Dive into the transformative processes of surrender and letting go during psychedelic experiences, and learn how these active engagements require courage and trust to release the burdens of power and control. Emphasizing the importance of the present moment, the article discusses overcoming fear-based resistance and fostering personal growth through trauma-informed approaches and mindfulness preparation.
This article provides an in-depth exploration of how surrendering and letting go function as transformative processes within psychedelic experiences. It begins by explaining that while these actions might appear passive, they are in fact active engagements requiring courage, trust, and presence.
The significance of understanding these concepts is highlighted, particularly within the realm of psychedelic therapy, where surrendering is often seen as key to transformation. It also stresses the importance of trauma-informed care, emphasizing that language around surrender should foster compassion and understanding rather than evoke self-blame or inadequacy.
We discuss the root of resistance, attributing it largely to fear—both mental and physical, noting that our conditioned desire to control is a defense mechanism against fear of the unknown, and how a trusted facilitator can help individuals navigate these fears during psychedelic journeys.
By engaging altered states of consciousness, psychedelics offer opportunities to challenge entrenched narratives and open pathways to reclaim personal power. Furthermore, it underscores the role of preparation, suggesting mindfulness and safety practices as critical for effectively navigating these experiences.
Additionally, the article answers a community member’s question about the differences between ketamine therapy and psilocybin macrodosing, noting how these substances impact the brain differently and highlighting anecdotal experiences and research evidence supporting their therapeutic benefits.
This article is inspired by our insightful podcast episode hosted by Psychedelic Passage co-founder, Jimmy Nguyen, which you can listen to on all streaming platforms.
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Key Takeaways
- Active Process of Surrender: Surrendering and letting go during a psychedelic experience are active processes that require courage and trust, allowing individuals to relinquish unnecessary control and fully immerse in the transformative journey.
- Trauma-Informed Approach: Employing trauma-informed language and creating a safe environment are essential in psychedelic therapy, helping individuals navigate the complexities of surrender without feelings of blame or inadequacy
- Power of Present Moment: Embracing the present moment is crucial, as it enables individuals to let go of the need for control and engage authentically with their psychedelic experience, fostering personal growth and healing.
- Psychedelic Passage: Your Psychedelic Concierge — The easy, legal way to find trustworthy psilocybin guides, facilitators and psychedelic-assisted therapy near you in the United States.
Today’s topic, the idea of “letting go”, is probably the second most popular intention after “getting unstuck” when seeking a change with psychedelics.
You might not know it’s what you need until you right smack in the middle of a deeply therapeutic psilocybin journey, or maybe you’re already aware that you have a problem with control, and are tired of constantly needing to be “in charge”.
What Does it Really Mean to “Surrender” and “Let Go”?
At first glance, surrendering and letting go might seem like passive acts, but they are deeply active processes requiring courage, trust, and presence.
Typically, people associate surrendering with losing to an opponent or relinquishing your rights to an enemy, but that’s not the case when we’re talking about psychedelic experiences.
Hearing the word “surrender” probably makes your ego perk up, crawling out of the shadows of your mind worried it’s being challenged. Well that might be true, but in this case, you’re the one challenging your own ego.
You are not forfeiting anything except unnecessary control over something that is so much more fulfilling when you are able to relinquish your active part in it and just observe.
Surrendering involves a conscious decision to accept the unfolding of experiences, whether comforting or challenging.
It thrives on trust—trust in yourself, the process, and the insights that emerge. This acceptance allows for a fuller immersion into the psychedelic journey, where healing and transformation take root.
Letting go, on the other hand, involves releasing the emotional and psychological burdens of past traumas and narratives that no longer serve us.
It’s about permission—granting yourself the freedom to set down the baggage you’ve been carrying, even if temporarily. This act creates internal space, making room for new ways of thinking and feeling.
It’s crucial to note that while understanding surrender on a conceptual level is useful, it’s equally important to know what surrender really feels like, which can be very individual, varying from person to person.
This internal feeling of deep surrender, like many meaningful life events, sometimes needs to be experienced in order to be fully understood, and can’t always be put into words.
Generally speaking though, we often don’t even know how much we’re hanging on to until we let it all go, so the experience of surrender can occur beyond our conceptual understandings, permeating into our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies.
While this sacred process of letting go is beyond words, we can still explain aspects of this process, why it arises, and how to surrender to a psychedelic experience.
So, what do we mean by an active process? In the context of psychedelics, surrendering isn’t a one-time decision.
It’s a continuous process where we repeatedly let go of our old beliefs of “this is how it’s supposed to be” and instead observe from an objective perspective of “this is how it is”.
Imagine you’re witnessing your experience for what it is in the moment, and continuously grounding, centering, and allowing. This is what surrendering can look like; a set of continual choices to simply allow and accept the experience as is, releasing resistance.
Navigating Trauma-Informed Language in the Psychedelic Experience
In the realm of psychedelic therapy, the concept of surrendering often takes center stage, heralded as a crucial component of the transformative journey.
However, it’s imperative to recognize that the language surrounding surrender can carry unintended consequences, particularly for individuals with a history of trauma or complex psychological dynamics.
For some clients, the notion of surrendering can evoke feelings of inadequacy or self-blame, as if they are somehow responsible for the outcome of the psychedelic experience.
The implicit message that “they” didn’t surrender, and therefore, it was “their fault” that the medicine didn’t work, can be deeply triggering and retraumatizing.
This perspective fails to acknowledge the intricate web of survival and coping strategies that individuals have developed throughout their lives to navigate adversity and protect themselves from harm.
A trauma-informed approach to psychedelic therapy calls for a reevaluation of language and framing surrounding surrender.
Instead of placing the onus solely on the individual to surrender, it recognizes the complex interplay of past experiences, neurobiological responses, and present-moment dynamics that shape one’s readiness to engage with the psychedelic experience fully.
Trauma-informed language invites a shift from judgment and blame to compassion and understanding, acknowledging that the journey towards surrender may be hindered by deeply ingrained patterns of self-protection and survival.
Furthermore, trauma-informed language emphasizes the importance of creating a safe and supportive environment that allows individuals to gradually let go of their defensive mechanisms and drop into the experience authentically.
It acknowledges that healing takes time and that the process of cultivating a felt sense of safety is essential for individuals to open themselves fully to the transformative potential of the psychedelic experience.
In essence, trauma-informed language invites us to approach the concept of surrender with humility, recognizing the complexity of each individual’s journey and honoring the resilience that has sustained them thus far.
By fostering an atmosphere of trust, empathy, and unconditional acceptance, we create the conditions necessary for individuals to explore the depths of their psyche with courage and authenticity, free from the burden of self-blame or judgment.
Why Do We Resist in The First Place?
When figuring out how to surrender, let go and put our hands up on this psychedelic ride, it’s important to discuss why most, if not all of us, are so often met with resistance. Generally speaking, most of our resistance can be traced back to fear.
Fear in The Mental Sphere
During a psychedelic journey, a fear can emerge that things are not ‘as they should be’, so we often try to control them in an attempt to relinquish this fear. Many of us have an idea in our minds of what our journey is supposed to look like.
Whether it be experiencing oneness or seeing kaleidoscopic colors, our subconscious minds have a framework for how a psychedelic trip is meant to be.
In reality, what actually happens during a journey rarely lines up with our expectations and creates internal friction from the desire to steer the experience in a way so that it will align with our mental image.
Even when we try to relinquish expectations in preparation for a psychedelic trip, we find that our trips didn’t ‘go as expected’, revealing that there were expectations in place that we didn’t even realize we had to begin with.
Many of us can be so focused on the outcome and on what’s happening after the journey. If you are very fearful of the experience, how it’s going to go, and whether it’s going to work or not, this can build up a lot of resistance in your body.
We have been conditioned to try to control things, judge things, and change things, often out of this fear. But in order to truly feel that surrender, we must let go of this conditioning, and welcome in radical acceptance of the experience as it is in that moment.
There are layers to this conditioning, as it’s not just how we feel about what we’re witnessing, and whether it’s overwhelming, but it’s also the stories and emotions we associated with that state.
Due to the way we have been domesticated by our society and individual upbringing, there can be a lot of unraveling of how things ‘should’ be, which tends to get in the way of us just being there in the moment and sitting with whatever is going on for us.
It can be a tough, yet pivotal, pill to swallow that we in our human lifetimes really don’t know how things ultimately ‘should’ be. Even when we think we know, and try to manipulate things, the idea of being in any real control of external situations is merely an illusion.
This desire to control traces back to a primal feeling of fear, fear of the unknown, fear that we aren’t in some way ‘safe’ to be with what is.
This is where having a trusted facilitator can really help in your ability to fully surrender and let go, as they act as a metaphorical safety net for you as you dive into the unknown.
Fear in The Physical Realm
Our bodies are incredibly intelligent physiological beings of nature, and are here to survive in this reality. In many ways, when our bodies turn on our survival mechanisms and we feel fear, this is an attempt to keep us safe.
For example, when we see a snake on the ground, without thinking we most likely will jump back or freeze, out of an innate survival response.
While these evolutionary systems in place are useful when there’s an actual threat, they can also be dysfunctional, like when that snake is actually just a rope.
Just as this fearful act of self-preservation isn’t truly necessary in the case where a snake’s just a rope, these mechanisms are often falsely ignited during a psychedelic experience as well, as we experience the fear of the unknown, unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable.
Our instincts and nervous system responses, while designed to benefit us, can actually hinder the true and fully immersive navigation of a psychedelic experience. These responses are beyond the thinking mind, making it a challenge to try and negotiate with them.
Even when we logically know we are safe, if we witness something we’ve never experienced before, something unusual, our defense mechanisms naturally go up.
If one is aware enough to recognize that this is happening, it can be helpful to return to one’s center and continuously choose to surrender again.
In both the mental and physical realms of our being, if fear is present, it can be nearly impossible to surrender fully. In order to relinquish this fear, so that we can allow the journey to unfold, we first have to trust.
The Role of Psychedelics in Facilitating Surrender and Letting Go
Altered states of consciousness are fantastic perpetuators of change, offering a different perspective from the thought patterns that have been carved into the brain from repetition and reinforcement.
The biggest and best changes are often the hardest to enact, and may have to be revisited multiple times.
“In my own psychedelic experiences, I’ve had to continually revisit different facets and areas, like I had thought I’d put that thing to rest, right? And then here it comes creeping up again in a psychedelic experience. And it’s a note to me, it’s like, ‘there’s actually more work to happen here.’ So then I know to lean into my surrender.”
Having a psychedelic experience also offers the opportunity to feel a lived experience. We can talk and talk about wanting a change, but it takes a tangible experience to be able to enact the changes you wish to make, or to realize what changes should be made.
The juxtaposition of power and control often emerges through narratives and stories that define our lives. Recognizing these thought patterns as constructs that can be altered or released is crucial.
Psychedelics can facilitate this process through the altered states of consciousness that they cause. In revealing the fluidity of our perceptions and the potential for change, paired with their tendency to promote neuroplasticity, it’s almost the perfect storm.
Power and Control: The Hidden Counterpart to Surrender
Now let’s circle back to the concepts of power and control, ones that go hand in hand with discussions on surrender and letting go. Often, past traumas and narratives hold significant power over our lives, shaping our responses and dictating our emotional landscapes.
The disruption of the entrenched thought patterns brought on by psychedelics allows individuals to perceive their stories differently, opening pathways towards reclaiming personal power.
“Any time that you are wanting to confront things that have held some type of a grip on your life, you’re likely also coming across different elements of power and control where people often kind of describe it as, ‘Man, I wish I could be freed. I wish I could let go of this thing, but no matter how much I try to let go, I’m still attached to it or connected to it, or it’s still having some type of an effect on my life.’
That’s totally normal. You are a human who is trying to not only survive, but trying to cope and not only cope, but maybe trying to live a fulfilling life in accordance with your principles and values and perspective, right?”
Here we call upon our cofounder, Jimmy Nguyen, who shared a formula with us that he learned from an IPEC coach: Event + Response = Outcome.
Now, we don’t really have any control over the event, the only variable here is our response to the event, which then controls the outcome.
Realizing the immense power you hold over your response, choosing to surrender should be an empowering, active decision.
Embracing the Present Moment
Crucially, surrendering and letting go occur in the present moment. Engaging fully in the here and now is vital for navigating psychedelic journeys.
The mind is a powerful tool in itself, with the narratives in our minds able to dictate our lives, convincing us into and out of a lot of things.
It’s surprising how much of our own sovereignty we tend to give up as we let these narratives control our lives for years and years.
The longer we operate in a certain way, the more normal it feels, and the less we’re able to step outside of it and see it objectively or get a fresh perspective.
This is where the present moment comes into play. Oftentimes, in altered states of consciousness we are able to process information differently and begin to connect the dots of our own healing journey.
As the mind tends to ruminate on past regrets or future anxieties, grounding oneself in the present also helps foster acceptance and the courage to engage with the experiences.
Surrendering to the present moment can mean leaning into the experience when you’re uncomfortable, scared, or overwhelmed. It can mean remaining fully immersed in the experience even if it’s confusing and you aren’t sure where it’s going or how it applies.
It boils down to trusting the process, your preparation, your facilitator, the medicine, and your own immensely powerful ability to be your own healer.
Practical Practices for Preparation
To effectively surrender and let go, preparation is key. Mindfulness practices such as breath work, calming techniques, and fostering a sense of safety and trust can build resilience for navigating these intense experiences.
Recommended Reading: Psychedelic Preparation Best Practices
Engaging with and processing personal content in preparation for a psychedelic journey sets the stage for deeper introspection and healing.
Conclusion
In the transformative landscape of psychedelic experiences, the concepts of surrendering and letting go are far from mere passive acts; they are profound, active engagements with trust, courage, and presence.
These processes challenge our habitual need for control and invite us to lay down the burdens we’ve unwittingly carried—burdens of past traumas, ingrained narratives, and conditioned responses.
Through the altered states of consciousness psychedelics induce, individuals can explore the depths of their psyche, revealing new perspectives and fostering the release of entrenched patterns.
As we navigate these powerful journeys, it is vital to embrace a trauma-informed approach, recognizing the complexity of personal histories and the resilience individuals bring to their healing.
Through compassionate language and understanding, we can create supportive environments that allow each person to explore their inner landscapes safely.
Ultimately, surrendering and letting go in a psychedelic context is about embracing the present moment with all its uncertainties.
It’s about recognizing and embracing our innate power to choose our responses, thereby shaping our outcomes and paving the way for profound personal growth.
As you embark on this path, remember the importance of preparation and mindfulness, trusting in the process and your own capacity to heal and transform. By surrendering to the journey, you open yourself to the limitless possibilities that lie within, ready to unfold.
Question From The Community
I’m doing ketamine therapy right now, how is a psilocybin macrodose similar or different?
Firstly, in our world of therapeutic psychedelics, we find that it’s very common to explore psilocybin after ketamine therapy.
Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic, while psilocybin is a serotonergic psychedelic, meaning they work on different mechanisms within the brain.
While ketamine can have psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties at specific dosages, a macrodose psilocybin experience is more akin to a traditional hallucinogenic altered state of consciousness.
From a scientific standpoint, there is research on both substances giving evidence that they help relieve treatment resistant mental health symptoms (Alnefeesi et al., 2022; Aaronson et al., 2025) and promote neuroplasticity and rewiring of the brain (Aleksandrova & Phillips, 2021).
For our cofounder, Jimmy Nguyen, both of these substances were tremendously therapeutic in his healing journey, noting the immense potential within each.
Nguyen found that in his personal experiences with these substances, ketamine helped him “crack open” some doors into his internal landscape that he had difficulties opening in the past, while psilocybin allowed him to fully open them and explore the deep facets of himself.
To explore ketamine and psilocybin from a more anecdotal standpoint, you can check out our article, How To Choose Between Psilocybin, MDMA, Ketamine, & LSD, where we break down the subjective nuances of each substance.
Mitigating The Chances of Surprises
Dismantling the power structures that rule our lives is incredibly freeing and therapeutic. You deserve to give yourself that opportunity, and we’re here to assist you in this process in any way we can.
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- It Goes Both Ways: We know mindfulness techniques can assist us in successful psychedelic use, but can psychedelics assist us in mindfulness practices as well?
- Learn How One Client Embraced The Unpredictability: Stemming from an anonymous interview with one of our clients, read for yourself how to roll with the punches and avoid common mistakes.
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- Life-Saving Second Opinions: Along with innovation comes the reluctance to change, don’t let your primary caregiver be the only commanding voice in your healing journey, especially if they say no to psychedelics.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What does it mean to “surrender” and “let go” in a psychedelic experience?
Surrendering and letting go during a psychedelic experience are active processes that require courage, trust, and presence.
It’s about consciously accepting the unfolding of experiences, whether they are comforting or challenging, and allowing yourself to release the emotional and psychological burdens of past traumas and narratives that no longer serve you. This creates internal space for new ways of thinking and feeling.
2. How can adopting a trauma-informed approach benefit psychedelic therapy?
A trauma-informed approach in psychedelic therapy involves recognizing the complex interplay of past experiences, neurobiological responses, and present-moment dynamics.
By using compassionate language and fostering a safe, supportive environment, therapists can help individuals navigate their experiences without feelings of self-blame or inadequacy. This approach acknowledges the resilience of individuals and respects their journey toward healing.
3. Why do we often face resistance when trying to let go during a psychedelic journey?
Resistance often stems from fear—fear of the unknown and a desire to maintain control. This primal fear can manifest mentally as an attempt to steer the experience according to preconceived notions, and physically as a survival response to perceived threats.
Recognizing these fears and working through them with trust and acceptance can help overcome resistance.
4. How do psychedelics aid in altering entrenched narratives about power and control?
Psychedelics facilitate altered states of consciousness that can help disrupt entrenched thought patterns, allowing individuals to perceive their stories and narratives differently.
This process, often accompanied by enhanced neuroplasticity, offers a unique opportunity to challenge and change perceptions about power and control, helping individuals reclaim personal agency.
5. Why is embracing the present moment crucial in a psychedelic experience?
Engaging fully in the present moment is essential for navigating psychedelic journeys because it allows individuals to focus on the here and now, rather than being occupied with past regrets or future anxieties.
By grounding themselves in the present, participants can foster acceptance, trust the process, and immerse themselves fully in the experience, which is key to personal growth and healing.
6. How do the experiences with ketamine and psilocybin differ in therapeutic settings?
Ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic, and psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic, work through different mechanisms in the brain. Ketamine can help “crack open” doors to an individual’s internal landscape, while psilocybin allows for a more traditional hallucinogenic state, often enabling deeper exploration of one’s psyche.
Both have evidence supporting their effectiveness in treating resistant mental health symptoms and promoting neuroplasticity, though the subjective experiences they offer can vary significantly.
References
Aaronson, S. T., van der Vaart, A., Miller, T., LaPratt, J., Swartz, K., Shoultz, A., Lauterbach, M., Suppes, T., & Sackeim, H. A. (2025). Single-Dose Psilocybin for Depression With Severe Treatment Resistance: An Open-Label Trial. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 182(1), 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.20231063
Aleksandrova, L. R., & Phillips, A. G. (2021). Neuroplasticity as a convergent mechanism of ketamine and classical psychedelics. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 42(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tips.2021.08.003
Alnefeesi, Y., Chen-Li, D., Krane, E., Jawad, M. Y., Rodrigues, N. B., Ceban, F., Di Vincenzo, J.D., Meshkat, S., Ho, R. C. M., Gill, H., Teopiz, K. M., Cao, B., Lee, Y., McIntyre, R. S., & Rosenblat, J. D. (2022). Real-world effectiveness of ketamine in treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review & meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 151(151), 693–709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.04.037