What shamans do.

Chances are you have taken part in or observed through television a shamanic practice at some point in your life. Depending if it was a documentary or cartoon your original viewpoints on shamanism will be varied. As it resurfaces in our modern times, we must reiterate what it is shamans do. This practice known all over the world is said to have begun in Asia over 40,000 years ago, however there is evidence of shamanism in paleolithic sites throughout Europe, Africa and Australia. This means even though there is not a specfic point of origin in shamanic practices, the common themes we see are not cultural, but practical. Shamanic practice has some to do with traits and more so is founded throughout cultures on the healing practices of psychobiology and the immunological system.

Make it to the end and see the list of common ailments treated by shamanism!

ayahuasca ceremony protection
Tobacco protection used by peruvian shaman for ayahuasca ceremony.

Illness in shamanic belief is linked to your psycology. This means you have the power along with a shaman to restore your health through finding equlibrium in your body, mind and spirit. At all of our ayahuasca retreats and the san pedro retreats, this is the most important factor, your extraordinary effort to let the shamans be your guides and help restore your health. In Peru, shamans are always relating the importance of intention, your intention along with the intention of the shaman in any ceremony is key. Whether the shamanic ceremony be in Peru, Bali, Mongolia or India.

When you participate in a ceremony you are bringing energy to the shaman and asking them to help heal through this holistic medicine. It takes a certain level of faith or spiritual interest. By using life force energy and a few key tools, the shaman helps resurface repressed memories, feelings of depression, anxiety, compulsive disorders and more. In ceremonies shamans have instruments to heighten your senses and activate chemicals in your brain, through taste, smell and touch. Shamans in Peru use plants, feathers, tobacco smoke, song, music and perfumes as their tools. It can be summed up as a performance art, but anyone who has experienced a true shamanic healing session knows it goes much further than this. In other posts, we will talk about spirit realms, animal guides, cosmological beliefs and the 8th chakra, the shamans chakra.

Do not forget, there is science behind the chants of shamans! The rattles and drumming used to bring about a state of trance and elict these repressed memories create endorphins. Endorphins are released in the human brain during these sessions. These chemicals activated naturally in your brain decrease pain and anxiety, and increase joy, with long lasting effects. They are noted by pharmacologists to be as effective as valium in their tranquilizing effects. It has been said, and you can quote me on this, that a shamans client who reinacts their repressed memory through a healing session, 80% will be healed. In a psychiatrists office, through art, talk, draw, or paint therapy, success rates are only 30%. – Raymond Price The Endorphins

The following are types of significant issues often healed by shamanic journeying. Ayahuasca retreats are relevant to all of these and San Pedro (Huachuma) will be marked for the ailments it best treats.

  • Depression (San Pedro)
  • Loss and grief (San Pedro)
  • Trauma and shock
  • Addiction
  • Abuse (sexual, physical and emotional)
  • Anxieties (San Pedro is especially helpful here.)
  • Compulsive disorders
  • Important life transitions and decisions (San Pedro)
  • Connecting with loved ones and ancestors
  • Clarification of your life purpose (San Pedro)

Unburdening: a late onset of the grieving process…

Ayahuasca Cusco – I asked one of our brave participants and friends if I could share part of her miscarriage story with the internet. This is for anyone who still needs to go through the grieving process they have been putting off so long.

When this heartbreaking moment occurred in her life she picked up everything she had and moved to a new city. She cried a little, but stopped herself. Never dealing with the range of emotions she felt at the time, too busy packing, too busy looking for a new place and just keeping herself busy. Until she crashed into a common ground, many people who come to take ayahuasca go through.

You cannot ignore the natural grieving process, sweep it under the rug or keep it under wraps. Or any emotional process for that matter.

Everything being new and different in her new place and was enough to distract her for some time. Some time being seven months after her miscarriage, then emotions began popping up it started with little outbursts. She got in a verbal argument with a co-worker over something miniscule. She became anxious and avoided leaving her house or answering the phone at times. Until in one fail swoop it all came crashing down. Her alarm went off in the morning to tell her to go to work to continue on with the distractions and when she went to get out of bed, she fell to the floor. She dropped to her knees and began crying, could not move and cried for an entire week.

After she got back up she knew it was time to deal with the whole range of emotions she had been keeping secret, drinking down, zoning out and stashing away. She found, unfortunately in our modern world compassion and empathy seemed to be dwindling all around her and yet she was still in pain. Being hit with such grief late down the road was met with judgements, doubt, avoidance and rejections. With the trust of her intuition she decided to look deeper into herself to heal instead of outward.

Ayahuasca called her and she answered the call. Upon her return home she told me the most beautiful thing and I knew the mother spirit was working within her and she had healed the deep wounds from her miscarriage. She said about returning, everyone is still here, but they have moved on and changed. Everyone moves on, because at its most simple the life force all around us continues moving on and on and that is beautiful.

Taking ayahuasca with us in Peru helped her understand there is deep love in grief and it is meant to be felt, even through the hurt there is help. Anyone can change their story to make a new ending with the right inner guidance.

It is important to feel the hurt in life and only from there can we begin to heal ourselves.

Healing trauma and PTSD with ayahuasca

Ayahuasca Cusco – Shamans call trauma susto and the treatment for susto is always ayahuasca. We have evolved with safety mechanisms in our minds to block us from harm. Memories can be harmful, however if we do not remember or try not to, we believe painful memories cannot hurt us. The opposite is true.

When you block out memories you are blocking out a part of the understanding of what makes you the person you are today. Maybe you have a nervous tick you do not know why. Maybe you get upset, have outbursts and do not know why. Any behavior that seems uncalled for and uncontrollable is a possible repressed memory. In order to stop these behaviors it is necessary to face them head on.

Years of therapy can only begin to do what ayahuasca can do in a few sessions.

Ayahuasca works where memories are stored. To put it simply ayahuasca helps your brain make new connections with those memories, but it does not erase the memories. It rewires your brain and instead of activating your emotional outburst, you recognize your trigger moment and let it pass. Sometimes we face unpleasant memories and come out with a better understanding of ourselves, forgiveness where we thought there could be none, but most importantly peace of mind.

If you are interested in taking ayahuasca to cleanse yourself from childhood trauma we highly recommend you do. We provide a supportive safe environment for anyone who has been traumatized.

Will my significant other leave me after they take ayahuasca?

A common worry for many couples ayahuasca cusco is if they experience such a drastic life change, will their partner come home and pack their bags.

The teachings of ayahuasca are more forgiving than you may know. Such a deep subjective experience is sure to bring about change. However, the change is often in a positive direction and the type of change one must undergo alone. Be happy to have such a brave partner interested in seeing themselves on a profoundly intense level. It is not a walk in the park or a weekend at the lake house. When they come to take ayahuasca they will be diving into a spiritual realm and coming out with an understanding of themselves unlike ever before.

It is important during your partner’s new outlook to be supportive of the direction they are heading. Both sides must be conscientious of the others feelings. The partner who has recently taken ayahuasca will find themselves more sensitive, for this reason it is important to be gentle, loving and understanding. Be kind in your words and actions, make room and give each other space. Being intimate, it is of the highest importance you make love and not just have sex. This is always important and we suggest learning techniques of awakening the kundalini and tantric yoga to accompany your partner on this spiritual journey. You will find your love rekindled and stronger than before when you begin your practice.

Remember to be love, not a lover, you are more than just a lover and your partner is more than just a lover. Breathe in love for yourself and exhale your love for the universe.

“Love should be like breathing. It should be just a quality in you – wherever you are, with whomsoever you are, or even if you are alone, love goes on overflowing from you. It is not a question of being in love with someone – it is a question of being love.” – OSHO

Suffering severe anxiety and paranoia and how ayahuasca can help.

Ayahuasca Cusco = Anxiety – is a paralysing disease. It affects our minds, bodies and hearts in a way no other subjective problem can. Being stricken by paranoia on top of anxiety is a debilitated life. People who get lost in this pattern can feel hopeless, depressed and sometimes suicidal. It is important to take swift action to liberate yourself and begin to live with calm energy.

Ayahuasca works on three levels your mind, body and spirit. First, it begins by cleansing your system, the body, of toxins built up from years of not eating right and putting a strong master plant such as cannabis in your system for recreational use. Once it has finished there, it moves onto your mind. It finds the roots which cause this anxiety and paranoia, and at that point it reassociates your minds triggers. The roots are rewired to activate a different part of your brain, a new calm understanding.

From there ayahuasca will work on your spirit giving you what you need to liberate yourself from the endless cycle you were in and the courage you need to change. Ayahuasca is a strong master plant and will help wash away the negative effects caused by cannabis use. Intention is key, the ayahuasca will do hard work on your body, but you will have to put in effort on your part as well. Wanting to learn to love and respect the plants we have been given by mother earth is important in this particular recovery. A plant is not just a plant, plants have spirits, if we misuse them we suffer.

This is not a problem to be ashamed of as it is becoming quite common. Not all plants pair well with all types of people. The sooner you can come to an ayahuasca retreat the better. You will find your center again and begin living peacefully with your spirit and all spirits around you, free from the clutches of anxiety and paranoia.

*We recommend a ceremony of San Pedro along with ayahuasca in these particular cases.