What is Ayahuasca and How Can it Change Your Life?

My One-Week Retreat at Arkana Spiritual Center (Part I)

Libertad Jungle, Amazon Rainforest, Peru

Ever since September 2020, I have had a strange calling come into my mind. I’ve heard about Ayahuasca in passing through topical Netflix documentaries, Youtube videos, and mentions from friends in passing commentary.

2020 was a year that changed all of our lives, and after the sudden passing of my mom in July 2020, the effects of the year felt compounded and heavy.

Out of nowhere that fall, I became fascinated with understanding what Ayahuasca was, how it worked, and why so many people claimed to see life changing results from it.

What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca in its most basic form is a vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) native in the South American Amazon Rainforest. When combined with the chacruna leaf (Psychotria viridis), another native plant to the region, and boiled for up to 30 hours, it creates a ceremonial spiritual medicine and psychoactive brew. The tea has been used by the indiginous people of the Amazon basin for centuries as a way to heal, open, and experience. Among the indigenous people, ayahuasca is known as a mother plant.

For those interested in the science behind it, the vine contains alkaloids that act as monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). The MAOIs allow the primary psychoactive compound found in the chacruna leaf, DMT, to be orally active. 

The benefits of ayahuasca have been found to help people overcome post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), grief, traumatic events, severe anxiety and depression, addictions, and deepen one’s self-awareness and spirituality.

Where the ayahuasca is brewed

In order for the DMT to take effect, it is crucial to  adhere to a strict diet for at least two weeks beforehand. The ayahuasca dieta as it is known, is to ensure that any foods that contain tyramines – an amino acid that helps to regulate blood pressure – are reduced. MAOIs block the ability to break down tyramines, so not doing so can cause your blood pressure to reach dangerous levels.

Foods that need to be cut out are extensive and include anything fermented (cheeses, meats, pickled foods, soybeans, tofu, alcohol, yeast-extracts, and sauces) and other foods that would energetically interact with the intention of the medicine (spices, pork, dairy, caffeine, processed foods, salt, oils, citrus, and sweets). A full list of what I followed for a month prior can be found here.

I spent countless hours researching the benefits and effects of ayahuasca, and reading dozens of retreat reviews. 

I searched for a place that met all my meticulous criteria.

1) has small and intimate groups for the ceremonies

2) works with authentic Shipibo Shamans who have worked with plant medicines all their lives and have had shamanic mastery passed down through generations

3) does health background checks on all participants – it’s important to note that if one has pre-existing mental health conditions (either personally or genetically predisposed), are still going through the trauma and have not given oneself the necessary time to do some deep inner work and healing prior to going, or are even going for the wrong intention, ayahuasca likely is not for you. It is important to go into the use of the medicine and ceremonies with a meaningful level of self-awareness and not as a band-aid that is expected to fix raw emotional pain

4) is focused on helping participants integrate their experiences post-ceremony, and 

5) offers the ability to work with other natural medicines

Finally, I found the perfect match – Arkana Spiritual Center.

In November/December of 2021, my friend Oli and I embarked deep into the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest for a profoundly healing experience that changed my life.

You’ll see excerpts from journal entries from the one-week spiritual retreat where we worked with medicines and master plants such as ayahuasca, kambo, sapo, mapacho, and rapé to help us heal and progress our intentions. 

For me, the trip consisted of a 23 hour journey from Boston to New York to Lima to Iquitos (the gateway to the Peruvian Amazon). The group met up at a hotel to go over retreat orientation and receive COVID tests prior to embarking on the 4 hour journey to the center the following day.

Day 1 (Sunday, November 28, 2021):

An artist rendition of Mother Ayahuasca

 The journey was a two hour bus ride from Iquitos to a coastal town called Nauta, where we got on a small boat and took an hour and a half journey down the Amazon River into the rainforest where the retreat center was located.

After arriving at the center, we settled in and then went to see the shamans individually to set our intentions for the four ayahuasca ceremonies over the course of the week.

I will leave it to the videos to go into more detail about the day-to-day itinerary of the retreats and touch on my most powerful learnings here.

My Intentions for the Ayahuasca Ceremonies:

1. Healing
2. Spirituality & Guidance
3. Love
4. Help and guidance to heal, grow, and evolve for the Most Benevolent Outcomes in my life

The most important things the Shamans and facilitators told me following the intention setting were to: 1) Trust the vine, 2) Be humble, and 3) Enjoy the breath.

Day 2 (Monday, November 29, 2021)

From 6:30 – 7am we had a group aarti/meditation ceremony for Shiva. Each day is dedicated to a different deity in Hindu tradition; because it was Monday, this day was in honor of the third god in the Hindu triumvirate, Shiva. Shiva is responsible for protection, benevolence, and is known as the destroyer which then allows for future creation.

Right after, we all went into the Maloca for the Kambo (Giant Monkey Tree Frog Poison) Ceremony. Jhonny Java Nuñez, who was a Shaman from the northern Amazon, came to Arkana Spiritual Center for the day to lead us through the ceremony he is known for.

We each sat around the Maloca on our mats, with six people going at a time. The Shaman (Jhonny Kambo as we colloquially called him after the ceremony), would call us to go up and receive the medicine. 

• He takes a hollow stick, heats it up with a candle, and makes two small burns on your skin. 
• He then removes the skin and the burn points become entry points to the body where the Kambo is administered. 
• You can elect to have 0.5, 1, 1.5, or 2 “points” administered. The “points” corresponds to how strong of a dosage of medicine (the frog poison) you want applied to the open wounds – basically how strong of a cleansing you want.

Kambo is a medicine that is used to help treat physical ailments and injuries which have plagued the body. Once the medicine enters the body, it quickly works its way through the circulatory, lymphatic, and nervous systems, searching for abnormalities to detoxify. The cleansing of the respective bodily systems ultimately results in purging. 

In Shipibo and Amazonian medicine, Kambo was said to be discovered by an ancient king who was suffering a number of physical ailments. One day while wandering through the jungle, he stopped to rest. During his slumber, he received a vision showing him that the poison from the back of the Giant Monkey Tree Frog could be used to help alleviate and cure some of his ailments. Since then, the medicine has been used in Shamanic traditions to help cleanse the various systems of the body and to cure some pains.

People in our retreat group elected to have their points/burns administered on the knees for ailments in the lower part of the body or shoulders, trapezius, or back for upper body ailments.

Lower body pains include things like knee troubles, achilles or foot/ankle pain, and sciatica. Upper body ailments are anything from neck and lower back pain to sinus problems, headaches, and digestive issues.

I was 12th to be given the medicine. When being given kambo, you first have to drink at least 3 liters of water followed immediately by a yucca-based concoction (which didn’t taste great). The body was in a fasted state and full of water to allow it to purge and symbolically get rid of the physical illness.

I took my points in the lower back and upper left trap muscle. The low back point was to alleviate my chronic lower back pain as a result of two disc herniations. The upper point was to help with my sinus problems.

The burns were quick and Jhonny Kambo then peeled off the skin and applied the Kambo to the open areas. My head got warm and dizzy as he was administering the medicine to my upper back and he ultimately gave me 1.5 “points”.

I went back to my mat and was told to drink more water. The feeling was first warmth and heat in the head and face. I then started to purge the water and yucca drink, like all the others had before me. 

My face started to swell and I could also feel the fullness in my cheeks and lips. I continued to sit on my mat with my head over the bucket, and the facilitators poured water over the back of my head to keep my body temperature cool and in check.

The full process was about three purges and lasted 5-10 minutes. I most intensely felt it in my sinus passageways, nose, throat, ears, and lower back. Given those were the ailment areas I wanted to heal – I could see my conscious intention at work.

We were instructed to immediately shower so our body temperatures would come down and we wouldn’t be in a flux state of lightheadedness, which the medicine induces.

Afterwards, we all came back to the Maloca and Jhonny Kambo closed the ceremony. We then had breakfast, and he put a natural plant-based antiseptic (Sangre de Grado) onto the wounds to aid in healing them. 

We had some free time to talk to other retreat members while some of them went to set intentions with the Shamans. I spoke with Nyko, a fellow retreat member, for a while as he had been at Arkana for two weeks already. From our discussion, my intention for my first ceremony was to ask Mama Aya (mother ayahuasca) to show me how to love myself more. 

Intention setting for the ceremonies and meaningful introspection are imperative if you want to get the most out of the ayahuasca ceremonies.

In terms of our group, we were 16 new joiners to Arkana Amazon Jungle, 6 remained at Arkana from the previous week or two or even flew over from Arkana Sacred Valley (Arkana offers multiple retreat location and duration options). 

Next, there were 3 facilitators who were either volunteers, Shamans-in-training, or employees.

Lastly and most importantly, we thankfully had all 4 Shipibo Shamans who work with Arkana with us during our week working with the medicine. The four Shamans were Maestra Justina, her husband Maestro Cesar, her son-in-law Maestro Misael, and her son Maestro Herminio. 

An artist rendition of Maestra Justina

Maestra Justina and her husband started working with the medicine at 22 years old and have been using it for over 44 years. Maestra Justina is from the community of Vencedor in the northern Amazon. She is a direct descendant of a long line of Merayas, the Shipibo’s highest ranked Shamans, and her first plant dieta lasted two years. Her son who was also there, started working with Ayahuasca at the age of 7. Now at 18, is already hailed as one of the most powerful shamans in the area.

Maestra Justina blessing the ayahuasca

The days are long and filled with activities. We had lunch (1:30pm), went on an excursion to see monkeys (2:30pm), took a plant bath (4pm), had an ayahuasca talk with the facilitators (5pm), quiet time (6:30pm), and then had our first Ayahuasca ceremony at 7:30pm.

On Ayahuasca ceremony days, no food is allowed after 2:30pm and no water or liquids are allowed after 4:30pm. This is so the medicine can find its way to where it needs to go in your body and to not interfere with its energy.

The plant baths are done prior to the ceremonies and cleanse you with a mixture of protective and connecting plants, which allow you to communicate with Mother Ayahuasca from a better energetic space. No shower is allowed until the following day. That way you go into the ceremony with the protection of the plants and your aligned intention, which you call in during the plant bath.

Day 3 (Tuesday, November 30, 2021)

The ayahuasca ceremonies are done in the Maloca at night, with all participants sitting on their mats in complete darkness. The ceremonies are primarily done with the eyes closed, where visions transport you out of the body and into higher consciousness. 

During the ceremonies, the shamans sing Icaros. Icaros are healing songs from the plant that come through the shamans during the ceremony. The shamans need to diet the plant for months to years to become energetically aligned with it, and the icaros are where the true healing is known to happen.

In traditional culture, the shamans used to be the only ones who took the ayahuasca in ceremony and healed the participants with the icaros. However, now participants are able to take the medicine directly, given the profound healing properties that have been found to help from personal ingestion.

Ayahuasca Ceremony 1 Reflection (11/29/21)

Intention: I want to love myself

Initially, I had visions of colorful patterns and seeing the stars and sky. My ceremony had multiple segments to it:

Mom & Love

• Once the medicine started to take effect one of the first core segments was around my mom and her love.
• Mother ayahuasca started taking me back to my very early childhood and one-on-one experiences with my mom.
• I felt her presence almost undeniably – hugging and loving me; saying “I’m always here, I always have been here.”
• I started crying and feeling that immense motherly unconditional love deeply in my soul.
• She was showing me all the times she was so caring and patient with me. She was showing me all of the unconditional love, tenderness, and boundless affection she gave me.
• She showed me that it is the love that I have, and that’s always been inside of me. I have had that first-hand experience of love to truly feel it. From that, I am able to exemplify and share that love with my own self, body, and the world.

Spirituality

• The next segment I experienced with the medicine was an intense “activation” in my third eye that I’ve never felt before.
• It was a strong, non-painful, and bright pulsing feeling.

• At times, I needed to consciously breathe because the visions, feelings, and events were happening in a way that my body felt insignificant or not there. I kept receiving thoughts coming to me saying “this little body.” As in, this little body is not all there is. It was continually telling me about how I am so much more. How I am the enduring consciousness throughout roles and cycles of varying bodies. I am a boundless existence of all-encompassing consciousness
• I kept coming back to the phrase “enjoy your breath” and I couldn’t stop smiling and feeling immense gratitude for everything, this life, and all it is.
• I kept seeing the big words “THANK YOU” and they felt like my favorite words in the world
• There was a strong feeling of gratitude for the shamans and being able to be at Arkana 

E.T. Encounter

• Through ayahuasca, most people experience encounters with otherworldly beings such as angels, aliens, fairies, elves, etc. I had an experience with a being from another planet.
• The aliens were benevolent and exuded an energy of pink and green. They are from the star system Sirius B.
• They showed me feelings of loving compassion, to the point where I felt it, didn’t just see it or witness it.

Body/Stomach Ache:

• I got a stomach ache at one point, and although never vomited, through that I felt the medicine was teaching me to love myself (body) even at my worst
• I felt the shaman’s Icaros in my body throughout the ceremony
• The medicine was giving me the realization to give any pains love in order to heal them. Instead of focusing on the pain and feeding it fear, give the pain love.
• It was also telling me to look at how far I’ve come on journey over the years and not just focus on the negative aspects of my body. I was being told to appreciate the journey and evolution to where I am now.

Day 3:

After the first ceremony, we went to bed at 4:30am and woke up at 7:30am. We had breakfast after the 18-hour effective fast (a piece of fruit and a glass of water post-ceremony is allowed) and at 9:30am had our first group share. 

We went around in the maloca for two hours all talking about our experiences, sharing what insights we had, and discussed with the shamans if we should increase our dose for the next ceremony.

I had half a cup for my first dose and a quarter cup for my second dose. For the second ceremony, they agreed to increase the first dose to ¾ cup and see if another second dose was needed. 

Later, I spoke with one of the facilitators, Daniel. After hearing him speak at the orientation and aya talk, his energy, demeanor, calmness, and gravitas deeply resonated with me and I wanted to learn more about his life. A sense of reverence for him came to me during the ayahuasca ceremony as well. 

Daniel is native to and lives in Argentina. We talked about his experience as a retreat attendee half a year earlier that ultimately led him to become a facilitator. While working at Arkana, he was also on a plant diet of Bobinsana and Guayusa for three and a half months to become closer to the plants and experience shamanism. During the diet, the plants are effectively all the dieter is allowed to eat. The plants strengthen the dieter’s roots in the earth and allow the dieter to gain clarity and love from the plant.

At noon, I then went for a group yoga session. It was much needed to stretch and open the body after hours of sitting on the ground cross-legged for ceremony, group share, and other talks.

The facilitators share four key centering techniques to use during the ayahuasca ceremonies when things either get intense or off-track. 

In order, they are:

1. Posture – upright, spine straight
2. Breath – enjoy the breath
3. Intention – come back to what your intention was for the ceremony
4. Icaros – focus on the healing songs the shamans sing during ceremony

After yoga, we had lunch and I sat down to write for a bit. Later, we went to the nearby Libertad Jungle Village at 2:30pm. Arkana employs a number of the local villagers at the center to help provide them with work and wages. As a result, the livelihood of the people in the village has improved substantially over the past few years. 

Mark, one of the retreat participants, brought an entire bag of sports equipment and toys to donate to the children and we helped set them up.

Following the village tour, we had another plant bath at 4pm and a breathwork session at 5pm. Next, there was some quiet time at 6:30pm to prepare for the ceremony, and then the second ceremony at 7:30pm.

My Intention for my second ayahuasca ceremony was to heal my past traumas and self-limiting beliefs…

Part II of my ayahuasca retreat coming soon!