Get high without drugs? Try it with these 5 ways!

Getting high is what most people immediately think of using drugs. But did you know that it is also possible to get high without drugs? You can reach a similar state of consciousness through meditation, holotropic breath work, or binaural beats, for example. If you want to try to get high without drugs, check out our 5 ways to get there.

What is getting high and do you always need drugs for it?

Everyone has heard of getting high, but not everyone has experienced it and knows exactly what it is. The use of mind-altering drugs is not only done to get high, to hallucinate. As with other substances (alcohol or nicotine) it is also used for relaxation, temporarily forgetting worries and to feel connected to others and the world around you. In addition, psychedelics stimulate the senses, and you can experience music, food, creative activities and nature very differently. Your thoughts are also affected, and you can think outside the box more easily.

There are people who get high to stimulate their own personal and spiritual development. Natural psychedelics, such as magic mushrooms, mescaline cacti and ayahuasca, have also been used by tribal peoples for thousands of years for these reasons. And even now, that is an important reason to use these resources. So it's not just about sedating or tripping for fun. We seek connection, relaxation, contact with the higher and want to develop ourselves. But if you want to get high for that reason, you really don't always need drugs.

5 ways to get high without drugs

Are you looking for ways to get into the higher realms, but without psychedelics? This can be done in a purely natural way, if you use the techniques explained below.

1. Listening to binaural beats

Binaural beats is a type of music based on the principle that certain frequencies of sound affect the brain. Huang and Charyton developed the theory of brainwave entrainment, where a rhythmic stimulus can cause this frequency in the brain to be visible in an EEG.

Binaural beats are such an auditory stimulus. Different frequencies have different effects. For example, a frequency of 5 to 7 Herz would provide relaxed alertness, comparable to deep meditation or dreaming. And 1.4 to 4 Hz causes slow brain waves, which occur during deep sleep.

Listening to binaural beats can therefore induce certain mental states. It is best to listen to it with headphones. The beats in the right ear differ in frequency from the ones coming to the left ear. This can create a kind of auditory illusion and changes your brain waves. Possibly, listening to binaural beats can provide a feeling similar to a high, but without the drugs. You can easily find binaural beats on the internet (YouTube).

2. Sensory Deprivation Tank

You may have heard of a sensory deprivation tank. You can find them more and more in wellness centers and spas these days. Such a tank is soundproof and dark, and filled with a layer of salt water. If you lie down in such a tank, your senses will no longer have anything to perceive. It is completely dark and quiet. The water has a temperature that is equal to your body temperature, and the salt keeps you afloat. As a result, even your sense of touch will not perceive anything.

This allows your brain to completely relax, and this causes a deep sense of relaxation and peace. But because of the deep darkness and silence, which you are not used to, you may also hallucinate. Your brain produces stimuli on its own, which allows you to see and hear things, similar to a high from psychedelics. Stay be a wonderfully relaxing and enriching experience.

3. Getting High Without Drugs: Holotropic Breathwork

Holotropic breathwork can also be a drug-free way to get high. This is a breathing technique (developed by Stanislav Grof) in which you breathe quickly and in a controlled manner. The aim is to influence the balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen in the blood. However, this can cause a state of altered consciousness, similar to a deep trance.

In fact, holotropic breathwork is a form of hyperventilation, but you generate it yourself, and you have control over it. Advantages would be that you can work through traumas and emotional blockages in this altered state of consciousness. You can also become aware of blocking patterns. However, rapid breathing is not without risks. You may experience tingling hands, dizziness, lightheadedness or even fainting. People with heart and respiratory diseases should also not try this technique. If you are interested in holotropic breathwork, find a certified coach.

4. Meditation

Are you looking for the feeling of connection, a way to dive deeper into yourself, or a way to take an inner journey that using psychedelics could give you? Then you can see if meditation is something for you. There are all kinds of different shapes, each of which entails something different.

Visualizations allow you to go on a journey within yourself. A guided meditation can help you form images more easily. Often they also aim to help you relax, or you can get in touch with unprocessed emotions or relive events from the past. Although you usually produce these images yourself (unlike hallucinations, which you have no control over), visualizations can often lead to surprising experiences.

Mindfulness meditation or Zen meditation is a way to calm your mind. Usually you focus your attention on a subject, for example you're breathing, a soothing sentence or an image. This allows you to focus purely on the now and relax physically and mentally. Meditation can help you connect more with yourself. But because of the peaceful feeling and the acceptance of the now, many people who meditate also feel more connected to others and the world around them.

5. Find the adrenaline

An exciting activity is also a good way to experience a kind of high, without the use of drugs. Maybe you're not an adrenaline junkie, but it can bring you a lot to step outside your comfort zone. Think of bungee jumping, whizzing down a mountain with a mountain bike, skydiving or abseiling.

These kinds of exciting activities give your body a violent rush of adrenaline, which raises your blood pressure and speeds up your breathing. Your focus sharpens, you come into contact with your own power, and you feel a wave of energy flowing through you. This is a great form of natural high, and at the same time you can get to know a side of yourself that you didn't know before. So that also looks a bit like a high, but without drugs!