Here’s What You Should Know Before Drinking Ayahuasca

Based on my own experience with this powerful plant medicine in the Amazon jungle

If you are reading this article, chances are you have heard about ayahuasca. If you have not, let me give you a bit of an introduction.

Ayahuasca (called ‘yage’ in Colombia) is a psychoactive plant used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon for centuries already. This powerful plant medicine was originally only used by shamans (or ‘Taitas’ in Colombia) to heal members of their tribe. Healing can be on a physical, spiritual, or mental level.

The shamans also used it to predict the future or get information from the past during visions.

Ayahuasca is a brew that consists of two different plants: the ayahuasca vine and the chacruna leaves. These plants only grow in the jungles of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. Only the combination of the two plants will allow your brain to materialize the DMT, which is one of the main psychedelic compounds of ayahuasca.

Both DMT and beta-carbolines (which is the other psychoactive ingredient in the brew) are supposed to increase brain health and reduce stress.

Modern-day use of ayahuasca

Ayahuasca retreats nowadays are gaining popularity all over the world, because it’s known to be a fast-track method of mental healing. It can act as ten years of therapy in a single session. Ayahuasca can cure addictions, depression, anxiety, stress, traumas and generally improves mental health.

According to a new study, as explained by VeryWellMind:

The findings show that ayahuasca users tend to eat healthier, engage in more physical activity, suffer from fewer chronic diseases, and experience better overall well-being.

Nearly all (99.8%) of the participants who used ayahuasca during the study reported being happier and healthier after the ceremony.

Hearing the ayahuasca call

I have been intrigued with ayahuasca for a while already. I have used other psychedelics before (like peyote, magic mushrooms, and DMT) to get a better insight into who I am and how I can improve myself. They have certainly helped, but none of them were as profound as my 6-day ayahuasca experience in the jungle of Colombia.

Traditionally, you are supposed to be ‘called’ by ayahuasca. She (ayahuasca is apparently feminine) has different ways to do this. For example, reading this article just might be your call!

I heard my call when more and more people started telling me about their experiences. In the beginning, it sounded crazy to me — who the heck signs up voluntarily to get catapulted deep inside all your mental issues?! But the more I researched about it, the more curious I got.

At some point, I couldn’t resist anymore and tried a one-night ceremony in Mexico, which turned out to be nothing compared to what I was about to experience in Colombia. You can read about it here:

Traveling to the Amazon in Colombia

I always knew I wanted to do ayahuasca in the place where it grows — the Amazon. I chose Colombia as my destination because it had been on my bucket list for a while already and it was easy to reach from Mexico, where I live.

And sure enough, after my experience, I am so happy I did. I really understand now how vital it is to choose a real shaman for your ayahuasca retreat, and also to preferably do it where it comes from.

So I flew to Bogota and took a 17-hour bus ride to Mocoa, a small city in the heart of Putumayo. Mocoa is the entry point to this part of the Colombian Amazon.

Note: in Colombia, a shaman is called a Taita, and ayahuasca is called Yage, so I will interchangeably use the different terms throughout this article.

What you need to know before drinking ayahuasca

Yage is no joke. It is incredibly important to use it in a ceremonial way with a Taita who has years of experience with this plant medicine. After all, you are going deep inside your mind and potentially your traumas — you need someone to look after you.

It is common to vomit or have diarrhea during ceremonies, which they call purging. It sounds horrible, but it actually feels like you are releasing a lot of bad energy out of you. And this is exactly what yage does — it helps you to release things that are stuck inside of you.

Yage is different for everybody; some people experience pure bliss and happiness and others have a very dark and deep journey. It all depends on where your issues are and what needs your current attention.

You normally set an intention before a ceremony, but ultimately yage will choose what she wants to show you. No matter what happens to you during your trip — it will be what you need to know at that moment.

Three ayahuasca ceremonies in six days

I chose to do three ceremonies because I heard that only one is normally not that profound. The first time you drink ayahuasca, it travels through your body and uses this first night to get to know you. It’s not uncommon to have quite a shallow experience for newbies.

A yage ceremony should take place in nature around a fire where everybody gathers who participates. In my group, there were about five foreigners and the rest were Colombians who came to the Taita’s house for healing. The ceremony was held on the land of the shaman under a thatched roof, which is called a maloca. We also had an area with hammocks to chill if you needed a break from the others.

A Taita is deeply respected by the whole village and all the Taitas in that area know each other as well. They help each other with their rituals, so during my ceremonies, we always had three shamans in total.

I won’t go into all the details here after I drank my first cup since it’s quite personal. But I basically got put back into my mum’s uterus, a few weeks before I was supposed to be born. It felt incredibly safe and warm and I did not want to come out. I felt the unconditional love from a mother towards her child, which made me think about how special it is that this type of love exists.

I told my baby-self that I should never doubt my decisions and my lifestyle, and that the world can be scary but also immensely beautiful. We as humans are put on this Earth to experience it to the fullest. It is quite a miracle that we have feelings and touch and emotions and can fall in love with each other!

The Earth is a wonderful playground for people and we should always try to protect it. Nature gives us everything we need — there is nothing to find in external things, except greed and unhappiness.

Then, I was born. I laid on my mother’s chest and her love for me materialized. She caressed me and told me she would always protect me. I realized the love a parent has for their child should feel like this, and I was so grateful that I got to experience that. I know so many children don’t have this privilege and I told myself to express more gratitude to my parents.

Ayahuasca is an intelligent plant

Then it was time for the purging — something I was curious about but also dreading.

Ayahuasca showed me I had some control issues and I had to physically release that part of me. I’ve always had a hard time letting things go and I often try to control every situation.

As soon as I understood she was going to expel it out of me with my vomit, I got up and went to a piece of nature. The Taita explained to me before the ceremony that it is necessary to vomit on the earth, as this symbolizes Yage taking hold of your issues and releasing them through herself (Mother Earth).

And sure enough, the moment I left my spot around the fire, I started purging. Not just vomit though — it contained hallucinogenic ants that represented my control issues. Ayahuasca told me she would help me to get them all out of me.

The indigenous people say that ayahuasca is an intelligent plant. She knows exactly what is going on inside of you and helps you with that. I can only confirm that — I really felt like I trusted the medicine completely and knew she only had the best intentions for me.

The rest of the ceremony contained more information about myself and more purging, but overall I had a beautiful experience that represented rebirth in a lot of ways.

The real deal during the second ceremony

The second ceremony was a hell of a ride for me. Where I felt the love and protection during the first ceremony; this time yage had other plans.

I only drank one cup (the first night I had two) and after an hour I thought I was overdosing. I saw millions of visuals and neon colors and lights and I was totally tripping.

It was a very psychical experience and my whole body started convulsing. Now I understood what people meant by having deep journeys! I could not stop vomiting and my body felt like the ultimate enemy. I was begging for it to be over — I thought I could not handle so much physical violence.

This second night also contained a personal cleansing ritual, where the shamans use smoke and alcoholic water and a painful nettle plant to clean your body even more. You are in your underwear while undertaking this; it’s about 12 degrees Celcius during the night there so it is cold.

During the ritual, I literally thought I was going to die and promised yage to do everything she wanted from me, as long as I could survive this.

Then, I remembered how strong my body was and that I could handle everything. No matter what life throws at me, I am prepared for it. I stopped shivering, stepped into my feminine power and completely surrendered to the cleansing. A few minutes later, the shamans stopped their rituals and told me it was over — I was clean now.

This second night was the most insightful. I had no idea of the depth of what the medicine is capable of showing you. It was extremely intense and tough, but it did really help me in the end. My whole being felt super clean and I was crystal clear about some things in my life that I wanted answers to.

At the third ceremony, my body had had enough and despite drinking three cups this time, I could not accept the medicine anymore. I don’t have much to tell about this, except for the fact that ayahuasca definitely knows exactly what you need.

The takeaway

Yage showed me as well why indigenous tribes use this plant medicine for thousands of years already and have built their whole lives around it. Ayahuasca is alive as we speak and she needs help.

Humans are destroying the earth at a rapid rate, and most of it is due because of our hunger for power and money. We have completely lost the connection to our ancestors and our traditions, and there is so much wisdom in there.

All of the unhappiness in the world is due to our disconnection from what really matters — love.

Love can heal everything.

Love for the earth, love for another, love for yourself. Love is a universal language that we can all speak, but unfortunately, we often choose not to. How beautiful would it be if we can forgive each other for our mistakes, and move forward?

So many people are stuck in a narrative of always wanting more and bigger and better, while everything we need we have right in front of us. If we all choose to love instead of to fear (which is the actual opposite of love — it’s not hate), the world can be such a beautiful place.

Our planet is amazing and often during my travels I have been in complete awe of the beauty of nature. Why do we tend to destroy everything? Why do we have the endless need to buy buy buy and consume consume consume?

We don’t need anything

While living with the indigenous family of my Taita for a week, it became so clear to me that we really don’t need much. A roof above our heads, healthy food on the table, and the comfort and support of our loved ones — that is enough.

We can bathe in the waterfalls, run in the forests, hike in the mountains, swim in the oceans, walk in the deserts, and get our food in a sustainable way from Mother Earth.

I know this might not be so easy when you live in a city, but if we would just stop consuming all the time and pause and be still in nature — you’d be surprised how blissful life can be.

And I think that is the ultimate lesson ayahuasca taught me: you have everything you need already inside of you. Once you learn to love all parts of yourself, you can genuinely love another being as well, whether that is another person, an animal, or nature.

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