Psychedelic Preparation

Why it Leads You to Healing Rather than Desperation

Before I begin the story and flow into the importance of preparation before psychedelic experiences, I want to share that not all transformative events have a planned preparatory phase, and that’s okay. This article aims to inform you of how you’re most likely already preparing and prepared.  The difference between a person who appears prepared and someone who isn’t is realizing that everything in your life is leading up to the next moment in your future.

Therefore, my story is an encouragement to take time in your life and validate where you are, what you’ve been through, and what has prepared you for the next stage in your life.

As always, you’re the master of yourself, and the psychedelic journey is akin to all significant journeys in our lives.

I love hearing, “You’re the main character, have that main character energy.”

It’s true: the stories you tell yourself, the adventures you take, the risks you take. It’s all you.

When I first heard about Ayahuasca in 2008, I went to a library associated with a school that provides a master’s in acupuncture and Herbalism. I knew they would have some books on how that adventure could proceed in my life.

I wish I had written down the book I read, but I was still navigating life with drinking and not drinking. There are many things I wish I had done back then, but that’s neither here nor there.

This woman’s book about her journey and being in the jungle without talking to anyone, guided by the shaman, and spending weeks in the jungle questing through plant dietas and Ayahuasca rang true. I knew I wanted to experience my first journey that way.

At that moment, Ayahuasca began working with me. I didn’t know that I was in a preparatory phase. Looking back now, I understand life is always preparing me.

All the times, I went to parties and became the person who was a “trip buddy,” making sure my friends returned from their epic journeys or holding down the energetics of a place that was fun, expressive, and free to allow others to expand.

The many times I guided people through Psyilocibin journeys without knowing about “ceremony,” the countless times I meditated with my Grandmother in a quiet, empty church in DC, bringing people through suicidal events, and being a peer counselor for all of high school. All of it was preparing me.

In 2008, I began to experience a significant shift in my life around the time I discovered Ayahuasca. I was practicing tantra meditation, returned to my yoga practice, learning how to hula hoop, and was fired from my job – housing market crash and all that good stuff.

Looking back, I realized all the shifts were guiding me toward the path of Herbalism and psychedelics and preparing for the journey of guiding others through their processes.

Due to my dedication to doing Ayahuasca in the jungle for the first time, I missed out on many journeys offered to me in the United States, and yet, Wachuma, Hapé, Cacao, and Clinical Herbalism appeared on my doorstep, ready for me to devour.

In 2013, in my first plant meditation in my first-ever class with my first herbalist teacher, Ashley Litecky, I went into a life-changing plant meditation that I still do to this day.

I came out of the underground and climbed over a large vine, and then I saw the flower of Ayahuasca everywhere. The Banisteriopsis cappi vine, aka, the vine of the soul or vine of death, produces rare to see pink flowers. At this time, during the meditation, I had no clue about this fact. I saw 100’s in the dappled sun coming down from the canopy above.

She began speaking to me, telling me she had been with me for lifetimes. I felt tears streaming down my eyes. She continued, ‘You don’t need to drink me this lifetime, but I’m here for you when you do. Look at your life since you heard about me in 2008. I’ve been there at every turn, inspiring you to live your ideal life. Stay with me; I love you. I have you. Your consciousness is woven into the tapestry of Earth – just as all of your brothers and sisters are in human form.”

After this experience, I began to let go of the need for Ayahuasca and lived the life beckoning me. I was finally in a clinical herbalism school, teaching yoga, performing across the country fire, creating sacred spaces at festivals, and holding down a full-time accounting job, seemingly killing my soul, but I was still thriving.

Living this life continued to prepare me for the moment I was in the jungle in 2015 to make medicine for my community. I’ve shared how my first time went here.

Now, here is the important part: after a decade of yoga, meditation, and countless battles with alcohol, depression, and suicidal ideations, my growth became EXPONENTIAL when I began deepening my relationship with herbs every single day.

The clinical herbalism path was more than my desired profession; it was healing me. 2013 and beyond became timeline shifts that led me to where I am today and prepared me for the subsequent phases of my life.

In 2014, after more synchronistic events, I joined the yoga training that changed my whole life. I studied with Dharma Mittra for my 500 hours (in 2017, I completed my 800 hours under his tutelage). The vital aspect of this training was what was required of us as we were in this program.

The self-study was beyond anything I’ve experienced in a program before. The food we were allowed to eat was the Ayahuasca diet. I had no sugar, salt, spices, meat, dairy, onions, and garlic for over 6 months. This program included daily practice of yoga, meditation, pranayama, reading, and diet.

I quickly became disciplined, and the most important thing was that I was in my second year of clinical herbalism, and I was profoundly studying a new plant every week or month. This combination led to me quitting my job and preparing to head into the jungle for the dream journey I wanted back in 2008.

Seven years later, I was finally in the maloca in Peru, ready to go into my plant diet for ten days, alone in my jungle hut, not speaking to anyone else except the shaman, and even receiving one of my ceremonies where I sat alone in the jungle evening with ayahuasca.

I share this story not to make you feel like you need to do anything drastic.

I share it for these main reasons:

• Preparation is essential, and if you pay attention to where you are now, you can make mindset shifts that have you realize you’re in preparatory mode
• Preparation is not perfect; it’s a winding path that illuminates your soul as to what is essential for you to
• It’s time to question your intentions.
• Preparation gives you time to create tools for managing ceremony, life, and integration.
• Preparation is a time to find your tribe that will support you throughout the journey.
• Preparation is a time to work with herbs and your life to prepare you for a journey.
• Preparation provides you with a blueprint for navigating other major changes in your life that will inevitably appear.
• Preparation leads you to healing rather than desperation
• Preparation removes crippling fear and moves you into wise observation and excitement for the changes you desire.

Now, there are countless ways to navigate your preparation; for me, it includes herbs and many other modalities that I’ve discussed in this class, Psychedelic Preparation – where I go into depth in a 2-hour class about the ins and outs of preparation.

My life’s work is connected to assisting those in preparation and integration. If that calls to you, please book a free call with me to learn how to proceed.

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