What Is Integration
What is Integration
Integration is a process in which a person is intentional in their efforts to revisit and actively engages in making sense of, working through, translating, and processing the content of their psychedelic experience.
-Cumulative Definition from Bathje, Majeski and Kudowor (2022)
Integration is to make whole, to begin again, the act of bringing together the parts of the whole. It is the journey of rooting ourselves back to earth, back into our bodies, and weaving our psychedelic or mystical experiences into our every day lives.
In short, ceremony is an experience (often a transformational one) & integration is embodying the lessons from that experience.
Integration is comprehensive. A process of weaving what is psychological, transpersonal, spiritual, emotional, physical, social, behavioral, relational, existential, and communal. A process that works with meaning, symbols, sensations, memories, experiences, emotions and so on. Plant medicine touches on ALL parts of our lives. Integrating being human, our sense of self, soul, belief system, in my relationships, the world.
Integration is ongoing. Upon leaving a psychedelic journey, we typically do not leave with all of the available insight and information that is yet to come form the experience. More will unfold in the days, weeks, even months to come. This is why it is so important to continue to pay attention to themes, thought processes, and life scenarios that continue to arise. Journaling, working with intention, and support of a guide are all helpful in continuing to be present to this unfolding.
Integration is a process of welcoming everything. “I make whole, I renew, I repair, I begin again.”
3 Pillars of Integration
Every Day Application: Taking our experience of expanded sense of consciousness and learning how to embody it and integrate it into my every day life (functional component/ practical application).
Whole Being: Meeting different versions and parts of ourselves and bringing them all back Home (truly seeing and remembering the whole healthy and integrated being we have always been).
Broader Context: Taking a very vast, spiritual experience (I left my body and experienced something I don't have words for) and creating understanding and new context around it.
Why Is Integration Important
What transpires during integration is as if not more impactful than ceremony itself.
Plant medicine is a rapid awakening of consciousness. Pharmaceuticals calm and quiet the nervous system - psychedelics and therapy provide us more access to thoughts and feelings rather than suppress them. Psychedelics open up the nervous system quickly and then therapy helps us to keep the channels of information open and make sense of what we are experiencing.
Integration includes developing and reinforcing new brain pathways called neural networks through committed and intention repetition. Psychedelics afford a greater window of opportunity to make change as opposed to before because the old pathways are dying off and therefore lessen the grip of our habits, addictions, idiosyncrasies. Think of it like a fresh blanket of snow. We have the ability to create new grooves in the brain that quite literally restructure our life.
The healing path is non-linear. Things may zig and they may zag. We have to have enough psyche flexibility to hold a decent amount of uncertainty and ambiguity. I like to imagine it is an artistic process; ebbing and flowing with the co-creation of the life, death, rebirth cycle.
Integration helps us to avoid stagnation by falling into false thinking “oh it was just a drug”
or experiencing the opposite side of the spectrum such as inflation or grandiose thinking.
A process known as rapid relapse - where one returns to maladaptive coping mechanisms and behaviors immediately after psychedelic use - is also not uncommon. Anytime there is an opening in the psyche, we have to be prepared for the backlash or the pendulum swing in order to hold opposites in balance as the psyche is always trying to return to homeostasis.
It can be difficult to go back to life as it was, particularly if we were not happy with our current circumstances. Psychedelics strips us of the ability to be in denial about what is no longer working in our lives. We may return to what feels like a more challenging path, one that tests us, highlights where we are living out of alignment, and this can be highly uncomfortable.
In addition, the people in our lives may not understand our psychedelic experince or deep seeded desire to be on this path. Weather a new comer or a long time seeker, something brought you here. If the people in your life are not feeling called to this deeper inner work, they may not understand the desire or appeal.
It is paramount to find a community in which one can cultivate safety and support. Working with psychedelics can initially be a dysregulating journey. When we connect to community, we are co-regulating our nervous systems and activating our ventral vagal system which promotes feelings of safety, well-being, and belonging. We were never meant to do this work alone. Integration allows us to express and explore the power of the human relationship together.
Integration (from Polaris KAP training) support us in:
Not chasing the (high) journey
Not forgetting the journey or insights
Not running from the shadow/challenging material
Not throwing away lessons/revelations of the journey
Living the insights of the journey in real life/real time
Ways to Continue Working with Your Psychedelic Experience
Journaling . Poetry . Artwork . Movement . Dance . Somatic release . Listening to the playlist again between sessions (without medicine) . Dreamwork and dream journals . Working with an integration specialist or psychedelic friendly therapist . Joining an integration group or share circle . Meditation and mindfulness . Nature walks . Camping and working with the fire element . Creating space . Creating ritual and altars . Diet . Forming a spiritual practice . Breathwork . Symbolic interpretation . Deepening interpersonal work . Deepening relationships
*Of note: It is important to not make any major life decisions in the first 3-6 months post psychedelic experience until more sound integration has taken place
How Do We Transfer Inspiration to Life
I will leave you with this parting reflection - What do you want to C R E A T E ?
You came here for a reason. There is a thread of curiosity pulling you towards something greater than perhaps what you have known until now. This is your life. What inspires you to be here? If you have lost contact with that, no need to fret. Most of us will lose it at some point in our lives. I call it the catalyst. The fertile ground to launch you into greatness. The dark night of the soul before expansion. You are exactly where you are supposed to be.
So. Again, I ask you. What do you want to C R E A T E ?
Marinade in this question. Connect with it. Enjoy the journey - it’s a beautiful one.
And I will see you on the other side.
Resources
Fireside Project: Call or Text 62-FIRESIDE . Open every day 11:00am - 11:00pm PST . Psychedelic support line providing emotional support during and after psychedelic experiences .
Kindred Connection offers both individual and community integration - feel free to connect to learn more - 619.432.5313 connectwithkindra@gmail.com