12 Minute Reset

I hadn’t been feeling like myself.

Disconnected.

Frustrated more than usual.

Emotionally out of sync—with the world… and with me.

I needed something to shake me loose.

I’ve worked with psilocybin and LSD A LOT for over a decade.

They always brought insight.

But this time, I needed a different path.

A friend gave me a DMT pen.

I’d been saving it. Waiting for the right moment.

And roughly three weeks ago, that time came.

I sat cross-legged on the living room floor.

I did 10 minutes of deep, steady breathing to center myself.

Then I took three hits.

Each one: 10 seconds in… hold 15 seconds… then release.

The effects came fast.

A warm wave surged from my feet upward

like something was waking up inside me.

The room began to vibrate… then melt.

Reality folded in on itself.

Everything I knew fragmented into fractals.

I felt my consciousness leave my body.

My brain scrambled to hold on—

thoughts, memories, anything to keep me tethered.

I closed my eyes.

And I was gone.

Swept into a current of pure emotion.

I’ve felt ego death before.

But this was… different.

Because this time, something was there.

A presence. Maybe many.

Not threatening. Not alien.

Compassionate. Grounded. Wise.

They told me—without speaking:

Just breathe. You’re safe. We’ve got you.

That’s when the visuals started.

Living patterns.

Millions of frames per second.

Encoded intelligence flying past me.

Then—an opening.

More beings.

Waiting.

Not to test me… to heal me.

They came forward and got to work.

Spiritual maintenance.

They reached inside—

not my body, but the part beneath identity.

They pulled out something dark and heavy.

A dense, black sludge.

Then they replaced it with something bright.

Clear.

Shimmering.

Light.

They moved quickly and with care.

Like they’d done this before.

And just as suddenly—

they were gone.

I came back slowly.

Opened my eyes.

The room still shimmered, but the intensity had faded.

The entire journey?

Twelve minutes… but it felt like a lifetime. 

It felt sacred.

The frustration and anger I’d been carrying?

Gone.

Weeks later—it’s still gone.

I’m still processing it all.

But one question keeps echoing:

Why the hell did being in that realm feel so familiar?

🧠 1. Your Brain Already Knows DMT

One reason the DMT realm might feel familiar is because your brain already knows it.

DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine) isn’t just found in plants like ayahuasca or mimosa root. It’s actually produced inside the human body — including, possibly, in the brain. Some scientists believe it may be released during intense moments of life: birth, death, trauma, or even dreams.

This means your brain may already have a “template” for what DMT feels like. It may not recognize the visuals or entities — but the state itself might be something it's accessed before.

Dr. Rick Strassman, who led the first human DMT studies in the U.S., even referred to it as “the spirit molecule.” He suggested that DMT might play a role in life-changing moments — and maybe even help usher the soul in or out of the body.

So if it feels like returning home? Maybe it kind of is.

You're not just experiencing a new dimension — you're reconnecting with a chemical that may have shaped the most important moments of your life.

✨ 2. It Triggers Mystical States

Another reason DMT can feel familiar is that it taps into something deeply universal — what researchers call mystical experiences.

These aren’t about seeing colors or trippy visuals. They’re about feeling connected to everything. Time stops. The sense of “you” disappears. You become part of something bigger — something eternal.

Sound familiar? That’s because people have reported these same feelings across all cultures and religions for thousands of years. Mystics, monks, shamans, and saints have described almost identical experiences — often through prayer, fasting, or meditation.

DMT just happens to unlock that state in seconds.

In a 2023 study published on PubMed, researchers found that DMT induces “strong mystical-type experiences” in a majority of users — especially at higher doses. These included feelings of unity, ego death, emotional breakthroughs, and encounters with what users called “God” or “Source.”

That level of intensity can make it feel like you’re not just tripping — you’re remembering.

You’re not hallucinating some fantasy world. You’re accessing a place that feels older than language, older than memory… and somehow, like it’s always been part of you.

🧠 3. It Lights Up the Memory Centers

There’s also a neuroscientific reason why the DMT realm can feel familiar — even if you’ve never done it before.

DMT interacts with a part of your brain called the medial temporal lobe. That area includes structures like the amygdala and hippocampus — both of which play major roles in emotional memory and the sensation of recognition.

One study examined hundreds of Reddit trip reports and found that DMT experiences frequently triggered a strange kind of emotional familiarity. People described the sensation of knowing the space… even though they couldn’t remember ever being there.

This might be because DMT lights up the memory and emotion networks at the same time. The brain starts assigning meaning to the experience — not based on logic, but on feeling.

That’s why you can’t always describe it in words.

It’s not a memory you can “recall” — it’s one your nervous system feels.

It’s like the space has emotional weight. Like it’s tied to something deep in you — even if your conscious mind can’t explain it.

You may not recognize the visuals or the beings. But something in you says:

“I know this place.”

⚰️ 4. It Resembles Death

Maybe the most powerful reason DMT feels like returning?

It mirrors what people describe in near-death experiences.

Tunnel vision. Beings of light. A sense of leaving the body. Feeling reviewed. Feeling loved. A powerful message that it’s not your time — or, in some cases, that it is.

And most of all? The feeling that you’ve been there before.

Many near-death survivors say the experience didn’t feel new. It felt familiar. Like they were waking up, not slipping away.

DMT trips often follow the same pattern. Some researchers even believe that DMT may be released in the brain during death — or the dying process. The Frontiers in Psychology journal published a paper exploring this exact link between DMT and NDEs.

And while we don’t know for sure, it raises a big possibility:

What if this realm is something we all return to — at the end of life?

Or… maybe before it.

Some traditions believe that before we’re born, we choose to incarnate — and that we come from a higher plane of awareness that we simply forget. Maybe DMT doesn’t just mimic death. Maybe it reminds us of what came before birth… and what might come after.

 🌟 5. Maybe It Feels Familiar… Because It Is Our Reality

There’s one more theory worth considering — and it’s a wild one.

In his most recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Dr. Rick Strassman shared a fascinating idea:

What if DMT isn’t just a powerful psychedelic?

What if it’s a foundational chemical in the brain — produced in tiny amounts, all the time — that actually shapes the reality we experience when we’re sober?

In other words:

What if our waking life is built on DMT — and smoking it just floods the system with what’s already there?

That would explain a lot.

It could be why the DMT realm feels so real.

Why it feels like a return.

Why it feels like something we already know.

Because maybe it’s not “otherworldly” at all.

Maybe it’s the source code of the world we already live in — just seen without filters.

To be clear: this is obviously just a theory.

We don’t have hard evidence that DMT shapes baseline perception.

But we do know it’s naturally produced in the body. We know it interacts with deep emotional and sensory systems. And we know that, when taken in high doses, it can replace reality in seconds.

So maybe the reason it feels familiar… is because you’re finally seeing what’s always been there.

So… What Is This Place?

Across cultures, belief systems, and individual experiences, one thing shows up again and again:

The DMT realm doesn’t feel foreign.

It feels familiar.

People describe it as a return. A homecoming. A place outside time that somehow feels older than memory itself.

And the reasons behind that feeling are complex.

Maybe it's because DMT is already inside the body — quietly shaping perception.

Maybe it activates brain regions tied to memory and emotion.

Maybe it mirrors the process of dying… or something even deeper.

Or maybe it's the gateway to something we’re all part of — before and after this life.

Science is still trying to catch up. Theories are being explored. But the experience itself — the feeling of it — remains stubbornly consistent:

“I’ve been here before.”

Whether that’s biology, spirituality, or something we haven’t named yet, one thing is clear:

This isn’t just a chemical effect.
It’s a doorway to something vast, intelligent, and deeply known.

And if it’s not “new”… Then the question isn’t where it takes us.

It’s where it brings us back to.

🔍 Want to Go Deeper?

From the mysterious presences to the strange sense of “returning,” the DMT space isn’t just visual — it’s visceral. And whether it’s brain chemistry, spiritual memory, or something we haven’t named yet, the questions it raises are reshaping how we think about consciousness itself.

If you’re ready to dive deeper into the science, stories, and theories behind the DMT realm, start here:

🌿 Ayahuasca vs. DMT: What’s the Difference? — While both contain the same molecule, the journeys are worlds apart. This guide breaks down how the DMT experience compares to ayahuasca — in effects, duration, and spiritual context. Explore Here

👁️ DMT & Entities: A Conversation with Rick Strassman — The man who reopened psychedelic research in the U.S. unpacks the strange, recurring theme of entity encounters — and why so many people describe them as familiar. Read More Here

🧪 Scientists Are Now Extending DMT Trips — to Study the Beings — Using IV infusion, researchers are stretching the DMT experience in real time — and studying what happens when people interact with the entities for longer. Read More Here

🎨 Step Into the Portal: Bicycle Day 2025

Every year on April 19th, the psychedelic community celebrates the day Albert Hofmann first intentionally took LSD and rode his bicycle home — unknowingly sparking a cultural and scientific revolution.

This year, You Are the Portal is throwing a full-spectrum celebration in Austin, TX — and it's one of the most creatively charged events in the space.

🌈 Bicycle Day 2025
🗓️ April 19, 2025 | 📍Austin, TX
Meowolf Denver

Expect immersive art, deep talks, cutting-edge tech, and some of the boldest voices in psychedelics — including Dennis Walker, Reggie Watts, Duncan Trussell, and LP Giobbi.

It’s a curated portal into the intersection of consciousness, creativity, and community.

If you’re in Texas this April, clear your calendar.

Bicycle Day only comes once a year — and this one’s going to be unforgettable.

🔗 See the event page

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