Ayahuasca EN
Important information Ayahuasca
Perhaps you’ve heard about Ayahuasca from someone close to you or through other channels, and this has sparked your curiosity about your own origins and connection with yourself. Most likely, you are currently seeking more information.
Maybe you have already tried various forms of meditation, therapy, bodywork, or awareness techniques but have not yet achieved the desired results. In that case, Ayahuasca may come forward as a possible consideration.
Ayahuasca is a powerful, consciousness-expanding plant that, besides fostering personal and spiritual growth, can also confront you with challenging themes that are or have been present in your life. Wanting to undergo these processes can lead to deep insights into your life’s purpose, accompanied by a more conscious and healthier way of living.
When you are ready for self-development and awareness, you will inevitably grow. An inner journey with Ayahuasca has the potential to be very significant for you in this respect.
On this page, we share information about the safety, therapeutic effects, and spiritual aspects of drinking Ayahuasca.
Ayahuasca is not a drug. It is one of the most transformative and healing sources of energy from nature.
What is Ayahuasca made of?
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a plant brew typically made from two, sometimes three plants in the West. One plant contains an MAO inhibitor, and the other a high form of DMT (dimethyltryptamine).
In some Amazonian tribes, Ayahuasca can be made from seven or even more plants. Ayahuasca is a cocktail and can vary, although the basis for most lies in the use of two plants. Depending on culture and / or the personal relationship with the plant.
DMT is also known as the Spirit Molecule and is naturally present in our bodies.
Taking DMT allows you to experience a deeper connection with yourself. This connects us to an inner source of knowledge present in every human being. DMT often produces visions characterized by colorful patterns or geometric shapes.
When DMT is ingested orally, it is immediately broken down by our body’s enzymes. This natural breakdown process is slowed down by the MAO inhibitor. An MAO inhibitor plant is needed for the DMT to take effect.
The effects of Ayahuasca (depending on the strength) last around 2.5 to 3 hours, which is why it is usually drunk twice in one ritual. The entire process takes about 6 to 7 hours.
Quality Ayahuasca brew
Ayahuasca has a bitter, tangy, and earthy taste with a brown to (light) red color that you won’t easily forget after you’ve tasted it.
Every Ayahuasca ceremony is unique and influenced by various factors, including the strength of the Ayahuasca brew. This depends on:
– The brewer’s relationship with the plants, their own spirituality, and level of awareness.
– The cooking time and quality of the ingredients.
– The (group) energy of the participants and their level of awareness.
Everything is energy. Does the energy during an Ayahuasca ritual become higher, more loving, more powerful? Then participants often ‘hitch a ride’ in this flow.
However, if the group energy is “heavier or more melancholic,” this is also felt by the participants.
Which plants make up Ayahuasca?
Traditionally, Ayahuasca is made from two plants: the Banisteriopsis Caapi vine and the leaves of the Psychotria viridis plant. The Banisteriopsis Caapi vine contains MAO inhibitors, while the leaves of Psychotria viridis (Chacruna) or Chaliponga contain DMT.
The combination of these plants forms the Ayahuasca brew.
However, there are several plant combinations that include an MAO inhibitor and DMT, sometimes using seven or more plants. Despite varying opinions on this, I believe that any plant with an MAO inhibitor and DMT falls under the umbrella of Ayahuasca.
Other combinations may include:
– Peganum Harmala (Syrian rue) as an MAO inhibitor,
– Jurema (Mimosa Hostilis) as a DMT source,
– Acacia (Acacia Confusa) as a DMT source.
Note: Ensure that there is transparency about the Ayahuasca you will be consuming. It is essential that facilitator / plant worker / process therapist, or medicine person communicates openly about the composition of the Ayahuasca.
The benefits from an Ayahuasca ceremony
Ayahuasca heals emotionally, physically, and mentally. It connects you with your own spirituality and fosters both personal and spiritual growth.
Ayahuasca serves as a reflection; you become your own therapist. When you are willing to take responsibility and be honest with yourself, space for change opens up.
Learning to become aware and making peace with ourselves are important outcomes that drinking Ayahuasca can bring.
Drinking Ayahuasca can initiate profound transformation, helps with healing trauma, and simultaneously awaken your creativity and life purpose.
"I am the problem"
The cause must always be found within ourselves. Others are merely a reflection, a mirror.
How we experience the outside world is entirely related to our perception of our inner world (how we experience it internally). Our perspective on the world reveals everything about how we approach life.
Self-exploration enhances the Ayahuasca experience.
What may have happened in my family or what events have occurred in previous generations?
What is my ‘problem’?
What do I keep facing in my life?
Have I experienced impactful events?
What would I like to change?
Did any shocking experiences occur in my childhood?
What was the course of my pregnancy or my own birth?
What is my deepest motivation or desire to connect with Ayahuasca?
What am I curious about?
Why drinking Ayahuasca?
It is important to consider why you are considering drinking Ayahuasca and with whom you intend to do so.
It is essential to realize that unprocessed emotions require careful attention. Therefore, before you start drinking Ayahuasca, it is valuable to investigate “where possibly” the cause of your problem originated, including the blockages you face in daily life.
Ayahuasca is not meant for ticking off a Bucket List or undergoing a trip.
Ayahuasca is absolutely wonderful, full of love, creativity and takes us beyond our minds, however; this comes with (therapeutic) deep healing.
Be aware that change and transformation can be initiated by connecting with Ayahuasca.
Everyone deals with issues and internal conflicts, though these differ in nature and intensity.
If you desire self-discovery and awareness, it will involve facing ourselves and our traumas.
'What you seek is seeking you. Rumi'
Ayahuasca connects us with our higher and lower consciousness.
When one drinks Ayahuasca, one is invited to focus his attention on his inner world; an inner journey. In this state of consciousness, three themes are touched; Big Mind, Big Heart and our pain body (Pandora’s Box).
The Pain Body
Because Ayahuasca opens the gateway to our subconscious, we come into contact with our pain body—a place where both our emotional and physical pain is stored. These are issues we prefer to avoid because they are too painful, frightening, traumatic, or confrontational.
“What you don’t know doesn’t hurt you.”
Our ego tries to control this by rationalizing, but in doing so, we distance ourselves further from our feelings. We suppress these feelings, yet we will continue to face triggers that press our pain buttons in the day to day life.
We fill this void with external distractions. In other words, it’s like mopping the floor while leaving the tap running.
Ayahuasca & our consciousness
Big Mind
This intelligent state of awareness and mindfulness provides us with insights into our past, present, and future, along with a collective supportive memory.
From this perspective, we no longer judge ourselves.
As our ego is set aside, we can experience events and ongoing themes without judgment.
We recognize patterns as deeply rooted conditioning and misleading beliefs.
This allows us to gain insights into how patterns from the past, as well as those from our parents and ancestors, are intertwined and continue to influence us.
Big Heart
The center of feeling. When our heart opens, we experience both our pain and our greatest love. All emotions flow freely. We become more sensitive. This is why music plays an important role during Ayahuasca ceremonies.
Big Mind (higher consciousness) and Big Heart serve as ‘gateways’ to the spiritual realm. Once in surrender, we step out of the lower self (our persona). This allows us to move beyond victimhood and observe our lives without judgment, enabling us to create positive change.
One often experiences a state of collective consciousness; a sense of unity and completeness.
Common Ayahuasca experiences
First off; you cannot die from a re-experience during Ayahuasca!
It can feel “real” though because you are going through a memory.
Dying is a word that is frightening to many. Many hold on to live , and on a unconsciously level deny that life goes along with death. However, Ayahuasca can make you reduce, or even eliminate, the fear of dying.
The common thread; The unprocessed wants to be processed.
Here, processing a dying process can be part of an Ayahuasca ceremony.
Next to birth, dying is for the most people an impactful experience, it often happens unconsciously (clouding of the mind by e.g. medication or an accident). These are forms of unconscious dying.
To die consciously is to make a transition in acceptance and peace that one is fully aware of. Unfortunately, this does not come naturally to everyone.
In the Ayahuasca ceremony you can go through a dying experience of a past life or of a person who has died and with whom you have had an emotional connection; parents, grandparents, siblings, partners, children.
So you can go through the dying of a deceased person.
There is also a symbolic dying. Also called an ego death. Through this you release your attachment to your body, your identity, desires and fears. You come closer to your truth and freedom through this. This is often experienced as very sacred and liberating.
I understand that this might sound overwhelming and exciting. However, it is often a humble, grateful, and sometimes even loving process.
Remember that you are not dying; you are simply going through an experience!
If you do feel panic because you don’t realize it’s just an experience, having a safe environment with experienced guidance can be very helpful.
The birth process plays a hugely important role in the formation of our personality and also the possible development of various (mental) disorders as we age. A birth experience is common in ayahuasca.
As humans, we all go through two shared experiences: birth and death. These are two intense events for nearly everyone. Birth is often accompanied by fear, marked by the overwhelming chaotic energy released during the emotional bond between baby and mother, where complications can frequently arise. Therefore, the birth experience is the most common trauma we all carry.
Of course, there are many shocking experiences, such as (sexual) abuse, accidents, the loss of loved ones, and illnesses that occur throughout our lives. However, not everyone has experienced these, but everyone has experienced birth.
The body has a memory, also called our cellular memory. All subconscious experiences are stored here. Experiences that can go back to our conception and before our existence.
Because birth is an impactful experience, it appears regularly in Ayahuasca. Therefore, the experience (held in our pain body) seeks to be consciously processed.
Because the psychedelic facilitator / process therapist shares this information beforehand, you’ll be better equipped to recognize it if you encounter your birth experience.
The facilitator or therapist can also notice it during the Ayahuasca ceremony and possibly support you in undergoing the experience.
Experiencing this can provide a significant boost to your self-confidence. Read this blog for more information on birth experiences.
Psychiatrist and researcher Stanislav Grof, has spent years researching our somatically and psychologically stored memories of our birth
and the Coex systems formed from them.
These are often unprocessed lives that want to be processed. During an Ayahuasca connection, these stories and images can come back into our consciousness quite clearly. Often they are images and stories that we have not experienced before in this life and therefore do not recognize.
Whether it was a past life of yours, from the collective, or from your family line, it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that it still plays a role in your life now, which is why it resurfaces in your consciousness.
There is often a common thread between a past life and the current one. You may encounter situations now that evoke certain behavior, fears, anger, or sadness, but you may not understand their connection.
Experiencing a past life —alongside the processing—can be accompanied by recognition, profound insights or a message.
In a state of surrender and connection with oneself, spiritual experiences can occur during an Ayahuasca ceremony. These experiences vary from person to person and depend on one’s personal and spiritual development. Sometimes these experiences manifest themselves already in one ceremony, while for others it only takes place after several ceremonies.
The spiritual insights and messages come from gods, teachers, angels, light guides, or totem animals; various archetypes. Generally, they convey messages of safety, trust, and sometimes a profound sense of unity with the universe. They provide strength for the earthly life you’ve chosen and restore your connection with your spirituality.
Essence of Ayahuasca
‘The unprocessed wants to be processed’ whether it is your own, carried from generations or past lives, there is no distinction. It is now a part of you and at some level forms a blockage to living freely.
The soul wants to heal and therefore triggers will keep coming as long as one has not yet processed (emotionally) the painful parts within oneself. Healing happens during the Ayahuasca session because the unprocessed parts of the subconscious come back into our consciousness. In this way the experience can be safely processed which gives liberation, resilience and healing.
It is normal to come into conflict with oneself (often during a first Ayahuasca ceremony). The ego is strong and wants to keep suppressing and controlling (something that has always worked in daily life).
During an Ayahuasca ceremony surrender will eventually take place. This facilitates (trauma) processing and fosters the growth of loving awareness.
Sometimes processing challenging themes happens immediately during a first Ayahuasca connection and sometimes it takes a little more time. It takes self-confidence which goes hand in hand with “sensing and getting to know Ayahuasca.
Every person has gone through a profound experience to some degree. Perhaps you personally have not had such an experience, but you carry it with you from family lines.
Ultimately, you cannot escape from confronting your painful emotions and themes that include shame and guilt.
The soul always longs for healing and growth.
If it doesn’t occur in this lifetime, it may be passed on to future generations, or the lessons may return to you in a subsequent reincarnation.
History Ayahuasca
The tradition of ritually using Ayahuasca comes from South America. Ayahuasca is a native South American brew that has been used for centuries by indigenous tribes in the Amazon.
Its history dates back to ancient times as an important part of shamanism, an ancient spiritual tradition. In recent decades, it has gained worldwide attention because of interest in its spiritual and therapeutic properties.
Ayahuasca is originally an indigenous traditional ritual and is led by a shaman or healer. Participants gather in a special space where they drink the Ayahuasca (a concentrated brew) and are guided by the shaman.
Ayahuasca was used by peoples – living together in tribal groups – as a healing agent and to get in touch with the source (also called; Source, God, The Creator, Allah or Great Spirit).
The Santo Daime Church is a spiritual and religious movement (created in the 1930s) that originated in the Amazon region of Brazil. The Santo Daime church uses Ayahuasca as a sacred sacrament and is drunk in groups during religious services.
With psychedelics, like Ayahuasca, gaining more attention, we can affirm that the practice of self-inquiry and awareness is valuable for experiencing freedom, heal from fears and expand our potential.
‘ An inner journey with Ayahuasca requires focus & concentration '
Concentrating on the ability to feel.
Our thinking has become an important tool in everyday life. However, in an Ayahuasca ceremony, thinking blocks the experience you are in. The mind takes ‘the wheel’ when an experience becomes intense.
For example; ‘Ayahuasca puts you into an experience/emotion, things are heating up and intense, and then you are ‘tuning out.’ At that moment, you lose connection with your physical experience, and your mind takes over. It’s new and unfamiliar, sometimes flashing by like a circus. Approach it with curiosity and relaxation. Allow the experience to unfold fully. Your breath serves as an anchor throughout this process. To fully allow the experience of Ayahuasca seems simple and in fact it is.
The challenge lies only in the fact that for many people the mind is so strong, so far removed from their feelings.
It is logical that it takes practice to let go of continuous thinking, something that has had a function for a long time.
Learn to become aware. Meditation, mindfulness or some form of yoga is a great tool for this.
Focus on the experience
Undergoing an Ayahuasca session and understanding what experience you are in requires some practice (awareness). It is not a given that an inner journey with Ayahuasca will be clear and obvious.
Although it also happens that answers do not come to you directly, sometimes the come weeks or months later to the surface.
The challenge, and also valuable lesson, during the Ayahuasca experience is to keep on feeling and not try to understand through the thinking mind. The ultimate goal is being aware of the experience you’re in.
Memories can be shown in various ways during an Ayahuasca ceremony.
For example, with visuals, as if you were watching a movie. This is often clear.
However, during the Ayahuasca , memories can also popping up into our consciousness through the body; feelings. This one is more challenging and can sometimes be more confusing.
A physical experience comes into your consciousness, only often it is not yet clear what you are in or what it relates to.
This requires focus and receptivity. The process facilitator or therapist can prepare you in advance for this by informing.
