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| Holistic Midwifery and Doula Programs Asheville, NC (828) 242-2188 |
| A Woman's Ayahuasca Journey to the Peruvian Amazon |
| OCTOBER 14-22, 2008 departing from Iquitos, Peru |
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| This is a special opportunity to invoke deep change and powerful revelation in your life. Ayahuasca is truly Plant Spirit Medicine at its highest and best. It allows us to enter realms that are beyond ordinary consciousness and bring back information that can guide our daily lives. Working with this Spirit can enhance your midwifery. A vital component of what midwives do is to enter realms beyond ordinary consciousness with pregnant and birthing women. We witness mothers in that place, and then explore together the changes that birth has brought. Receiving ayahuasca in a sacred and fulfilling manner will familiarize you with non-ordinary states of consciousness. It may allow you to be centered in these realms, to release the need for control and to be able to navigate in the deep spaces that women all over the world experience during birth. For most women, birth is intense and life changing. In my 25 years as a midwife, I have witnessed, over and over again, women wanting soul-changing experiences through birth. These women desire midwives who can facilitate the altered state in birth. Your experience of ayahuasca may translate into a deep peace and trust of yourself and birth, and the altered state. This helps us to grow beyond the overarching need to control, which is driven by fear. My good friend, Christina Braid, and I will be welcoming you on this journey. Christina is a Matrona graduate and midwife working in the undisturbed birth paradigm, and she has facilitated many women on this journey. We will be working in Peru with ayahuascaro, Juan Paimos. He is our guide and journeyman through the Amazon. He will sing to us and keep us centered on our journey, and his companions will take care of our needs. Here is our proposed itinerary: Tuesday, Oct. 14 - Meet in Iquitos. You will fly from the U.S. to Lima, and then on to Iquitos. We will pick you up at the airport; just let us know your flight info. We will spend the night at the compound of our journeyman and ayahuascaro, Juan. You will be provided a meal (depending on your arrival time) and a mosquito net. However, if you have your own net, please bring it. We will bunk together -- four to a room. Wednesday, Oct. 15 - We will shop in Iquitos for food, water and provisions for our trip. We'll visit Belen, the city market...it's wild and raw. We'll hang at the Plaza and experience a bit of Iquitos. We'll spend the night at Juan's compound again. Also, we usually make ayahuasca on this day at Juan's compound. Thursday, Oct. 16 - In the early morning, we will head up the Amazon to our campsite. We will probably go up river and inland: about 3 to 4 hours on our boat and a three hour hike to our camp. Our companions will help with luggage. We'll arrive and create camp... hang hammocks, put up mosquito netting, have a meal, check out the swimming spot. Friday, Oct. 17 - We'll prepare to receive ayahuasca tonight. We'll talk and sing, swim and eat our special diet. Saturday, Oct. 18 - We will receive ayahuasca again tonight. During the days, we may go for a jungle walk, sleep, swim, pray. Communication about our visions is encouraged. Sunday, Oct. 19 - We'll break camp and head back to Iquitos. Rest up at Juan's. Monday, Oct. 20 - We will receive ayahuasca again at Juan's compound. We may circle with local participants who join Juan's regular ayahuasca sessions. Tuesday, Oct. 21 - A day of rest and blessing. We will have the opportunity to circle together and share our visions. We'll end with a Give-Away. Wednesday, Oct. 22 - Time to go home. We'll get you to the airport for your flight home. At Juan's compound we are fed by his family. We can always decide to go out for a meal...check out Iquitos again, etc. This is the proposed itinerary. Things may change somewhat because of weather, and because it's South America. We will do everything possible to provide the experience we have unfolded here. If you decide to be with us, get in touch and we'll get right back to you about what to bring, and logistics about the Amazon. One thing for certain, it will rock... and certainly change your life. It may be one of the most momentous experiences you ever participate in. We look forward to having you with us. |
| If you are unfamiliar with ayahuasca, or would like more information, you may enjoy this article from the National Geographic. The title and info line are unfortunately very fear-based ("sensationalism sells"), although the article is a good one about a reporter's experience of her ayahuasca journeys -- and the resultant disappearance of her long-term depression. National Geographic on Ayahuasca |