Ayahuasca: The Ultimate Eye-Opening Experience
By Isabella Silva
Mental health is something we put on the backburner from time to time. Over 50 million Americans are experiencing some type of mental illness due to our fast-past lifestyle, and COVID 19 did not make it any easier.
Western culture attempts to solve this issue by following Western practices and medication guidelines. The rest of the globe uses many natural and sustainable practices to curate solutions.
In the past, many of us have tried to solve this issue by using drugs and alcohol, yet this was only a temporary fix. Indigenous cultures use alternatives, such as ayahuasca, to gain insight on how to improve mental and physical health.
After a traditional ayahuasca experience, many gain insight to a sense of personal and spiritual meaning. I can testify and say that I have experienced a sense of personal and spiritual meaning after staying for six days at Gaia Sagrada.
Here I’m going to tell you a little about my story with ayahuasca, and how it is the ultimate eye-opening experience.
Preparing for the ayahuasca journey
The most important thing to do before taking a trip like this is sticking to the dietary restrictions.
One example is the elimination of meat, alcohol, and sexual activities. All these substances release energy and chemicals that restructure our internal chemical state.
Avoiding these substances can help us digest the spiritual medicine a lot easier and can help us connect to our inner selves (our chakras or energy centers) significantly more.
Following the diet guidelines helped the medicine react a lot differently with me compared to the other visitors. I felt more in-tune with myself and my surroundings. This was the first time I had ever practiced with any type of plant medicine like this, and I believe that cleansing oneself before doing this will help attain the right energies around and within you.
I, for one, will say that I felt connected with my inner self as soon as we started the activities at Gaia Sagrada.
Things I learnt from Ayahuasca
The first time I took ayahuasca at Gaia Sagrada, I had a connection with my higher self for the first time in a long time.
Things I have learned from this experience are:
- Everything is connected.
- We are all a lot more similar than we think.
- We are much more powerful than we think.
- There are unlimited opportunities that await us all.
- Feeling a lot more optimistic about my life and how the world will turn out.
A mix between Ayahuasca and San Pedro really helped me see how important my life is and how important it is to help others.
Essentially, Ayahuasca is meant to help you see things internally and take out any internal emotional and physical pain. San Pedro is meant to help you connect to the outer world, outside of just yourself.
Being mentally prepared for something like this is critical before taking any of these plant medicines. Having an intention will help your body and spirit to process information being shown or felt.
Many people on this trip came to fix addictions, emotional and physical health, or gain guidance on how to view the possibilities in their lives.
The types of people you meet here, you will never forget. The visitors, volunteers, and workers at Gaia Sagrada are a blessing in disguise, and will be there for you no matter the need.
Why Gaia Sagrada was a great place for me to experience the medicines
I originally picked Gaia based on reviews, and that this center was the safest that I had found. Once I actually arrived, I noticed that it wasn’t only the safest, but also the friendliest.
As soon as you get to the site, everyone is extremely friendly and welcoming. The staff and volunteers show nothing but compassion and will be there for you no matter what you need.
It is extremely important to have this type of environment when you are working on yourself and/or any type of trauma or emotional scar.
Compassion from others definitely helped the healing process.
Why ancestral medicines are a better path to healing
My overall experience with these two plant medicines were the most enlightening encounters I have ever had. I will never forget this trip, and I have learned so much about myself in such a short amount of time.
I wish everyone could experience this journey – I really believe that if Western medicine turned to more ancestral approach, or at least incorporated ancestral traditions, the United States would see a big difference within communities and how we view and act towards one another.
I plan on coming back to Gaia in a few years once I have developed my life a bit more.
Good luck to anyone going through an enlightening journey to find yourself – sometimes we really do need to take a step back from our fast-past life and take a step into ourselves.