Aftercare and integration are two important aspects in relation to drinking Ayahuasca. This is not only a process taking place after you returned home, but something that already starts during the retreat after the various Ayahuasca ceremonies you participate in.
An Ayahuasca retreat center can be of help in this process by being open and willing to receive your questions about the experiences you had, and by giving you tools, pointers and advice of how to approach your new insights.
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Integration means that you work with the insights, visions, and knowledge you gained from your Ayahuasca experience and incorporate them into your life. This can take months, if not years.
Moreover, after an overwhelmingly different experience in a totally other country, culture, and setting, it’s often not so easy to return to your day-to-day “normal” life. On top of that, it will be hard for your friends, family, and acquaintances to understand what you are going through.
The Ayahuasca experience will often urge you to change certain aspects in/of your life, such as relationships, work (job or career), your living environment, habits, reactions, and/or attitudes, which most likely will be rather hard inner and outer work.
It may also be prudent to get some guidance and support from someone who understands you well and whom you trust, or from a so-called Ayahuasca Integration Coach or Psychedelic Integration Coach, or from another professional therapist, coach, or counselor.
However, there is also some common advice with respect to the way you should approach your integration time. This includes things like following the post-Ayahuasca dietary suggestions (most retreats or Shamans supply those), engaging in a calming, introspective practice such as Yoga or meditation, exercising your body, finding a community that has experience with Ayahuasca, and regularly spending time in nature.
And finally, part of the integration process can also mean that you will again take the Ayahuasca brew, other traditional medicine treatments, or perhaps a specific Master Teacher Plant diet at a later moment in your life to receive more guidance on your life path.
