Nine Fridays in Tricycle Day: what I told their readers

Tricycle Day is a psychedelics newsletter made by the team at Althea, bylined Henry Winslow and Sasha Silberberg, and every Friday it runs a column called Ask a Guide Anything. A reader sends in one question, the question goes out to a network of licensed facilitators, and a few of us answer in a paragraph. I was in nine issues in a row, from July 17 to September 11, and the run has since reached ten.

A paragraph is a small container for this work. Nine of them add up to something, though, and the questions were better than anything I would have thought to write about on my own. Here they are in the order they ran, oldest first, with a little more than the newsletter had room for.

July 17: a memory you cannot place

What do you do with a memory that surfaces during a journey when you cannot tell whether it is real?

"Ask yourself: Do I often feel this way in my day-to-day life? When was the first time I remember feeling like this? Who was there?"

I do not treat journey material as evidence, and I will not help anyone build a case out of it. What the images carry reliably is feeling, and feeling can be traced. The July 17 issue has the short version.

July 24: can psychedelics change your personality

People arrive hoping to wake up as someone else by Monday.

"The change is usually subtle and unfolds over time, not all at once."

What I see more often than a new personality is a small shift in tolerance. Someone who used to sit through an hour of a conversation that hurt them leaves after ten minutes instead. That is a modest claim, and I would rather make a modest one than a big one. Read the issue.

July 31: working with anger

How do you work with anger or rage that comes up during a journey?

"Where do you feel it in your body? If your anger could speak, what would it say? Often, anger is protecting something more vulnerable underneath."

Rage in a session is not a problem to be talked down. I keep the room steady and ask those three questions slowly, in that order, and the third one usually arrives on its own. Read the issue.

August 7: indoors or outdoors

Marissa L. in St. Joseph, Missouri asked about the tradeoffs between journeying outdoors in nature and indoors at a center. Tricycle Day summarized my answer as favoring a predictable, indoor setting:

"is especially valuable for those who are new to this work, engaging in deeper trauma processing, or participating in higher-dose experiences."

Nature gives a great deal and it also gives weather, insects, strangers, and a bathroom that is not where you left it. Colorado's rules do allow a licensed center to designate an outdoor administration area with indoor access, which the newsletter added in a correction, and few centers have one because of zoning, though the newsletter notes more are opening. Either way, a licensed session happens at licensed premises. Read the issue.

August 14: when the journey turns hard

Sophia C. in Oregon asked what a person can do in the moment when a journey turns difficult.

"Slow, intentional breathing, feeling the support of the ground beneath you, or placing a hand over your heart can help regulate the nervous system and create a greater sense of safety."

Nothing on that list is impressive, and that is the point: a frightened body needs a floor, not a technique. The longer version, together with the anger and memory questions, is now its own post: when a journey gets hard. Read the issue.

August 21: parents of young kids

What should parents of young children consider before trying psychedelics?

"If you're experiencing significant sleep deprivation, postpartum changes, overwhelming stress, or a major life crisis, it may be wise to first build greater stability."

This is the answer I give most often and the one people least want. A parent who has not slept properly in a year is already spending everything their nervous system makes. A journey asks for capacity, not the last of it, and waiting a season is not a refusal. Read the issue.

August 28: mushrooms and San Pedro

Jon S. on Florida's Space Coast asked how mushrooms compare to San Pedro, and when one might be a better fit than the other.

"I think of mushrooms as the Niños Santos—the 'Holy Children.' They can be playful and beautiful, but also unpredictable, direct, and surprisingly challenging teachers. San Pedro feels more like a wise, gentle grandfather: steady, heart-opening, and relational."

That one grew into an essay the week it ran: mushrooms and San Pedro, two teachers. San Pedro is not part of the Colorado or Oregon programs and is not something I offer; I write about it because clients ask. Read the issue.

September 4: GLP-1 medications

Sidney Y. in Marysville, Washington asked what someone on a GLP-1 drug should know before working with psilocybin.

"A delayed onset doesn't mean the psilocybin isn't working, so don't rush to take more."

I also said a GLP-1 can "prolong the experience", so the day needs more room at both ends. The medication question itself belongs to the prescriber who manages it, which is where the longer post lands. Read the issue.

September 11: telling your family

Melissa G. in Lone Tree, Colorado asked how to talk to her family about an upcoming journey so they would know how to support her.

"Ask them to help you stay away from negativity, stressful conversations, and screens, and have a light but nourishing meal ready—something like soup."

"Let them know you may feel more open and sensitive, so gentle presence without questions or expectations can be incredibly supportive."

Soup is not a metaphor. A body at the end of a long day wants heat, salt, and no decisions. The whole conversation, including a script you can send as it is, is in asking your family for support. Read the issue.

What nine weeks of questions are actually asking

Almost none of them were about the medicine. They were about the hours around it: who is in the room, who is at home, what happens if it gets hard, what to do with what comes back. That is the part a facilitator is for, and it is most of what I do.

The column came back a tenth time on September 18 and turned the question around, asking which piece of common psychedelic wisdom we disagree with. My answer to that one is its own post.

My facilitator profile sits on Althea, the platform that makes the newsletter. If a question of yours did not get answered in a paragraph, that is what the complimentary 15-minute consultation is for.

MycoMuse offers facilitation and integration support within the state programs of Colorado and Oregon. This writing is education, not medical advice. Facilitation is distinct from medical, psychiatric, and psychotherapy care, and MycoMuse never provides psilocybin. Adults 21 and over.

Sources

• Tricycle Day, Ask a Guide Anything, July 17 to September 11, 2026 (each issue linked in the text above)
• Colorado Natural Medicine Division, licensed healing centers and administration areas
• Oregon Psilocybin Services, client information