What is integration for you?

[blig-blug]

Often, I read the advice to "integrate a (psychedelic) experience", particularly after strong ones. I understand in abstract, general terms what integration is: the point is that the lessons and perspectives seen in the experience should find their way into your daily life and your brain should be given enough time to process it. However, in practical terms, other than waiting and keeping up with one's spiritual practices or reflection, what does it entail for you?

I know different people will have different approaches to it, so it would be good if everyone could share their perspective and practices. It would be good to keep it in the concrete instead of more abstract ideas such as whether the lessons in psychedelic experiences come from oneself or from the outside.

 

[northape]

I'm not a big integration guy, or I simply misunderstand the term.
People do journals and actively try to remember / reflect on their experiences.
For me, any relevant insight stays on my mind for a while. It ferments by itself and presents a new outlook on life.
It's up to me to live it or go back to my old ways. I did a journal for a while and then erased it after one ceremony…
If something truly resonates with your Heart, then it stays by itself. I don't see myself as an active participant in this process.

I'd say stay present in your ceremonies and everyday life. It's not even about meditation or anything.
Just be with yourself, be honest and open to new possibilities. Never create a fixed state, it's going to be painful to part ways with it later on.

At this point, my ceremonies are a part of life's flow. They are just as magical as any other experience.
Should I integrate my everyday life? Maybe, but reflections come by themselves once again.
To intentionally start a healing process and go all the way leads to integration. It becomes a natural part of healing.
Drop your resistance and be open to change, that's all it takes.

 

[Voidmatrix]

-Doing things to bring back content of a trip: journaling, art, reflection, studiously so.
-Figuring out what to with what may have been brought back: making changes, shifting mindset, shifting environment, etc.
-Coming back to baseline: reintegrating back into "consensus" reality, balancing the nervous system, notice any new augmentations.
-Real life application: putting it all together in a way that aligns with the day to day.

To share very simply.

One love

Edit: I'll answer for myself personally in a little bit.

 

[doubledog]

I don't believe that after few hours of acute experience full package is delivered and to be processed.

I believe that psychedelic experience is like sowing a seed into a soil.
You can not do much to bring the seed to sprout, except to prepare right conditions (it do it by itself), but you can very easily stop or harm the process.
So, basically I just wait prepared till the right moment come and try to not interfere with it.

After each of my trip, there is some moment, sometimes days, sometimes weeks or even months after, when I have to be awake or present to finally learn the lesson. Only after this moment my trip is completed.

 

[yatyas314]

For me its like a compounding effect, integration is a dynamic, compounding process, like interest accruing over time. Each psychedelic experience reveals new insights, which I capture in journals and video logs, distilling them into concise reflections. Before embarking on another journey, I revisit these entries to stay grounded and add fresh notes, weaving in life’s ever-shifting stressors and emotions. Like an evolving Rubik’s Cube. While I focus on what feels urgent, the experience delivers what I need, not always what I expect. Integration becomes a continuous thread, each lesson building on the last, endlessly shaping my growth with no clear endpoint. I don't think there is a right or wrong way its really up to you and what you want to get out of these things.
Y

 

[blig-blug]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way its really up to you and what you want to get out of these things.

That's for sure. But it's always interesting to see how other people approach it. For example, I found interesting that @Voidmatrix uses art for integration, I had never connected the two.

 

[Tripolation]

Integration goes hand and hand with intention. I concentrate on what I am trying to achieve. I focus on that intention throughout any given experience and look for truths, insights, things that made me feel good as compared to what was difficult. I find I learn much more when it is difficult, some experiences feel so good there is little need for any integration at all, other than basking in the after glow and giving gratitude for that. The difficulties I experience in this world are what I need to work on and those are the things that need integration.

I used psychedelics for their healing properties. My intention was healing and the integration required looking for healing properties or information in the experience. Not every trip was happy go lucky sunshine and rainbows. Many were very hard for me emotionally and mentally. Some of those emotional experiences I had to sit with for quite some time if I am being completely honest here. In some cases there was a "AHA" moment right away, so it very much varies, as some lessons are harder to learn than others. I have had to integrate some information for years and others days.

I would agree with Northape that much of the experiences kind of seep into your life and integrate themselves. I like this go with the flow approach and sometimes that it the best medicine. Sometimes it is good just to let things run their course naturally and just get out of your own way in some ways. Over focusing can also make us overlook, concentrating so much on something that you change it or miss something. Many experiences with DMT are ineffable and its hard to integrate anything. I allow the emotions, whatever they may be, to wash over me and feel them fully and then let go.

I would say that integration is something that is hard to put your finger on exactly. When does something click? When do we get that information we need and how did we receive that information? Some of me feels like the universe listening, it listens and responds to intentional energy and it listens and responds to your integrational energy. It sends you on the kind of trip that you need and gives it to you in a way that you cannot argue with once it clicks. I have discovered much about my self and this world using these substances with the foremost intention of improving myself and the world around me. I have completely turned my life around because I was able to pay attention and integrate what I needed to enable to be more happy, content and not adding to the troubles of the world.