Ayahuasca Integration

The Integration: Maximizing the Benefits of your Ayahuasca Experiences

“Integration” is a word that gets a lot of attention in the ayahuasca community, but what exactly is integration and how can you benefit from it?

Simply put, integration is the action that helps maximize the benefits of ayahuasca experiences once you return to “real life.”

Integration can be as simple as following the guidelines given by ayahuasca. You may receive visions or direct messages. It may be that you need to eat better, quit smoking, exercise more, end that toxic relationship, make that doctor's appointment you've been avoiding, stop drinking, set solid boundaries, focus on your spiritual health, etc. Integration can also be as difficult as remembering deep trauma or feelings of hopelessness and not knowing what to do or where to place those dark emotions.

Ayahuasca can provide you with a lot of information, and even many tools, but it cannot do the work for you. The healing initiated during ayahuasca experiences extends long after the ceremony has ended, and it is up to you to build a foundation upon which growth can continue to flourish.

After spending time on a retreat, surrounded by nature and like-minded people, supported by facilitators, and backed by all your newly acquired knowledge, you may have a false sense of readiness to return home. Then, when the reality of Western life hits you in the face, the speed, stress, and disconnection of a community can feel overwhelming, even disorienting, especially when those close to you show little interest in what you experienced or, worse, , they think you're crazy because of the things you share.

You may have changed, but the world has not.

Imagine going to an ayahuasca retreat to gain clarity and direction in your life specifically because you feel disconnected, lost, unfulfilled in your work or relationships, exhausted by stress, and then returning to that exact environment after a potentially transformative change in your life. perspective. Oh!

For some lucky people, integration is a seamless process of taking the information from an ayahuasca retreat and applying it to the life they return to. Unfortunately, for many, the transition to "real life" can be fraught with challenges. It can feel isolating, confusing, and even meaningless in the shadow of intense spiritual revelations.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to integration. Some modalities may work better for one person, but not be suitable for another. However, you can continue to try different integration techniques to see what works best for you, or even work with a psychedelic therapist who can help you navigate the process.

The truth is that the glow after an ayahuasca retreat will inevitably fade, but there are actions you can take to prolong it as long as possible. At New Life Ayahuasca Costa Rica, we believe that the best option is to offer you guidance on tools that can help in the ayahuasca integration process and offer a community that you can turn to for support.

Situations We Face After an Ayahuasca Retreat:

• Having deep and meaningful experiences but not knowing how to apply them in everyday life.
• Recognize or process trauma accompanied by dark, painful or frightening emotions and how to process them.
• Feeling isolated, where no one in your social circle understands your experiences or why you tried ayahuasca in the first place, and you are looking for community or support.

Tools for Integration:

• Be Patient: Take your time and be kind to yourself. If you can, avoid returning directly to work or high-stress family situations. Take a few days after the retreat in Costa Rica, or a few days at home to slowly adjust. If possible, take a full week. Things don't always happen easily or quickly, and that's okay. Understand that your process may be slow and difficult, and that it will not always be linear. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself and focus on each day rather than the long-term goal.

• Find a Community: Forge bonds with the people in your retreat group. Stay in touch with those with whom you shared your experience. We create WhatsApp groups for all our retreats, so groups can stay in touch, some even return to retreats together in the future. We also offer a newsletter where I share yoga videos and blogs related to ayahuasca or wellness in general. I hope these resources are valuable to you once you return home.

• Journal: Write a journal before attending a retreat, during the retreat, and after the retreat. The act of journaling has been shown to have a multitude of benefits. Writing in a stream of consciousness style can also help your brain remember and process parts of the experience that you may have forgotten. Looking back and reading your feelings and revelations can help you reconnect with those emotions and reignite them in your life at home. Journaling after the experience can help you become more aware of the areas in which you are struggling; notice ways you get stuck and help you move forward to change the things that are within your control.

• Evaluate what brings you joy: Many people attend a retreat looking for guidance or answers because they feel dissatisfied in the life they left behind. Going straight back to the same life will probably find you in the same state of mind before long. It is not recommended that you make major changes in your life immediately after a retreat (quitting a job, leaving a partner, moving, etc.), UNLESS you had already been seriously considering these things before the retreat and ayahuasca provided clarity. about. For example, if you've been in a happy marriage and suddenly receive a message during the ceremony that you shouldn't be with your partner, don't panic or make hasty decisions! (more about this phenomenon in "expectations"). Instead, pay attention to the areas of your life that make you feel most fulfilled and spend more time on those activities/people. Simultaneously, notice the activities/people that drain you of energy, joy and happiness. Find concrete ways to limit exposure to those things.

• Implement a Spiritual Practice: Of course, this is mentioned time and time again when it comes to mental health and is just as relevant to ayahuasca integration. The benefits of having a regular spiritual practice in your life are almost limitless. Spiritual practice can be different for each person; Some examples include meditation, prayer, or yoga. Engaging in a daily spiritual practice can help you stay connected to the mystical, reflect on what you are prioritizing in your life, and give you the opportunity for honest self-reflection.

• Spend Time in Nature: Nature is healing! I recently wrote an entire article about the benefits of spending time in nature. To summarize, spending at least 20 minutes in nature a day can increase serotonin, increase vitamin D, reduce the stress hormone cortisol, improve skin conditions, improve cognitive function, support better sleep, and improve healing. natural. To explore these ideas in more detail, check out this blog post: [Improve Health with Nature](Insert your blog link here).

• Be Aware of What You Consume: This applies both physically and mentally. First, consider your diet. What we feed our bodies feeds our minds. If we consume garbage, we will feel like garbage. If we consume whole, nutritious foods and eat to support our body's functions and balanced hormone levels, we will experience incredible benefit. Part of preparing for an ayahuasca retreat includes following the ayahuasca diet, during the retreat at New Life Ayahuasca we provide high quality, nutritious and organic food, so you already have a head start on this. You don't have to be perfect, and everyone has their "tricks," but try to be especially aware of the connection between your mental health and the foods you eat. The same goes for alcohol and other substances. Also, watch what you consume mentally. If watching the news or social media tends to make you depressed (like the majority of the population), limit your screen time. There are plenty of apps that can help you do this. Read some books to help you stay grounded. "The Power of Now" is one of my favorites to restore awareness and focus. This concept extends to the people you have in your life, the interactions and conversations you have, another reason why having a community to turn to is so valuable. In general, be intentional about your physical and mental consumption.

• Letting Go of Expectations: Sometimes during ayahuasca ceremonies, we receive messages that seem so certain that we become frustrated or confused if they do not come true. Did ayahuasca lie to me? Try to take literal messages and translate them into figurative ideas. Ayahuasca is mysterious, sometimes direct, sometimes vague. Sometimes things happen exactly as we expect, but more often the message is veiled in ways that are not always obvious. For example, a few years ago, Matthew and I were trying to get pregnant. During that time, several people told me they had visions that they were pregnant (even though they weren't). One woman, in particular, kept asking me a few months after her retirement how my pregnancy was going. I explained to her that I wasn't pregnant, but I thanked her for thinking of me and I couldn't understand it: "I saw it with such certainty," she said, "I don't understand why ayahuasca would show me that if it wasn't true." She seemed disturbed by it, but I tried to explain to her that perhaps she was simply picking up on my intention and energy at that moment. Similarly, we may have visions directed toward ourselves or toward other people in our lives that do not translate into exact reality. It could even be that the message was for someone else in your ceremony group or that you inadvertently picked up on someone else's energy. Things like that happen, and it's inevitable when a group of people are deeply vulnerable together. Furthermore, ayahuasca is not the only influence on these messages. The “I” behind our thoughts is still there and can influence the messages you receive, especially if you are in a state of resistance or struggling with the experience. Try not to expect any vision or message to be fulfilled exactly as delivered. Try to think of them instead of nudges that guide you in a certain direction that is open to reevaluation and reinterpretation, as life moves forward and changes.

• Work with a Therapist or Coach: Working with an integration therapist can be a great source of guidance and support. If you're someone who excels in a more structured environment or struggles to stay committed to new regimens or habits, working with a therapist or coach can be invaluable. Look for someone who has experience specifically with psychedelics.