Many decide to venture into plant medicine in search of healing, clarity, growth, or answers to their deepest questions. It is common knowledge that the process can be challenging, but very rewarding.
To make the process as fruitful as possible and help you navigate the difficulties that may arise, here are 6 things to remember before your first experience with plant medicines.
1. Preparation
The healing journey does not begin or end with a plant medicine ceremony. Rather, it starts before the plant medicine experience itself and continues long after. It is crucial to know that the process of approaching plant medicine begins with proper preparation. Preparation sets the tone for how the plant medicine experience will unfold. Good preparation for receiving plant medicine should encompass both body and mind. The goal is to make oneself a fit vessel for the plant medicine experience; the body is prepared through a healthy lifestyle, avoiding intoxicants, observing a diet, and exercising the body. The mind is prepared by avoiding distractions, unhealthy behaviors, and agitating experiences as much as possible. The better the preparation, the more beneficial and profound the plant medicine experience will be.
2. Have an appropriate intention
In the case of plant medicines, it is said that what differentiates them as healing experiences in contrast to the recreational use of psychoactive drugs is the intention. Intention is a crucial aspect, not only because it establishes a clear objective, but also because intention is coupled with a mental quality. To make it clearer: Two people go to the same ceremony of, say, ayahuasca. Both have different intentions. One has the intention to have a colorful and exciting experience for recreational purposes, he may or may not get it, but if that is his objective, that is the end of his quest. On the other hand, the other person seeks to heal his past and develop as a human being, to grow. This person brings to the ceremony a feeling of reverence, honesty and a heart willing to be transformed. That ceremony can serve as a catalyst for that goal and provide inspiration for the process of personal development to continue.
Here we are not just referring to having an intention, but a constructive and positive intention. An intention that orients us towards wellness, towards growth and healing. In short, it is crucial to have clarity in the purpose that motivates us to take medicine, and the best purposes are those that are altruistic and positive.
3. Let go of expectations
It is normal to have expectations about something new to oneself. What is important to know is that regardless of our expectations we cannot control how the experience will unfold. Expectations arise largely from wanting to control the experience, expecting it to be one way and not another. One of the great teachings of plant medicine experiences is to learn to let go of control, mainly because it is an illusion to think that we have control over something.
Since expectations arise even involuntarily, whether positive or negative, it is best to notice them, let them go, to relax and to surrender to the experience with confidence. A confidence that knows that whatever happens: you will learn something new and second, it is impermanent, it will pass, and the experience will subsidize like everything else in life.
4. Whatever happens is good
It is very important to know that all the experiences that may arise with plant medicine are valuable. The value of experience lies both in its content and in the attitude with which we respond to situations. Experiences with medicines can be frightening, joyful, sad, inspiring, etc. Terrifying and unpleasant visual or auditory appearances may arise, or we may ride on the back of a unicorn to infinity and beyond. It is not really so important whether we see things we like or not, these experiences are not oriented to satisfy our appetite for pleasure and entertainment. Far more important is to have an open heart and a clear mind, and to use the momentum of medicine to do the inner work. This is not to say that visions do not have their place and value, in fact, they can serve as a way to break our limited vision and broaden our perception. This refers to generating aversion and frustration for seeing not-so-nice things and attachment and pride for seeing nice things is pointless.
As Forrest Gump says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know which one you’re going to get.” Whatever bonbon one gets, one can take advantage of the situation to cultivate a gentle heart and an open and peaceful mind.
5. Never trust an Ayahuasca fart
The deceptive appearance of “just a little fart” can arise during an ayahuasca ceremony. Don’t buy in! It could be more than it seems…
6. Integration
During the experience with the medicines one can feel a profound change taking place within, one can envision the transformation that one might want to embody in one’s day-to-day life and receive an intense inspiration to live a full life. The work that remains after plant medicine is precisely integrating all those changes and constructive habits into our way of being. A meditation instructor says, “After bliss, the laundry.” After a plant medicine experience, both our constructive habits and our unhealthy habits remain latent, now we have the work of molding our being based on having envisioned a way of living a complete, healthy, and well-being life. This process occurs gradually and progressively over years, which are made up of minutes, hours, and days; that is, every moment of our lives.
It is imperative to take a broader and long-term perspective on one’s personal growth journey and to convince oneself that the responsibility is radically personal. This mindset frees us from holding on to fanciful ideas such as that plant medicine—or anything else—is the miraculous “magic pill” that makes us perfect just by taking it and saying “Abracadabra!”. Plant medicines are great and very effective allies in our process of self-discovery, as well as our intention and agency toward growth.