DMT is nearly impossible to get using "traditional" routes. But extracting it from a plant is fairly easy, you can buy mimosa hostilis root bark online and do it yourself, IMO, it's the best and easiest way, and also the safest way to get it.
Mushrooms are smooth and gentle (well, maybe not rainbows and unicorns but you get the idea), so is DMT on lower doses. But on a normal dose, dmt is a different animal, so proceed with caution, no matter how much experience you have with other psychedelics. Normally it's vaporized, but I developped a good technique to smoke it in a joint, along with tobacco, blue lotus (or vervein), passiflora and weed. The afterglow is enhanced with an longer lasting euphoric effect, and the weed starts to come up when the dmt comes down.
Mushrooms are, indeed amazing. I haven't dreamt in a while since I smoke weed, mushrooms made me dream again. I love how they help to reset.
The respect you mention is very important, plants like to be respected. I've had times when I didn't have a good reason to take them, or took too much when unprepared, they usually kick your butt for that. And one definitely doesn't want their butt kicked by a psychedelic plant
I have a few friends who did ayahuasca, this is definitely been on my list for a long time (I actually came to psychedelics after hearing a bit about dmt and ayahuasca). My friend quit heroin right after that ayahuasca ceremony (I believe they also did some iboga, beforehand but microdosing it for a few weeks before the ayahuasca ceremony)