OVERVIEW
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive concoction made from various different Amazonian plants, cooked in a pot, and is consumed like your typical tea. Comprised of caapi (caapi vine), chacruna, chaliponga or chacropanga and various other plants, the brew varies from shaman to shaman. Typically containing the psychoactive ingredients dimethyltryptamine and MAOI’s. The psychoactive chemical DMT normally cannot be processed by the body orally and therefore requires the help of MAOI’s in order for the user to feel the effects.
Before taking the Ayahuasca you will need to follow a strict “dieta” that is described in detail below. Meditation and mental preparing are highly recommended, in addition to focusing on your intention. What do you want to gain or learn from the ceremony? Every ceremony is different; sometimes you will have visual hallucinations and sometimes not, sometimes it will be a physical experience and other times much more emotional, being happy, sad, or even dark. At the start of the ceremony the maestro calls everyone to drink the Ayahuasca then you wait one hour. After the one hour break you have the option to drink a second cup. The Ayahuasca typically lasts 4-5 hours but some individuals report feeling the effects until the next morning. The experience is very much personal and dependent on each person. You will have the opportunity to face the darkness in yourself that the ego does not want to acknowledge. Trauma and pain may surface allowing you to overcome long-held problems. An excellent tool for opening mental doors and overcoming mental barriers, Ayahuasca is a guide. Ayahuasca can help redirect an individual allowing them to make difficult life decisions; chose what path to take, come to a new found understanding of the self and a deeper more profound connection with nature. Ayahuasca is considered a potent medicine that helps patients find balance, clarity, and achieve deep healing for the mind body and spirit.