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131 BEING A VOLUNTEER * sessions. Relationship problems, career or school concerns, spiritual or religious issues raised by participation in this research—all these were important to air before beginning such deep and profound journeying through the DMT realms. I started telling Alex what to expect. "Today's DMT dose is small. You might not notice too much from it. But don't be too blase”. It's better to be too prepared than caught off-guard. We won't do much after the DMT's in you. We'll sit quietly, be alert, pay attention to you, be available, hold good thoughts and feelings for you. If you need human contact, just put out your hand and someone will take it. If you lose control, we're here to help. Otherwise, this is your experience, not ours. You're pretty much on your own." In the first series of DMT studies, I recommended that volunteers close their eyes to start, and open them as effects began fading. Some- times, however, the shock of the first minute or two of the high-dose DMT experience would cause an almost reflex opening of the eyes in an at- tempt to orient. This almost always made things worse. The room, already rather forbidding, could take on even more troubling overtones, and the research nurse and I, our visages hopelessly transfigured, did not look much more appealing. Now we placed black eyeshades on all the volun- teers at this point in the session. The eyeshades were the soft satin ones airline travelers use, or those who need to sleep during daylight hours. It was difficult finding any at the local drugstores. Once this orientation was done, I said, "Spend as much time as you like getting ready. It might help to focus on your breath, how your body feels on the bed. That will start the process of letting go. "When you're ready, let me know. I'll tell you when it's about 5 to 10 seconds before the beginning of the injection. I like to start giving the drug when the second hand of my watch is in an easy-to-read position. "T'll now clean off the tubing with a little alcohol swab. Like this. The alcohol will quickly evaporate, so the smell won't distract you. I'll now insert the needle into the tubing, but I won't empty out the DMT. It's easier for me to have the needle in place beforehand. That way I won't fumble around trying to fit it in right as the injection should begin.