The main reason why people are disappointed in their Ayahuasca ceremony
I hear this all the time from people who are disappointed in their ayahuasca ceremony, especially first-timers. They feel that ayahuasca didn’t work. I wish I could tell them all that nothing could be farther from the truth. You always receive exactly what you need, even if you misuse this medicine. This concept is how it works, and it’s why many people misunderstand this sacred plant.
Unrealistic Expectations
For example, you might have lived with depression for over two decades. You have been on different antidepressants for over ten years. Maybe you even thought about giving up your will to live.
But you expect that after a week-long retreat and an ayahuasca ceremony, you will be happy, healed, and free. I understand. I had the same wishful thinking. It’s easy to believe that ayahuasca is the magic pill, the elixir that will solve all your problems, and in a way, She is—but not at all in the way you expect it. And so, many think that ayahuasca didn’t work for them. Let me explain.
Misunderstanding of the Healing Process
Sickness doesn’t happen overnight. Disease develops over time, and the deeper roots of it may be present far back in your past. By the time it manifests as a physical symptom, a long time has passed—a lot of decisions, loss, heartache, suppression, and trauma.
Your past weighs you down. Like carrying rocks, it’s painful, but you are so used to it that you think it’s part of who you are, and you never even consider putting them down. Just try to carry on. Until you can’t anymore.
What Healing Really Is
Healing is a process of purification, of letting go of the weights you carry—those suppressed emotions, limiting beliefs, destructive habits, and the toxicity that is the fertile ground for disease.
Many call ayahuasca “the vine of the dead.” She will take you through an alchemical process of healing and purification, guiding you through your death and rebirth process so you can rise from the ashes, powerful and divine.
Letting Go
But first comes death. The medicine will open you and push your baggage onto the surface so you can let it go. This process means facing your own shadows. Clearly seeing how you choose to be a victim; how you self-sacrifice; how you grasp onto your story, onto your pain, refusing to let go; and how you are addicted to toxicity, comfort, and to those who destroy your soul.
Are you willing to see yourself like that? Are you willing to see all who you are?
Once you are deep into the shadow of your valley, ayahuasca will force you to open your eyes. And you will cry—buckets of tears. You will scream and shout until there is nothing left inside.
And then you will be planted in the earth as a seed—empty but full. Full of a new potential. A new possibility. A more authentic you. Someone who is beyond the story. The real you, magical, strong, and free.
Top Articles for Understanding Ayahuasca Experiences
Why Healing Takes Time
Do you think you can do this in a week?
It may be possible—I think—but it is highly unlikely. In my experience, this journey will take around a year to eighteen months if you fully dedicate yourself to it and have personal support and guidance. It is a big undertaking.
Please understand that your higher intelligence is guiding this step-by-step process. Trust me, if you were to release everything you carry in a day or a week all at once, it could feel overwhelming due to its intensity.
Please understand that your higher intelligence is guiding this step-by-step process. Believe me, if you let go of all that you carry in a day or a week, you would probably go bananas because of the intensity. Trust your process; trust your journey. Everything will happen when you are ready. Trust that you are guided, supported, and taken care of, and reach out for help and support. You don’t have to do this alone. Take all the help available to you.
Open Your Mind, Be Patient, and Surrender to the Process
Oftentimes, when you have strong expectations of what should happen, you can’t really see what is happening, and you are missing all the action. It’s not that ayahuasca didn’t work for you. You can educate yourself about the healing process and the integration work with sacred plants to better understand how to navigate this process. But the best thing you can do is get professional guidance and support, especially if you are a first-timer and have just started on the plant medicine path.
In my program, my clients commit to a 3-month preparation and 12-month integration container to go deeper in their process to get the most out of their experience. I can tell you from experience that those breakthrough results you are hoping for are possible if you have support and if you truly commit to your journey. Here are some examples.
The Price of Freedom
Is it worth going through all this? It is—if you want to be free.
So when you tell me that next time when you think that ayahuasca didn’t work and failed you because you feel the same or maybe even worse… Well, that is like going to the cinema to watch a movie, then walking out after the first 10 minutes and then complaining that the movie was bad and didn’t make any sense. I do hope that this hits home for you.
Follow your Curiosity
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Healing is a process, and you cannot bypass the inner work necessary to be free. I urge you to consider this before you go to another plant medicine ceremony.
With love, Nina Izel.