Ayahuasca Integration

Ayahuasca Integration

Completing an Ayahuasca retreat can be transformative, leaving us with new insights and perspectives about ourselves and the world. Returning from the Jungle to your normal day-to-day life can be challenging after such a profound experience. You may feel extremely sensitive to your connection to the Earth, other people, and yourself.

Perhaps your time in the Jungle has left you feeling whole and balanced. Maybe you didn’t have the experience you were expecting or hoping for and feel some disappointment with what the medicine brought to the surface or didn’t bring to the surface. Either way, it’s beneficial to continue to honor the incredibly hard work you’ve put in so far as you transition back home to your life. This is where integration comes into play, where you have the opportunity to carry your new insights out into the world. 

Holistic integration is essential for embodying Ayahuasca’s teachings. A mindful approach is necessary to realize the medicine’s long-term benefits. Integration is a proactive process encompassing physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual dimensions.

Personal Empowerment

Seeds of your integration process were already planted as soon as you started preparing to sit with the medicine. You may find that the preparation work you did before your retreat will be a good guide for your integration process. Ultimately, a beautiful integration of your journey with Ayahuasca is up to you and only you. There are people and energies that can support you, but you are responsible for empowering yourself to continue the work.

When you get home, set clear intentions for what you hope to achieve over the coming days, weeks and months as you set your daily routine  back into place. You may find that these intentions are similar to those you’ve already been working with or that what you started to work with before and during the retreat has taken on entirely new meaning. Some may feel that their intentions were addressed, and some may not. Now, it’s time to solidify and contextualize the teachings you received. 

Consider the following to help you honor the empowerment process that is integration:

• Healing is an ongoing and never-ending part of life
• Accept that life will always have ups and downs
• Don’t worry too much about the future, stay present in the now
• Stay engaged in life
• What routines and structures might I keep or add in my life?
• What negative habits do I need to release?
• Take mindful action
• Lead by example
• Continue to learn
• Be realistic; don’t demand perfection for yourself or others
• Be kind to yourself
• Be patient with yourself
• Put forth effort, but don’t try so hard

Empowering yourself to continue the healing process is one of the best gifts you can give yourself during integration. This comes with the acceptance that life will be a never-ending journey of letting go and letting be. Whatever comes your way, choose to stay engaged. This will look different for everyone, but the medicine likely provided some guidance on things that need to be released and things that can be fostered in your life. Follow this guidance by taking mindful action and continuing to learn about yourself. 

Through preparation, sitting with the medicine, and now with your integration process, you can lead by example if you find that those around you are not resonating with your transformation of heart and mind. It’s all up to you. Remember you can not change anyone but yourself, but you can be an example to others. Be aware of not putting yourself on a pedestal, knowing that everyone is on their own path and timeline. Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. 

Embrace your empowerment process, and nature will continue to embrace you, guiding you along your path of integration.

The Purge May Continue

The purgative process that started at your Ayahuasca retreat may continue over the coming weeks and months after you are home. This will not manifest as vomiting like it does during the ceremony, but can in other ways. You may feel compelled to make some changes to  your life plan that you had before your Ayahuasca experience. This can look like changing jobs, career paths, or your relationship dynamics with others. Ayahuasca can show us what is no longer working in our lives and inspire us to come into greater alignment with our inner, authentic self. Approach any significant life changes mindfully. It is encouraged to wait for about a month before making any major life decisions. This can include, but is not limited to changes regarding your career, where you live or any of your personal relationships.

Sometimes after our work with Ayahuasca, we can feel an increased sensitivity to subtle energies and our intuition. This can open the door for other life changes, particularly with what we consume in our daily lives through all forms of media, news and entertainment. What we consume through media and entertainment has an impact on our subconscious mind and our perception of reality. Connection to our inner guidance will allow for a more centered and healthier relationship with ourselves and the world around us.

Trust this ongoing process for deeper healing.

Sharing Your Experience

After your journey with the medicine, you may feel compelled to share your experience with others. It’s pretty impossible to convey the psychedelic experience, so keep in mind that some things may fall flat when you share them. Perhaps you felt like you were in the presence of God, a higher power, or your ancestors. These experiences may not resonate with some, so consider your audience and only share certain details of your time in the Maloka that you feel strongly inspired to share. Some things are meant for us to sit with and continue to process, remember not everything is for everyone.

Consider having variations of what you share depending on who you’re talking to. Someone who has sat with the medicine will have a better ability to understand what you’re sharing, yet, those who have not sat with the medicine or had any psychedelic experience may have a more difficult time understanding what it is that you went through. If people ask you questions about what happened, you could keep it as general as explaining that Ayahuasca helped open your heart and mind and taught you about love and forgiveness. If you feel that the person you are talking with will be able to appreciate more specific details about your experience, then share those additional details, keeping in mind that only you will ever fully understand.

Integration Coaching and Community Support

There are resources available to find a well-versed psychedelic guide who has experience with the medicine. Finding a good integration coach can help you make sense of your experience with Ayahuasca. A coach can help you recontextualize some of your insights, helping you come to a sense of clarity about the teachings that you received in the medicine space. This clarity may help you better understand how to move forward in life and continue the transformative process that started in the Maloka.

In addition to an integration coach, finding community support in group settings can be beneficial. There may be some people from the retreat with whom you built a connection. You may choose to continue nurturing those newly acquired friendships as your ongoing support system. Since they were on retreat with you, they will be able to relate in a manner that others may not be able to.

Post Retreat Recommendations

Adhering to the post-retreat recommendations is another important aspect of the integration process.  This allows the medicine to continue to work with you after your ceremonial experience and to set the stage for your personal success. Remember, these are suggestions and moderation is the key. 

La Medicina recommends the following: 

Okay to Consume Right After Retreat:

• Oils, salt, pepper, and sugars with moderation.
• Mild stimulants such as caffeine and chocolate.
• Supplements and vitamins.

 Items to Avoid for One Week:

• Dairy consumption — assess how you feel after a week before reintroducing.
• Hold off on eating red meat — gauge your reaction after a week.
• Avoid spicy and fermented food items.
• Hot and cold foods temperature wise.

 Items to Avoid for Two weeks:

• Alcohol

 Avoid for One Month:

• Pharmaceuticals and medications unless required for emergency situations
• Pork
• Cannabis
• Psychedelics and all other plant medicines, including Ayahuasca, working with another curandero

 Behavioral Suggestions:

• Abstain from engaging in any sexual or sensual activities, whether alone or with others, for two weeks.
• Refrain from receiving any form of energy or body work for one week.
• Pause before making significant, life-altering choices for one month.
• Postpone participation in activities that increase adrenaline, such as extreme sports, watching horror or thriller films, and getting tattoos. Use your discretion to decide when to resume these activities, and we suggest at least a minimum of one to two weeks.

Working with the medicine and the maestros is comparable to energetic surgery. Adhering to the post-dieta guidelines will help ensure the work is solidified, allowing you to get the most out of the incredible effort you’ve put into the experience.

Honoring the Physical and Energetic Bodies

Some find an increased sensitivity to how they feel in their physical and energetic bodies after working with Ayahuasca. To stay in balance after retreat, you can continue to incorporate, or begin to incorporate, specific routines and exercises into your daily life. Making long-lasting changes to your diet by reducing the amount of processed foods you intake and increasing the amount of whole and organic foods you consume will be helpful. 

If you don’t already have an exercise routine, now is an excellent time to begin one to stay in touch with your physical body. There is also a direct relationship between how we feel in our bodies and our mental, emotional, and energetic states of being. Daily walks, runs, or strength exercises are highly recommended to incorporate into your life. 

Your increased sensitivity to your energetic body may compel you to develop this newfound relationship further. Exploring QiGong, Tai Chi and breathwork can be an effective way to keep your energy and mind in balance. Ensure you seek guidance from a reputable teacher to get maximum benefits from these types of energetic practices.

Deepening Integration with Nature

After working with Ayahuasca, you may find that your relationship with nature has heightened to a degree you haven’t experienced before. This is a beautiful opportunity to develop your integration process further. Since Ayahuasca is nature, spending time in nature is a perfect way to continue to feel a connection with the medicine.

Spend time in the forest, hiking in the mountains, floating the river, walking the coastline, or sitting under a tree. Find a dark place and gaze at the stars. As you spend more time in nature, you may find that new insights from your Ayahuasca retreat come to the surface.

Spiritual Practices and Ritual

Spending time in nature can be a spiritual practice and ritual in and of itself. Still, some may feel compelled to develop further or incorporate other practices to help with the integration process. Some practices that you may consider:

• Prayer
• Meditation
• Yoga
• Journaling
• Creating art
• Making music
• Service to others
• Expressing gratitude
• Cultivating loving-kindness

If some of these practices and rituals were already a part of your life before your Ayahuasca retreat, you may have an easier time tuning into them or discover a shift in how you approach them. If spiritual practices and rituals are new to you, explore and experiment with different things to find out what resonates with you to help with your integration.

Your inner voice will lead you to the practices and rituals that best support you. Continue to trust in the medicine and the intense transformation you are going through.

Expansion of Consciousness and Creating Your Reality

The psychedelic experience of Ayahuasca that you had in the Maloka is a microcosm of the psychedelic experience of life. Approach your life as you would approach ceremony, and you may find that the medicine experience will integrate naturally into your life, continuing to expand your consciousness over time.

A common insight people realize after sitting with Ayahuasca is that you have the ability to create your reality based on your perceptions and actions. Ultimately, it is up to you to make the necessary changes in your life that you feel guided to do. Ayahuasca will not change your reality, the Maestros will not change your reality, it’s up to you. Pay deep respect to the medicine and the Maestros by applying the lessons you’ve learned during your Ayahuasca retreat to your daily life. As you take action, more inspiration will come, and you will continue to feel guided by the supreme intelligence of your higher self and the spirit of Ayahuasca.