Ayahuasca Talks

Jared shares his experiences of coming back from his Ayahuasca ceremonies and the transitional period that took place in his life as he moved out of his traditional military career into a career path that was more reflective of his gifts. We discuss the inner voice and guidance we have received since our Aya experience and how it shows up for us – often with humour. Jared explains how he responded to his anger issues and worked through his feelings as he found his way to a more authentic career. We share our experiences with taking what can be perceived as annoyances, distractions or disruptions and turning them into helpful tools. We talk about trusting our path and seeing the work of spirituality and intentionality in it despite how challenging it can be at times. We discuss our experience with intentions and the importance of love and self-love.

We discuss some of the important messages and themes that shaped Greg’s integration journey including ‘You Cannot Fail’. We discuss how the idea of failure in life can prevent us from taking chances and how the idea of failing is introduced to us very early in life via school exams etc. Greg shares a story about how he internalized a minor incident when he was young and how that impacted him in life. We talk about anger – why it’s there and how it’s connected to inner beliefs that may be dissolved but how it can be helpful at certain stages of growth and integration. We discussed the challenges involved in moving out of unhealthy workplaces and the growth that this process brings. We also talked about what’s happening in medical care and how some practitioners like Greg are moving away from the corporate model to provide more personalized, compassionate care. We discussed the current social polarization and the increase in harsh social interactions that we often see today as an opportunity for change.

This discussion encompasses a few themes:  healing and/or moving away from unbalanced relationships & the grief associated with that, recognizing challenging situations as opportunities to apply themes that came up in ceremony and seeing/feeling what lies beneath the surface of relationships or situations. We talk about recognizing our intuitive abilities and applying them to assist along the integrative path rather than falling back into familiar patterns. We also cover the topic of respect for each person's uniqueness and creating opportunities for us to do this in a way that inspires connection rather than conflict.

Our discussion begins with being called to the medicine, what this felt like. We talk about how the process of integration involves many chaotic episodes that are the prelude to a rebirth and that this is how we can interpret the events that are externalized in the world right now. We talk about the evolution that is taking place from being a follower society to being more self reliant and focused within and as Helen puts it, finding our inner shaman.. We discuss ways of moving through these times and how these cycles always lead to better opportunities for ourselves. We discuss how during the integration period we often change how we measure success and end up following what truly makes us fulfilled and happy. We talk about the challenges that arise in doing that as part of the integration journey. We also touch on the impact of our ancestry and the healing opportunities that exist there too. 

In this episode, we discuss the power of fluid perspectives – of being open to changes in worldview and perspectives. Vyolet shares the changes she made in her life, the challenges she faced and how this transition ultimately moved her forward. We talk about the power of surrender and trust that things will work out in the end. Vyolet reaffirms how the problems she anticipated in making these changes were resolved once she made them. We discuss how these challenges can be gifts in disguise. By honouring the nudges we get to make changes in our lives, we are rewarded down the line. We discuss the underlying concept of unity, how it's being challenged today and that even though we may be confronted by separation and other dark elements these days, just as in our personal work, we are being invited to confront this and move through it into another way of being. We discuss this new way of being and how it’s inspired by the natural elements around us and within us. We speak about this being part of our own evolution, respecting the deep wisdom within us that is connected to everything and how that is changing our experience.

Emileena and Rebecca discuss the value of creativity. Plant medicines and psychedelics celebrate and cultivate the creativity within us. Creativity is often discouraged or devalued in society and those who have this particular talent are often guided away from pursuing it professionally. However, most of the products that benefit us originated from someone’s creativity, so if we limit creativity to a small category of people, we do so to our own detriment. It’s understood that solving problems creatively can be beneficial so it’s no wonder that medicines cultivate this in us – this secret super power. Studies show that we use more of our brains when we’re thinking creatively and studies show that we’re using our minds creatively when we’re in these altered states. We discuss the benefits of creativity and how it shows up in our lives. Plant medicines often teach us how we are creating our experience and how we can create our lives differently to our benefit. Because creativity is a natural part of us, it’s an act of self love to recognize this and to use it.

Judith and I share our thoughts on the true nature of the long and often challenging path of integration. It can become a way of life. We share about our patterns and how they often continue to emerge in different ways to remind us and to help us work on these things as part of our integration. It can be difficult when patterns emerge again and it's important to remember that we have made progress and that this is part of growth. We explain the importance of self-compassion, support and community.

We discuss a more expansive concept of illness that we discover through Ayahuasca. We talk about both individual illnesses and how this relates to the greater illness of humanity and the opportunities we have to heal it. The ACEs study that is known to the mainstream world of medicine indicates a clear connection between childhood abuse/trauma and illness. Dr. Tafur talks about getting to the root cause of illness and how this unfolds with medicine and work with various medicines including Ayahuasca. Conditions like depression and crohn’s disease can be messengers bringing into our awareness something deeper that needs to be healed. We discuss the importance of agreeing to move on once we have sufficiently grieved. Dr. Tafur emphasizes that people need to feel a sense of agency for them to be well and we talk about how spiritual practices can provide that agency.

Kyle shares his NDE (near death experience) and his spiritual emergence following this event. We talk about our individual experiences of spiritual emergence/emergency and Kyle provides an explanation of the difference between the two. We discuss the similarities between NDEs and medicine experiences as well. We talk about the pull that we often feel to be back in the blissful/peaceful states we can experience in NDEs and medicine/psychedelic journeys. We discuss the difficulties navigating spiritual emergence without guidance. Kyle reflects on what he has learned about spiritual emergence and different ways of referencing it such as 'exceptional experiences' so as to invite other ways of viewing these extraordinary states that many experience in such different ways. We touch on discovering our own unique and special gifts which can be an important part of our identity and purpose. Although spiritual emergence can happen spontaneously, it can also follow medicine/psychedelic experiences and this emphasizes the reason for not entering into these ceremonies or into psychedelic states lightly. We talk about fear of change and how change and openness is a healthy yet challenging part of this journey of personal and societal growth.