Why Plant Medicine?

Why do I keep doing this work?

Hi friends, I am heading to the high mountains to work with my Master Teacher, Grandmother Ayahuasca.
This is an advanced retreat where I get a unique opportunity to work with a teacher of my teacher, who is a keeper of the lineage and who rarely comes to the USA from Peru.
I get to sit in a cave again, which is so symbolic of the upcoming rebirth, as caves have been revered as the wombs of the Divine Mother.
I wanted to share my story of why I do this work.

13 years ago I came to plant medicine with a broken heart and a broken brain.
I first heard about Ayahuasca 16 years ago from a friend who read an article in the National Geographic about a shamanic tea - a brew that brings soul retrieval, my entire body got shivers of recognition. I knew I had to find access to that medicine.

Now, 16 years ago, this was deep underground and not as readily available as it has become in the last 3-4 years.
You had to know somebody who knew somebody who had access to the ceremony circle and who would be willing to vouch for your character, commitment, and readiness to do such deep work.
I held a prayer for 3 years and was willing to travel to the jungle of the Amazon to find that Master Plant.
And... as life has taught me many times over, when we are truly ready, the Plant finds us.

My heartbreak was my moment of ripeness.
I found myself in a deep depression that no matter how much I tried to get out of that existential darkness, I only kept sinking deeper into despair.
It is always the darkest before dawn.

Just when I thought that I'd never escape the grip of prevailing sadness, I received an invitation to come to the Ayahuasca ceremony.
When everyone in the group was sharing why there were there, I said that I want to heal my heart and my brain.
Years prior, I had a freak accident: I fainted and fell face down onto the marble floor. My face was unrecognizable with all the swelling, I had to get stitches on my nose, and it is only by a miracle that all of my teeth were still there.

I had the biggest head concussion of my life which led to difficulty concentrating, memory challenges, and mood swings.
I also never dealt with any of my severe childhood traumas of abuse and neglect.
So here I was, 29 years old, feeling raw, broken, and on the edge of my hope.
Why I am sharing this with you?
Because there is a psychedelic renaissance that is happening.
The third wave of it is here.
And plant medicine healing and wisdom are weaved through everything I teach and do.
In fact, later on, this month, I am being filmed for a documentary about plant medicine that will go global.

I have the deepest respect for the Plant Teachers, as they have shown me how deeply they can heal our hearts and minds.

In the 13 years of working with Ayahuasca extensively, I have healed:
- my broken heart, by realizing that true love is within
- went off the ADHD medication that I was on for 5 years because the plant medicine re-wired my brain neuropathways, helped me restore clarity of mind and the joy of living
- witnessed all the missing experiences of my childhood with compassion and found forgiveness for my abusers
- healed the drug addiction that I was in once for 2 years
- transformed deeply held beliefs of unworthiness, shame, and guilt
- found my true purpose and the strength to step into it
- transformed my aversion to being in the body and on this planet and learned to be in the body fully with joy
- found my soul gifts and unlocked my mystical abilities
- integrated all the inner parts of the psyche into wholeness
and so much more.
Looking back over my journey with the plants, I am in awe.
I went from living at a fraction of my soul's potential, re-creating my parent's wounded blueprint of life, to becoming a sovereign woman who now lives in joy, freedom, and purpose.

This has been my path.
I continue to work with the plants because now they help me:
- purify and cleanse ego attachments that get in a way of my service to humanity
- expand my vision for this lifetime
- get access to my Galactic Guides and the wisdom they want me to channel for humanity
- nourish my soul by being held by the Divine Mother that comes through my shamanic journeys in the most visceral way
I know this is not the path for everyone.
And so many times, I've been asked to bring what I learn from the Plants into my classes and workshops for the people who will never sit in such ceremonies themselves but will be uplifted by the transmission of the frequency I bring.

I bow down to this sacred path.
I do not take it lightly.
I never take it for granted.

I wanted to share my story because Ayahusca healed my heart, my brain, my body, my soul, and my life.
yes, I had to implement every single thing she taught me.
I had to do the work, deep work, change my habits, my environment, my thoughts, my diet...
no stone was left unturned.
and that is how I like it.
A complete transformation is what I signed up for.

And I continue this work, 3 times a year, purifying the ego, strengthening the soul, and expanding the mind.

DISCLAIMER: 

This post is in no way an endorsement of the illegal consumption of psychedelics, neither it is a piece of medical advice for anyone. 

This blog is my personal experience of working with this sacred sacrament in the setting of an official plant medicine church, with all the legal agreements honored. 

My final guidance: 

I encourage people to do extensive preparation with experienced teachers and guides before going on any psychedelic journey and then the attitude- the ability to find stillness and equanimity; then set and setting and then of course integration.

90% of the people who told me about having “bad” experiences were:
- not adequately prepared
- did not have the right set and setting
- have not been educated about the radical expansion of consciousness and how to process it and integrate

The key element is a person's ability to overcome fear/ fear of the unknown, fear of looking into one’s shadow, and fear of change.

I go as far when people ask me about aya as to caution them, saying this:
“If you are not ready to radically change your life, you are not ready to drink ayahuasca.”

P.S. check out my yearly Peru retreat and apply if you are a conscious leader who is drawn to learning from the Plant Teachers. 

Peru Retreat Application is here.