Is Ayahuasca Worth The Risk To Your Health?
Health professionals started experimenting with psychedelics and hallucinogenics in the treatment of mental and psychological disorders awhile back. The use of natural substances like Ayahuasca for these purposes is common in some cultures. Sadly, considering natural alternative medicines such as Reiki haven't quite caught on yet. At least not here in the Western world where we’ve veered away from ancient practices that address the whole of a person.
Ayahuasca, although a natural alternative, is not without risk though. The ‘Banisteriopsis caapi’ plant and brew called “ayahuasca” reported to have changed lives, is catalyst in the resurgence of interest in using psychedelics to treat so-called psychiatric and emotional disorders. The assigned labels to every mental and emotional discomforts, could all be summed up to disconnection.
Seekers have always been curious as to what makes life tick. So much so, many resort to trying hallucinogenic substances to expand their mind and attain certain perceptions they normally otherwise would not know. How this affects each person is a unique experience.
Lysergic acid diethylamide known as (LSD) was experimented with from the 1850s to 1970s in the treatment of psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, depression, psychosomatic diseases, and addictions. Treating psychiatric problems with psychedelics has now moved outside the confines of conventional research and treatment facilities.
Touted as the gateway to spiritual growth and enlightenment, ayahuasca treatments have become business oriented. Tourists by the thousands travel to remote areas near and around the Amazon to experiment, or treat mental and emotional disorders. At some religious temples and churches, ayahuasca tea is offered during religious ceremonies. There are ayahuasca retreats and treatment centres marketed as tourist destinations. Not all are created equal and that in itself might be the riskiest part of any trip, no pun intended, to go experience the ayahuasca plant in its native habitat.
What many users of ayahuasca call breakthroughs after facing disturbed imagery, were at one time called “bad trips.” There’s a type of reconnection with self that occurs after such experiences, when the user returns back to normal reality. Some who have tried ayahuasca have reported near death experiences. The perceived encounters with our deepest unresolved issues reveal parts of us we need to face and reconcile with, hence the description of transformation, clarity, and healing effects.
When using ayahuasca, the physical body may react with a wide range of purging and releasing reactions such as crying, diarrhea, shaking, sweating, and vomiting. Ayahuasca can also cause increased heart rate and blood pressure as well as cause nausea. Reiki, on the other hand, is a gentler approach that brings relaxation. Purging effects such as crying are known to occur, but violent bodily reactions are unheard of.
Although more studies are needed, ayahuasca is shown as beneficial in the treatment of depression and substance abuse disorders. Even though there’s no risks of addiction, dependence on outer substances is disempowering. There are ways of achieving similar states of consciousness within one’s self without any need for outside elements.
The enhanced creative ability often reported with using psychedelics such as ayahuasca is the result of openness to flow in the absence of judgement. This state can be achieved in stillness, and Reiki helps bring us to this calmness.
Practitioners of Reiki and other natural healing arts recognize the transformative power of inner revelations such as those brought on by ayahuasca as potentially healing. However, Reiki practitioners understand lasting healing is achieved when one is at peace and harmony with life. For some of us, healing is a journey of shedding many layers to get to the raw truth and be whole with our imperfections.
One or several ayahuasca ceremonies which may bring you face to face with your inner world are but one aspect of the inner work that’s sometimes necessary for those who have suffered trauma. There is no magic cure. Ayahuasca, not unlike other substances such as marijuana, used to alleviate stress and anxiety, although not physically addictive risk becoming crutches rather than beneficial.
If you’re searching for answers or acceptance, connecting with the “you” within is the true nature of healing. It’s this genuine connection to yourself you’ve been missing that’s left you looking outside yourself for truth and healing. Experiencing the consciousness of your being does not require effort—only stillness—and it far surpasses the fragments of a hallucinogenic trip.
Reconnect to the part of you that is at peace and harmony with Reiki Energy Medicine.
Return within to connect to your heart and soul; invite the life-force energy to flow freely through you. The authentic of your beingness is within. It’s not dependent on any outside intervention. Your willingness to accept your own greatness in the realm of life is all that's needed.