The world, for ages, has been trying to get high. Sometimes in private, sometimes out in the open, activities that lead to peak states or feelings of ecstasy are very popular. How often do you base your decisions on whether something will make you feel good or not? What would happen if you felt good, or high all the time? While many chemical methods exist, legal and otherwise, we tend to overlook some simple, natural methods of getting high, right now. Drugs are definitely not the only way to get high. I’ve listed a few of my favorite ways down below. They can be used for relaxation, getting through a stressful day or enhancing creativity. You may find yourself using a particular technique to amplify the good feelings that already exist inside you or you might want to save them for when you’re down in the dumps. Or maybe you’ll want to get high naturally before reading through the rest of the site.

Chasing The High
My own journey into the world of non-drug highness started when I was around 15. I remember reading Michael Crichton’s Travelsand becoming fascinated by his description of a retreat he went on in the desert. At one point, what is referred to as “energy work” was performed on him and he wound up wandering around for hours in a state of unrivaled bliss. He lost track of time, found that he could spend an hour looking at a strawberry and remain completely fascinated. In other words, the world became magical and mysterious and astonishing for a few hours. This seemed like an extremely worthy goal.

A teacher at the time was into some strange mind expanding things so I decided to ask her if she knew of any ways to achieve that state of mind without drugs. I wanted to feel like that all the time. The idea of having to rely on and possibly become addicted to various substances to sustain that kind of direct experience with the world didn’t appeal to me. The real thing may have it’s benefits but the major downsides are that you can get arrested for having or using it and being unregulated as such, you never know exactly what you’re putting in your body. I don’t like that.

The far out teacher told me to look up The Silva Mind Control Method. The name was kind of scary. I didn’t want to control my mind, I wanted to lose control of it and experience the world directly. I looked up the book and eventually took the training. Essentially it’s a method of meditation and imagery that can lead to a very profound sense of relaxation. Now I’ve learned some quicker and more powerful ways of getting to different “high” experiences. I don’t practice the Silva Method (as it’s now known) or train with them anymore. Unfortunately some of their practices, such as developing ESP and Remote Viewing, while interesting ideas, are things I haven’t seen any evidence for yet. Having said that, I did have some interesting experiences while doing the training. One day I’ll write about them.

Listed below are some of my favorite ways of getting high without drugs. Some of them, like exercise, you probably already know about. Exercise releases endorphins which are the body’s natural pain killers. Most people have experienced a Runner’s High at some point in their life (if you haven’t, turn off your computer, throw on your New Balances and hit the pavement already). The reason I decided to list it here is, the next time you run or exercise, if you expect you’re going to get high or experience feelings of intoxication, you may find that you do so more easily and the feeling is more powerful. It has been found that drug users often have experiences that align with their expectations. In our case, expect to get high and you may find yourself feeling better, more often, from the techniques that follow.

Exercise
It’s not just the stuff you do when you’re working out that can release endorphins and make you feel high. It’s also the stretching before and after that can aid in the production of endorphins. Stretching can make itsy bitsy tears in the muscles which will automatically start your bodies natural pain killers pumping. If you’re going to exercise, go for a run or a fast walk. Do push-ups or sit-ups in rapid succession. Don’t over do it but do it enough to feel a slight burn. If you don’t have time to go for a run or do a full work out then go ahead and give yourself a good stretch. Gently expect to get high and see what happens.

The Calm Breath
This is not a “Oh my god, I’m so stoned,” kind of high but more of a very easy going shift in consciousness that you can enjoy almost anywhere. It’s a perfect two minute break from a stressful day or a nice little ritual to perform before bed.

1. Sit down and make yourself comfortable. You can do this in your office, on the train or even while driving (in that case you need to keep your eyes open). So, if conditions permit, close your eyes.
2. Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth. In ancient Yogic traditions, this practice completes a channel of energy. I don’t know how true that is but I do find when I keep my tongue there I feel a little tingle that is kind of pleasant.
3. You’re going to do a 3 part breath. You’ll be breathing in, holding it and then exhaling. First, with your tongue touching the roof of your mouth, gently breathe out as much air as you can. Try to empty out as much air from your lungs as possible. This will enable you to take deeper breaths.
4. Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and then exhale for a count of 8.
5. Repeat this cycle of in, hold and out, for 4 full breaths.
6. After you finish, sit still for a minute and enjoy the calming effects it has on your physiology.

Meditate Your Way To A Natural High
Mediation is one of the easiest ways to relax and get a natural high. It costs nothing, can be done virtually anywhere and doesn’t have any negative side effects on your health. In fact, from regular meditation and relaxation, your health has a good chance of improving all by itself.

With regular practice, you will find yourself on a natural high that spreads from your meditation practice to your regular activities.

1. Find a comfortable place to sit. You can lie down too if you think you won’t fall asleep. It’s easier to stay awake sitting up.
2. Turn off the phone, close the blinds and shut the door. You’ll want at least 15 minutes all to yourself.
3. Set an alarm for 15 minutes so you know when to stop meditating without looking at your watch.
4. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths.
5. This is the really easy/hard part. There isn’t anything to meditating which is hard but since you don’t have to do anything it’s kind of easy when you get the knack. To summarize, Just Sit.
6. When thoughts come up (and they will), acknowledge them and let them pass. Be the observer of your thoughts. Don’t hold any one thought for too long. They say to allow them to disappear like clouds in the sky.
7. Pay attention to your breathing when you find yourself getting caught up in your thoughts.
8. When your alarm goes off to let you know you’re done, take another few deep breaths and open your eyes.

Compare how you feel after a meditation session. Likely you will feel more relaxed and centered. With practice your mind can become very still and peaceful. If you can make this a daily practice you will find yourself feeling good all the time, not just when you’re meditating.

You can combine the Calm Breath with your meditation practice, doing it before or after or during. Do whatever feels right.

Also read my post on Follow Your Breath for a simple meditation exercise you can do all the time.

And check out one of my favorite books on meditation, The Miracle of Mindfulness.

KavaInstead of the Usual Java
Consider giving the herbal supplement Kava a try from time to time. It is a naturally occuring tranquilizer and available at most health food stores and other places you can find vitamins and herbs. If you can find the root itself it’s more powerful to make a tea directly from the plant. The easier way is to buy it in pill form. I’ve read that it increases blood flow (it definitely feels like it does) and have found the effects to be very pleasant. When used with caffeine, it has the benefit of taking the edge off any jitters the caffeine may cause, keeping you alert and relaxed at the same time.

What will it do?
I take Kava from time to time and it produces a strong feeling of well being and relaxation (though I’m pretty relaxed to begin with). I’ve found that there is a mild euphoria associated with using Kava that can be a lot of fun. I like to take it before going on a hike or doing something active. If you take it and sit around you’ll probably wind up falling asleep.

Use it while:
Going for a walk
A day at the beach
Hiking in the mountains
Take it before watching a movie (3D-movies are the best)
Lazy summer days
When you know you’re going to have a stressful day

Depending on the effect it has on you, be careful about driving or operating any machinery. Test it out around the house and see how it affects your motor coordination. I’ve used it quite liberally without it affecting my driving ability but I can see where it might have a strong effect on people who aren’t used to it.

As with any kind of supplement, always check with your doctor if you’re taking any medication. They can tell you if it’s a good idea and judge how the different combinations can react in your body. There is some evidence that it may cause minor liver toxicity when taken while drinking and/or taking other medications. I am by no means a doctor, just sharing my experiences. Use at your own risk.

A Helping High
The above remedies for getting high naturally all focus on you and what you can do for yourself. One of the most satisfying things you can do is to forget about yourself for awhile and help someone. I mean totally but your needs and wants aside for a few hours or a day and help make a difference in someone’s life. If you’re hooked in the ego game, this will definitely sound like idealistic hog wash. If that’s the case, skip ahead to other ways of getting high.

You’ve probably known people who are volunteer junkies. Every weekend they’re helping at a shelter or donating clothes or participating in a food drive. These are good people for sure, but do you really think they wouldn’t do it if it didn’t make them feel really good. I’m not exactly sure what happens when you do this. It may accidentally get you out of your head and turn off your mind and it’s constant chatter about your survival. I’m not sure. I do know that most people who do lousy things often do them because they don’t think they can make a difference, they don’t think they can contribute to the world. The secret is we all make a difference and we all do contribute. The question is, what will be your contribution?

Also consider getting high naturally with one of the other methods and then going out and helping someone for a super-ultra-high.

Trust.

Binaurally Beat Yourself To A Better High
Binaural Beat technology is an amazing thing. The people who have been researching this stuff have figured out how to change your brain wave activity by listening to special audio tracks. I was skeptical of the results until I tried using them on a daily basis. In addition to profound relaxation and a sense of well being that spread out to my non-Binaural Beat Listening Activities, I also noticed a strange little side effect. My vision started getting better. Normal everyday objects glistened and were really clear. Imagine watching life in High Definition. I thought I was just imagining things until the eye doctor told me my vision had gotten better. That’s after about 20 years of it getting worse.

Being agnostic about everything, I am hesitant to completely attribute this to using Binaural Beats. It could be that my poor vision had tapered off with my old age. But physiologically speaking, poor eyesight is nothing more than your eyes being too tense. The deep relaxation that the Binaural Beats provide might have made the muscles in my eyes relax which would lead to improved vision. I don’t know for sure either way but would love to research it more.

Anyway, there are many different ways to try out this technology. There are even apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch that have Binaural Beats. I tend to stick to the following couple of programs.

Holosync
Gamma Meditation System 2.0
Theta Meditation System
Deep Relaxation (Paraliminal CD)

Hakalau
I once taught one of my Engllish classes in college to do this one. Although I got some crazy “What is this guy talking about?” kind of looks after I told everyone to imagine a tennis ball on the top of their heads, everyone really liked the effect once they learned how to do it. It’s also known as Soft Gaze in martial arts or Softening Your Vision in other disciplines.

Basically, it opens up your peripheral field of vision and you are aware of a lot more than usual. The theory is that this seems to automatically switch from your fight or flight response and is instantly soothing and relaxing. I’ve also found that it grinds the mental talk to a halt and is a perfect state of mind to get in before doing any kind of writing. I’m pretty sure I picked up the method for getting into this state from an interview with Richard Bandler about photoreading (I’m still not convinced of the claims photoreading makes, but I find this exercise useful).

1. Imagine a tennis ball on top of your head. This is a strange request because usually when we imagine things, we imagine things in places we can see them. So you’re not really seeing a tennis ball, you’re more feeling a tennis ball. For some strange reason, if you do it right (and there really isn’t a wrong way to do it, you’re either doing it or you’re not) you will instantly see your vision open up.
2. Sit there and enjoy the panoramic vision this opens up. When you become aware of things not normally in your awareness it tends to have a mind expanding effect.
3. Notice if you feel more calm. Are your thoughts still racing ahead?

I once taught this to someone who is extremely artistic. After showeing her how to expand her field of vision and she told me that she almost always saw things in that mode. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is one of the secrets of the artistic. I find that when I’m writing, I often naturally go into this mode. It gets you out of normal everyday Tunnel Vision which can literally limit the amount of possibilities we can see. I’ll let you play with it and judge for yourself.

If you happen to be like that artist girl and tend to see the world in panoramic surround vision, it may be a worthwhile exercise for you to practice Tunnel Vision for a bit just to give you some flexibility in perception and change things up. Tunnel Vision isn’t very good for creating new stuff but is great for editing, thinking critically and tightening up a piece of work.

Finally, see how long you can stay in Tennis Ball On Head Mode before you snap back to Tunnel Vision Mode. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you snap back. Give it some time and practice everyday and you might find yourself seeing a bit more of the world.

What’s Up DOC?
This is something that I’ve been practicing for a long time. It is the ultimate super secret of getting high without drugs. I have lots and lots of notes about this and at some point in the near future will release them all, including some designer recipes for creating incredible states of mind.

DOC stands for Drug of Choice. It is a fairly old NLP exercise for reliving a drug state that you’ve already had before. So, if you want to feel a “pot high,” you’ll need to have gotten high from pot at some point in the past and to remember how it felt.

In other words, you need to be able to pretend that you’re getting high again, just without the drug. This isn’t as out there as it sounds at first. The body can feel all different kinds of things without the original stimulus. For example, have you ever gotten turned on thinking about a past intimate experience? It’s all in your head. Actors often play roles that are extremely foreign to them and conjure up different feelings, experiences and body sensations from just pretending. So can you!

Just pretend you’re taking the drug that got you high in the first place. If it means smoking then go through motions. Actually pretend to but it up to your lips and take a drag. Pretend to feel the smoke in your mouth and down in your lungs. What does it feel like? Where does the feeling start? Where does it move to? Then where does it go? Do your eyes get a bit squinty? Does your mouth get dry? How big is the feeling? Does it move? Which way?

Take those feelings and see if making them go slower intensifies it. Maybe making them go faster does.

Here’s where a simple suggestion can often be powerful. The first few times I tried this I got what I’d call a residual high. It was more of a contact high than the intense feelings felt during the high itself. To boost the power of this I simply told myself that each time I tried this, I’d feel it getting stronger and stronger. It is amazing how quickly the mind can take to suggestions. Sure enough, I am now able to call up on demand a fairly powerful high experience.

I know it sounds crazy and impossible but it’s possible. We don’t give our minds enough credit. The mind is always reacting to memories and making us sad, happy, sleepy and otherwise impacting our experience. It just happens outside of our control and often we don’t even know why we feel the way we do. In the near future I’ll be going into more detail on how to get really good at doing Drug of Choice exercise and even creating designer high states as well as designing other states of mind that are useful for almost any occasion.

WARNING: If you pretend to smoke something in front of other people, they will instantly think you’re really on drugs. Pretend in Private.

2 Bonus Methods!!

Mind on Mute
This is similiar to the meditation method. Think of it as a walking wide eyed meditation. All you do is look at stuff and take in your surroundings without labeling or trying to use any words. This typically happens during an altered state. Your analytical mind goes quiet and you see the world without a layer of language judging and analyzing what your senses are processing.

There isn’t really a method for doing this. You just do it. Some tips are to pay attention to what you’re seeing but don’t use words. Just see. When you hear a car drive by don’t think “Ah, that’s a car driving by,” but just listen to it. What is the taste in your mouth? Answering that question without words can be a very interesting exercise. It forces you to really be there with your experience instead of getting locked up in concepts. Become aware of how your clothes feel on your body, your position, posture.

When walking or running or exercising this is a great state of mind. You may find yourself getting addicted to this direct experience of the world. It’s like popping the balloon of noise and stress when you put your Mind on Mute.

The next time you go for a walk or drive somewhere, instead of putting the headphones on or turning up the radio, which tends to just add more noise to your head and experience, try putting your Mind on Mute and see what effects it has on your experience.

The Dark Chocolate Drug
The consumption of chocolate releases endorphins into the blood stream. If you’re too lazy for a runner’s high or meditation or pretending you’re high, break yourself a bit of that Kit Kat Bar. Remember, a strong part of what we experience is based on what we expect. Before biting in, remind yourself of the effects that chocolate can get you high and enjoy the mood-elevating-melt-in-your-mouth-goodness.

Summing it Up (The Come Down)
It can be a slippery slope to talk about getting high (naturally or synthetically) due to the strange cultural stigma associated with altering your normal state of mind. From careful observation of my fellow human beings, it seems that most don’t even stop to consider that there are different modes other than the typical happy, sad, angry and blah. The power to take control of your mind and be able to create feelings of bliss and ecstasy on your whim, without too much help from the outside world is a very powerful skill. Mastery of that skill may curb the urge to be always chasing after outside, external stuff and enjoy the experience that is going on right now. In the end, none of those things are really more than temporary peak experiences. The art of getting high naturally is also the art of being happy with what you have, where you are and who you’re with right now. In a way, all these tricks and tips are just ways of getting to that place quicker and easier. The place where you’re at peace with what is happening around you. Accepting “what is,” often leads to the greatest sense of calm and well being.

When that happens, there is no come down.

Going Deeper: Below you will find some of the stuff I referenced in the article. Click the link and pick one up if you’re interested (I make a small commission) or find the books at your local library (that would make me happy too).