Finding Harmony: How Psychedelics Might Deepen Your Meditation Journey

For many people seeking inner peace, personal growth, or simply a way to quiet the everyday mental chatter, meditation is a well-trodden path. It’s a practice that has been around for thousands of years, helping individuals connect with themselves and the present moment. More recently, there's been a surge of interest in psychedelic substances, not for recreation, but for their potential to help with mental health challenges and expand consciousness when used in carefully guided settings. If you're someone who is curious about psychedelic psychotherapy but perhaps a little unsure, you might be interested to learn that scientists are now exploring a fascinating connection: how these ancient mind-altering substances might actually enhance or benefit a regular meditation practice. It's a topic that might seem surprising at first. After all, meditation often emphasizes quiet focus and inner stillness, while psychedelic experiences can be vivid and intense. However, researchers are finding that there could be some real synergies between the two. This article will explore what the science says about this connection, aiming to provide clear, understandable information for those who are exploring these ideas with an open yet cautious mind.

Understanding the Tools: Meditation and Psychedelics

Before we dive into how they might work together, let's briefly touch upon what meditation and psychedelics are, in simple terms. Meditation: Think of meditation as a kind of training for your mind. There are many types, but a common one is mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment—your breath, sounds around you, sensations in your body, or even your thoughts and feelings—without judging them. The goal isn't to stop thinking, but to become more aware of your thoughts and not get carried away by them. Over time, meditation can help reduce stress, improve focus, and foster a sense of calm and self-awareness. Psychedelics: These are substances that can cause profound changes in perception, mood, and thought. Common examples include psilocybin (from "magic mushrooms"), LSD, and DMT. When used in a therapeutic context (psychedelic-assisted therapy), these are administered in a controlled, supportive environment with guidance from trained professionals. They are being studied for their potential to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD, often by helping people gain new perspectives on their experiences and emotions.

What Does the Research Say About Combining Them?

Scientists have become increasingly interested in how these two powerful tools for the mind might work together. A key study published in the journal PLOS ONE in 2025 by Jiwani and colleagues explored this very question. They surveyed 863 people who meditated regularly (at least three times a week) and had also used psychedelics. The big takeaway? A whopping 73.5% of these meditators felt that their psychedelic experiences had a positive influence on the quality of their meditation practice (Jiwani et al., 2025).This wasn't just a general feeling; the researchers used sophisticated methods, including machine learning, to dig deeper into why some people felt this benefit more strongly. They found a few key factors that seemed to be important:

1. Regularity and Intention: People who used psychedelics more regularly and, crucially, who set intentions for their psychedelic experiences were more likely to report benefits to their meditation. This suggests that approaching psychedelic use thoughtfully, as a practice in itself, might be key (Jiwani et al., 2025; Marijuana Moment, 2025).
2. Personality Matters (A Little): Having an "agreeable" personality was also linked to perceiving benefits. Agreeableness is a personality trait characterized by being cooperative, kind, and considerate (Jiwani et al., 2025).
3. The DMT Connection: Interestingly, those who had experience with N,N-DMT (a potent, short-acting psychedelic) were also more likely to report positive effects on their meditation (Jiwani et al., 2025; Marijuana Moment, 2025).

It's important to note that this study didn't ask if people were meditating while on psychedelics. Instead, it focused on how past psychedelic experiences influenced their ongoing, regular meditation practice (Marijuana Moment, 2025).

How Might Psychedelics Enhance Meditation?

So, what are the potential ways that a psychedelic experience could deepen or improve meditation? Researchers Holas and Kamińska (2023) reviewed this topic and highlighted several potential synergies:

• Breaking Down Barriers: For beginners, meditation can sometimes feel difficult. The mind wanders, it’s hard to sit still, or it feels like nothing is happening. Psychedelics, by temporarily altering usual thought patterns and creating a unique mental state, might make it easier to engage with meditation. They can sometimes help to quiet the

"inner critic" or the usual mental loops that can make meditation challenging (Holas & Kamińska, 2023).

• Deepening Self-Awareness and Emotional Regulation: Both meditation and psychedelics can help people become more aware of their inner world—their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Psychedelic experiences can sometimes bring emotions or memories to the surface in a powerful way. If a person has a regular meditation practice, they might be better equipped to navigate these intense experiences with a sense of non-judgmental awareness. In turn, the insights gained during a psychedelic journey could provide rich material for reflection during subsequent meditation sessions, potentially leading to deeper self-understanding and emotional healing (Holas & Kamińska, 2023).
• Shifting Perspective (Decentering): A key benefit of mindfulness meditation is learning to "decenter" from thoughts and feelings. This means recognizing that your thoughts are just thoughts, not necessarily facts, and that your feelings are temporary states, not your entire identity. Psychedelic experiences, particularly those involving "ego dissolution" (a temporary sense of losing one’s usual self-identity), can also profoundly shift perspective. This might make it easier to adopt that decentered view in meditation, observing experiences without getting caught up in them (Holas & Kamińska, 2023).
• Enhancing Mystical Experiences and Connectedness: Many people report that both deep meditation and psychedelic experiences can lead to feelings of awe, wonder, interconnectedness with others or nature, and a sense of profound meaning—often termed mystical experiences. Psychedelics might make these kinds of experiences more accessible or intense, and a meditation practice could help integrate these profound feelings into daily life, making them more lasting and meaningful (Holas & Kamińska, 2023).
• Shared Brain Effects: Interestingly, scientists are finding that meditation and psychedelics might affect the brain in some similar ways. For example, both have been linked to changes in the Default Mode Network (DMN). The DMN is a network of brain regions that is active when we are mind-wandering, ruminating, or thinking about ourselves. Overactivity in the DMN has been linked to conditions like depression. Both meditation and psychedelics appear to be able to decrease DMN activity, which might be one reason they can help reduce rumination and promote a sense of presence (Holas & Kamińska, 2023).

Important Considerations for the Curious but Cautious

While the potential synergies are exciting, it’s vital to approach this topic with caution and awareness, especially if you are new to either practice or are considering psychedelic psychotherapy.

• Not a Shortcut: Psychedelics are not a shortcut to the benefits of meditation. A consistent meditation practice builds skills and resilience over time. Psychedelics might offer a different kind of insight or experience, but they don’t replace the ongoing work of meditative training.
• Safety and Guidance are Paramount: Psychedelic experiences can be intense and unpredictable. They should only be undertaken in safe, supportive settings, ideally with guidance from trained professionals, especially if being used for therapeutic purposes. Combining them with meditation without proper understanding and preparation could be overwhelming or even psychologically risky.
• Individual Experiences Vary Greatly: Just as with meditation, how someone experiences psychedelics is highly personal. What one person finds beneficial, another might find challenging or unhelpful. The research by Jiwani et al. (2025) highlights that factors like personality and intention play a role.
• More Research is Needed: While the current findings are promising, this is still an emerging area of research. The Jiwani et al. (2025) study, for example, relied on self-reports and couldn’t establish cause and effect. More rigorous studies, including randomized controlled trials, are needed to fully understand the benefits and risks (Jiwani et al., 2025).

What Could This Mean for You?

If you are someone who meditates and is also curious about the potential of psychedelic psychotherapy, this research might offer some interesting food for thought. It suggests that these two paths, while distinct, might not be entirely separate and could even complement each other. For those uncertain about psychedelic therapy, understanding that it is being explored in conjunction with established wellness practices like meditation might make it seem less alien or more grounded. It highlights that the goal of much psychedelic research is not just about the acute experience, but about fostering lasting positive changes in well-being, perspective, and self-awareness—goals that are very much aligned with those of meditation. If you are considering exploring psychedelic therapy, having an established meditation practice might be a valuable tool to help you prepare for, navigate, and integrate the experience. And if you are a regular meditator, understanding how psychedelic experiences have influenced others might open up new ways of thinking about your own practice, even if you choose not to explore psychedelics yourself. The key, as with all explorations of the mind and consciousness, is to proceed with curiosity, caution, respect, and a commitment to learning from reliable sources and, where appropriate, qualified professionals.

Disclaimer: Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy has not been approved by any regulatory agencies in the United States, and the safety and efficacy are still not formally established at the time of this writing.

References

Holas, P., & Kamińska, J. (2023). Mindfulness meditation and psychedelics: potential synergies and commonalities. Pharmacological Reports, 75(6), 1398–1409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43440-023-00551-8

Jiwani, Z., Goldberg, S. B., Stroud, J., Young, J., Curtin, J., Dunne, J. D., Simonsson, O., Webb, C. A., Carhart-Harris, R., & Schlosser, M. (2025). Can psychedelic use benefit meditation practice? Examining individual, psychedelic, and meditation-related factors. PLOS ONE, 20(2), e0310160. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0310160

Marijuana Moment. (2025, March 13). Psychedelics Have A ‘Positive Influence’ On Meditation Practice, New Study Shows. Retrieved May 14, 2025, from https://www.marijuanamoment.net/psychedelics-have-a-positive-influence-on-meditation-practice-new-study-shows/