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Insights from an Unexpected Ayahuasca Experience
Insights from an Unexpected Ayahuasca Experience
I wasn’t planning on doing ayahuasca for the first time, two nights in a row, during my surf trip to Spain last year, but I did and it turned out to be an amazing experience.
It all started on a windy afternoon in the middle of the desert. I attended a Temazcal, which is the Southern American tradition of a sweat lodge. Saturated in my perspiration, I spent four hours in the hut, singing around the volcanic burning rocks and shaking maracas. The event was orchestrated by Martha, a Colombian medicine woman who organizes sweat lodges in a remote part of Spain.
“What do you do, Tess?”, asked Martha. “I work in the Wellness and Plant medicine industry”, I replied. “You should go see my friend Dan who works with Yagē”, she said. “You will see beautiful things.” When I googled ‘Yagē’ I realized she was talking about the Colombian tradition of ayahuasca.
Tess Young
Consuming one of the most potent psychedelic substances in the world was not on my holiday schedule, but it happened and it was a fantastic experience. Today, almost a year later, I observe that it had a tremendous effect on my well-being, mental health, and physical health.
DMT (dimethyltryptamine), the active substance in ayahuasca, is sometimes called the molecule of God. is produced by the human brain at two moments in each person’s life: at birth and the hour of death. I heard many hard-trip stories about this compound–more negative than positive.
Some neuroscience studies have shown that Buddhist monks, during meditation, can produce much higher levels of DMT than our numbed Western brains. However, this molecule is produced naturally by our brain during our entire lives in small amounts when we exercise, meditate, or have sex.
Tess Young
Once I saw a documentary about ayahuasca tourism and decided I didn’t want to be part of it. Why should we feel the need to exploit endangered lands when we have our own native (psychedelic) plants? I thought. Indeed, hallucinogenic plants have always been a part of the culture with a capital C, not only in South America or the Mongolian plains but also in Europe. These thoughts kept me away from taking ayahuasca for many years when I had opportunities to do it. But sometimes in life, the unexpected happens. Ayahuasca called to me and I scheduled my journey for the next week. With the experience coming up so soon, I immediately started a week of the dieta (special diet with no carbs, coffee, meat, or dairy).
A few days later and before the experience, I met the Taita (medicine man in Colombian dialect) one-on-one, on a sunny afternoon on the beach. He gave me medicinal herbs for a purge (from the bottom), to be done the night before the first ceremony. He warned me that it is rare for one to have a beautiful and pleasurable experience during the first takes of ayahuasca. I assumed he had probably seen people wanting to consume ayahuasca recreationally, as they would other psychedelics. The Taita delivered his disclaimer:
“The psychedelic experience should not be a reason to consume the sacred plant, which primarily serves to cleanse the body. Once the body is rid of impurities, the plant’s Holy Spirit can lead us, to the higher realms of the invisible world. The initial doses are dedicated to the body’s healing, followed by the recovery of the mind. The plant gives you precisely what you need. This medicine is a gift from God and, as it can liberate men from trouble with the body and the mind, it can contribute to making the world a better place”
Tess Young
After a week of eating only rice and fruits, it was time to take my bucket, my mattress, and my pillow to the middle of the desert to ingest ayahuasca. I arrived early and took the best seat, close to the medicine man who already felt like a friend.
After about thirty minutes of meditation and explaining how the plant works, he prepared the brew, chanting “Icaros”, which sounds like a mix of words and enchanting breaths. After blessing the potion, the Taita called each of us. I was the second one to ingest the mixture. I knelt, closed my eyes, and swallowed the potion. The taste was not pleasant, but it was bearable. I returned to my spot, intensely licking the inside of my mouth to get rid of the flavor as quickly as possible.
One of the first things I noticed is that for a room full of people purging their guts (and sometimes bowels), it doesn’t smell. With its potent herbal scent, Ayahuasca suppresses the odors of everything leaving the body, from above and below. At around 3 a.m., the Taita came to me with a second bowl of Yagē, which I gladly accepted as I was still feeling quite normal at this point, although most of the other people looked like they were super high. Shortly after the second round, I started to vomit. For a brief moment, I watched my body expel unknown liquids. I remembered watching my vomit, thinking what the f*** is that?
Tess Young
It is said that we vomit negative energies accumulated in our bodies when we take ayahuasca. And it’s exactly how it felt– amazing. After the purging episode, which didn’t last very long, I embarked on the most beautiful psychedelic experience. I saw light everywhere around me. I spoke to my body, to the light, and to the spirit of ayahuasca, sharing with me the knowledge of existence. All that matters are the vibrational frequencies, as the plant’s spirit explained to me. What produces vibrational frequencies? Emotions, music, nature, our hearts, our brains. our well-being, our happiness, and our ability to love depend on the degree of energy we orchestrate.
The second night wasn’t difficult either. However, at some point in the middle of the night, I woke up from my trip by someone having an intense moment and screaming, which isn’t rare during an ayahuasca ceremony.
I believe the ayahuasca experience contributed to my growth and made me come to a lot of positive realizations.
Would I do it again? Even if I didn’t have any difficult parts of my trip, I have observed over the years people developing a psychological addiction to Ayahuasca. And for many physiological reasons, ayahuasca isn’t for just anybody. People with existing PTSD have been found to have a very hard time during and after taking ayahuasca. People who suffer from addiction can easily get dragged into using plant medicine as an escape. To say the least, it’s not for the faint-hearted.
However, I found that these two nights were incredibly positive for me. It’s hard to explain in just a few words that the seeds of knowledge were planted in me during the experience.
It gave me a perspective on existence. It was a reminder that beyond the physical is a greater and wider world. The plant showed me exactly what I needed to see: my purpose in life. A year later, I’m still integrating the lessons of the experience. I feel incredibly lucky that I had the opportunity to do it.
Related: My Ayahuasca Journey
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