Mindful Preparation: Alcohol Abstinence Before Your Psychedelic Trip

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Chemical Collective or any associated parties.

Introduction

Why abstain from alcohol before a big psychedelic trip? And for how long?

These are the questions someone asked inside my conscious psychedelic explorer community recently. I weighed in with a few of my thoughts, and I wanted to share them in an article here for anyone else pondering a similar question.

Abstaining from things before psychedelic sessions is actually a pretty ancient psychedelic preparation practice. It is certainly nothing new. In many shamanic cultures, especially around ayahuasca ceremonies, there are rules around abstaining from certain foods, sex, and alcohol. This history has had an influence on many a modern psychonaut’s preparation, with many incorporating alcohol abstention as a preparation practice.

But why is that? What are the benefits? What is to be gained?

These are the questions that I am going to be answering in this blog post. I will explore them by looking at abstaining from alcohol through the lens of mental, spiritual and physical preparation. This will include its influence on mindfulness and clarity, intention setting, and as a practice of discipline for integration.

I will finish with some practical tips for abstaining to help set you up for your next session.

Mental Preparation

‘Set’ is the ‘mindset’ of psychedelic experience and includes a person’s frame of mind. Mental preparation then, seems a natural place to start.

Mindfulness and Clarity

Avoiding alcohol in the run-up to a big psychedelic experience can help with a more mindful approach. Alcohol is an intoxicant and tends to make one more hazy and less mindful. I think it’s fair to say that people are at their most mindful when they are not intoxicated.

That is why the fifth Buddhist precept is to abstain from intoxication. This means avoiding alcohol and anything that impairs mindfulness. One of its virtues is seen as mindfulness. This is because Buddhists need to have a clear and focused mind in order to reach their goal: illumination.

Psychonauts will also benefit from this state of mind before an experience. The clearer the mind before heading into deep psychedelic waters, the better. Through greater awareness, it not only helps with an easier and steadier navigation during the experience but will also bring clarity to any insights that come up, allowing them to come through more clearly. 

Focusing the Mind

Giving up habitual indulgences, like alcohol, can help to bring a level of respect and specialness to the occasion of the psychedelic experience. This can help to focus the mind on the upcoming session. By giving up something which is part of your normal routines or habitual indulgences, you signal to your mind that the upcoming psychedelic session is an important event, it is out of the ordinary. This helps to bring a sense of specialness and potentially even sacredness to the occasion. This is true not only with alcohol, but also other indulgences such as sugar or masturbation, and can also be seen and used as a mark of respect for psychedelics.

Intention Setting

During the lead-up to a psychedelic session, any urges that are felt for alcohol can be used as a reminder to reaffirm your intentions. For example, if your intention is to connect to a more kind and loving presence, then every time you notice a desire for alcohol, or a thought of ‘I would quite like to have a drink now’, you can use that as a prompt to call to mind your intention for your upcoming session. This mental action of rerouting from the urge to your intention helps to bring the intention more into your psyche. This works almost like an affirmation, helping build it into your internal voice.

This practice helps to reorient your mind towards your goals and the reasons for your upcoming psychedelic session. It supports strengthening your resolve and keeping your intention at the forefront of your mind.

You may even consider incorporating brief exercises at these moments. For example, if this case was with love, you might do a very short loving-kindness meditation when you feel a craving. Even just five seconds; bringing someone you love to mind and just sending some loving thoughts their way. Alternatively, using the urge as an impetus for action in a situation that you are in. For example: thinking ‘what is the most loving and kind thing I can do right now?’

Spiritual Preparation

Developing Mental Strength and Resilience

If you regularly or habitually drink alcohol, a period of abstention from alcohol before a psychedelic session can act as a form of mental and even spiritual training. This is especially true if one finds it difficult to do. The practice of restraint requires temperance and helps to develop mental strength and resilience. This will not only help prepare you for your psychedelic session, but also the ensuing integration process. This is because integration can bring its own challenges which may require the qualities of mental strength and resilience to navigate successfully.

This piece is worth paying attention to because a successful integration can help to solidify and maximise any benefits that have come about from the session. In this sense, cravings for booze can be used as an opportunity to develop a stoic approach.

Adopting a Stoic Approach

Cravings for booze can also be used as an opportunity to develop a stoic approach; the development of self control as a means of overcoming destructive emotions. Rather than giving in to cravings, you can consider them an opportunity to develop yourself and grow.

More positively, cravings might be used as a cue for a mindful practice like urge surfing; noticing and observing your urges like the waves of an ocean. This helps support a mindset of discipline and mindfulness, which further helps your readiness for a psychedelic experience and the challenges of integration ahead.

Abstention is an Ancient Spiritual Practice

Abstaining from alcohol for a psychedelic experience can be seen as another form of a widely used and ancient spiritual practice.

For example, the practice of giving something up for Lent is a Christian tradition linked to the 40-day period before Easter. It is about sacrifice and drawing closer to God. People abstain from enjoyable things like food, drinks, or activities to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice. It is a time for self-discipline and a reminder that true happiness comes from God and spirituality, rather than earthly pleasures. 

As mentioned earlier, the fifth Buddhist precept discourages using intoxicants because they cloud the mind and lead to carelessness. This is about maintaining clarity for the Buddhist path of enlightenment and is an ongoing practice for some Buddhists.

In Islam, alcohol is generally prohibited due to its intoxicating effects, which are seen as hindering clear judgement and prayer. This aligns with Islamic principles of self-control and living a mindful life. 

Though there are differences between the spiritual traditions, the shared theme further supports the idea of the spiritual merits of avoiding alcohol. They promote discipline, purification, cleansing, and mindfulness as key to spiritual growth.

Physical Preparation

Because alcohol has such an effect on our physical health, alcohol abstention before a psychedelic session can be a major piece of physical preparation. Avoiding alcohol improves hydration, enhances sleep quality, and supports balanced nutrient absorption, which are essential for overall well-being. It also reduces inflammation and helps to stabilise blood sugar levels which promotes a balanced mood and steady energy. Additionally, it allows the liver to function optimally, aiding in natural detoxification. These physical benefits contribute to a clearer body and mind and help to set up for a beneficial psychedelic experience.

Practical Tips for Abstaining

If you decide that you would like to abstain from alcohol for a few days, weeks, or even months before your next big psychedelic experience, here are a few practical tips on doing so. 

Set Your Timeline

Firstly, it is useful to consider how long before your psychedelic session you want to abstain from alcohol. Typically, a week or more is recommended for optimal clarity, but even a few days can make a big difference. Make your goal clear and specific. For example, if your session is on a Thursday and you want a full week before, are you going to stop on the Thursday before, or the Wednesday? Is the cut-off at midnight? Get some clarity around it and make that decision.  

When choosing your timeline, make it realistic. If you drink a lot, a whole week might be challenging enough and still provide you some benefits.

Once you have made your decision, you might like to write it down somewhere to confirm it to yourself. For example: “I will not consume alcohol for one week before my session”.

Getting Support

Sharing your plan to avoid alcohol with friends or a community that supports your decision can be very beneficial. The added accountability can provide encouragement and motivation and you might even have a specific accountability partner. 

Potential Pitfalls and How To Avoid Them

There are many common challenges that may come from abstaining from alcohol. This is especially true if you live in a country or a culture or have social groups in which alcohol is a large part. So here are a few common challenges and some strategies to overcome them.

If you face pressure from friends or social situations to drink, you might like to prepare responses to politely decline alcohol. Consider what you will drink instead. You might have a non-alcoholic beer or a soda water with lime. 

Alternatively, you can plan activities that do not involve or centre around drinking. If alcohol is a big part of your life, having other things to do to keep yourself busy can be very helpful.You might go out for an evening run, arrange to meet a friend, go to the cinema, or visit a sauna.

If you are missing the relaxant effects of alcohol, you might plan activities which give you similar benefits.

You might even like to incorporate mindfulness exercises or meditation to reinforce your intentions and maintain mental clarity. If you use alcohol to help yourself fall asleep, try to follow good sleep hygiene practices to ease the transition. 

Another common challenge can be managing the emotions that might trigger the desire to drink. For this, developing healthy coping mechanisms such as exercise, journaling or talking to a friend can be hugely helpful. You may also like to practise emotional regulation techniques like box breathing or meditation.

Final Thoughts

I hope this article has provided you with useful information and considerations for your decision on whether and how long to abstain from alcohol.

Ultimately, the decision to abstain from alcohol is personal and will vary from person to person. How much or how little you decide to abstain from alcohol is up to you. If you have never tried it before, I invite you to experiment with abstaining before your next session to see if it brings any positive effects or benefits. Preparation is key for meaningful and beneficial experiences and small adjustments like this can enhance your overall approach and the outcome of a psychedelic experience.

Whatever you decide, I wish you well in your preparations and for your experience.

Stay safe, journey well!

John Robertson | Community Blogger at Chemical Collective | mapsofthemind.com

John is one of our community bloggers here at Chemical Collective. If you’re interested in joining our blogging team and getting paid to write about subjects you’re passionate about, please reach out to David via email at blog@chemical-collective.com