You can actually have those very same epiphanies simply by actually taking the time to think long and hard about what your current circumstances are, what you've learned about it so far.
there are certain contemplative disciplines that can lead to similar epiphanies of a psychedelic experience, but "taking the time to think long and hard" is not really one of the method's I'm familiar with. meditation is not "thinking long and hard".
I'm assuming that thinking hard about my life led to additional subconscious thinking which led to these realizations, just like any other eureka moment. It seems the wheels did churn out something behind the scenes, they just had to be prompted to do so.