Naran describes returning to 5-MeO-DMT with chad after a previous experience (with someone else in a less-than-supportive container) left him terrified of both the medicine and life itself. That early experience initiated a two year journey of constant fear, panic, disregulation. Even hearing the medicine mentioned could send him into panic, yet he knew that avoiding it was not resolving what had been opened.

Naran reflects on the original experience as ending in an overwhelming contraction despite it being a profound state of liberation. He says that contrast was deeply destabilising and the facilitator was not able to hold him adequately. For roughly two years he lived with reactivations, fear, and a sense of being hunted by something he could not escape. Although he had tools and resources, he says that although they soothed him, they did not resolve what remained unfinished.

What allowed him to return to the medicine was a different context: a gentler, more gradual approach, one-on-one contact, time with the facilitator, and a stronger sense of safety and connection. He describes the first session with chad as giving him courage, and the second as the real crossing—meeting the fear, feeling it fully, and finding safety within it. He says that the completion accomplished in that process was due to a softening, a growing trust, and the sense that he could finally stop.

He now speaks about fear as a teacher that calls him forward rather than something to avoid. That shift shapes how he works with others: with empathy, with safety, and with a willingness to stay with whatever is happening. He says the return to 5 with chad taught him the power to relax into intensity, to soften reactions, and to gently unravel contractions rather than turn away from them.

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chad charles is a practitioner, educator, and mentor specializing in 5-MeO-DMT. Since 2016, he has worked exclusively in this field, developing a practice-based understanding of these experiences through direct facilitation, practitioner training, and ongoing research. He works one-on-one with individuals in therapy-assisted contexts, supports people around the world through integration calls, and guides practitioners through mentorship and training. A large, detailed body of documented sessions since 2020 informs targeted research initiatives, with a focus on clarity, precision, and lived data. His private practice operates in Toronto and Montreal. Learn more at chadcharles.net

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Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction to Naran
1:41 Retreats, breathwork, and one-on-one work
3:26 Returning to 5-MeO-DMT after fear
5:00 Freedom, contraction, and destabilization
6:48 Forgetting his name and coming back to limitation
9:29 Two years of fear and reactivations
11:49 A gentler approach and saying yes again
14:00 Why one-on-one support mattered
16:23 Second session: from the shore into the depths
18:49 Crossing the fear and finding safety
20:57 Fear as teacher, softening, and guide work
29:42 Can going back be the remedy?