4.0 Integration of your experiences and how to do it

What is integration?

Integration is a difficult thing to pin down exacty in terms of a definition. It can last days, weeks or years and some say never really ends but instead just happens in phases of learning and then plateau repeating over and over and we stop when we feel we need to or carry on depending on our disposition and ability to continue to do it.

Methodologically, it can involve different tools and ways of doing things depending on the person. In saying that, I would say that it is about bringing the new things you’ve learned from Dieta and your ceremonies into your daily life with an aim to improve your life and emotional well being. 

Persoanlly, my first Ayahuasca experiences were about,

• Grappling with the experiences of immaterial reality (deity and communion) and coming to terms with something that was, from my western perspective, very difficult to conceive of and understand. I had very little understanding of this consciously although when I look back at my early life many experiences of this kind could be identified but at the time these things didn’t register. It took Ayahuasca to open me to the understanding of them.
  • With this very ‘heavy’ kind of insight from Psychedelic ceremonies you can understand why people may need time to deal with this shift in paradigm. I would say those with certain world views may take this more in their stride than others.
  • Later, I learned many things about deity and communion and still have a great connection today that I am developing all the time.
• Making lifestyle changes as necessary to support any realisations or benefits from Ayahuasca you’d like to keep going.
  • I picked up different eating habits, behaviours and practices like meditation or mantra from the Dieta phases. I felt a greater attraction to more natural lifestyle and different life priorities.
• I experienced a lot of what I call ‘Ego Dissolution’ which was very helpful for anxiety and depression and to this day I feel as if this ‘distance’ from these emotions is key to my life satisfaction now.

Given that these things are variable based on the individual you can see that Integration is many things to many people and takes an individualised amount of time and practices.

• I suggest that you keep the Dieta (both in mental and physical) for at least 3 days after your ceremonies and that this would be the beginning of your Integration process. You could even keep it for up to a month afterward as is recommended by some retreats.
  • After this period you could decide what practices of the Dieta youd like to keep, develop or discard.
  • In addition you could look at the things you learned in ceremony and try to develop those aspects further in some appropriate way for your particular case.
• Ayahuasca is a very internal and personal process and you can re-connect with a similar mental/spiritual space by learning a sitting meditation practice or constantly doing mantra or picking up yet further spiritual tools like Astrology, Reiki or whatever you are attracted to. My main point is that you can continue to develop internally and spiritually by continuing these kinds of practices. These practices can last a lifetime and in truth Integration never really ends you just go through cycles of learning then plateuing then learning again then plateuing etc etc.
• Personally I kep the diet for 3-4 weeks after my first Ayahuasca ceremonies, continued to do Yin Yoga and used this as a meditative and physical process for keeping in touch with spirit. I later learned a sitting meditation, Kriya Yoga, Mantra, micro dosing, Claustrum Cycle, Magick etc etc. You can take this as far as you like.
• On the other hand you may have gotten what you need from your Ayahuasca experiences and you don’t feel you want to carry on any of the internal practices. It’s really up to you.
• Integration is a topic you may want to talk about further. Please see below for professional services to help you of my online community if you’d like to reach out there.

Professional psychological help with Integration:

It is possible to speak online or in person with psychologically trained psychedelic therapists who have experience in both. If that is something you’d like then check the MAPS Integration List where you can find various practitioners from around the world to help you.