Macro Dose and Healing the Brain
In order to begin healing with mushrooms in higher doses, it is essential that a knowledgeable and trustworthy facilitator or therapist be present. Taking a “macro” or large dose of psilocybin without the support of a guide carries the potential for more harm than good. This is because the psychedelic experience brings forth all that is buried in the subconscious—emotions, core beliefs, and memories.
If you haven’t yet developed the internal tools and resources to navigate this terrain, and you are left to your own devices, there’s a risk of getting caught in loops of unconscious patterns that may leave you feeling fragmented or unsettled. The benefit of working with psilocybin, however, is that it can bring forth the parts of yourself that have been split off through traumatic experiences, helping to integrate them back into a sense of wholeness. With the right facilitator and supportive integration techniques, this can become a deeply healing and transformative process.
We all have a past. How we internalize the events of that past becomes stored in the “default mode network,” or higher center of the brain, as core beliefs. We also have a less complex, lower part of the brain that takes in information directly from the external world through our senses and relays it to the default mode network to be analyzed and integrated into our belief system.
In a healthy, flexible brain, we are constantly adjusting our core beliefs with new information gathered through the senses—and conversely, our beliefs shape how we interpret and respond to external stimuli. For us to experience life and connection in a healthy way, it’s vital that our beliefs evolve to align with our present-time environment.
Whatever is stored in the default mode network becomes our perception of reality. If that internal lens is one of distrust, fear, or inadequacy, we will continually recreate those experiences in the present. Most of us are unaware of the core beliefs that shape our reality, and many of them are as old as our bodies. The higher centers of the brain that hold these ingrained beliefs were formed early in development—during childhood, when we are most receptive to our surroundings. As we age, these beliefs tend to become more rigid, even as our environments change.
The potential for healing through psychedelic therapy—especially in higher or macro doses—lies in the way psilocybin stimulates neurons that connect to the parts of the brain responsible for abstract thought and self-referential processing, known as the default mode network. This is also where serotonin receptors are located.
When psilocybin stimulates these neurons, it disrupts habitual connectivity patterns and allows new neural connections to form. This frees the lower parts of the brain—those that process sensory input—to receive and integrate new information through a refreshed lens of perception. This is why, during a mushroom journey, you may experience moments of deep insight or see old patterns and ideas in a new light.
This reaction in the brain promotes neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to form new neural pathways and connections. When you look at images comparing a brain on psilocybin versus a brain at rest, you can see that under the influence of mushrooms there is far more activity and communication between regions. Stimulating these new connections and promoting plasticity is one of the mushroom’s most profound gifts to the brain.
Once the mushrooms wear off, our work begins. Integration is essential to translate these experiences into lasting healing. A wonderful way to process the often nonlinear insights from a journey is through writing, reflection, and meditation—giving structure and language to what surfaced.
Equally important is remembering that the nervous system connects the entire body, which also stores memory. Somatic practices, or body-based awareness techniques, can be powerful tools for processing and digesting the emotions that arise during and after a journey. Developing these tools helps you continue cultivating the sense of wholeness you touched during your experience—integrating that awakened awareness into everyday life.