What Do Mushrooms Feel Like?

6 Ways Shrooms Will Affect You

“Suddenly, I rose from the bed and gasped for air. As I looked around, I realized that everything around me was beautiful beyond description, I was in complete awe. The colors were so incredibly vivid, and the walls were pulsating and breathing like crazy. Everything was alive, and everything loved me…I could feel the energy of everything flowing through me. Although ‘me’ was not a concept I had in my mind at that moment.”

This is how one author describes his first date with what magic mushrooms feel like.

Everyone’s experience is a little different, but for most people, the psychedelic effects of mushrooms start setting in 15 to 40 minutes after ingestion.

Visually, some people will start staring at small details around them. A rock on the ground, a blowing leaf, every little detail will start attracting their attention. Others say that their vision becomes clearer. Sometimes, things in the background may appear to be in soft focus compared to the very crisp images in the immediate focus.

What do magic mushrooms make you feel like? Is there a scientific explanation for all these experiences? Do they have any health benefits?

Get comfy as we take you through an exciting ride to the world of magic mushrooms and psychedelics and answer what do mushrooms feel like?

What Are Magic Mushrooms?

Also known as shrooms, magic mushrooms refer to mushroom species that have psilocybin- the chemical compound responsible for the hallucinogenic effect associated with shrooms.

When ingested, psilocybin is thought to interact with serotonin receptors in the brain, altering your perception and moods.

Although you can find them growing in the wild, foraging them may be a daunting experience, especially because you can easily confuse them with other (and potentially harmful) mushroom species. Most psychonauts prefer buying high-quality magic mushrooms from experienced and reliable sellers who source their products from skilled growers.

What Magic Mushrooms Feel Like- The Experience

As mentioned, people experience magic mushrooms differently as many factors including the dosage, strain, mental state, etc., will affect the trip.

Generally, however, here are some of the things you should expect from an average dose:

1. Change Of Perception

Everything around you will appear different. You will have heightened senses, and you will start seeing geometric or fractal-like patterns. Objects may appear morphed, distorted, or feel like they are alive. 

Most people report seeing intricate patterns move and weave in crazy, interesting ways. This may explain why people on trips will stare at ordinary objects in total awe and fascination.

Others report feeling like they have left this reality. Time and space may become distorted, non-existent even. 

You may feel emotional, euphoric, and more open to your thoughts.

Also, magic mushrooms make people reconnect with nature. Genuine care and love for the planet may naturally emerge from a Magic Mushroom experience.

2. Loss Of Sense Of Self- Spirituality

For others, tripping is a spiritual/mystical experience. 

In this study by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, at least 60% of the participants who took magic mushrooms stated that the experience was the single most spiritual experience they have ever encountered in their lives.

During intense high dosage trips, you may experience a loss of self, experiencing a sense of profound connection, where there’s no clear boundary between who you are as a person and the rest of the universe. You become ‘one’ with the universe.

Research suggests that this effect has to do with the way your brain communicates on psychedelics. 

Similar effects are reported during deep medication. A deep sense of acceptance and others is a common feeling. You feel more connected and experience everything more deeply, be it a loss, a victory, happiness, or sadness. During this stage, experienced therapists may discuss previous bad experiences and find acceptance of the past.

3. Body High And Body Load

You may also experience a strong body and mind high- pleasant, euphoric feelings for many.

In what is referred to as a body load, people report feeling physically heavy as though gravity slightly increased- a relaxing experience for many but to others, not a very exciting one. 

4. Hallucinations

As the first hallucination sets in, colors become more intense, and even slight color variations become significant. You may experience a ‘breathing’ effect, where all your surroundings pluses slowly and rhythmically, and you will see as if everything, objects, tables, and the entire world was breathing. 

Depending on the amount ingested, the hallucinations may start intensifying. This typically occurs within 1 to three hours after consumption.

In this state, objects may appear to move, floating around with fluctuating intense colors. 

You may also experience closed eye visuals and open eye visuals. Commonly, users report seeing a “rainbow” or spectrum of colors such as green, red, orange, blue, and yellow.

You may also experience the following: 

5. Meeting Entities And Seeing Different Realms

Most people report that magic mushrooms allow them to see energies and communicate with extraterrestrials, God, or nature spirits.

In a survey published in 2019, people on psychedelics termed the experience as the ‘Ultimate Reality.’ They described whatever they encountered as “conscious, intelligent, benevolent, sacred, eternal, and all-knowing. Most of the participants say the experience left them with more meaning and purpose, greater satisfaction with their lives, and a decreased fear of death.

Even more interesting, more than two-thirds of people who didn’t subscribe to the idea of a higher power to start with became believers after their date with an omniscient entity.

6. “Seeing” Music

“At a trip’s peak, music becomes a mirror of transcendental forms of consciousness that may not even be registered in unitive awareness, but is present if needed- like a net below a trapeze artist,” says psychologist Bill Richards, PhD., working with patients undergoing psychedelic treatment at Johns Hopkins University.

One author describes how this specific track makes them feel like they are floating in the clouds in another reality- a celestial-like feeling, where time has stopped, and nothing runs anymore.

Music can serve as an emotional girder or a guiding lighter. With the sweet melodies on your ears, you may even manage to ‘see’ the music with colors.

You will feel connected and appreciate the music more, noticing even the most subtle acoustic effects like fingers sliding on keyboards or guitar. You may suddenly start seeing vocal intonations you may have missed in the past.

The good part?

Most of these ‘discoveries’ will remain with you long after the journey making this trip an exciting time to listen to your best tunes and songs with a ‘new’ ear.

You may also feel uncomfortable around people who aren’t tripping. This is because you are experiencing the same moment very differently.

What Does Microdosing Mushrooms Feel Like?

For those who don’t know, microdosing refers to taking small, unnoticeable amounts of psilocybin (usually between 0.05 to 0.25 grams) for therapeutic benefits.  

Microdosing on shrooms is becoming a popular way of boosting focus, creativity, enhancing performance, and elevating mood.

The sole intention of microdosing psilocybin is for health and personal growth. Not a psychedelic experience.

In a study, more than 26% of microdosing psychonauts reported improved moods (including improved depression symptoms) after microdosing on shrooms. Others reported enhanced focus, boosted working memory and self-efficacy.

You can check a wide range of microdosing bundles here to get started with your wellness journey.

Health Benefits Of Shrooms- As Explained By Science

It’s not all about hallucination and visuals; magic mushrooms actually have tangible health benefits. Most of these benefits are linked to the effects we described above:

Magic Mushrooms Can Make You Feel Good

The National Institute on Drug Abuse compares the relaxing effect of shrooms to that of low-dose marijuana.

Like most hallucinogenic drugs, magic mushrooms are thought to act on neural highways in the brain that uses the neurotransmitter serotonin. 

Specifically, shrooms are thought to impact the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the brain part responsible for regulating thought analysis, abstract thinking, moods, and perception.

Their Hallucinating Effect May Be Key To Understanding How They May Promote Mental Health

Users report hearing colors or seeing sounds while on shrooms. This 2014 study was the 1st to link these effects to how psilocybin impacts communication across brain networks.

In the study, researchers observed new, stronger activities across several brain regions that didn’t normally engage in such cross-communication. This was attributed to magic mushrooms.

According to neuroscientist David Nutt of Imperial College London, psilocybin impacts different regions of the brain (including brain regions that maintain our sense of self), either muting or making them more pronounced.

According to David, people who get into depressive thinking, their brains are overconnected. By helping loosen these connections and creating new ones, magic mushrooms may help relieve mental issues such as anxiety and depression.

In a study by the Johns Hopkins University, 80% of people who ingested magic mushrooms experienced a significant decrease in symptoms of anxiety and depression as measured by what is considered a gold standard evaluation.

Take Magic Mushrooms To Experience Their Mind-Blowing Effects

Magic mushrooms have been used for at least 10,000 years in various spiritual and medical rituals for their ability to alter consciousness and trigger spiritual experiences.

People will experience different effects while on shrooms ranging from hallucinations to visuals and enhanced memory and focus.

The surest way to know how shrooms can affect you is by trying some today!