I drank Ayahuasca for the first time in Peru last year đ
Itâs why I moved here.
Well, one reason anyway.
Iâd already explored plant medicine and psychedelics elsewhere (including Ayahuasca).
I also knew that Ayahuasca came from South America, with various tribes in Brazil, Peru and other countries whoâd worked with it for thousands of years.
So I signed up for an Ayahuasca retreat in April last year… and something happened on that retreat that showed me that life itself is the greatest healer.
The ceremonies themselves were fascinating and challenging in surprising ways (as always đ¤Ł) but I donât want to talk about the ceremonies today.
I want to talk about how Felix (the maestro) closed the ceremony.
At the end of the first ceremony, at around 10pm after heâd sung to everyone in the group, it was time to wrap things up:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now closed. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ, Felix said.
At the end of the second ceremony, he said it again:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now closed. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ
Then at the end of the third ceremony:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now closed. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ
Cool.
Nothing too out of the ordinary there.
Nothing particularly special or illuminating.
Nothing crazy.
Just a nice way to close the ceremony.
Itâs what Felix said at the end of the final ceremony that stuck with me.
It didnât click for me at the time.
Of course, I laughed nervously along with everyone elseâŚ
âŚbut the full impact of what he said didnât hit me until much later.
Hereâs what Felix said after the fourth and last Ayahuasca ceremony on that retreat:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now beginning. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ
Did you catch that?
Itâs almost identical to what he said for the other ceremonies – except for one word.
Here it is again, with the changed word in bold:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now beginning. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ
Like I said, I laughed nervously along with everyone else when he said it.
I thought I got it at the time⌠but I really didnât.
It wasnât until later that it hit me.
I canât remember when that moment was or what was happening at the time.
I just remember finally getting it.
You might be the same.
If youâre reading this, obviously you understand what Iâm saying (or you wouldnât still be here).
What Felix said and what I wrote in the subject line is easy enough to wrap your head around.
However, thatâs just an intellectual understanding.
Itâs different when it lands experientially.
Itâs different when it hits you in the middle of some challenging experience.
The point, as the subject line says, is that life itself is the greatest healer.
I know you want techniques and systems and methods.
Iâm the same.
Thatâs why we hunt around for the best tools:
Meditation
Gratitude lists
Breath work
Journaling
Ice baths
Stoicism
Fasting
Affirmations
Psychedelics (like Ayahuasca)
Nervous system work (like whatâs in Rageheart)
But while tools are great and all, like I said, life itself is the greatest healer đ
What do I mean by that?
Hereâs another way to put it:
Life works for you⌠not against you.
I know itâs cheesy⌠but the more I do this work (with myself and others), the more I realise it to be true.
To be fair, itâs probably the last thing you want to hear when youâre going through something challenging or heartbreaking.
For example, one of my friends recovered memories of sexual abuse from her childhood a few years ago.
With the memories came emotions and sensations that threatened to break her apart.
It was probably the hardest thing sheâs ever been through.
She ended up quitting her job because the pain was so severe.
She couldnât eat properly.
Couldnât sleep.
It was rough as fuck.
And yet, fast forward to now and sheâll tell you that going through that (recovering the memories and feeling all the feels) is one of the best things that ever happened to her.
Before it all came up, she was anxious, depressed, on antidepressants and suicidal.
But now?
Sheâs happier, stronger and healthier than Iâve ever seen her. Where before she was silent and shut down, now she smiles and laughs as she goes about her day. She started a business. She’s doing things she loves… instead of what she thinks she has to do (or what’s safe).
Burn Your Self-Help Books⌠Get Rageheart Instead
The tools and exercises inside Rageheart changed my life in huge ways. I used to have PTSD and panic attacks, and struggled to find my purpose in life. I tried all the typical tools: CBT, journaling, SSRIs, yoga, meditation, vitamins, exercise, diet changes â but these things only scratched the surface.
By using the tools in Rageheart, I was able to release the fight-or-flight energy from my nervous system and finally feel safe, relaxed, and go after what I wanted in life.
Rageheart is honestly a game-changer.
In my opinion it beats all the other tools out there, because it helps you get to the root of what youâre feeling so you can release it. 10/10 most effective program Iâve found in the mental health space by far!
– Emily, Massage Therapist
Life itself is the greatest healer đ
Think about it.
We all have âstuffâ from our past that eats away at us.
We might know exactly what that âstuffâ is⌠or we might believe we donât have any trauma (despite being unhappy, anxious and depressed đ).
Either way, the âstuffâ is there⌠eating away at us, stealing our happiness and joy and purpose from us.
Life has a seemingly magical ability to trigger that âstuffâ.
A throwaway comment from a friend or partner⌠a mistake a work⌠getting cut off in traffic⌠not getting enough likes on that Facebook post⌠looking in the mirror each day…
Whatever our âstuffâ actually is, life excels at stirring it up.
In that sense, there’s no escape from it.
It continually throws situations and experiences our way that press into our âstuffâ, as if to sayâŚ
Are you ready yet? Are you ready to let this go? Are you ready to unleash the BEAST?
Thatâs what I mean when I say that life itself is the greatest healer.
Even without any techniques⌠without meditation and gratitude lists and journaling and therapy and Rageheart, life will still manage to stir your âstuffâ up.
Thatâs why Felix said what he said at the end of the fourth Ayahuasca ceremony:
âOk beautiful people, the ceremony is now beginning. Thank you to Ayahuasca⌠Thank you toâŚâ
Because the Ayahuasca ceremony is really just the beginning (or the continuation) of the healing process.
The real work happens in the trenches of daily living đ¤
Itâs happens when you get triggered and insecure and upset and whatever else⌠but instead of getting caught up in it, instead of running away or attacking, instead of going into people-pleasing mode, you let it go.
I say this as someone who has drunk Ayahuasca 35 times.
That probably sounds like a lot to some people (who live in the Western world) and barely anything to others (whoâve lived in Peru for much longer than me).
Iâve also worked quite a bit with San Pedro (a hallucinogenic cactus), Magic Mushrooms and DMT.
Itâs all great.
Itâs all wonderful.
I plan to continue working with these plants.
AND YET
Most of the work happens in the trenches of daily living.
Ceremonies are great.
They can open things up that wouldnât otherwise open.
But more and more, I find myself looking at them as a sort of a sandbox. A training ground. A place to learn and develop certain skills.
Then you finish the ceremony or retreat or whatever and you go back into your daily life.
Your daily life with all its frustrations and disappointments and challenges.
Thatâs when the real work begins.
Thatâs when you take what you learned in ceremony and apply it to your life.
Thatâs when you start to discover that life itself is the greatest healer and teacher.
This doesnât just apply to psychedelic or plant medicine retreats by the way.
It applies to any kind of retreat or class:
Meditation retreats and classes.
Breath work retreats and classes.
Inflatable butt plug retreats and classes đ
The real work happens in the trenches of daily living… not on retreat or in class.
But hereâs the thing:
If life itself is the greatest healer and teacher, how do you work with it? How do you actually do the work in the trenches of daily living? đ¤
If youâre anything like most people, itâs not enough to simply get triggered and upset and frustrated.
If youâre not careful, youâll either turn that on other people⌠or youâll take it internal and hate yourself.
Thatâs why tools and frameworks are useful.
The trick is learning how to work with triggers and âstuffâ that comes up.
Itâs about learning to recognise when youâve been triggered or âactivatedâ⌠and then knowing how to engage with whatever arises (in a way that allows it to release and dissolve).
Now –
While you CAN do this with meditation and various other tools, the very best tool or approach in my experience is nervous system work.
By understanding the mechanics of survival stress and your fight-or-flight response, you know how to engage with whatever arises.
âOh, look! Iâm feeling more sympathetic today. Time to orientâŚâ
OR
âHmmm. Interesting. What she said really pissed me off⌠but before I respond, Iâm going to bring myself down out of fight-or-flight and into parasympathetic rest-and-digest.â
As Iâve said before, Iâve meditated a bunch and done all kinds of other weird things to âfeel betterâ⌠and nervous system work takes the cake in terms of effectiveness.
Not by a little bit.
By a long shot đŽ
Maybe itâll be the same for you?
With that in mind, remember:
This is your weekly reminder to ârageâ.
If youâre a member of The Rageheart Academy and youâre feeling an impulse to rage, jump in and do another rage today.
If youâre not a member yet, take what you learned in todayâs Weekly Growl and apply it to your life.
The next time you get triggered by something that happens or something someone said, simply pause and ask yourself:
What is life trying to show me in this moment? Instead of reacting to whatâs happening, what would it be like to see this moment as a form of âmedicineâ or âwisdomâ?
And then simply notice how that shift in perspective shifts your experience of whatâs happening.
Alright.
Thatâs enough for today.
As I say to my good friend Nik when I wrap up a messageâŚ
Peace, love, sex, drugs and rock nâ roll đ¤
Cheers,
John Wood