Is it possible to be free of addiction?
TREATING ADDICTIONS FROM THEIR ROOTS
…WITH AYAHUASCA & PSYCHOTHERAPY
A highly specialised approach, for the first time in Spain (a group of former addicts who were able to overcome their addictions through ayahuasca and psychotherapy were inspired to create this approach especially focused on the issues surrounding addiction)
“5 days and 4 nights which offer you the opportunity to change your life”
The majority of people with addiction don’t know the true reason why they continue to be hooked on a substance, while heir hearts ferociously beat a yearning for freedom.
“Everything that surrounds us and that accompanies us in life is what seems to have created our addictions; everything that happens to us seems to happen due to our addictions. Because everything we think and feel is the amalgamation between the exterior and interior, by deepening our thoughts and feelings, we can distinguish what comes from the outside and what comes from within. When an addict is able to see the outer and the inner world from an objective point of view, without identifying oneself or taking sides, without judging or rejecting anything one sees, at that point one begins to understand the source of their addiction, and the mystery behind this discovery is so immense that it has the power to initiate a process of great transformation in one’s life, going far beyond any addiction”
Alberto Varela (Founder of Ayahuasca International and the Conscious School, which trains facilitators in charge of inner evolution retreats)
International Retreat Focused on the Healing of and Freedom from Addictions, with the psychotherapeutic use of Ayahuasca and other Amazonian plants, for inner evolution
OFFERED BY FACILITATORS WHO HAVE OVERCOME THEIR ADDICTION WITH THE SAME METHOD THEY PROPOSE, WHO HAVE BEEN ADVISED AND TRAINED BY SHAMANS IN THE COLOMBIAN JUNGLE and who offer professional assistance and psychotherapeutic support.
Language: Spanish, with English, French and Italian translations.
To find out more call Hugo (+49 (0) 171 987 6655) or write to [email protected].
THE FOCUS ON ADDICTION AND ON THE ADDICT
Addiction is generally seen as a problem or an illness and it obviously generates great suffering for those who endure it and for the people close to them, but it is also clear that it can be a form of underground spiritual search. When the addict realizes that there is something much more profound behind one’s actions, one begins to perceive that one’s addiction may lead towards a meaning in life. These people find themselves in a trap and surrender their power to a substance; however, through the substance they are actually looking for an inner expansion that compares to the feeling of connecting to a higher power. However, as this cannot be grasped, they blame, trap and destroy themselves. The secret to kick-start a process of healing and liberation begins with a change of perception on behalf of the addict regarding one’s own identity in relation to life, the world and other people. Then, little by little, things begin to change naturally.
All substances, which may be more or less addictive, are a substitute for a painful emotion configured in an idiosyncratic way. Without realising it, the consumers condemn themselves to compulsively repeat the act of ingesting it, in order to construct a sense of stability, an apparent peace or artificial ecstasy. The truth is that these substances are actually destroying their users every day a little more, and they will never bring what the users felt the first times they ingested them.
We affirm that by talking about “the consumers” or “the addicts” we are talking about people who have gone through emotional deprivation, who have unresolved traumas, but also about seekers of transcendental or divine experiences that cannot be lived in our every day reality. We encounter a path of self-healing and self-initiation, which is however experienced as self-torture. Many begin during their adolescence and take years before realising what is happening. It is a brave but aimless search, a misdirected energy, although it is essentially based on a craving to find meaning. Consequently, addictions are guided by a transcendental inner thirst to find something which will change the addicts’ ordinary perception of reality.
Although this road is completely legitimate, it becomes dysfunctional and infernal, and over the years the relationship between the person and the substance becomes increasingly unhealthy, plunging the person into absolute dependency, which can lead the addict to live in a parallel reality created by themselves, which increasingly serves to disassociate from their true self, from the people they love and from their hope for freedom.
CRUCIAL CONFRONTATION
We are aware that humanity is addicted to thousands of things and that there are various degrees of consciousness regarding our own addictions. On the other hand some addictions are much more visible and negative for life, health and wellbeing. In these cases many people realise that they need help to come off them. When you come to meet us we suggest that you CONNECT with the possibility to SEE from an objective and clear consciousness the whole spectrum of your situation and what intention preceded the situation. This is a great starting point for any deeply focused treatment.
TRUTHFULNESS AND COURAGE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE SITUATION:
No matter what your addictions are, the most important thing is that you stop lying and start acknowledging the addictions you have, as they are many, intertwined with one another, and they sustain and strengthen each other. An addiction to a substance may be associated with an addiction to a particular mood or emotional state; this in turn may be associated with a specific idea you have about yourself, life or your parents. This is just one simple example of the many cases of concatenation of addictions. Being able to identify and recognize this sheds a new light on the situation and allows to unveil the root of the problem.
What am I addicted to?
HONESTY AND BRAVERY TO EXPRESS A CLEAR INTENTION:
Whichever question you ask and whatever may be the answer, the important thing is that you connect with the truth, and with honesty to tell yourself the truth. No matter what your authentic intention is in relation to addictions, the ability to face yourself frankly and without judgement is the beginning of the healing process.
Do I want to solve and heal my addictions by taking responsibility for the problem I have?
Do I want others to remove my addiction?
Do I want to control and handle my addiction in order to reduce the damage it causes?
Do I want to make others believe that I am seeking a solution? Do I want to show people close to me and my family that I’m trying to change or that I’m trying to do everything possible?
Do I want a confirmation that nothing can help me and that what happens to me has no solution?
What contingent benefits does the addiction bring?
Do I want to change my life or do I prefer to continue this way?
A NATURAL AND PROFESSIONAL PROJECT
Ayahuasca International designed this retreat following a natural flow; as a consequence to the huge and growing need for many people to overcome their addictions. This retreat provides an opportunity to find, understand and heal the root-causes that keep the addiction alive. The retreat offers:
- A) A deep body cleanse using wild plants. This releases toxins from the organism and prepares the individual to face the real solutions.
- B) A psychotherapeutic space of no-judgment. A context where people can sincerely open up and express from their heart what is happening to them, while openly manifesting and acknowledging their attitude towards addiction.
- C) “Toma” sessions with Ayahuasca, a powerful natural tool for self-knowledge and self-healing. It is a remedy from the Amazon that has therapeutic and liberating properties, and which keeps surprising the world with its impressive effects.
This consolidates a unique and efficient approach to begin the process of liberation from substance slavery and for overcoming the self-destruction that an addicted person lives in.
CENTRAL PROCESS OF TREATMENT: THE AYAHUASCA SESSION
Ayahuasca is an ancestral concoction consisting of two plants used by shamans from the Amazon to expand their consciousness and get transcendental answers about the mysteries of existence. The expanded state of consciousness induced by ayahuasca allows people to reach a deep comprehension of their life predicament and to heal it. The vomiting and the diarrhoea caused by drinking the tea contribute to the deep body cleanse and serve to uproot the energies associated with physical toxins.
“Substances disconnect you from reality. Ayahuasca however is totally different as it takes you to face your deepest reality in order for you to see and comprehend the irrational impulse of chronic repetition that your life has turned into. Thus you can discover that you can heal yourself through the expanded state of consciousness produced by this plant”
Sergio Sanz (Retreat facilitator, psychologist and former addict)
The ayahuasca we use come from Putumayo (the Colombian Amazon). It is prepared by shamans whom we have known for many years and who respect the ancestral master formula.
FACILITATORS
The retreat process is directed and accompanied by experienced facilitators and psychotherapists. They have been trained by shamans in the jungle and have refined their knowledge at the European School of Ayahuasca in Madrid.
Three ex-addicts will be present to support the participants’ healing processes, and to offer their valuable perspective that they conquered through overcoming their addictions. They came off addictions triumphantly and rapidly by going through the psychotherapeutic work with ayahuasca, reconnecting with consciousness, self-empowerment and inner mastery. They, like you, have gone through the dark hell and condemnation of living with addiction, but they transitioned from those obscure and complex states of unconsciousness and self-deception that many of you are currently experiencing. They offer their support so that you may also be able to take breaths of pure air from a reformed life.
TARGET AUDIENCE AND THE TYPE OF PARTICIPANT
This retreat is designed for anyone who is stuck in the addiction of any substance, or trapped in self-destructive or addictive behaviours.
POST RETREAT SUPPORT AND EXTENDED TREATMENT IN THE JUNGLE
This retreat is only the starting point of a three months healing process. Weekly phone-call support will complement the process, as well as an implementation of treatment with mini-doses of ayahuasca. Diluted ayahuasca water will be administered before the “toma” sessions as a preparation and after the sessions in order to strengthen the body’s cellular memory. As a follow-up to the process there is the opportunity to go to the jungle for 11 days in our rehabilitation center.
Out hotel in the Amazon jungle hosts people for short, medium and long term periods to overcome addictions in a natural and wild setting, while still experiencing the necessary comforts to undergo treatment. We also have a team of psychologists and shamans who will work together to accompany each person through the steps of their liberation process.
TESTIMONIALS
Many people have overcome addictions with this approach, this is one of them: (soon available in English)
TREATING ADDICTIONS FROM THEIR ROOTS … WITH AYAHUASCA & PSYCHOTHERAPY:
What does the retreat INCLUDE? An individual interview to evaluate the participant’s situation. Shared-room accommodation, serviced with bed sheets, towels and shared toilets. Treatment with Amazonian plants. Group therapy sessions. “Toma” sessions with Ayahuasca. Professional and experienced support throughout the whole process. Tailored advice at the end of the retreat.
RETREAT PROGRAM:
DAY 1:
Do you want to liberate yourself?
9:00 PHYSICAL TOXINS PURGE
The retreat starts at 9am, therefore we suggest that you arrive the night before and spend the night at the house. Activities will begin with a detoxification treatment (there will be three in total during the retreat). This will be done using plants from the Colombian Amazon, following the guidance and instructions from shamans.
These are some of the plants utilized to detox and predispose the organism for healing – Tobacco: Detoxifies the body | Chichaja: Ideal aid for confronting oneself and starting a new life | Cabalonga: General cleansing of the digestive system | Cebolleta (chive): Refresh and revitalize the body.
17:30 INITIATION: THE PARTICIPANT’S TRUE REALITY
We are aware that people who come to our retreats do so for different reasons and with very different personal deeper intentions. It is important for participants to become conscious of the inner place they are coming from and the true nature of their motive, in order to outset the healing process.
19:30 OPENING TO A NEW VISION OF ADDICTION
Addiction as an inner search for something deeper, for an existential answer. Freedom from the addict’s stigma. The beginning of liberation and self-empowerment. “What am I really looking for through my addiction?”
22:30 FIRST CONTACT “TOMA” SESSION WITH AYAHUASCA
Psycho-emotional preparation and first “toma” session with ayahuasca.
DAY 2:
Are you open to deprogramming yourself?
9:30 -13:30 UNDERSTANDING THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EACH PERSON’S UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE SPECIAL CONFIGURATION OF THEIR ADDICTION
The importance of a person’s history and life circumstances. Everyone will draw conclusions about themselves based on what they experienced particularly during their childhood. We have identified a number of primal traumas, which can occur before people establish their own perception of themselves. These are humiliation, betrayal, rejection, judgment, neglect/abandonment, abuse and judgment. Often, what actually happened is not as significant as what the person perceived, felt and experienced because this is what generates the roots of their approach to life. Conclusions about themselves will be based on these traumas; they will unconsciously identify themselves with the wounded feeling. The healing process runs through a dis-identification from false identity in order to allow for one’s true nature to emerge. “Deprogramming” is intended as liberation from conditionings that society installs on people, and parents play a central role in this.
16:30 PURGE
19:30-21:30 INDIVIDUAL SEARCH OF THE PERSONAL ORIGIN OF ADDICTION AND HEALING THE PAST FROM THE PRESENT MOMENT
Transformation is only possible now, never in the future. It is in the present that we find the power to change. The duration of the healing process is always relative and it depends entirely on the person and their internal predisposition towards change, their openness towards profound transformation.
22:30 NIGHT “TOMA” SESSION WITH AYAHUASCA
DAY 3:
Am I willing to empower myself and take charge of my life?
9:30 -13:30 DEEPENING INTO THE ORIGIN OF ADDICTION
In some way, addiction is a mechanism for defence or disconnection from a deep pain rooted in childhood. It corresponds with the creation of a mask which occurred as a consequence of not having been accepted for one’s true original self.
16:30 PURGE
19:30-21:30 INTEGRATION OF THE UNDERSTANDING AND SELF-EMPOWERMENT
After understanding comes the moment to decide what has to be done in order to execute the change; what to do in order to implement in our daily life the decisions that arise from the understanding. Without this, understanding becomes a fading cloud, an inflated state that deflates the next day, rather than a real expansion and inner conquest.
22:30-23:30 TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR CREATING ONE’S OWN SUFFERING/SITUATION
Becoming aware that each one of us is the creator and the only one absolutely responsible for our own life is the decisive step for true empowerment.
00:30 NIGHT “TOMA” SESSION WITH AYAHUASCA
DAY 4:
Do I really want to change?
9:30-11:30 DEEPENING INTO THE PERPERTUATION OF ADDICTIVE BEHAVIOR
Addiction is a life choice.
12:00-14:00 TEMAZCAL
The sweat lodge. Hot stones are heated in fire and placed inside a space that recalls the mother’s womb. This induces purification and an expanded state of consciousness which prepares for the “toma” and serves to deepen and strength the process.
17:30 -18:30 UTILITY AND CONTINGENT BENEFITS OF ADDICTION
The perpetuation of addictive behaviour implicates some side benefit, maybe even a long list of them, which keep the person in a state of illusory comfort, in the realm of what is known, for fear of the unknown. Reporting these benefits is an important task for the person who wants to overcome their addiction. Becoming aware of the benefits allows to get rid of them. This can at first feel difficult and can even generate shame, but it is one of the key steps of the process.
18:30- 19:30 CONSEQUENCES OF COMING OFF ADDICTION
Once the person lets go of everything they have been enduring as a form of mad routine, they throw themselves into the unknown. This can be perceived as a state of deep confusion, which comes from letting go of everything that was believed to be true. It can initially generate anguish and disorientation, but it is actually the prelude to a new day; the darkest hour is always before dawn.
20:00-22:00 THE IMPULSE TOWARDS DEATH AND SELF-DESTRUCTION
Keynote address from the founder and director of Ayahuasca International about the instinct to die. It is a natural divergence from the instinct to live that is present in all human beings. When it becomes neurotic it can lead to a fatal or prolonged suicide. Addiction as a homeopathic form of suicide.
23:30 NIGHT “TOMA” SESSION WITH AYAHUASCA
DAY 5:
How do I create and move to a new life model?
9:30 -11:30 CONSOLIDATION OF CHANGE, ADOPTION OF A NEW PERCEPTION AND MEETING THE SELF
Re-discovery of the original essence and innocence that convey the connection to the real task of the person’s soul, what you have come to deliver in this life, your deepest treasure which holds the fragrance of your deepest inner being, which reaches its peak when it blooms.
11:30-13:30 REMOVING TRACES OF GUILT, FEAR AND STIGMA OF THE ADDICT
Guilt and fear are the two pillars that all conditionings stand on. These are two deeply held illusions in every person and which everyone re-arranges in their own way, based on a misperception of reality. In the case of addiction it often leads to a social stigma condemning the person to the conditions of a terminally ill.
13:30- 14:30 TOWARDS A NEW DAWN, AN OASIS OF INNER PEACE AND FREEDOM
The person commits to a new purpose in life.
BOOKING AND PREPARATION:
It is advisable to book in advance as places go quickly. Furthermore all those who book before November 27 will receive a dilution of homeopathised ayahuasca as a gift, useful to prepare the body before the experience and to continue their process once the retreat ends.
After the retreat the facilitators will be available for psychotherapeutic support, for those who feel they need it, via telephone or by e-mail. The concrete process of transformation begins after the retreat and it is a crucial stage to consolidate the changes.
If you would like more information feel free to contact Hugo (Inner Mastery UK Representative), by calling or texting +49 (0) 171 987 6655 or writing to [email protected].
THERE IS AN OPEN DOOR TO ESCAPE FROM ANY ADDICTION… THE DOOR IS THE LIGHT WITHIN EVERY HUMAN BEING.
