You are the Zendo.
Zendo Project won’t be on the playa this year, but compassionate care can still be present. Get our free peer-support training and printable pocket card so you’re prepared when a campmate, friend, or stranger needs support.
Thank you to the donors who helped make this kit and our 2026 on-playa trainings possible.
Practical tools for caring for each other
This kit shares what we’ve learned through fourteen years of supporting people through challenging and non-ordinary experiences on the playa.
Inside, you’ll receive:
- A 30-minute training on Zendo Project's Four Principles of Psychedelic Care
- Practical guidance for supporting someone without trying to fix or guide their experience
- A printable, playa-ready pocket card you can carry with you
- Live Q&A (see below)
Get the training and pocket card
Enter your email to unlock the free training and download the printable pocket card.
We’ll email you occasionally with resources and updates from Zendo Project. We’ll never share your information, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Zendo Project's Four Principles of Psychedelic Care
Learn how to support someone through a challenging or non-ordinary experience while honoring their safety, dignity, choice, and agency.
What you'll learn
- How to use Zendo Project's Four Principles as an orientation rather than a script
- How to become a steady, anchoring presence without trying to fix or guide the experience
- The WAIT check, "Why am I talking?", and when silence may be more supportive
- Reflective listening and validation techniques that help someone move through a difficult moment
- Trauma-attuned, invitational language that preserves choice and agency
- How to recognize medical, mental-health, and safety red flags
- When to step back and find a Black Rock Ranger or Emergency Services
- How to assess your own capacity before stepping in and care for yourself after a difficult sit
Take the pocket card with you
Keep Zendo Project’s Four Principles and essential peer-support reminders close at hand.
The card includes simple guidance for:
- Creating a safer environment
- Offering calm, non-directive support
- Using grounding and invitational language
- Recognizing when additional help is needed
- Finding Black Rock Rangers or Emergency Services
This training, pocket card, and resource list provide general peer-support education. They are not a replacement for medical care, mental-health treatment, emergency services, or trained crisis response.
When someone may be experiencing a medical emergency, poses an immediate danger to themselves or others, or needs support beyond your capacity, contact Black Rock Rangers or Emergency Services.
Carry These With You
Safe Space
Tending to physical and emotional safety is foundational to healing and transformation.
Sitting, Not Guiding
Cultivating presence while letting go of an agenda honors the individual’s inner process.
Through, Not Down
We accompany people through their experiences without automatically trying to stop, suppress, or bypass the process.
Difficult Is Not Necessarily Bad
We remain open to the possibility that difficult and complex experiences can lead to wisdom, growth, and new understanding.
These principles are an orientation, not a script. Every situation is different, and safety always comes first.
Pre-Burn Q&A
We’re hosting a 90-minute Q&A about taking care of each other on playa. Come with questions!
Saturday, August 22 @ 3pm ET / 12pm PT
On-Playa Workshops
What actually helps when someone is having a difficult psychedelic experience?
In these interactive workshops, we’ll offer practical tools for staying present and responding with compassion.
Tuesday 2:30–4:30pm @ Foam Dome (9:30 between E&F)
Wednesday 2–3:45pm @ Opulent Temple (10 & Esplanade)
The Temple of Harm Reduction
For more harm reduction resources, check out the Temple of Harm Reduction. They’ll be on the playa this year, and their site is the place to check for up-to-date harm reduction info.
Go deeper with Zendo SIT
Zendo Sitting & Integration Training provides comprehensive live education in ethical, non-directive, trauma-attuned support for challenging and non-ordinary states.
Develop practical skills through guided instruction, demonstrations, reflection, and role-play.
Transforming how we care for people in challenging moments
Zendo Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming the way we care for people navigating challenging psychedelic and emotional experiences.
For more than fourteen years, Zendo Project has:
- Provided psychedelic peer-support services at events around the world
- Trained thousands of people in compassionate, non-directive care
- Developed practical educational resources informed by real-world field experience
- Worked alongside medical professionals, therapists, harm-reduction practitioners, event teams, and community responders
Thank you for helping carry compassionate care into Black Rock City this year. See you on the playa again soon.