I had CRAZY Ayahuasca experiences at the Soltara Healing Center in Costa Rica.
It's fair to say that I had a deeply transformational journey with plant medicine.
Classic psychedelics such as DMT – an active component of Ayahuasca – let us go to places in our psyche or internal landscape that we wouldn’t normally allow ourselves to go.
Inside this blog, I bring awareness to what Ayahuasca is and highlight some of the incredible, life-changing benefits that you can experience with plant medicine.
If you're ready to open your mind and explore the amazing world of Ayahuasca, read this!
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Are you ready to heal your mind, body, and spirit using the power of Ayahuasca? CLICK HERE to discover how the Soltara Healing Center can support you through this life-changing experience!
What is Ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca refers to a psychotropic brew made by indigenous Indians of the Amazon jungle from a woody vine (Banisteriopsis caapi, B. inebrians, or B. quitensis) and the leaves of the chakruna plant.
One of the psychedelic substances that is found inside the brew is DMT, which is short for N-dimethyltryptamine. DMT is known as the spirit molecule. Our bodies naturally produce DMT, but not at the levels of what you ingest when you drink Ayahuasca.
Ayahuasca has grown in popularity in the last few years, in large part due to its life-changing benefits. According to research and many personal accounts, the brew may offer relief from depression, PTSD, and addiction due to how the mixture affects the mind and the nervous system.
Ayahuasca is also used with people who are struggling with terminal illnesses, like cancer. There has been evidence to suggest that some people's conditions have greatly improved after experiencing a series of Ayahuasca sessions.
My First Experience with Ayahuasca
When I was 21 years old I tried Ayahuasca for the first time. At this point, I was a few years into my personal development journey. Thus, I was open to trying anything that could enhance the quality of my life.
My friend invited me to take part in an Ayahuasca ceremony. I had no idea what Ayahuasca was. After a quick Google search, I realized that it was a hallucinogen.
I heard about the transformational benefits of Ayahuasca so I was open to trying it. However, I didn't do the ceremony in the most responsible of ways. It was done at someone's house, which is illegal in North America.
As a disclaimer, you should not do Ayahuasca if you are on medication for depression. Similarly, you should stay away from it if you've been diagnosed with serious mental health issues, like schizophrenia or if you struggle with neurological disorders or heart problems.
One thing that I loved about the Soltara Healing Center is that they do a health check before you're accepted to attend the retreat. Also, the doctors on-site screen you to make sure that you are fit to take part in the event when you arrive. They go above and beyond to make everyone feel safe.
Before the ceremony, you are asked to go on an Ayahuasca pre-diet.
The purpose of this is to prepare the physical and mental body to fully integrate the power of plant medicine. This includes no sex, no masturbation, no alcohol, and no caffeine. Also, they encourage you to eat light vegetarian food and low levels of sugar and fat.
The medicine brings all of your suppressed pain and trauma to the surface for you to confront and heal. When all of this comes up, it can be a very intense experience. Part of the healing process is learning how to let go and release your trauma.
One common saying with Ayahuasca is that it doesn't give you what you want. Rather, it gives you what you need.
Everybody has a different experience with Ayahuasca. Furthermore, you can have a different experience every time that you take Ayahuasca. That's what is so unique about this plant medicine.
My Rebirth Experience with Ayahuasca
During my first Ayahuasca experience, a lot of inner demons showed up. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Since then, I have come to learn that the near-death experience feeling that people have in an Ayahuasca ceremony is the death of your ego.
Your ego is trying to preserve your identity, even the darkest of pieces, which may include limitations, fears, traumas, and addictions. With every death, there is a rebirth. That rebirth is a part of the transformation that someone can experience.
While I was moving through this experience, the person next to me was screaming hysterically the entire time, while the person on the other side of me was laughing hysterically. It was intense.
The more that you resist the medicine, the more traumatic it can be. When I was finally able to let go and release, I purged through vomiting in a bucket. This is symbolic of releasing whatever has been holding you back in your life.
There are many other ways that you can purge, whether that's yawning, sweating, crying, screaming, or going to the bathroom. After I let go, I experienced pure bliss. I felt one with everything and everyone. However, after the experience, I didn't know how to integrate and process everything.
It felt as if I had been asleep for my entire life up until I tried Ayahuasca. Metaphorically, the medicine made me wake up and become more conscious.
My Experience with Ayahuasca at Soltara Healing Center
I had already done a lot of spiritual development work leading up to my Ayahuasca experience at Soltara. However, I had the desire to raise my consciousness and felt that plant medicine would be a powerful tool to help me do that.
At the beginning of the ceremony, each person goes to the front of the room. They share what their intention is, drink the brew, and sit back down. It takes about 30 minutes to one hour for the plant medicine to kick in. It lasts anywhere from 5-6 hours.
On the second day, which was my first ceremony, I started with a smaller dose of the medicine. Indigenous Peruvian Shabibo healers prepared the Ayahuasca brew and facilitated the ceremony. It was a great introduction to Ayahuasca.
As part of the experience, everyone sits in a circular room. Each of us had a mattress, pillow, blanket, and bucket for purging. They guide you through a yoga session and a meditation before dropping into the experience.
I had a very pleasant experience with my first ceremony.
I felt a lot of gratitude and love. While it was blissful, I didn't feel that a lot of healing was done. If that had been my only experience with Ayahuasca, I would have been disappointed.
With the second ceremony, I did a full dose. I had an incredibly powerful experience. At the onset, I was in a blissful state of gratitude and joy. All of sudden, I started having visions. One, in particular, was a vision of a plant that was pulling weeds from my body.
The weeds were reflective of any residual trauma, pain, negative energy, or negative emotion that was still dormant in my body.
I remember fully surrendering to the plant and allowing it to heal me from the inside out. As the weeds were being pulled out, I started feeling very nauseous. Here's the interesting thing… it didn't feel uncomfortable. Rather, it felt amazing.
Almost as if the plant had caught something inside of me that it was wanting to release. When I eventually let it go and purged, I felt even more bliss. That night, I purged four times, yawned, and sweated a lot. It was a very transformational experience.
The entire time I felt that I was in full control. Surprisingly, I was still able to direct my mind. I started speaking to the medicine because I was curious what would show up if I did.
My Third Experience with Ayahuasca at Soltara Healing Center
This experience was a lot more intense than the other two experiences were. I went into it intending to have a similar experience to the one that I had the second night. I did the same dose as I did the night before. As it was kicking in, I felt gratitude and love.
I purged, let go, laid down, and was ready to bliss out and enjoy the journey. Unfortunately, I went from a beautiful experience to a very intense and challenging one. I thought that I was done. However, Ayusacha needed me to go deeper. There was more work to be done.
As I was lying down, I felt the need to purge more and more, but I didn't want to face it. The more I resisted, the more painful the process became.
I had to get back up and challenge myself to go through it. Upon reflection, I now realize that I wanted to do things on my terms. I only wanted to heal on my terms, but plant medicine had another agenda for me.
I ended up purging intensely 10 times that night, but a lot of the time no liquid was coming out. However, it didn't matter. The act of purging brought with it a powerful feeling of release.
When I was purging, I saw snakes coming out of me, like parasites. To this day, I'm not sure what it was but I know that I was releasing and freeing myself from emotional pain.
One of the most profound realizations that I had from the experience was that control is an illusion.
I've always been someone who has a clear plan. I have a crystal clear vision for my life and I know exactly how I want my future to unfold. While it's great to have a life plan, this experience taught me that I can't be attached to any plan.
Life happens when you're busy making plans. That can cause a lot of pain if your expectations aren't met.
There are one million things that could happen today or tomorrow that could change EVERYTHING in your life. You need to trust the process and surrender to whatever happens. That one realization has shifted my entire perspective on life.
The fourth day is all about integration.
I think this is missing in a lot of other Ayahuasca retreat agendas. It was so unbelievable to hear other people's experiences. The retreat members came from all walks of life. We all bonded with one another.
The collective intention was to support each other's healing process. Once you've finished the retreat, there is a diet that the Soltara Healing Center suggests you follow. Avoiding things like marijuana and alcohol is important, as is eating healthy foods.
After an Ayahuasca experience, you're on an incredible high for a few weeks. Since my experience, I've felt lighter, happier, and more at peace. I don't feel the same desires, needs, and ambitions as I once did.
My values have changed as well. I want to connect with more people. Overall, I feel like a more conscious version of myself.
This was my CRAZY Ayahuasca experience at the Soltara Healing Center in Costa Rica.
This plant medicine experience transformed my life forever. The Shipibo healers were incredible and the core staff was incredibly knowledgeable. I felt safe and supported from beginning to end. If you're interested in learning more about their retreat, check out their social media platforms:
There are countless stories of people who have overcome the darkest of traumas through their inward journey with Ayahuasca. How would your life change if you could experience the healing power of plant medicine?
Are you ready to heal your mind, body, and spirit using the power of Ayahuasca? CLICK HERE to discover how the Soltara Healing Center can support you through this life-changing experience!
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