We’ve reached a point where at least one person in our circle of friends and people we know has joined an Ayahuasca retreat. Based on our degree of relationship, we might have witnessed some of the short-term positive effects of Ayahuasca, but what about the long-term ones?
Whether you’re considering joining a retreat or are just curious about “What got into your friends” who already went through it, we’ve counted 17 long-term positive effects of Ayahuasca.
Before we get into it, we would like to point out that long-term effects are rather subtle —things that become part of everyday life and can be sustained over a longer period of time. In contrast, short-term results are more abrupt in appearance and easier to notice at a glance, but with a shorter burn.
The long-term benefits of Ayahuasca
Here we go – in our experience, people joining our retreats confirmed the following long-term effects of Ayahuasca:
1. Deeper connection with nature and every living thing.
We’re starting with the most obvious of Ayahuasca’s long-term positive effects because of its importance. We have never been disconnected, and that’s Ayahuasca’s greatest gift. Cycles, growth, and belonging are the essential ingredients in seeing life as a dance of seasons, an artful, perfect work of continuous transformation we get to be part of. This remembrance is one of Ayahuasca’s long-term effects we adore the most.
2. Understanding willingness.
It’s all about saying yes to life. Psychologist Steven C Hayes defines acceptance and willingness as an answer to the question, “Will you take me in as I am?”.
Ayahuasca can initiate us into the art of accepting things just the way they are and saying yes to possibility without judgment. After this profound experience, one understands willingness to be a way of holding, embracing, honouring, and breathing in the pain and discomfort instead of resisting, ignoring, or believing the story of the pain. There’s a significant softening around how one sees oneself and all its parts, whether pain or joy.
3. Learning how to jump.
One of the most significant jumps one can make is choosing to meet Ayahuasca and following through with that very choice. Saying yes to the great unknown and coming out of it in one piece, shining like a diamond, makes one reconsider risks and open up to new adventures. Those who met Ayahuasca tend to say yes more often than before and be moved by life at greater speed. What’s relevant to notice here is that although people seem to be living various new experiences, their bodies are no longer counting traumas because, in essence, jumps are but leaps into different ways of understanding pain.
4. A crisp, clear understanding of values.
“What do you want your life to be about?” is a crucial question regarding values. It’s essential to ask this question repeatedly, as we might not be the 5-year-old passionate about Ricky Martin’s dancing moves we once were. Through Ayahuasca, people find clarity over their current values and thus have an opportunity to make the changes that suit them best at that very moment.
5. The masters you serve.
Bob Marley said, “You’ve gotta serve somebody,” but without knowing who or what you serve currently, you can feel anxious and restless as if life is something that happens to you. One of Ayahuasca’s most important long-term effects is recognising where your power goes. This brings a sense of empowerment and allows one to choose differently or align deeper with one’s previous choice.
6. No finish line to this race.
Those who have met Ayahuasca seem to have found what we call – one’s personal rhythm. It became clear to them that, like everything in nature, people’s dreams also have a time for seeding, growing, blooming, and descending. Life becomes a journey that offers wonders and teachings at every step of the way.
7. Acceptance and commitment versus control and avoidance.
Some of the least known long-term effects of Ayahuasca relate to these words. While avoidance and control seem alright and give a feel-good in the short term, acceptance followed by commitment is where real growth stands, and that is where we find those who have participated in Ayahuasca ceremonies.
8. Increase in confidence.
Imagine knowing someone as gorgeous and loving as Ayahuasca, who is always holding your hand, always having your back. Many of our retreat participants know this, and that gave them wings. They have pursued long-forgotten dreams and are thriving in embracing their arrival.
9. An expansive state of mindfulness.
For many, walking down the street turned into an exploration of movement. Something as basic and simple as that was once a mere necessity is now an open library. Being present with the body and expanding the mind through simple tools are undeniable long-term benefits of Ayahuasca.
10. Improvement in regards to psychological and/or physical pain.
Many of our participants confirm having better medical records, whether we’re talking about anxiety, PTSD, or rather physical illnesses. This isn’t to say Ayahuasca has miraculously healed them overnight – although there are such cases. Still, we think it is guidance that the medicine offers us all, including self-care and love, among many of our daily activities. And that, right there, heals.
11. A Deep desire to share and contribute to this world.
It is undeniable that one of Ayahuasca’s long-term effects is to give birth within us to a desire to contribute to her world.
If this resonates, know that we have recently covered an entire article on ways to contribute to the Ayahuasca world, where you can learn more.
12. An untouchable sense of compassion, almost magnetic for those around.
We’ve noticed that, to some extent, people who join our retreats can love the world, which in nature is where compassion arrives.
We see that, somehow, with Ayahuasca’s help, they become aware of the size of their hearts, which they carry with them forever. That which others saw all along, they now see it too, and it’s genuinely magnetising to those alike and just about anyone with two eyes to see and a heart to beat.
13. Exponential increase in fulfilment, happiness, and joy.
While some people might change careers or relationships after Ayahuasca’s guidance, others find purpose in their lives just as it is. Either way, their steps seem like leaps because of their rediscovered passion.
14. An integrated belief in something greater than ourselves.
Whether one sought god or denied it, Ayahuasca allowed all people to see that, in truth, those of the past did their best to translate spirit into words. A great deal of atheists find peace in knowing that it’s okay not to fit any and seek your own translation of it.
15. Intuition becomes self-knowing.
Ayahuasca is known for opening our minds to other worlds and dimensions. A magnificent way of living begins – one where we can communicate with ancestors, guides, angels, different incarnations, etc. In the long term, our participants notice a sense of groundedness. They seemed to have reached a more comprehensive understanding of themselves on all levels and could integrate the etheric into their daily lives. For them, intuition turned from etheric into embodiment without the active need to place their questions elsewhere but in themselves.
16. Better overall health.
Ayahuasca connects one with their utmost essence, and clarity falls upon them in the blink of an eye. From there on, life turns into creating a path aligned while staying compassionate.
Choosing to forgive someone, letting go of a loved one who passed, and having a balanced diet are just a few of the long list of healthy living recommendations.
17. A tendency to go back to basics.
Connecting dots differently and seeing the world through new eyes are the long-term benefits of Ayahuasca that we chose to end our list with.
A genuine desire to understand the body and the world appears after meeting Mother Ayahuasca.
Things like the basics of anatomy, chemistry, and physics were sciences we once were trained in – at school. Now, we truly understand their connection as we return to them with a broader opening of mind.
Ready for Ayahuasca? Check out our Ayahuasca diet guide to prepare mindfully for the journey ahead.
We hope our list of long-term positive effects of Ayahuasca raised curiosity in those considering joining Avalon’s Ayahuasca retreats in Europe and comforted those already embarked on this journey.
For both alike, our doors are and will stay open.
