There are a few things Berlin is famous for. One of them is the nightlife scene, the 24-hour techno clubs and well, the drugs.
Tourists flock to Berlin from all over the world with ambition of clubbing in famous institutions like Berghain and simply to enjoy the extremely open, albeit drug focussed, club culture.
Contrary to popular belief, not everyone in Berlin is hell bent on consuming class-A drugs every weekend, but as I recently learned, they are pretty keen on getting high regardless. Yes, a new wave of consciousness is flowing through the Berlin streets, promising a natural high as intense as that you might experience from hallucinogens or various pills and powders.
Intensive Breathing
Also known as holotropic breathwork, use of simple inhalation is said to cause a euphoric natural high. You start by breathing in deeply until you feel a slight pressure in your cheek, you hold it for a moment, release the air completely, and repeat around 15 times. Following this round you take 30 “power breaths”. To successfully complete this, you imagine you’re blowing up a balloon, inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth in very powerful successions. You basically flood your body with oxygen.
Next you take one more very long, slow breath, filling your lungs up completely, then push all the air out again. You should feel high after doing this, according to experts, and the many people who participate in classes that guide you through the stages.
Light Therapy
This particular technique is intended to send you on a trip, or to at least create a similar experience. Dr. Engelbert Winkler, a psychotherapist in Berlin, invented a lamp called “Lucia”. One sits in front of the lamp and closes their eyes, while it begins to omit a series of lights and sounds that “stimulate the frequencies of the brain” in a similar fashion to the kind of thing that psychedelic drugs do with the mind.
Winkler doesn’t mind people calling it the LSD-Lamp, because on a scientific level, the effect it has on the brain is very similar. The important difference, he claims, is that the effects stop as soon as you turn the lamp off, so you’re not going to be stuck in an indefinite hole.
Sweat Huts/Hot Tenting
Somewhere deep in Saxony, there are a group of people who heat up their huts for a natural high by getting sweaty together. It’s all very nature focussed. Very hut, such nature, many sweat. The structure of the tent is first built with sticks, then coated with blankets and fabrics. They do all this by hand, all part of the peaceful method which involves being very in touch with yourself and the world. Wood is collected and a fire is started to heat up rocks, which are taken into the hut.
The idea of the hot temperature is to be so uncomfortable/elevated that you are forced to fight against our own thoughts because they will ultimately switch off. To get to the point where our thoughts stop speaking to us, where our mind can shut off, and where we can get to know our inner selves. Apparently getting naked in a group and sweating it out in a hut is one practical way to do this, and to feel quite a natural high and euphoric while you’re at it.
So these three techniques designed to give you a natural high and get to know yourself on a deeper level are gaining popularity. Although they come with their own set of risks and issues, they are significantly safer than taking actual drugs to achieve the similar experiences and sensations. But are you sold?