For whom is Ayahuasca?
“Ayahuasca is for those that want to heal the disconnection they experience with their hearts, so they can experience a deeper love, freedom and inner peace.”
If you’ve already done a lot of research on this sacred plant medicine, and you’re certain an ayahuasca retreat led by a respected ceremony leader is what you’re looking for, then you can click here to be taken straight to our agenda for the upcoming Ayahuasca Retreats in our center.
If you are not sure yet if this is for you, we advise you to carefully consult this page first.
How do you know if you feel called to ayahuasca?
People that say they “feel the call”, often describe this experience as hearing about it repetitively. First, they have no clue what ayahuasca is, then someone tells them about it or they read about it, and then somehow it keeps returning into their lives.
Some people also experience themselves attending a ceremony in their dreams. Feeling called to ayahuasca usually expresses itself by an increased curiosity or pull towards the sacred medicine.
When do you decide to go for an ayahuasca retreat?
Most people that decide to go for an ayahuasca retreat want to get a deeper sense of who they really are. They want to understand the world they live in better and find meaning and reason in their lives. They often expect this deeper understanding to bring them closer to living their highest potential and to experiencing a deeper love, freedom and inner peace. They wish to heal the disconnection they experience within their hearts.
Attending an ayahuasca ceremony can also be very effective when you are feeling “stuck” or are struggling with specific personal problems (physical, emotional, psychological) that seem rooted deeply inside your subconscious. Ayahuasca can provide you insights into the roots of these issues and/or assist you in getting closer to your (authentic) path.
An ayahuasca ceremony can be very helpful for those who want to take a step forward in their personal development and the expansion of their consciousness. However, you must be ready and willing to work on yourself and to accept full responsibility for your own life. Ayahuasca is for those who wants to see the truth, and are willing to go through whatever it takes to see the truth. You need to have the courage to feel whatever you need to feel in order to set yourself free.
Why do we need healing?
Our (Western) society and environment have often taught us to value a certain status, to strive for a career and to maintain a certain image. However, sometimes people feel trapped or stuck in this system. It can feel very unfulfilling to repeat the same year over and over again…
However, there isn’t much room in our educational system for more holistic approaches on how we can get to know ourselves, how to follow our hearts and dreams, and how we can discover our purpose and live our highest potential. Question yourself: do you live in the present moment? Do you love deeply? And are you truly happy?
Ayahuasca can help us reconnect to our purpose, our truth, our heart, and our dreams. So, are you at a stage where you’re asking yourself deeper questions about life, meaning and purpose? Or do you feel like you’re approaching the end of an old chapter in your life, and are ready to turn the page into a beautiful new experience for yourself?
“Ayahuasca is there to confront us with our shadow-self, so we can set free the trapped energy that is not integrated with the rest of our being.”
What outcomes can I expect?
Probably one of our most repeated advises is to try not to set too many expectations prior to your ceremony. This is because the outcome of ayahuasca ceremonies depends on so many personal and situational factors that no two cases can ever be the same. And thus, no predictions or promises can be made with regards to the (healing) effects of ayahuasca. However, with that being said, the table below lists some frequently cited outcomes of our ayahuasca ceremonies:
| PSYCHOLOGICAL |
|---|
| Insights in/Conscious of behavioral (addictive) patterns |
| Increased clarity of thought |
| Greater understanding of and patience with oneself and others. Stressful thoughts disappear |
| New, positive thoughts replace old, negative ones |
| Improved self-reflection |
| Experiences of expanded consciousness |
| Experiences of oneness/connectedness |
| Feeling “awakened” and “understanding” |
| PHYSICAL |
|---|
| Having quitted addictions |
| More energy |
| A sense of detoxification and purification |
| Better stability |
| Relaxation |
| Improved sleep |
| Different choices of nutrition (e.g. less meat/more plant-based diet) |
| Less hinder (or even full resolution) from (chronic) illness symptoms |
| EMOTIONAL |
|---|
| Reduced “have-to” pressure, less stress |
| Increasing empathy |
| Greater self-confidence |
| Greater self-acceptance and a more honest image of oneself |
| The ability to enjoy things more often |
| More lightness in life |
| An improved ability to deal with emotions |
| More serenity and peace |
| Dissolving of anxieties |
Ayahuasca will always bring you something, however, this might be something different than what you (think you) want. It can be something very subtle (subconscious) up to something life changing. However, please be cautioned: don’t expect ayahuasca to be a magic pill/drink that will miraculously solve all your problems!
“Our retreat offers an extensive support program to help you navigate the path of ayahuasca.”
How to navigate the path of ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is not a typical medicine. Throughout the decades of working with the sacred plant medicine, we discovered that many people don’t know how to properly navigate the path of ayahuasca. They come with false expectations or are not properly mentally prepared. People often don’t realize the extent to which ayahuasca is a path, a relationship, that needs investment and will not purely come from bringing the cup to your mouth.
Because we want to assist you throughout your spiritual development process, our retreat offers an extensive support program around the ceremonies, which focuses around helping you to get your intention clear, and supporting you in the process of integrating the insights the ceremony has given you.
Who is it NOT for?
Now that we have told you more about who ayahuasca is for, we would like to point out as well who it is not for. Our ayahuasca retreats are not for everybody. Therefore, we have a thorough application process and we feel it is important to also list who this might not be for, or for whom the psilocybin retreat is more suitable . Of course, this is not an ultimate truth and you can always contact us if you are unsure if attending one of our retreats is for you.
Ayahuasca might NOT be for you, if:
- You have (had) psychiatric problems or mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or psychoses.
- You are using drugs or medications that can cause contra-indications with the MAO inhibitors in the brew, such as antidepressants (serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SRIs) or tranquillizers (e.g. oxazepam, diazepam or alprazolam).
- You have a severe kidney disease, severe neurological disorders, epilepsy, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, blood dyscrasia (abnormal blood cells) or you’ve had hemorrhagic bleeding and/or stroke, or an actual or expected pheochromocytoma (an adrenal lump).
- You are looking for a quick-fix or a magic pill (“brew” in this case). Even though there are examples of people that do describe their ayahuasca experience as some sort of drastic turning point in their life, you shouldn’t expect ayahuasca to just “fix” you. What we mean by that is that ayahuasca is a tool for conscious evolution and healing, a teacher, a spirit. However, you are the one using the tool. You ultimately decide how deeply the tool will be able to help you.
- You are solely interested in having a fun psychedelic experience. Or you just want to give it a try, because it seems to be working for others.
If you are still not sure if ayahuasca can be a good next step in your process or you have any specific doubts or questions concerning your (mental) health situation, please do not hesitate to contact us.
FAQ
- get a deeper understanding of yourself;
- expand your consciousness (further);
- find meaning, reason and/or purpose;
- reconnect to your truth and/or your heart;
- are looking for insights with regard to (the roots of) specific personal problems;
- have a clear intention of walking a path of spiritual development.
- have (had) psychiatric problems or mental disorders;
- are using drugs or medications that can cause contra-indications with the MAO inhibitors;
- have a certain physical illness or disease that is a contra-indication (as listed above);
- are looking for a magic pill/brew;
- are solely looking for a fun trip.
We do not allow pregnant women into our retreats.
There are heated discussions on the participation of pregnant women (and children) in ayahuasca ceremonies, mainly between the traditional users of ayahuasca, the Santo Daime religious community and opponents that claim that it can provoke neurological alterations in the fetus (and for the same reason should not be consumed by children). Even though the ayahuasca religions enjoy a relative degree of social legitimacy and even formal legal recognition in Brazil, the participation of pregnant women and children continues to dominate public debate and is frequently used to question the validity of the use of ayahuasca in general (Labate, 2005). Opinions on this topic differ, as is often the case with ayahuasca, but because of the lack of scientific research in this area, we choose not to take any risk and do not allow pregnant women into our retreats.
Even though the research on this topic is limited, if you want to read more, you might be interested in the following article.
People frequently ask if ayahuasca can cure or help with their illness or ailment, such as depression, addiction, anxiety, PTSD, cancer, OCD, or mental health disorders such as bipolarity or schizophrenia. Although there are plenty of examples of miraculous recovery stories that can be found online and we have also personally witnessed some astonishing healing experiences, little is known about the therapeutic potentials of ayahuasca. We believe one could never say that ayahuasca can cure these illnesses. Due to the legal restrictions around this sacred brew in many countries, it has been studied very little. For example, there are hardly any scientific articles that have ever been published linking ayahuasca with cancer remission.
No predictions or promises can be made with regards to the healing effects of ayahuasca, because to understand the complete healing effects, we must look beyond the potential biochemical impacts ayahuasca has. The outcome of ayahuasca ceremonies depends on so many personal and situational factors that no two cases can ever be the same. We believe that the process of healing in general is more holistic, which makes it extremely hard to isolate certain factors for scientific research.
If you want to read more, you might be interested in the following article.