Many people underestimate the power and potential of engaging in a thoughtful preparation. One of the things that makes ceremony so magical is that the healing and transformation occurs before and after your ceremony.
Engaging in a preparation process will allow you to acknowledge the transformation that is occurring before and allow you to utilize that time to gain insight.
With enough reflection or guidance these insights can help you feel more prepared for what comes up during your ceremony. Here are a few things that you can pay attention to during your preparation time that will influence your ceremony.
Follow your preparatory diet guidelines
First of all, it is important to know and follow the preparatory diet guidelines. If you are taking any strong herbs or medications make sure you have researched to see if there are any contraindications. The diet is intended to keep you safe from having any negative reactions to the medicine and it is also intended to put your body in a place where you can connect more with the medicine and the medicine connect more deeply to you.
Certain foods are eliminated because they effect your ability to perceive the medicine and impacts the medicines ability to do a deep clearing on you.
The more closely you follow the diet the easier it will be for the plants to work on you and the easier it will be for you to be able to tap into the consciousness of the medicine.
Set your intention
Your intention and prayer will influence your connection to the medicine and how the medicine chooses to work with you. The medicine and the universe responds to your prayers and your intentions.
If you have a strong prayer and intention, then you will be met with a strong response.
You can strengthen your prayer by acknowledging the medicine and praying directly to her. As a conscious being she can hear what your intentions are and respond to you. Think of it as telling a healer what you are coming to them for. If they know what you want to work on they can address it more intentionally.
Your readiness to address your intention will influence how deep the plants will work with you. The plants can only meet you where you are at. If you are asking for healing on one hand and resisting on the one hand, then you may not be able to go as deep as you could if you were fully ready for the healing. Addressing your conscious and unconscious resistances ahead of time will support you in being ready to surrender to the healing.
Here are a few things you can do during the preparation:
- Reflect on your intention for ceremony. Think about what type of healing or lessons you are seeking. Your intention will effect how the medicine works with you.
- Deepen your prayer and relationship with the medicine by sharing your intention with her. Listen or look for how she responds to you.
- Pay attention to your dreams. Dreams are very similar to the journey space. Therefore, you may start receiving messages and insights that are preparing you for your journey.
- Notice the response you get from the world after you set your intention. You may have interesting interactions or dreams. You may also experience psychological or physical symptoms related to your intention. These symptoms can start to rise to the surface before your ceremony.
- Make note of interesting, synchronistic, triggering or strange events that occur. They can be subtle indications and reflections about the healing that will occur during your ceremony. I will share more details about this in a future video.
- Try and let go of everything you read in books and saw in movies about Ayahuasca and stay open to how the medicine is going to show up for you. No experiences are alike.