Ayahuasca?

Hey guys,

I've only just come across Ayahuasca and it's potential in the last week or so and am really quite curious. Has anyone had any experience with it? It's potential for healing seems quite astounding and it is something I would consider.

Here's a documentary on it I just watched:



I thought i'd start a discussion. Also, I believe it has to be done in line with psychotherapy and in a therapeutic setting otherwise I don't see how it could be as effective. That being said, i've only just come across it and don't know much about side effects etc, will need to keep researching.

Ana

 

Hi Ana,

I think you are right that it is all about the personal guidance for something like this, vs just the drug itself.

Here is an article which covers one of the more recent ayahuasca religions, the Santo Daime. I have observed the US version of this, with beautiful singing and sentiments. Moving in circles with white robes. Very sweet. The US drug agents took away their drugs in my home town, but then they got them back through a judge...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Daime#United_States

I have no experience with ayahuasca, but since you are interested, here's an article on the benefits of magic mushrooms --from western medicine researchers, which are reported a year later. So there is something to be said for "hallucinogens."And I guess they have their differences.

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080703/full/news.2008.934.html

As you say, maybe these kind of drugs can be taken with benefit with the right supervision and setting, which in the US is not possible with therapists. Maybe in Europe? In US the magic mushrooms use is only with research subjects, I believe.

With a "shaman" I think I would have to have a lot of trust in this person, before embarking. There is lots of ayahuasca tourism that has "gone bad." I am glad you're making a very cautious investigation!! In my experience, the mind and body, just as they are, can open one to vast goodness and understanding, so I personally don't add any "fuel to the fire."

Andy B

 

As the use of ayahuasca continues to spread around the world, with ceremonies happening in nearly every city of every country, the tradition of plant spirit medicine continues to be a mysterious and often misunderstood science of indigenous wisdom and medical practice. Unfortunately, due to a general lack of proper education and understanding of this sacred science, some people think that ayahuasca is a magical medicine that cures everything. In reality, ayahuasca can only heal a few types of illnesses. It is magical, though, due to https://dmt.vision/articles/102/ («Moyano» Centre: Peru Ayahuasca Practices) ability to expand perceptive abilities and conscious awareness, and plays an important role in a complex and elaborate tradition of healing with plants. There are other components within the treatment process, like inhalants, poultices, perfumes, pomades, massage, and smoke baths, among others, but the seven practices outlined below are considered to be the major components of the plant medicine treatment process when being treated by a curandero in the indigenous tradition. Obviously, there are many differences in methods and styles between indigenous groups, familial traditions, and individual curanderos, so what we present is based on our own particular treatment process in a sacred tradition. When we know that we will be healed, then we will be healed.

 

This is so not in line with Sarno imo. A person can do whatever floats their boat but my concern is that desperate individuals seeking some kind of mystical bullet might think this is some kind of gateway to healing. Just like extreme fasting and meditation....it may not be for everyone and it's not necessary for healing. To me this could be dangerous as it's unregulated. Even plant based drugs can kill you . My question is why??? Why complicate your life and thoughts? Why get caught up in some tangent or some "guru" type? I also think approaches like this really diminish the work of Sarno because it makes it seem as if he's not "enough" or you need some backup plan. There is nothing "mystical" or miraculous or uber intellectual about getting better. It's a decision to absorb the info. and put it into practice.

 

Well said Rita ...I agree 100 % I had a couple of friends do this ...and they said it was a joke at best ..again there opinions not mine .. I had never took part in this ...and like you said what does this have to do with TMS? Healing

 

I have taken enough hallucinogenics to kill 'several touring funk bands' as Bill Hicks says....

Than later in life I had an 'authentic' spiritual experience...and I realized that LSD, Mushrooms, Molly and the like are a synthetic spiritual experience. I imagine for someone lost in the mundane, they might have some therapeutic properties...

However, if you really do this work with diligence and intensity, you will have the same type of experience sans the dope.

..and if you are taking something with the intent of it banishing your pain, as MiffyBunny points out, that has nothing to do with Sarno....even if it'worked' you would get a placebo cure at best.

 

I agree with you Baseball65! I've had 5 ketamine infusions and they were anything BUT mystical or spiritual. I did not have a"shaman" chanting around me with bells and whistles but I hallucinated for over 4 hours each time and then got to vomit afterwards. Fun times!! NOT!!!! I also had terrible PTSD from those and with something like Ayahuasca, similar things can and HAVE ensued with people. I get the desperation but this is never the way to go and does not address the root cause of TMS.

 

Psilocybin is only a fraction of the intensity of LSD and has very little negative history. I have heard the FDA just gave permission to start using small doses of super refined Mushrooms to depressed people, just as Psychologists gave out Molly (MDMA) to patients in the 80's.

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/clinical-trials-analysis/psilocybin/ (Psilocybin moves closer to becoming a licensed treatment for depression)

I honestly thought it's not a bad idea... BUT, in context of TMS, unless it's helping us to deal with suppressed rage, shame and negative feelings, it's just another treatment. In context of the Original Post, none of these things can Heal us... they might be tools to open up a door that's jammed, but you still have to walk through that door alone. If Psilocybin had any lasting therapeutic value, I would have never developed all of the repressed rage that brought me here!