Shamballa Ayahuasca Retreats

PREPARATION:

First in ayahuasca preparation is to realize there is a physical, emotional, and mental as well as spiritual component to this preparation. Therefore on our website we have grouped some of these insights into the above categories providing an in depth guide for preparation, here we will list some of the examples:

1. Body habits
· A week or two before your first ayahuasca ceremony refrain from any form of stimulants, such as coffee, caffeine-based teas. Just to allow your body time to withdraw
· If you are on antidepressants or medications, provide the names of the medications you are on and their dosages to retreat organizer
· Discuss and agree with the team on a suitable plan to reduce medications prior to ayahuasca ceremony that is safe for You
· Clearly reveal your daily consumption and concerns for addictions. Daily consumption of marijuana is not a medicine, the same as alcohol, even though we have woven it into the fabric of our lives.

Shamballa works on a personalized case by case basis as we do not believe one size fits all approach, therefore we require complete transparency in disclosure so we can prepare You in the best way

2. Emotional preparation

· Learn that it is ok not to have stimulation, experience and engage in the stillness of your own presence, nature... Cultivate it, learn to dissolve your agitation prior to your first ayahuasca retreat.

· Encourage and experience the search for the emotional mystical answers, rather than a chore of “over-coming an emotional problem”, prepare yourself for work of childlike wonder.

· Ayahuasca is incredibly good at undoing knots that you and others have tied during your life / conditioning. There is a great deal to be learnt in trusting the intelligence as it unravels your worlds and presents a story to you. It is a very personal story she writes. Practice that trusting.

3. Mind preparation

· Write down important ideas, as an exercise in clarity, ideas are just mental grids, learn to replace them when they get upgraded.

· Play with the concept of intention - intention comes with clarity.

· Be clear about what holds you back first, do not ask for a library of wonder when you cannot read.

· This journey will continue for a very long time. Be patient with yourself in expectations you ask of yourself.

RETREAT EXPERIENCE:

Shamballa Ayahuasca retreats cater for the ceremony seeker and the questioner of life. We want to look at the whole being of one's personal search. So it extends from the healing power of plant medicines to the wholeness of our spiritual search. Exploration of our personal , social and masculine/ feminine relations.

We are here to make a change in your life, not just a repair and a quick fix. We want those that attend to walk away with a deeper sense of what is this life, and keep on exploring that direction.

Shamballa Retreats in Peru are not into providing a psychedelic style retreat. In our opinion, it is important to allow these medicines proper time to heal and transform.

So 7 days is a minimum time to set aside just for yourself and your development. If you feel that you may need a longer and more personal approach , we also cater for these and generally that concerns people who have been under addictions (alcohol, drug, sexual trauma for some time ) we can run you through our intense program for detox ,cleanse, repair and educate.

The Shamballa Ayahuasca ceremonies are run in a traditional and a what could be called upgraded style. Whilst traditional means that the shaman is fully embedded in the medicine field they have incorporated an array of different embellishments from other traditions, such as diversity of musical instruments and sounds.

The sweetness of voice or trance rhythm of the piece all awaken different doors within the ceremony. Music acts as an interface between the ayahuasca and the mind, at times personal, at other times collective.

POST-RETREAT INTEGRATION:

Allow yourself a space to psychologically and spiritually breathe:
So the first thing to do is to give yourself space, either from work/activity clutter, and entangled emotional lives. Allow yourself the space to psychologically and spiritually breathe into a new place and a new way of being, a new way of appreciation.

Be gentle with yourself and express this to others:
Allow yourself the space, and express this need to others. In time the contradiction slowly diminishes, everything starts to make sense. The waves of your mind begin to settle - most of us have a huge backlog of issues to file away after the ceremonies.

Observe the signs - allow new things/opportunities to move towards you:
More than often we find that after Ayahuasca ceremonies - opportunities open up, small coincidences occur that lead to greater and more profound miracles in your life.

Change your own life however do not pressure those around You:
Sometimes inside of the circle we are shown what appears to be revelations, we should use this energy to change our world but not to change others. We are not here to save the world to create new religions or to coerce other people into a particular line of faith. We are just here to find our path, our happiness and contentment.

Makes small changes, follow inspiration, take up new hobbies:
Learning a musical instrument or singing is a great form of expression and can fill moments of void in our lives. Whilst a lot of the things we do in our life are simply distractions - learning an instrument requires the input of attention, expression and focus. This type of activity is far more satisfying than sitting in front of the television watching Ayahuasca documentaries.

Removal of negativity in one's life - find something better to replace it with:
One of the first things that you want to work on in our life is the removal of negative emotions, and negative fields that have surrounded you. But in order to do this we have to replace them with something better.

Avoid rash decisions - learn to know yourself anew gradually:
Avoid rash decisions of ending marriages, leaving work, ignoring friends, wanting to become a shaman. Learn to know yourself and pace your changes. Allow time for your revelations to settle before you act upon them.

To conclude, the post experience is not the end of an event but the beginning of life, a reseeding of the self and a time of growth. So at Shamballa Ayahuasca Retreat we encourage you in your unfolding. Support, connection and trust are vital elements of the post Ayahuasca experience.

Gintare and Peter from Shamballa are fully available for integration calls that are free of charge as we consider it complementary. Use us. Many have walked the path and have an amazing access to resources, that provide much “ experiential help.”