So you want to expereince an Ayahuasca ceremony. There are 5 questions you need to ask before choosing the right place for you.
1. What are you drinking? There are many different recipes for the brew. The 2 main ingredients need to be Aya vine and a form of DMT (Chacruna, Cholliponga, Mimosa). But there can be many more medicinal plants added and each additional ingredient brings more health and medication interactions and considerations. Always find out what you will be drinking.
2. Who is leading the ceremony? It is important to know who is leading. How long have they worked with the medicine? Where were they trained? What is their philosophy? The person leading the ceremony is in charge of your physical and spiritual safety, so you need to be able to trust them and feel safe. If they ever ask for sexual favors or say that sex is a part of the “healing” do not sit with them and/or leave as quickly as you safely can.
3. Location? Setting is important. If you don’t like bugs don’t be in an outside ceremony. If it’s in someone’s dank basement and it feels creepy then don’t do it. if you need plumbing then don’t go into the middle of the jungle. Being comfortable helps you to relax and surrender to the process so make sure to find out where it is taking place and make a choice that fits you.
4. How many participants? There are groups as large as 100 and others less than 10. If you choose a large group, make sure that there will be enough assistants to help. There should be no more than 5 participants for every facilitator/assistant. Especially in the beginning of your journey with the medicine you want to make sure that you will have the support you may need available during ceremony.
5. Integration? The real journey begins after ceremony when you need to integrate what you’ve experienced into your everyday reality. Having support is important. Find out what kinds of support the retreat offers post-ceremony. Do they send helpful emails, is there a community, opportunities to get integration coaching/counseling sessions (free or paid)? Make sure that you give some thought about creating a support system for when you get home.
Asking these 5 questions will help you choose the right place for you to sit ceremony. Remember, always trust your intuition!!
Many Blessings on your journey!
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