Ayahuasca is a powerful Master Plant Teacher. To those who haven’t experienced ayahuasca, that might seem like something… unbelievable. So what does ayahuasca teach you? The short answer is anything you want that can truly last your entire life. The long answer is what will follow in this blog post.
While we’ll share common themes we’ve seen ayahuasca teach business leaders, conscious change makers, and ourselves, the list is endless. And ayahuasca can illuminate wisdom, visions, and healing beyond anything words can capture.
And this can happen at many of the ayahuasca retreats around the world, which typically hold multiple ayahuasca ceremonies, or all this illumination can happen in someone’s first ayahuasca ceremony. As the saying goes, to drink ayahuasca is like doing decades of talk therapy in one night.
What Is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is a sacred plant medicine brew that has been used by indigenous people in the Amazon Basin for millennia. It’s also gaining popularity as a teacher and tool for personal development, therapeutic benefits, and an alternative healing experience in the modern world.
In a Western lens, the psychedelic substance of ayahuasca is the chacruna leaves. These contain DMT, which leads to the intense visionary states that can accompany an ayahuasca journey.
The ayahuasca vine contains harmine, harmaline, and other alkaloids that act as MAO inhibitors. These compounds are responsible for allowing DMT to become orally active when combined with the DMT-containing plants. Without the presence of the MAO inhibitors in the ayahuasca vine, the DMT would be broken down in the digestive system, resulting in no psychedelic effects.
The effects of ayahuasca can be deeply transformative and give people clarity into their lives and situations, but they can also bring up difficult or painful memories.
While some are looking to find their purpose, passion, or meaning, an ayahuasca trip supports others looking to heal post-traumatic stress disorder, a mental health disorder, unhealthy generational conditioning, or those looking to feel what it means to love themselves.
This means it’s important to choose an ayahuasca retreat that offers quality care and will support you through any potentially challenging effects of your experience with the ayahuasca tea.
What is an Ayahuasca Ceremony?
An ayahuasca ceremony is a traditional Amazonian practice that involves the consumption of a powerful psychedelic brew made from the ayahuasca vine and other plant ingredients. The ceremony is typically led by a shaman or experienced guide who creates a safe and supportive space for participants to explore their inner world and access deeper levels of consciousness.
During the ceremony, participants begin drinking ayahuasca and then lie down or sit comfortably as they begin to experience the effects of the plant medicine. Their ayahuasca experience can be intense and transformative, often involving vivid visual and auditory hallucinations, emotional breakthroughs, and profound insights into one’s life and purpose.
The ayahuasca shaman or guide, ranging from South America to Europe depending on their path, studies, and teachers, will also share medicine music or lead other rituals as a way of enhancing the experience and connecting with the spiritual realm.
Overall, an ayahuasca ceremony is a deeply personal and spiritual journey that can offer profound insights and teachings for those seeking personal growth, healing, and transformation. However, it is important to approach the experience with respect, intention, and a willingness to surrender to the process to fully benefit from the medicine’s teachings.
What Can Ayahuasca Teach You?
Ayahuasca, also known as the “vine of the soul,” has been used for centuries by indigenous people for medicinal and spiritual purposes. The plant medicine can offer profound insights and lessons to those who work with the medicine.
While some come from religious and spiritual purposes, we’ve also worked with people coming for professional, creative, and intimate purposes too. In all honestly, mother ayahuasca does a divine job at not only addressing what needs attention but also prioritizing these intentions in a way that meets a person right where they’re at.
Some say we’re spiritual beings having a human experience. And this means that if we are connected to that which knows all, call It/Them God, Creator, Creation, Source, Spirit, etc, etc, these teachings are better-called rememberings. Because we’re being reminded of that which we already know, but have forgotten. I genuinely wonder how often ayahuasca teaches us something new. So far, I haven’t gotten an answer but if I do, it’ll warrant a brand-new blog post.
However, this one is for what Ayahuasca can teach you and we’ve generated a list of 14 teachings. And we recognize what Ayahuasca teaches is truly infinite and incredibly subjective while planting seeds that simplify the core of the human condition.
- Self-Awareness: Ayahuasca can help you to become more aware of yourself, your thoughts, and your emotions. This increased self-awareness can help you to identify and release limiting beliefs and patterns, leading to personal growth and transformation.
- Forgiveness: Ayahuasca can facilitate forgiveness of yourself and others by helping you to see situations from a new perspective and release negative emotions that may be holding you back.
- Surrender: Ayahuasca can teach you the art of surrender, allowing you to release control of your entire body and trust in the process of healing you’re currently grappling with.
- Interconnectedness: Ayahuasca can help you to realize that all things are connected and that we are all part of a greater whole. This increased awareness can lead to a greater sense of compassion and empathy for others.
- Gratitude: Ayahuasca can teach you to appreciate the beauty and wonder of life, fostering a sense of gratitude for all that you have.
- Trust: Ayahuasca can help you to connect with a higher power, leading to a deeper sense of faith and belief in something greater than yourself.
- Healing: Ayahuasca can help you to release emotional and psychological traumas, allowing for deep healing and restoration of brain health, the body, and the spirit.
- Spirituality: Ayahuasca can facilitate a deeper connection to spirituality and a sense of purpose, helping you to align with your true self and live a more meaningful life.
- Creativity: Ayahuasca can unlock your creative potential, whether it’s through art, poetry, music, or dance. The plant medicine can inspire you to express yourself in new and authentic ways.
- Connection: Ayahuasca can help you to connect with your ancestral roots, providing a deeper understanding of your cultural heritage and a sense of belonging. Plus, you can be connected to Nature in ways that illuminate your purpose, feelings, and life in unexplainable ways.
- Presence: Ayahuasca can teach you to be present in the moment, helping you to let go of the past and the future and fully embrace the present moment.
- Surrender: Ayahuasca ceremonies often involve surrendering to the experience, allowing the medicine to take you on a journey. This can teach you a lot about the importance of surrendering control in your everyday life and being more open to the flow of the universe.
- Self-Discovery: Ayahuasca can help you connect with your true self and gain a deeper understanding of who you are and what you really want in life. Writing about this can help others who are struggling with self-discovery and finding their place in the world.
- Compassion: Ayahuasca can help you tap into a deep well of love and compassion for yourself and others. Writing about your experiences with ayahuasca and how it has taught you to be more loving and compassionate can inspire others to do the same.
The Closing Chapter on What Ayahuasca Can Teach You
Ayahuasca is a powerful plant medicine that can teach individuals a range of important lessons about themselves and the world around them. In fact, that’s why many come to Costa Rica hoping they’ll become enlightened about that blockage that’s causing all the dis-ease in their life. Spoiler alert: It’s rarely ever one thing and reaching that thing will invite you to do some of the most intense work of your life.
Oftentimes though, people leave with heightened senses of self-awareness and practicing forgiveness, surrendering to the interconnectedness of all things and cultivating gratitude and truth. Over and over, we see the teachings of ayahuasca being transformational and life-changing. Through the experience of healing and connecting with one’s spirituality, creativity can be unlocked in various forms, from art to music and dance, and individuals can also feel a deeper connection to their ancestors and to the present moment.
It’s important to remember that the journey with ayahuasca doesn’t end with the first ceremony or the last. Integration of the lessons learned during the ceremony is crucial for continued growth and healing. Integration can include practices such as meditation, journaling, therapy, and continuing to live a healthy lifestyle. When integrated properly, the teachings of ayahuasca can have a profound impact on one’s life, leading to a deeper understanding of oneself and the world, and ultimately, a more fulfilling and purposeful life.
