He warns against unrealistic expectations and charlatans who claim to perform miracle cures. “Someone is missing an arm and thinks the shaman will give them an arm, or they’re blind and think the shaman can restore their sight,” he says. Although the question of whether outsiders are appropriating and changing a traditional practice for…
“If done with the appropriate support and preparation in place, it’s incredibly safe,” she says, pointing out there’s also a risk in taking antibiotics. “It’s a matter of taking appropriate precautions.” Ayahuasca, he says, “doesn’t solve the problem. It gives you hints on how to solve your own problems. “In Brazil, they’re [researching] the tea,…
Working with ayahuasca seems to enhance both self-awareness and the ability to detach from maladaptive thoughts and emotions in the day-to-day, potentially creating more space to respond to stressful situations or life events in healthier ways. So far, mechanisms of action have been identified in the domains of neuroscience, psychology, spirituality, and physical health, and…
The relationship that social groups establish with nature is based upon representation and idea systems, mainly religious and philosophical. However, the urban and industrial society path, based on gains, has been leading to serious environmental problems, among them, the Amazon deforestation. …the formation of religious territories of organizations that make use of the tea Ayahuasca…
Their research is timely. Thousands of people from around the world travel to the Amazon every year to drink ayahuasca for mental health conditions including alcoholism, depression, anxiety, PTSD, eating disorders, and drug addiction. Standish, a professor at the Bastyr University Research Institute in Seattle, is one of several scientists hoping more governments around the…
The study by José Carlos Bouso and others examined the brains of 22 long-term users of Ayahuasca. When their brains were measured for thickness in the posterior cingulate cortex it was found that they had reduced levels of brain activity in that region. This isn’t as bad as it sounds; this part of the brain…
Combat-related PTSD is notoriously difficult to treat and in theory ayahuasca can work as a form of drug-assisted exposure therapy. When traumatised people repeatedly avoid fear-inducing situations this only serves to maintain and reinforce the deeply ingrained conditioning that underlies their illness. The idea is that by dredging up traumatic memories and exposing them to…
Among volunteers who take ayahuasca for studies, scientists have documented a rise in certain key traits that mirror those of experienced meditators. These changes include increases in openness, optimism, and a particularly powerful ability known as decentering. At the end of a dark earthen trail in the Peruvian Amazon stands a round structure with a…
Three years later, Ric Godfrey says he hasn’t had a single symptom of the shakes or night terror since he came back from the jungle. He’s relaxed and holding down a great job. “I’ve always been afraid that someone was out to get me, but I don’t have that fear anymore,” he says. “I still…
J. Hamilton Hudson, a lawyer based in the US, and ayahuasca advocate which is dedicated to protecting those who use the drug for religious reasons, and counsels those who are concerned about crackdowns. Ayahuasca can be used positively when it is used as a sacrament. That is, used for divine communion within the context of…
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