AYAHUASCA
Ayahuasca is an ancient plant medicine that has been used for thousands of years by tribes and medicine men – shamans – curanderos – throughout the Amazon. In fact, ayahuasca brew consists of two different medicinal plants, ayahuasca itself (the vine) and chacruna plant. Both are an integral part of the medicine, each component of the brew requires the other. The reason you need both of these plants is the Aya vine contains MAOi (monoamine oxidase inhibitor), which allows the stomach to orally absorb and utilise the chacruna plant containing the dimethyltryptamine – DMT – the ingredient causing visions and giving connections to the spirit realm. DMT is considered illegal in most of the world for lack of understanding of its beneficial effects but also for the need of controlled environment when the medicine is administered. Ayahuasca may cause intense physical purge consisting of vomit and diarrhoea - don't freak out, it depends on the condition your body is in. It does not happen to everybody.
No need to fear the jungle - we take precautions to minimize jungle creatures in our center.
Why drink ayahuasca?
Primarily it is used to treat many illnesses, being mental, physical and even terminal illnesses. It has very good results in treating addictions of many kinds, depression, anxiety, removes suicidal tendencies, chronic illnesses. You may wonder how this can be done. It uncovers the real cause of any problems, not the symptoms, just straight to the core and then deals with it. It also allows you to connect and understand exactly what you need to understand in your life. The experience usually lasts about 4 hours and has profound effects consisting of all types of visions such as geometrical patterns, colors, spirits, basically the reality you are unable to perceive in a normal conscious state.
Does ayahuasca induce hallucinations?
It depends what you understand by hallucination. Hallucination is something not real. The word originally means vision inducing, yes, ayahuasca shows you visions, the reality you can’t witness in daily life. Some people can get similar connection or visions through meditation for example. Please, remember, we are not dealing with hallucinogenic effect of this plant. It’s important to differentiate between real visions and hallucinations that are induced by drugs. Ayahuasca is not a drug, it is a medicine and has been treated as such by the wise Amazonian tribes for thousands of years. Legislation in the Western world has nothing to do with the reality of this plant.
Is ayahuasca available only in Peru?
No, in other countries in South America, in the Amazon region. This is where the plant is naturally grown and naturally administered in the right conditions and setting.
You can find ayahuasca brews in other parts of the world where the plant is imported from South America. However, set and setting is extremely important to get the safe and full experience of the medicine. In South America the medicine is administered exclusively by an experienced Shaman – healer. Also, the environment plays an important part. Everything is about energy. The energy in nature, in the jungle, is totally different than any other place in the world, it allows you to receive much more from your experience and healing.
Why do you need a Shaman?
It’s important for the Shaman to guide you through the experience and the connection in a safe environment due to the medicine’s purging and visual effect. The Shaman controls the effect of the plant in the body and can increase or decrease its intensity according to your response. Various things may occur during this experience and the Shaman is trained to deal with whatever may arise. Never underestimate the role of a Shaman. It’s like using a medicine without a doctor.
Is ayahuasca dangerous?
No. It is important to follow a few simple rules prior to drinking the tea (we usually call it tea). Please, consult your healthcare professional about your medication as during the period of stay in our retreat we can’t allow most prescribed medication, some have to cease 3-4 weeks before your stay with us. The reason is some medication alter brain chemistry and cause other severe health issues for you. The nearest hospital is 30 minutes from our center, no need to worry about anything.
For specific questions: info@lupunaretreat.com
Also we recommend healthy diet, low salt, low sugar (white or brown crystal sugar, carbs like rice, etc. is ok), no fatty fried foods, alcohol, no sex. The reason is you want your body to be as clean as possible inside for the medicine to have better results. Also, we won’t administer ayahuasca to pregnant women. During the stay you will be served ayahuasca diet - no salt, no fat, no caffeine, no added sugar. No sex. You do it for yourself, so stick to the rules to get optimum results.
A lot of people may try to discourage you from doing ayahuasca, based on heresay or merely an opinion. If you go through solid scientific research, you will be shocked how powerful the plant is. If you talk to people who relly needed help, they received it and report that it changed their life forever.
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Does it cause vomitting and diarrhoea every time?
No. It’s all case by case, some people never vomit, some do every time, there is no rule.
How much ayahuasca is necessary to drink?
The amount of ayahuasca varies according to the quality of the plant, preparation, the amount and quality of chacruna added, the experience of the shaman, your mental and physical condition – all in all there is no answer to this question. However, in our retreat we are very careful with administering the dosage required.
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Ayahuasca Diet
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Ayahuasca diet consists of food provided by nature. Its easy to think about what you should eat when it comes to ayahuasca preperation. Fruits and vegetables are excellent source of minerals and vitamins and are especially good whilst you are preparing your body for the purge. Light meat for example fish and chicken are recommended. Sugar, heavy amounts of salt and fatty food are NOT recommended in preperation for ayahuasca. Just remember the healthier you get your body prior to ayahuasca experience the more beneficial it will be. This is not a requierment to do ceremonies.
Food - as nutrition for the body and mind - is widely underestimated. The reason is that you can't see immediate results of poor diet. You will see the effects of what you put in your body in years and years and then it's hard to reverse the harmful effect in a day. You can do a lot by going through ayahuasca process, the most powerful plant medicine.
Ceremonies
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The proper use of ayahuasca for inexperienced people is through ceremony. A ceremony includes preparation (protection), the experience itself guided by a Shaman and closing of the ceremony. In Lupuna Ayahuasca Center there are max 10 people plus shamans, assistants (English / Spanish).
Our ceremony in one week consists of 4-5 different ceremonies, all in the right environment of pure Amazonian jungle, in the Maloka (round wooden structure typically used for ceremonies). Our Maloka has been specifically designed to make your experience as comfortable as possible with bathroom ammenities attached. People with previous experience will be able to appreciate the added comfort of our Maloka.
The right way to administer ayahuasca is during a proper ceremony held by an experienced shaman - ayahuasquero. This type of shaman can communicate with spirits, he knows the art of healing using medicinal plants, he knows the best way to utilise the energy during the ceremony. During the ceremony the Shaman’s role is a guardian, he watches and protects from any evil manifesting in your physical body. The Shaman knows exactly what to do prior to and during the ceremony to protect and guide you. We would never recommend using ayahuasca without a Shaman.
Our Shamans can increase or decrease the intensity of the ceremony by using different songs (icaros).
Our Shamans will connect personally with everyone’s best interests and physical well-being to provide the best experience and healing possible, also during the day outside the ceremonies.
