Tag: #preparing

Integration, I am you and you are me

Ayahuasca Cusco – Everyone has a different reason for coming to Peru to experience Ayahuasca, San Pedro and other sacred plant medicines. Some of us need to overcome trauma, free ourselves from bad habits, go deeper spiritually, heal diseases and ailments or find new inspiration. Our practice is in using the plants mother nature intended for our use to heal mind, body and spirit.

Participants want to know how to integrate the medicines, because what it is the point in coming all the way and such a huge undertaking if you go return to your old ways?

This is a common question we receive from our retreat goers here at Shamanic Vida. With Ayahuasca, any imbalances conscious or unconscious rest assured will be brought up for examination by the medicine. This tends to confront our ego and leave it feeling uncomfortable sometimes, no matter how life-changing the experience was.

Here is where the San Pedro comes in. It highlights and restores our truths for us, brings a halo of gratefulness into our lives. We remember to be with our friends and families, the ancestors and parents from which we were created, be grateful for the meals we easily eat, the house we live in and more. The teachings of San Pedro integrate themselves naturally over a long period of time. By doing San Pedro with your ayahuasca retreat in Cusco, the ayahuasca teachings become more concreted into your consciousness. 

These two plants together lock-in your ability to carry the momentum forward and make the changes you were encouraged to make.

Transmit the understanding the you in Peru and the you in your home country, are the same person. Respect yourself and your body throughout the process, just like we do here at our retreat center, this helps keep the glow and makes integration far easier.

Trust the unknown, discover, be humble, forgive, celebrate, and love. The medicine shows us the universe and we are all one, so treat life this way.

“Lak’ech Ala K’in” – Mayan: I am you and you are me.

Books on building relationships with plant spirits

Ayahuasca Books – We want you to be able to continue your way on the new spiritual path you are walking after your retreat. If you find yourself enthralled with the experience and yearn to learn more read, find your niche in this realm and dig deeper into your being, into the plant spirits beings, other dimensions and more. See how far you can get and do not forget to come back, implement your new ideas and communicate with us what you learned. Our list is somewhat short and sweet, it is in no particular order our scratch pad from a meeting, let us know if we are missing any essentials!

  • Tibetan Book of the Dead by Graham Coleman
  • Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Handcock
  • The Secret Teachings of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner
  • The Field by Lynne McTaggart
  • The Earth Has a Soul by CG Jung
  • Plant Spirit Healing by Pam Montgomery
  • Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism by Stephen Harrod Buhner
  • The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth by Monica Sjoo
  • Plant Spirit Medicine: A Journey into the Healing Wisdom of Plants by Eliot Cowan
  • Inner Paths to Outer Space by Rick Strassman
  • The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner
  • The Cosmic Serpent by Jeremy Narby
  • The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tomkins
  • Foods of the Gods by Terence McKenna
  • DMT the Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman

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.

I need more ayahuasca sessions…

Ayahuasca Cusco – Needing to continue your therapy is the basis of needing more sessions. If it was physical therapy or emotional therapy it would not be such a surprise to hear, but when it comes to ayahuasca it feels disheartening. Even though ayahuasca is an emotional, physical and mental therapy. In these cases it is important to remember to work patiently with the ayahuasca and know it is still working in your spirit, only in a different way than you expected.

Coming from the hustle and bustle of western societies it is easy to generate an expectation of wanting the medicine to work in one session. Some centers make grandiose promises; in one session you can cure all your problems. This is not always the case and certainly not the safest manner to go about an ayahuasca therapy. The spirit of the medicine is strong, but sometimes it needs to break down emotional and mental barriers built up over years. Then it can begin the work you think you need. As well, sometimes there is pertinent work you were unaware you needed.

It is a process of trusting in the medicine and gratitude for any experience you have. It is not a common occurrence, but sometimes it may be because of a calcified pineal gland, different psychological medicines taken over a long period of time have long term effects on our neurological systems and the ways they are triggered, or the ayahuasca could be doing purely physical and emotional work. Do not give up hope, we will guide you in how to continue preparing yourself to take ayahuasca again.

People have come to us from other centers because the ayahuasca medicine did not work for them there and with careful planning before their trip to our center, including many in depth conversations about their lifestyle and stricter diet, we have been able to help them have the breakthrough ceremony they were looking to have.

Sometimes the lesson may be as simple as patience.

Books: How to maintain an enlightened mind?

Ayahuasca Cusco – Everyone has the ability to maintain an enlightened mind. What really does it mean to be enlightened? When we talk about enlightened we are talking about a mind at peace, a mountain that no wind can move, wind being any type of dilemma. This sturdy mind then has time to be well-informed and educated.

To start the path to enlightenment for yourself begin by meditation Start simple, do not put any pressure on yourself, say today I am going to sit for 10 minutes, concentrate on my breathing and let my thoughts pass like trains in a station. If you find yourself lost in thought, be kind forgive yourself and try again later. You may start out at 5 minutes, move to 10, then 20 and gradually and hour. Do this everyday by making the time you need. If you have a meditation center in your city you may find guided meditation to help you break through to your next level. Most larger cities have a buddhist center offering free classes on meditating.

If you are seeking a profound meditation retreat we recommend vipassana. In these retreats you have the time to focus on your practice while your needs are taken care of. You can find out more about vipassana and meditation retreats at dhamma.org

Reading is as important as meditating to maintain an enlightened being. There are many texts you can choose from. It is best to find the avenue suited to your tastes and branch out from there. A good place to start would be books on buddhism or meditation. Book list below!

To have a healthy mind we must have a healthy body. Many buddhist monks practice disciplines. A discipline can be any type of exercise you do. Many Asian practices such as yoga, tai chi, qi gong or forms of karate can be a great aid in your path to enlightenment. Try and avoid any activity involving violence, they will be counter-productive. Practicing tantric yoga or tantric sex is an a large step in awakening your kundalini, chakras and if practiced responsibly another suggested discipline.

Last, but certainly not least. Playing any instrument, meditation instruments guitars, etc. All with the intention of connecting to your spirit through music is another way towards the light. Being on a path to enlightenment does not mean you will move to Tibet and begin vow of silence for most people. It means you are interested in connecting with your spirit and spirits around you on a higher vibration. The world needs more of this, do not be afraid to be your true spirit, the more you practice the more you will see the light.

  • Cutting through Spiritual Materialism by Chogyam Trungpa
  • Quiet Mind by Susan Piver
  • How to Meditate by Pema Chodron
  • The Ultramind Solution: Fix your broken brain by Mark Hyman
  • The Meditations of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
  • Not Always So by Shunryu Suzuki
  • The Nine Rooms of Happiness by Lucy Danzinger