You’ve just returned from a shamanic and spiritual Ayahuasca Retreat from Peru, where you’ve survived defeating your demons after the noble honor of a Master Plant Diet. Congratulations on your success! But… it is not over. The plant medicine does not stop working when the shaman closes your diet and the Ayahuasca Retreat ends. The crucial moment of what we call the “post-diet” is a time of adaptation and integration of all the changes that one wishes to continue in your life! In fact, it is the capital phase of the evolution process of expanded awareness, assimilating the teachings you received, and the energy channeled during your retreat. It is quintessential to ensuring a smooth transition to your everyday life after dieting in the jungle. This can sometimes be difficult depending on the social context in which you evolve in. Without a conscientious post-diet, old patterns and neuroses may take over! Don’t panic, we are here with this specially concocted article to help you avoid common pitfalls!
1. Don’t Pounce On That Chocolate Cake!
After following so many dietary restrictions during your diet, your body has channeled the energy from Master Plants and you are brand new! To avoid shocking your new body, it is better to gradually reintroduce non-diet friendly foods back into your life. Foods containing oil, condiments, salt, sugar, dairy, meats, and cheese (hardest for us Frenchies!) need to be taken in slowly. This means that we must, must, must resist the appeal of delicious pastries and cakes, especially that chocolate cake that beckons you! Falling for the temptation prematurely will make you at risk of spending your next days on the toilet (you know what we are talking about…). If you have any doubts about food delays, click here to check for the post-diet suggestions. Like we mentioned, the work continues after the retreat and if not heeded, we may create an unintended food addiction. Besides, why not take advantage of the situation by introducing healthier eating habits? Hippocrates said it well when he said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”
2. Don’t Bang that Man or Woman! Not Yet At Least!
Hearye, hearye! You are now an accomplished ascetic who heroically overcame the period of sexual deprivation during your retreat. Your shaman has duly warned you against all kinds of sexual practices when dieting your plants, and for good reason! Your vital energy is engaged on a higher level of vibrations and ignoring this prohibition can lead to very serious complications on both your physical and psychological levels. Your bodies remains extremely sensitive and vulnerable after your diet and it is therefore strongly advised to wait at least two weeks before engaging in any sexual practices (including masterbation), so that the energy has time to stabilize. Stay courageous and strong in your celibacy, and as we say at home: “The longer you wait, the better it gets!”
3. Let Pigs be the Plague That You Flee From
Before we dive into this sulphurous subject, allow us to clarify this point! There is no ethical, cultural, or religious reason behind the recommendation of banning the consumption of pig based foods from your meals. The Amazonian people will consume pigs but we challenge you to find a single vegetalist healer who eats pigs. Why? Simply because the ingestion of this particular meat is absolutely not compatible with traditional Amazonian medicine, this includes Ayahuasca and Master Plants. What do you risk by consuming pig meat? You may fall horribly sick with diarrhea, fever, nightmares, depression, madness. You may flip your diet and return back in an emergency to Peru to receive a cleaning by your shaman. Pig meat causes serious damage to diets. So serious in fact that those who work with medicines long term eventually learn to live without it.
4. Avoid Drugs or Alcohol
Alcohol and tobacco will acidify your body and their consumption long-term can be harmful to your health while your diet restores the acid-base balance and eliminates toxins from your body. Doesn’t it make sense to spend some time enjoying the fruits of your hard labor after intensely working on purifying yourself during your retreat without drugs and alcohol? Ayahuasca has putative effects in itself and acts on the digestive system to rid the body of microbial organisms and intestinal yeasts (see the ayahuasca effects). The DMT, also known as the spirit molecule, contained in Ayahuasca leads to a state of modified consciousness which allows one to observe their self-destructive, harmful, and limiting tendencies. When DMT is administered properly during a specific plant diet, it is very effective in helping you wean off of addictions (for example tobacco) and we don’t want to relapse into past habits! However if you must include these elements back into your life, wait at least two weeks after your diet and have a slow reintroduction in order to avoid shocking your vital energy.
5. For the Messiah That Can’t See You
As mentioned previously, it contains DMT and the visions provide foresight, spiritual connection, self-understanding, and inner dialogue… this is why Ayahuasca is referred to as a teaching plant. The provocation of mystical and spiritual experiences allows us to feel our connection with the Whole, with our inner divinity.
The caveat? When our consciousness widens and is released suddenly, the ego often comes with his two cents. Consider it the spiritual crisis that awaits us at the turn, a crisis that can be called the “messiah” or “savior” complex. Indeed it is that the mind tends to identify deeply with the experience. This phenomenal inflation of the ego is described by Carl Jung is characterized by the extension of your personality that exceeds its individual limitations. Jung says that the subject will identify with the qualities of the contents that are actually outside (refer to DSialectic of the Self and the Unconsciousness).
Let’s instead relax, go back down and breathe deeply. After all, give back to Caesar what beings to Caesar, and in this case – give back to God in all humility… Hallelujah!
6. Don’t Step Onto that Pedestal!
The border between spiritual awakening and fanaticism is sometimes very thin. After returning from an intense diet where you’ve traveled into the depths of the unconscious and cosmic abyss, there is that moment when we return to our family and social life. Rehabilitation during the retreat can be tough in the sense that we never return as the same person that left. When we see our loved ones, we are so eager to share extraordinary experiences but sometimes to the wrong audience. This kind of proselytism is likely to make you stand out (not always in a good way) and create a gap between you and those that you love. It also happens when you return and consider yourself to be more advanced and awake than others (ALERT: This is the inflation of the Ego!)
Gradually, you’ll feel a sense of incomprehension, loneliness, and sadness. Remember that you are not the others and everyone has their own free will! Take a step back and it is your inner peace, joy, and ability to conscientiously share that will be the seduction point for others to become curious about your spiritual practice!
7. Don’t Run Away From Reality
There is a moment when you realize that there is a need to integrate the diet with other aspects of our life. You could be tempted to compartmentalizations or disassociate the two different worlds because it seems too hard! It is legitimate and normal to bend towards that state of liberation and well-being that results of the diet, but you might risk becoming too dependent on its practice as the sole provider or your happiness. Watch out for that! This state of being is real but believing that is it the only reality is the illusion! Creating a life where you are perpetually living on a diet often means that you’re escaping from your problems. Your family, friends, and community are also important and it is precisely by learning to live in your community while integrating your experience that allows for a harmonious and balanced life.
8. Feed From the Fruits of Your Diet
This command is a continuation of precedents. We saw the traps of the ego to avoid, phew saved! Good … what now?
This is the practical application. Let’s take this wonderful opportunity that has given us the medicine to integrate the changes. And for that nothing like daily exercises to reprogram itself to new habits more beneficial for oneself. Two slogans: self-discipline and mindfulness.
In order to cultivate mindfulness one can draw inspiration from Eckart Tolle and his book the power of the present moment. This may be for example: observe our daily actions even the most insignificant in appearance to detect any unwanted conditionings. Example: “..this food is it good for me …” (mc donald’s does not belong to it) “..Do I eat boredom? To fill an emotional void? By habit, etc. “ It is not a question of depriving ourselves, but rather of being attentive to one’s real needs and taking care of oneself. Why not also start practicing or resume Yoga, sports, meditation, music, etc …Everyone has to find what suits them best according to their desires. Self-discipline and perseverance in regular practice help to overcome self-destructive behavior.
9. Don’t Be Paranoid!
This applies especially to long time dieters! After many diets, the medicine is part of our life and this impacts our daily lives (most of the time it is in a beneficial way). However, we’ve always observed some cases of paranoia. This practice is not intended to make you sectarian, it is quite the contrary! It is true that our sensitivity increases with the diet. We are becoming more open but also more vulnerable to the energy around and within us. This is also about finding the right balance so you don’t fall into these extremes: Rejection of others, isolation, food and behavioral fanaticism, deprivation… Don’t think that you will die if someone eats pork next to you! Developing a climate of mistrust only makes you weaker and that is not the purpose of the diet. Being responsible and respectful of your diet means that you are not scared or frustrated. Remember this quote from Buddha: “All happiness in this wold comes from the openness to others, all suffering comes from the confinement within oneself.”
10. Hakuna Matata!
Our favorite Disney “philosopher” Pumba once said, “Hakuna Matata!” This means in Swahili that everything is okay, no problem! The objective of a diet is to open the door to lasting liberation and making profound positive changes. It raises the level of consciousness in a powerful way and allows everyone to experience a larger of existence. How cool is that?! For some, dieting can cause a concrete change of life that is lived from within. A life of purification, liberation, regeneration, and awareness. This traditional medicine makes it possible to create the link between soul and body, the invisible and the visible, the feminine and masculine. It is an energetic care aimed at the overall well-being of the self on several levels: physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual. Thus, we come out from our diets stronger, more anchored, and more open. Remember that one essential gift of the diet is that it allows us choose to live a better and fuller life! The way of coasting through life events, subduing the mind, and avoiding pitfalls created by the Ego are all linked with having a better life. If the diet is a trigger, your joie de vivre and your inner well-being are cultivated daily with a lot of patience, attention, and love. To live fully in your incarnation and to be in harmony is to be human. HAKUNA MATATA FRIENDS!
Thanks Ting!
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