AMAKAYA
PREPARING FOR YOUR RETREAT
Pre-Retreat Diet & Intention Setting
Medical Conditions & Medication
Part 1: Create A Pre-Retreat Diet – And Stick To It
For ayahuasca, we want our body and mind to be as clean and clear as possible by the time we hold the cup of medicine in our hands. Clean and clear are subjective terms, but there are some tried and true principles that work well for everyone.
Certain common food items, such as caffeine, sugar, certain oils, red meat, pork, and dairy, don’t mix well with the ayahuasca process. Detoxing our systems ahead of time from alcohol, cannabis and other forms of medication can lead to a much deeper connection and deeper results. Abstaining from sex and masturbation before a retreat gives us space to reset powerful mechanisms that relate to love and sexuality within ourselves. Limiting digital media intake and increasing daily meditation before a retreat begins the process of looking inward rather than outward and quiets down our mental landscape.
So, we focus primarily on these things and make a week-by-week schedule leading up to the retreat, progressively cutting things out, detoxing, and resetting – a pre-retreat diet. To highlight the fact that this isn’t about right or wrong, or a one-size fits all equation, the following page shows two different examples of pre-retreat diets – the Basic and the Intensive. Choose one or find something in between – just beware the slippery slope of not sticking to your plan or picking and choosing the parts you find most palatable (yes, coffee and sugar are important to remove from our systems!).
Not following your pre-retreat diet poses no risk to your physical safety – only a potential risk of limiting what you can experience and gain at the retreat. Remember to separately consider contraindicated medication which can pose severe safety risks.
Ask us if you have any questions or want guidance in creating your diet plan.
Part 2: Self-Analysis and Intention Setting Exercise
Let’s take the time to do a quick self-analysis.
Print these pages or recreate them in a pad. It is best if you actually have a physical copy of this to bring with you to the retreat, but no one will ever ask you to see it. It is for your own records – to see how things shift and evolve over time – and to be used as a compass for setting your intentions.
Below, there are five questions, each followed by a set of words. Circle each word that you feel answers the question. Some of the words overlap or may seem redundant, but it’s not a test or a riddle – just circle the words that simply and honestly answer each question for you. There are blank spaces to write in anything that is not already listed here.
Question 1: With which of the following do you have a relationship that you would like to change in some way?
Question 2: With which of the following do you have a relationship that you would like to change in some way?
Question 3: With which of the following do you have a relationship that you would like to change in some way?
Question 4: Which of the following do you feel on a regular basis?
Question 5: Which of the following do you feel on a regular basis?
After you have answered all five questions, review what you have circled. These are your areas of special focus. Do two things with these focus points in the weeks leading up to your retreat:
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Beginning around one month before your retreat (or earlier), make sure that you acknowledge in a direct way anything you circled as it comes up in your life.
- For example, if you circled tobacco on the first list, practice acknowledging every time you ingest or desire tobacco – “I am smoking even though I want my relationship with tobacco to change” or “I have been craving tobacco all day”. No guilt, no shame, no forcing yourself to quit – just acknowledgement.
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- As another example, if you circled angry or calm, practice acknowledging these things every time you feel them – “I feel super f***ing angry right now”, or “I have felt angry all morning”, or “I have been very calm today”.
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Also beginning around one month before your retreat, practice reduced intake of anything you circled on the first two lists. Then, beginning around two weeks before your retreat, practice zero intake for these things (obviously not all food, but maybe certain types of food or during certain times of day). Observe what happens for you.
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- Does abstinence feel good? Terrible? Does it feel slightly difficult or almost impossible? Does it make you frustrated or inspire you to keep going?
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- No guilt, no shame, no right or wrong – the point is to be honest with ourselves in a new way about what we are choosing, what we are feeling, and how these things overlap.
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There is nothing else to it. Just by participating in the above exercises in the weeks leading up to your retreat, you will be learning about yourself and setting your intentions in a way that will open doors for you once you arrive in Peru.
We have had people tell us they felt as though their lives had changed even before drinking ayahuasca, simply by taking the pre-retreat diet and self-analysis seriously. Cutting out alcohol for two weeks to a month? Acknowledging every time we go on social media or look in the mirror? These are powerful actions to commit to – and can be a catalyst for radical change in your life – all before ayahuasca starts to work its magic.
Come up with a plan. Do the work required to stick to it. Feel what goes on inside of you during this process.
