My Ayahuasca Experience That Put Me Back In My Mum's Womb

How a plant medicine from the jungle can help you see and heal your core wounds

Have you ever heard about ayahuasca, the psychedelic plant that brings you straight to your core wounds? If you have not, let me give you a bit of an introduction.

Ayahuasca (called Yage in Colombia) is a psychoactive plant used by indigenous tribes in the Amazon for centuries. This powerful plant medicine was originally only used by shamans (or Taitas in Colombia) to heal members of their tribe. Healing can be on a physical, spiritual, or mental level.

The shamans also used it to predict the future or get information from the past during visions.

Ayahuasca is a brew that consists of two different plants: the ayahuasca vine and the chacruna leaves. These plants only grow in the jungles of Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. Only the combination of the two plants will allow your brain to materialize the DMT, which is one of the main psychedelic compounds of ayahuasca.

Both DMT and beta-carbolines (which are the other psychoactive ingredient in the brew) are supposed to increase brain health and reduce stress.

Modern-day use of ayahuasca

Ayahuasca retreats nowadays are gaining popularity all over the world because they’re known to be a fast-track method for mental healing. It can act as ten years of therapy in a single session. Ayahuasca can cure addictions, depression, anxiety, stress, traumas, and generally improve mental health.

According to a study, as explained by VeryWellMind:

The findings show that ayahuasca users tend to eat healthier, engage in more physical activity, suffer from fewer chronic diseases, and experience better overall well-being.

Nearly all (99.8%) of the participants who used ayahuasca during the study reported being happier and healthier after the ceremony.

Hearing the ayahuasca call

I had been intrigued by ayahuasca for a while already. I have used other psychedelics before (like peyote, magic mushrooms, and DMT) to get a better insight into who I am and how I can improve myself. They have certainly helped, but none of them were as profound as my 6-day ayahuasca experience in the jungle of Colombia.

Traditionally, you are supposed to be ‘called’ by ayahuasca. She (ayahuasca is feminine) has different ways to do this. For example, reading this article just might be your call!

I heard my call when more and more people started telling me about their experiences. In the beginning, it sounded crazy to me — who the heck signs up voluntarily to get catapulted deep inside all your mental issues?! But the more I researched it, the more curious I got.

At some point, I couldn’t resist anymore and tried a one-night ceremony in Mexico, which turned out to be nothing compared to what I was about to experience in Colombia.

Traveling to the Amazon in Colombia

I always knew I wanted to do ayahuasca in the place where it grows, the Amazon. I chose Colombia as my destination because that country had been on my bucket list for a while already, and it was easy to reach from Mexico, where I lived at that time.

And sure enough, after my experience, I am so happy I did. I really understand now how vital it is to choose a real shaman for your ayahuasca retreat, and also to preferably do it where it comes from.

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So I flew to Bogota and took a 17-hour bus ride to Mocoa, a small city in the heart of Putumayo. Mocoa is the entry point to this part of the Colombian Amazon.

Note: in Colombia, a shaman is called a Taita, and ayahuasca is called Yage, so I will interchangeably use the different terms throughout this article.

What you need to know before drinking ayahuasca

Yage is no joke. It is incredibly important to use it in a ceremonial way with a Taita who has years of experience with this plant medicine. After all, you are going deep inside your mind and potentially your traumas;  you need someone to look after you.

It is common to vomit or have diarrhea during ceremonies, which they call purging. It sounds horrible, but it actually feels like you are releasing a lot of bad energy out of you. And this is exactly what Yage does: it helps you to release things that are stuck inside of you.

Yage is different for everybody; some people experience pure bliss and happiness, and others have a very dark and deep journey. It all depends on where your issues are and what needs your current attention.

You normally set an intention before a ceremony, but ultimately, Yage will choose what she wants to show you. No matter what happens to you during your trip,  it will be what you need to know at that moment.

Three ayahuasca ceremonies in six days

I chose to do three ceremonies because I heard that only one is normally not that profound. The first time you drink ayahuasca, it travels through your body and uses this first night to get to know you. It’s not uncommon to have quite a shallow experience for newbies.

A Yage ceremony should take place in nature around a fire where everybody who participates gathers. In my group, there were about five foreigners and the rest were Colombians who came to the Taita’s house for healing. The ceremony was held on the land of the shaman under a thatched roof, which is called a maloca. We also had an area with hammocks to chill if you needed a break from the others.

A Taita is deeply respected by the whole village, and all the Taitas in that area know each other as well. They help each other with their rituals, so during my ceremonies, we always had three shamans in total.

I won’t go into all the details here after I drank my first cup since it’s quite personal. But I basically got put back into my mum’s uterus a few weeks before I was supposed to be born. It felt incredibly safe and warm, and I did not want to come out. I felt the unconditional love from a mother towards her child, which made me think about how special it is that this type of love exists.

I told my baby-self that I should never doubt my decisions and my lifestyle, and that the world can be scary but also immensely beautiful. We as humans are put on this Earth to experience it to the fullest. It is quite a miracle that we have feelings and touch and emotions and can fall in love with each other!