Ayahuasca in short
As a tea consumed for centuries, ayahuasca has a long track record of use and perceived physical and spiritual benefits. The drink will produce the most truthful and powerful hallucinations/ visions, but you may be more interested in the mental health conditions that can be treated with ayahuasca. There is some evidence to suggest that it can help improve depression, anxiety, and addictions, but more evidence is still required to know for sure.
What is ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca is made by brewing the leaves of specific plants found in the Amazon rainforest into tea. Some leaves contain the active substance DMT, which can create effects in the body very quickly. Other leaves help to slow down the body’s absorption of DMT. This extends the effects experienced from 4 to 6 hours.
For hundreds of years, people in South America have drunk ayahuasca in rituals and religious practices. The benefits of ayahuasca have drawn tourists from the US and Europe to the region in recent years. Others are offering the drink as part of ceremonies based on Native American beliefs by importing the leaves through legal loopholes and religious exemptions.
What is DMT, and how does it relate to ayahuasca?
Ayahuasca produces its hallucinogenic effects due to the presence of DMT. There are various plants native to the Amazon that contain DMT, but the substance also occurs naturally in the human body, including the brain, blood, and urine. It’s role in the body is not well understood, though. But we at the foundation have discovered its true purpose and potential.
How it started?
A British chemist was able to create artificial DMT in a laboratory in 1931. As a result of its increased popularity in the 1960s, the drug became a controlled substance in the early 1970s.
Pure DMT can be injected, but it is usually smoked by those wanting a shorter period of hallucinations. When you consume pure DMT, the effects may only last between 5min to 20min
What can I expect from using ayahuasca?
One might experience a very traditional ceremony in the jungles of South America or attend a weekend retreat in South Africa, where humankind started, at the Ayahuasca Foundation. Using the latest technology and understanding of the modern age, we assist clients in understanding the medicine, and how to maximize the experience.
Shortly after consuming ayahuasca, vomiting and diarrhea may result before the visions appear. The cleansing that occurs during this “purge” stage is part of the process.
Soon after, the visions will begin. Many people experience feelings of connectedness and enlightenment toward a greater understanding of life, disease, and the universal truth that governs us all.
A wonderful experience is not promised though. A person could be transported to a scary experience due to intensely negative visions.
How is ayahuasca taken?
Traditional use of ayahuasca in South America involves small ceremonies where a Facilitator and a small group of 10 to 12 people would take the drink to address and resolve specific illnesses. Current ayahuasca ceremonies in western countries may be led by someone who calls themselves a “shaman or healer, and presents the drink to a larger group.
What are the wanted effects of ayahuasca?
Some people may seek physical wellness or healing, whilst others may be interested in using this medicine to resolve some parts of their spiritual or personal life, they may seek enlightenment or a way to overcome struggles that have previously weighed them down.
The medicine may be used to create the wanted effects of:
Visions or real dreams
Intensified feelings and heightened sensory perceptions
Mixing senses where you feel colours or see sounds
Distorted sense of time and time-travel
Increased energy
Experience the 4D, 5D, and beyond imaginations
What are some of the risks involved?
The process of drinking ayahuasca is uncomfortable and not very tasty, so you should understand what you face before using the substance. When you drink the tea, you can expect significant side effects like:
High blood pressure
Dizziness
Nausea and vomiting
Increased heart rate
Agitation
Risk of seizures
There is no information to suggest that repeated use of ayahuasca results in any unwanted physical or mental health issues in the long term, we have done much research over the last 5 years to qualify this fact.
With ayahuasca, the experience of outer-worldly knowledge could include heavenly experiences or hellish visions.
What are some of the risks involved?
Because of the legal status, conducting research studies about ayahuasca and DMT is challenging. Instead, experts conduct surveys to gather information about the medicine and its potential benefits.
From our research and experience, 86% of people who used ayahuasca reported significant improvements in their mental health symptoms. There are also extremely positive reports from clients who experienced far less depression and a higher quality of life.
Other findings show that users of ayahuasca report:
Elimination of depressive, anxious, and addictive symptoms
Higher social and emotional functioning
Increased self-awareness, creativity, and empathy
Based on these findings, experts are pursuing the study of ayahuasca for:
Addictions, including cocaine use, alcohol use, and opioid use.
Depressive disorders
Anxiety disorders
Stress, anger, and psychological disorders
No one is sure how DMT produces these results, but scientific experts guess that the substance interacts with chemicals in the brain, like dopamine, to change brain chemistry. It is also suspected that the resolution of past trauma as a result of the medicine can assist people in better understanding themselves. This improved understanding is why some believe ayahuasca can enhance psychotherapy.
