Life after Ayahuasca - Post Ayahuasca Experience
One of the main reasons we come to Ayahuasca for - is desire for change in the circumstances of our life. Whether beforehand we had things we wanted to change, or just a series of obscure reasons that we refer to as a calling - and all of a sudden we find ourselves in a ceremony.
It is within this field of the Ayahuasca ceremony that we enter the arena of possible transformation. One of the first things Ayahuasca does - is remove obstacles that are in the way of change. Sometimes this makes you see things that we do not want to, to meet things we do not want to and the result is being introduced to a new page in our lives.
This removing of the obstacles can be referred to as the meeting of the new lead self to a new area in our lives. A lot of the people call this psychological integration, the integration of the past, the present and the future.
Return back into the world after veil has been lifted
After a period of attending a retreat we will find ourselves returning back into the world, same old world. However we likely will perceive ourselves and our environment differently.
This is something that our internal being has asked for, the search for wholeness both externally and internally. Internally we ask for this balance to be restored and externally we seek to express it and communicate it and make it whole. This can be a challenging moment in our lives. The veil has been lifted from our eyes so that we can fully see what lies in front of us and the immensity of completing the task.
The Ayahuasca retreat gives a taste of different states (feelings of higher centers as in Sufi Ecstasy, states that can fill the depths of the human heart): fulfilment and happiness, joy of the interconnectedness of nature and humanity. And when we come away from the ceremony and go back to the regular humdrum of our everyday lives it can be quite a shock. We have trouble conveying this to people that have been close to us and often unmet desire to bridge the gap of understanding.
Tips that will help you through: integration of past, present and future
Allow yourself a space to psychologically and spiritually breathe
It is very essential in this time to stay close to this work and treat it as a serious pathway in your life and not as a temporary psychedelic trip.
This is the work / play on oneself in life, it is the change that you asked for and it is always given in a measure that you can accept and work with, although sometimes it may seem quite an overload.
So the first thing to do is to give yourself space, either from work/activity clutter, and entangled emotional lives. Allow yourself the space to psychologically and spiritually breathe into a new place and a new way of being, a new way of appreciation.
Be gentle with yourself and express this to others
In our normal busy, every-day working lives this can be difficult. The pressures from our current motives of living, have a very strong driving force of stagnancy behind them.
So be gentle on yourself - give yourself the time - allow yourself the space, and express this need to others. In time the contradiction slowly diminishes, everything starts to make sense. The waves of your mind begin to settle - most of us have a huge backlog of issues to file away after the ceremonies.
Observe the signs - allow new things/opportunities to move towards you
There’s also the time to allow other things to move towards you, for it is this motion of things moving towards you that we seek, rather than control our personal environment 24 / 7 to manufacture something that is just nothing more than a cage.
More than often we find that after Ayahuasca ceremonies - opportunities open up, small coincidences occur that lead to greater and more profound miracles in your life.
Change your own life however do not pressure those around You
Sometimes inside of the circle we are shown what appears to be revelations, we should use this energy to change our world but not to change others. We are not here to save the world to create new religions or to coerce other people into a particular line of faith. We are just here to find our path, our happiness and contentment.
Makes small changes, follow inspiration, take up new hobbies
It’s also very good to make some changes, just simple ones. Do something in your life that is outside of the normal routine that you’ve acquired. Many people are inspired by music during ceremony and seek to take up instruments.
Learning a musical instrument or singing is a great form of expression and can fill moments of void in our lives. Whilst a lot of the things we do in our life are simply distractions - learning an instrument requires the input of attention, expression and focus. This type of activity is far more satisfying than sitting in front of the television watching Ayahuasca documentaries.
Removal of negativity in one's life - find something better to replace it with
One of the first things that you want to work on in our life is the removal of negative emotions, and negative fields that have surrounded you. But in order to do this we have to replace them with something better.
The finding of this something better is one of the great difficulties for the human being. A lot just has to do with a growth in questioning what you value in life.
Avoid rash decisions - learn to know yourself anew gradually
Avoid rash decisions of ending marriages, leaving work, ignoring friends, wanting to become a shaman. Learn to know yourself and pace your changes. Allow time for your revelations to settle before you act upon them.
After ceremony “bloom” is a spontaneous awakening as well as an outcome created by personal efforts
To conclude, the post experience is not the end of an event but the beginning of life, a reseeding of the self and a time of growth. So at Shamballa Ayahuasca Retreat we encourage you in your unfolding. Support, connection and trust are vital elements of the post Ayahuasca experience.
Give yourself space and time to digest the experience and allow insightful perspectives to bloom. This “bloom” is a spontaneous awakening as well as an outcome created by personal efforts. If you have any doubts or questions , reach out ,it’s as simple as that. Many have walked the path and have an amazing access to resources, that provide much “ experiential help”
