Many come to plant medicines seeking transformation and healing, seeking relief from their problems and ailments. There is much truth in the above statement, but what can be overlooked is that plant medicines alone are not the whole picture. When speaking of personal healing or transformation, it is commonly called a transformational or healing journey. This journey does not begin or end with a plant medicine ceremony. Rather, it starts before the plant medicine experience itself and continues long after.
There is a risk in thinking that plant medicines are the ultimate cure for our predicaments. This way of thinking could lead us to leave the work of healing and growth incomplete and disempower ourselves. Therefore, it is essential to have a more comprehensive and broader perspective when it comes to the process of self-actualization.
When one ventures into trying plant medicine, it is crucial to keep in mind that this process 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.
During the experience with the medicines one can feel 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 that of integrating all that change and constructive habits into our being. As a meditation master says, “After bliss, the laundry.” 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.
By taking a broader perspective on our personal growth process, we ensure that the responsibility is ours. This 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 towards growth, and being empowered in our capabilities. We can adopt an attitude in which everything beneficial adds to us, for this, medicines are of great value, even more so when accompanied by appropriate preparation and integration.