Category: Retreats
What shamans do.
Chances are you have taken part in or observed through television a shamanic practice at some point in your life. Depending if it was a documentary or cartoon your original viewpoints on shamanism will be varied. As it resurfaces in our modern times, we must reiterate what it is shamans do. This practice known all over the world is said to have begun in Asia over 40,000 years ago, however there is evidence of shamanism in paleolithic sites throughout Europe, Africa and Australia. This means even though there is not a specfic point of origin in shamanic practices, the common themes we see are not cultural, but practical. Shamanic practice has some to do with traits and more so is founded throughout cultures on the healing practices of psychobiology and the immunological system.
Make it to the end and see the list of common ailments treated by shamanism!
Illness in shamanic belief is linked to your psycology. This means you have the power along with a shaman to restore your health through finding equlibrium in your body, mind and spirit. At all of our ayahuasca retreats and the san pedro retreats, this is the most important factor, your extraordinary effort to let the shamans be your guides and help restore your health. In Peru, shamans are always relating the importance of intention, your intention along with the intention of the shaman in any ceremony is key. Whether the shamanic ceremony be in Peru, Bali, Mongolia or India.
When you participate in a ceremony you are bringing energy to the shaman and asking them to help heal through this holistic medicine. It takes a certain level of faith or spiritual interest. By using life force energy and a few key tools, the shaman helps resurface repressed memories, feelings of depression, anxiety, compulsive disorders and more. In ceremonies shamans have instruments to heighten your senses and activate chemicals in your brain, through taste, smell and touch. Shamans in Peru use plants, feathers, tobacco smoke, song, music and perfumes as their tools. It can be summed up as a performance art, but anyone who has experienced a true shamanic healing session knows it goes much further than this. In other posts, we will talk about spirit realms, animal guides, cosmological beliefs and the 8th chakra, the shamans chakra.
Do not forget, there is science behind the chants of shamans! The rattles and drumming used to bring about a state of trance and elict these repressed memories create endorphins. Endorphins are released in the human brain during these sessions. These chemicals activated naturally in your brain decrease pain and anxiety, and increase joy, with long lasting effects. They are noted by pharmacologists to be as effective as valium in their tranquilizing effects. It has been said, and you can quote me on this, that a shamans client who reinacts their repressed memory through a healing session, 80% will be healed. In a psychiatrists office, through art, talk, draw, or paint therapy, success rates are only 30%. – Raymond Price The Endorphins
The following are types of significant issues often healed by shamanic journeying. Ayahuasca retreats are relevant to all of these and San Pedro (Huachuma) will be marked for the ailments it best treats.
- Depression (San Pedro)
- Loss and grief (San Pedro)
- Trauma and shock
- Addiction
- Abuse (sexual, physical and emotional)
- Anxieties (San Pedro is especially helpful here.)
- Compulsive disorders
- Important life transitions and decisions (San Pedro)
- Connecting with loved ones and ancestors
- Clarification of your life purpose (San Pedro)
Healing trauma and PTSD with ayahuasca
Ayahuasca Cusco – Shamans call trauma susto and the treatment for susto is always ayahuasca. We have evolved with safety mechanisms in our minds to block us from harm. Memories can be harmful, however if we do not remember or try not to, we believe painful memories cannot hurt us. The opposite is true.
When you block out memories you are blocking out a part of the understanding of what makes you the person you are today. Maybe you have a nervous tick you do not know why. Maybe you get upset, have outbursts and do not know why. Any behavior that seems uncalled for and uncontrollable is a possible repressed memory. In order to stop these behaviors it is necessary to face them head on.
Years of therapy can only begin to do what ayahuasca can do in a few sessions.
Ayahuasca works where memories are stored. To put it simply ayahuasca helps your brain make new connections with those memories, but it does not erase the memories. It rewires your brain and instead of activating your emotional outburst, you recognize your trigger moment and let it pass. Sometimes we face unpleasant memories and come out with a better understanding of ourselves, forgiveness where we thought there could be none, but most importantly peace of mind.
If you are interested in taking ayahuasca to cleanse yourself from childhood trauma we highly recommend you do. We provide a supportive safe environment for anyone who has been traumatized.
Can we really heal ourselves?
Ayahuasca Cusco – In modern day societies we have been programed at the first sign of sickness to run to a doctor and from there to a pharmacy. What if we told you, you are your own very best doctor, shaman or healer?
Mother Earth has provided humans with everything needed from the beginning of time to eat, evolve and heal. When you take ayahuasca as a cure you are taking part in healing yourself. This grand undertaking is the first step in a lifelong understanding of your own innate powers. You understand the factors and multiples involved in your sickness better than any Doctors. From everyday nutrition to psychological factors and spiritual vacancies, our understanding is that any of these can greatly affect your wellbeing. It is a balance only you know how to fix, by letting go of relationships that no longer serve you, eating clean energy foods, exercising your body and partaking in ceremonies, as an example of the actions taken.
Modern day society has left behind spirituality and it has caused an imbalance. Spirituality is an essential part of being human, without spirituality we have a house with an empty room, while the other rooms are overfilled with unnecessary items. Your house is your body, your mind and your spirit. Only you can tell where you are inadequate and restore balance to your house.
Once you understand balance you may begin to understand how to heal yourself and maybe move on to healing others, such as the people you love and care about. Eat your way to health and if you run into extreme disequilibrium there are plants to aid your recovery and restore the natural harmony of your system.
Can you smoke cannabis with ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca Cusco – Power struggle refers to two people in a relationship fighting about who is in control, with both trying to dominate the relationship in one way or another. Switch out power for plant and you have the definition of the problem in using ayahuasca and marijuana together.
Cannabis is a master plant. Master plants are the most intense of plants, the strongest of medicines and do not always combine well. In the case of cannabis, it works in a far different manner than ayahuasca. The shamans describe it as a plant with two faces. One face, the happy face, makes you feel good, relaxed, silly, etc. On the other face, it can cause anxieties, depression, compulsiveness, paranoia, mood swings, etc. The spirit of the plant is wavering depending on the person and for this reason it does not go with the ayahuasca.
It is recommended if you are going to insist on using marijuana in the future, to do this in a personal ceremony. Give thanks to the spirit and make it a special moment, even a small ceremony. Using this positive intention you are more likely to get positive results from the plant.
Santo Daime, the well known brazilian ayahuasca church, does not support using cannabis in ceremonies or outside of them while practicing with ayahuasca.
While marijuana most certainly has important medicinal uses and more, it is necessary to respect the master plant and its power. Any master plant used outside of its intended purpose is not recommended.
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.