually relaxing and surrendering to the experience. Intentionally reassure yourself that the trip is not going to cause you any harm and that in a few hours you'll be back to a normal state of consciousness.

I wouldn't say they are bad, the experiences are actually amazing. The only problem is that I have a difficulty during the "surrendering moment". When the peak starts to come on (especially on higher doses) it's extremely uncomfortable to even just be in the body. 

It's easy to think "just surrender and relax" when we are sober while sipping a cup of tea, but when you are in the trip that's when shit gets real. 
I remember my 3g trip when the mushrooms wanted to take me away and I was crying and praying to an imaginary god to save me lol. Although I did manage to surrender later on. 
I should probably print some positive words/affirmations and attach them to the wall. 
 

 

[Space]

36 minutes ago, gggkkk said:

@Space Yes, I have done one solo retreat for 7 days a couple of months back and it was very successful. I did about 40-45 hours of meditation during the whole retreat, so 9 days shouldn't really be a challenge. 

You are probably right, I would be thinking about food all day and get distracted to do meditation. I will need to become more experienced in fasting before undertaking a challenge like this. 

I wouldn't say they are bad, the experiences are actually amazing. The only problem is that I have a difficulty during the "surrendering moment". When the peak starts to come on (especially on higher doses) it's extremely uncomfortable to even just be in the body. 

It's easy to think "just surrender and relax" when we are sober while sipping a cup of tea, but when you are in the trip that's when shit gets real. 
I remember my 3g trip when the mushrooms wanted to take me away and I was crying and praying to an imaginary god to save me lol. Although I did manage to surrender later on. 
I should probably print some positive words/affirmations and attach them to the wall. 

Impressive stuff! You sound like you know what you're doing. I only questioned you because most people who post about doing solo retreats haven't done them before and they find it to be much more challenging than they originally thought.

I recognise the difficulties of surrendering and relaxing on trips. I've been in some hairy situations. Some things that definitely helped me. 1) When you start feeling really lost and ungrounded, feel into your body whilst simultaneously relaxing the body and physically opening it up. I found that helps ground you in something and can move your mind out of the thought loops. And 2) Try using music during your trip. Something about surrendering yourself to the music/sounds that can help a lot. Noise cancelling headphones are great.