Spirit Healing
Ayahuasca and Plant Medicine Treatment
As ayahuasca ceremonies become increasingly common worldwide, from cities to remote regions, the rich tradition of plant spirit medicine remains an enigmatic and often misunderstood facet of indigenous wisdom. Rooted in centuries-old knowledge, this approach to healing is more than simply administering a cure. It’s a sophisticated holistic practice that incorporates all aspects of our being, the interconnected systems and frequencies of the mind, body, and spirit.
Unfortunately, a lack of understanding has led some to view ayahuasca as a magical medicine that cures everything, when in reality, it has specific uses within a larger framework of Amazonian healing. While ayahuasca possesses profound healing potential, expanding perception and awareness and creating an environment for realization and true transformation , it is but one element in an intricate system of plant-based healing.
What Does it Mean to Receive Treatment?
In the Amazonian tradition of curanderismo, true healing encompasses more than just the ayahuasca ceremony. Listed below are the core components of a comprehensive treatment, all of which play a vital role in achieving balance across the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels. Only through this alignment can one experience complete healing. While ayahuasca certainly serves a significant purpose, other elements in the tradition are often more essential, depending on the individual’s needs.
Alongside these main practices, treatment may also include inhalants, smoke baths, massage, and exercises. Our approach is based on the Shipibo familial lineage of the Lopez tradition, yet styles and methods vary widely across indigenous groups and individual curanderos. This summary reflects our specific interpretation and practice of the Shipibo healing process.
DIET
The first essential component of ayahuasca treatment is the diet. Surprisingly, despite its clear impact on health, diet is often overlooked in conventional Western medicine, with hospital food still comparable to airplane fare. Many illnesses stem from poor dietary habits, making nutritional changes vital for restoring health. Treatment diets follow strict guidelines: no salt, sugar, oils, hot spices, caffeine, alcohol, chemicals, or sexual activity – essentially, no stimulation. This bland diet helps the body reset to a harmonious baseline, promoting proper digestion and supporting all other healing components. Typically, this diet is maintained throughout treatment and may continue afterward, especially if prior habits contributed to poor health.
PURGATIVES
Another essential component of ayahuasca treatment is the use of purgatives. While ayahuasca itself has purgative qualities, certain other plant preparations, such as oje, piñon blanco, and sangre de grado, are known for their stronger cleansing effects. These purgatives are administered early in the morning on an empty stomach, often leading to vomiting or diarrhea pr both as the body undergoes deep internal cleansing and blood purification. Especially for illnesses affecting the blood, purgatives can be a crucial part of healing, aiding in physical detoxification as well as amplifying the effects of ayahuasca in ceremony. Purgatives are typically taken at the beginning of treatment to improve absorption of nutrients and other remedies.
VAPOR BATHS
The vapor bath is a vital component of ayahuasca healing with benefits that would serve well in Western medicine. In this process, water infused with medicinal plants is boiled to create healing steam or vapor, enveloping the patient like in a sauna. This steam opens the pores, allowing toxins to be released while the body absorbs the medicinal qualities of the plants, cleansing from the outside in. This purification helps the body restore its natural, healthy balance more effectively. Treatments at the Ayahuasca Foundation always include daily vapor baths for several days, though some people require more frequent vapor baths in their healing. Vapor baths could be understood in general as removing negative energies.
PLANT BATHS
The plant bath is another essential part of the ayahuasca healing process. Patients are immersed in water infused with specific healing plants that have soaked overnight, allowing the plant properties to absorb through the skin, where they work as both a physical and spiritual cleanse. This therapeutic bath also provides an aromatic experience that helps open the mind and cleanse the spirit, preparing participants for a deeper connection in the ayahuasca ceremonies. Plant baths are taken over the course of treatment and can be done outside of specific healing sessions. In Peru, plant baths are part of popular culture, like as a ritual to celebrate the new year. Vapor baths could be understood, in general, as adding positive energies.
CEREMONIES
Ayahuasca ceremonies are a vital part of the healing process, serving as both diagnostic and therapeutic tools. For the curandero, ayahuasca opens a gateway to perceive the patient’s inner state and diagnose afflictions in a way akin to an MRI or x-ray. Through their connection with plant spirits, the curandero identifies the most effective remedies, tailoring the treatment to the patient’s specific needs. For the patient, the ayahuasca experience often reveals the roots of their illness, uncovering past traumas or moments of emotional and spiritual disconnection. This process empowers patients to actively participate in their own healing by releasing stored emotions, rediscovering their self-worth, and reconnecting with self-love and divine inner beauty.
PLANT REMEDIES
Perhaps the most familiar component of Amazonian healing is the plant remedy itself, a carefully prepared medicine from one or more medicinal plants taken by the patient throughout their treatment. The duration of the treatment often aligns with the supply of the remedy; for instance, treatment continues until the patient has completed the prescribed bottles of medicine. While vapor baths and plant baths work to cleanse toxins from the body, purgatives help eliminate deeper toxins, and ayahuasca strengthens the mind and spirit, it is the plant remedies that ultimately address and resolve the root affliction. Patients often attribute their healing to these remedies, describing them as the decisive factor in their recovery.
TOPICAL REMEDIES
Another type of plant remedy often used in the Shipibo ayahuasca healing tradition is the topical remedy, a plant medicine concoction made from one or more medicinal plants that is applied directly to a part of the body during their treatment. Certain medicinal plants are better used topically, either because they cause discomfort when digested, or because they can better target a specific area of the body, like specific organs, muscles, ligaments, or nerves. A topical remedy is usually applied and then covered by a bandage to help keep the concoction in place, and is removed at the end of the day or when it dries and falls off on its own. Topical remedies can be used to treat cuts and bruises, as well as more complex issues and illnesses.
FAITH
Faith is central to the healing process and deserves its own attention. At its core, Amazonian healing seeks to renew the patient’s connection to the divine. Every component in plant medicine treatment, whether it be plant remedies, purgatives, or ayahuasca ceremonies, serves to strengthen this bond. The curandero embodies faith through prayer, fasting, and rituals of cleansing, each demonstrating commitment to the patient’s recovery. Prayers are woven throughout the treatment process, over plant baths, remedies, and ceremonies, inviting divine healing energies to support the patient’s journey. True healing arises from a shared faith: when the patient believes deeply in the healing process, transformation unfolds.
Other Plant Treatments
Click to view larger.
A Journey Within
What to Expect
Receiving treatment in the Shipibo tradition offers a profound spiritual and cultural immersion, set against the lush, vibrant backdrop of the Amazon rainforest, where the sounds and energy of nature enhance the healing journey. Participants in retreats and courses experience a comprehensive series of treatments, beginning with the first ayahuasca ceremony and followed by a purgative to cleanse the digestive system, vapor baths for physical purification, oral remedies to cleanse and fortify the circulatory and nervous systems, topical remedies for targeted issues, plant baths for protection and attraction of positive energies, as well as inhalants and smoke baths.
Guided by skilled Shipibo curanderos and facilitators, each participant follows a carefully structured treatment plan designed to encourage deep introspection, purification, and emotional release. Removed from negative influences and modern toxins, participants find rest and rejuvenation in the peace of the jungle, nourished by wholesome, natural meals prepared with care. This setting and approach together foster a transformative healing experience.
Ayahuasca Retreats
The Ayahuasca Foundation’s Healing Ayahuasca Retreats offer an opportunity to change your life’s course and start fresh. You’ll take part in ayahuasca ceremonies guided by a Shipibo healer and experienced assistants. Along with these ceremonies, you’ll also receive various plant-based treatments to cleanse your mind, body, and spirit.
Ayahuasca Courses
Ayahuasca courses offer authentic training in the Shipibo plant medicine tradition, focusing on sacred plant dietas and the use of ayahuasca in ceremonies. These informative training courses are a condensed version of an ancestral initiation experience, teaching the core principles of the ayahuasca plant medicine tradition in Peru.