What should I expect?

 

It is best to go into the experience with as few expectations as possible - the journey that ayahuasca takes us on is different for each one of us.

With that said, know that it is a very intense experience, and cannot easily be compared to other psychedelics or spiritual practices.

 

If you are carrying emotional traumas or baggage, ayahuasca will facilitate the working through and purging of these energies.

Many participants liken it to decades of therapy condensed into a few hours. It can be very difficult, but with a willingness to surrender to the experience, very rewarding.

Ayahuasca is also known as "La Purga", or "the purge", given the central theme of releasing negative or no longer needed aspects of the self.

This is often accompanied by vomiting, though the release of these energies can take many forms.

 

The center will provide a supportive and non-judgmental atmosphere for this healing process.

 

The ceremony is guided with icaros: songs or chants that energetically facilitate your experience. Through concentrating on the icaros, your inner journey is catalyzed, protected, and supported.

 

There are many ‘trip reports’ available online, on sites such as Erowid.org. It can be useful to read some of these, but many people feel that the more they think they know what the experience will be like, the more their expectations are shattered – there is no need to conceptualize the experience beforehand.

However, this National Geographic article is a good place to get an idea of the intensity of the experience.

 

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html