What is the purpose of a truffle ceremony?
Let's start by explaining that the purpose of someone's psychedelic use plays a significant role in the effects of the trip. For example, a low dose of magic mushrooms or truffles can be used as a party drug. The same applies to LSD, MDMA, and several other synthetic variants. For most people, the combination of psychedelics and partying won't be considered therapeutic, although for some it can have a positive effect on their mindset.
When psychedelics are used as a tool in a therapeutic setting, such as a truffle ceremony or truffle therapy, the health benefits are often greater than in a party setting. Therefore, the purpose of use plays a role in the outcome.
Changes play a key role
Besides the physical positive effects of psychedelics, which we'll explain further below, healthy changes play a significant role. Psychedelics like psilocybin allow us to create new (brain) connections, and this is often linked to new insights. These new connections can help us think differently and learn new patterns. If these new patterns are healthier, we benefit from improved physical and mental health. So always try to explore which healthy changes can help you further.
More BDNF from psychedelics
Because psychedelics like psilocin (from truffles) stimulate the 5-HT2A receptor, BDNF is released. When the body releases more BDNF, it flips a switch on a series of genes that grow brand-new brain cells, nerve cells, and a number of connections. Even higher levels of BDNF help you learn faster, remember better, age more slowly, and your brain quickly rearranges its connections with different parts of the brain and body.
BDNF also increases your brain's plasticity. When your brain cells are damaged or encounter a stressful situation, BDNF protects them and helps them bounce back stronger. The neural pathways become more flexible instead of broken down, which could explain why higher BDNF levels are associated with fighting off depression.
Lower activity of the DMN
The Default Mode Network (DMN) encompasses areas of the cortex normally active during rest and is involved in event recall, social and emotional judgment, and future planning. Reducing DMN activity leads to a loss of sense of time and a greater focus on the here and now. This means that worries and fears about the future disappear.
Lower DMN activity therefore leads to lower stress levels and therefore lower cortisol. Low cortisol allows the body to utilize its self-healing abilities, helping to combat illness and inflammation. Thanks to reduced inflammation levels, more serotonin is released, which in turn triggers the release of BDNF, while also reducing anxiety and depression.
Read more about being in the now
Less ego
Psychedelics in higher doses cause the ego to become depressed. The ego generally craves feeding on ever-increasing, often unhealthy, things. The ego makes us restless and anxious, as self-preservation is its primary goal. Without it, we won't survive, but an overactive ego leads to separation, loneliness, and addiction.
Less ego means more connectedness, less depression, more serotonin, more BDNF, more healthy choices, less stress, and less DMN activity.
Pent-up emotions
It often happens that during a psilocybin During a session, emotions surface that have been blocked for a long time. Releasing this "old pain" releases emotional blockages and sometimes even psychosomatic complaints. It can sometimes feel liberating to feel everything that needs to be felt, uninhibited.
Exposure therapy
In some cases, such as PTSD, exposure therapy can be combined with a lower dose of psychedelics. The psychedelics biochemically induce a state of contentment, less sadness, and less anxiety. This state of mind, combined with recounting and reliving the trauma, can help shift the emotional connection to the trauma to something less anxiety-provoking.
Even better results
In trip therapy, we look beyond just the health benefits of psychedelics. Applying these insights to healthy changes offers a long-term solution. Proper preparation, focusing on health and healthy changes, leads to better results. Even improved health contributes to a more effective psychedelic session, so it's helpful to balance the brain's neurotransmitters beforehand. The trip therapy intake includes a questionnaire that allows us to advise you and help you get the most out of the session.