Ayahuasca: My Experience, Journey, & Spiritual Awakening

ayahuasca experience

Last weekend, I had my third ayahuasca session, and it is about time that I write about my experience. This article won’t be “everything you need to know about ayahuasca,” but rather mostly my experience.

Ayahuasca offers a very strong psychedelic experience, which can make you believe that: 

  • You don’t even exist, 
  • You are a part of the universe, 
  • Your ego just doesn’t exist, as you no longer are able to identify with your identity and name
  • This reality and physical world don’t exist, as perhaps you are able to see much further into what world could be.

On a side note, this is why so many people are afraid of ayahuasca. Yes, the ayahuasca experience can be rather strong, and it should be supervised by a professional shaman who knows what to do when you are having certain difficulty, a bad trip, and just to watch over you when you’re doing ayahuasca because it can be dangerous, as people have died when they were not supervised correctly.

However, bad trips rarely happen, and with an experienced shaman, you are in safe hands to go through your experience. Furthermore, some people do complain that their ayahuasca tastes horrible and there is often vomiting, but those who actually did this practice know these complaints to be negligible compared to the benefits you are getting.

Ayahuasca is actually very healthy and provides numerous benefits. Virtually every single person who ever took it reported significant tangible improvements in their lives. These benefits are often not easy to quantify because every experience is so different from each other, but overall there is a common theme that people come out as better human beings after every session, making a commitment to do it again in the future, with many people doing ayahuasca multiple times throughout their lives.

Sacred Medicine

Indeed, many people attribute ayahuasca to a certain mystical practice because they say that this drink has healed their lives in great and often unexpected ways, almost as if it has the mind of its own, guided by some mystical higher power. Moreover, people often speak about meeting God, spirits, or a certain mystical energy, reinforcing the presence of some divine power.

However, you don’t really need to believe in God or mysticism to take ayahuasca. You can explain everything with logic and science, such as psychedelic drugs opening our subconscious mind to dimensions that it already has but often can’t access because of all the filters, cultural norms, and other ways our minds become conditioned and polluted living in the modern world.

It’s like drinking alcohol to overcome your social anxiety because we have created or internalized too many rules about what we can and can’t do, which on one hand should benefit us, but oppositely often create lasting psychological disorders that are so predominant in our world today.

So ayahuasca disconnects ourselves from all those filters and reveals your mind in its purest form. Furthermore, it is my personal experience that the mind becomes way faster in terms of processing information, but also more creative in terms of being able to connect different dots. So when we take ayahuasca, we are able to think through certain issues that we are dealing with in a more efficient way because of our new capacity to process more and faster information at a higher level. Hence, this explains the healing nature of ayahuasca.

So you can believe in the mystical power of ayahuasca or you can say it is a natural part of our subconscious mind. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the benefits you get from taking ayahuasca. And these benefits are tangible to the degree that every single person who ever took ayahuasca came out and said that they are better off and they are better people because of it. Now that’s a great claim, and I can confirm it three times.

On a side note, it really depends on how you count how many times you took ayahuasca, as I attended 3 times 2-day retreats, where we were given ayahuasca on both days and 2 shots of ayahuasca per session. So, overall, I took ayahuasca between 3 and 12 times, depending on how you choose to count it. For simplicity, I just say 3, as that is the number of retreats I attended.

So what is ayahuasca? Let’s dive deeper into my experience.

My Ayahuasca Experience

During the first time I took ayahuasca, I met God. I was the God, and God was looking at me as if I was looking in the mirror. God was friendly and generous, answered all my questions that I had about life, my problems, and the universe, and upon the request, showed me the universe at its most beautiful parts. I cried because I just couldn’t take in that beauty, love, and happiness of it. 

It was one of the happiest moments of my whole life. I’m talking about melting into my bed happiness because it was just so beautiful, amazing, and blissful. This experience seemed to last forever, and often, I lost every notion of time, believing that I could manipulate the universe to be in any shape or form I wished it to be. Personally, I chose to see only the most beautiful things about life and the universe, and ayahuasca obliged.

Other people have also reported to have certain conversations or interactions with the higher power, whether it’s God, the universe, or energy. They resolved conflicts with their relatives, worked through trauma, spoke to their ancestors, had out-of-body experiences, and described it all as a very beautiful experience. Words like bliss, joy, and ecstasy are often used when talking about these experiences.

Sure enough, many people say that they have dealt with some sort of issue after an ayahuasca experience. Often, their expectations and intentions were guiding their experience. However, at the same time, it is often said that ayahuasca itself knows what is good for you and sometimes it makes changes in your personal life that you need, even if you aren’t aware of them, once again almost as if it has a mind of its own, somehow always changing our lives for the better (never worse).

Many people actually become more spiritual because they realize that there is more to the universe than meets the eye, and they become more spiritual and “healed” in the process. I myself also started to question the nature of the universe more because I realized that it can’t just be what we see in front of our eyes. Ayahuasca shows how beautiful, powerful, and ever-changing our world can be, and how many more dimensions to life there are.

There could potentially be dimensions to the universe that we often don’t realize and can’t perceive because we are so programmed to see within our four walls, the 3D world, while in reality, scientists say that there are up to 11 different dimensions in the universe. This argument alone explains the existence of God in a way that God just exists in a higher dimension that we cannot perceive, seeing the world in more angles that we cannot understand.

Furthermore, the world is so complex beyond our understanding, given the infinite size of the universe even down to the smallest detail such as quantum physics, knowing that modern science and technology, although advanced, have barely scratched the surface of it all. So again the question of whether God exists or not is really relevant. What’s relevant, in my opinion, is what benefits we can get from taking ayahuasca and whether it is good for us or not.

I know many people who have been dealing with very complex issues like addiction, psychological disorders, and overall suffering and pain for years. After taking ayahuasca, they report saying that they no longer need to do these negative actions. 

One explanation for this miraculous change is the fact that repetition reinforces an action by creating stronger pathways in our brains, while ayahuasca is able to break those negative pathways, healing us, and giving us a new chance in life over the issue that we have been struggling to fix for years. Somehow ayahuasca knows what we need and gives it to us.

Furthermore, the whole experience is beautiful, ecstatic, and blissful beyond words.

Indeed, a lot of people after doing their first session come back to many more sessions later on, and if you look at the faces of people who have actually done ayahuasca, you can see that they are more friendly and better human beings compared to people who never did this practice. Indeed, I have heard it expressed many times by different people that if everyone in the world took ayahuasca, the world would be a better place in the process, and there wouldn’t be any wars.

Going back to my personal experience, I often talk about ayahuasca to explain why I am so happy. After all, I often say that I am one of the happiest people alive, but where is the proof? In the case of ayahuasca, since I lose all notions that I exist, losing control of my conscious behavior, I dive into my subconscious mind. I can say with confidence that I never had a bad trip and I never had to deal with anything negative. I experience pure bliss and joy while most people repeatedly say that they are dealing with something during ayahuasca sessions.

Now I didn’t have to deal with anything because my subconscious mind is so clean, I have such a strong control of emotional intelligence to a degree that even when I don’t know what’s happening, I remain positive and happy. Every single trip I had was amazing and positive, and you too can learn to experience the world like that too today and forever if you so wish.

I mean, for me, it is still more than just a good trip and pretty images. I still learn a lot about life, the universe, and myself in the process, with every session ending in an hour-long documentation of my experiences, followed up by sharing in a group setting, as everyone is curious to hear experiences of others saying with confidence “it was worth it.” Since then, I made it my goal to take ayahuasca on a yearly basis, as I realize how amazing and beneficial every experience can be.

Don’t Be Afraid of Ayahuasca

Sure, I know what you are thinking. Isn’t ayahuasca a “drug” and therefore isn’t it dangerous?

I mean, we did already discuss the potential consequences of not being watched while you take ayahuasca, which is why on the side note, many countries have banned it because of instances where someone died due to not being supervised properly.

Furthermore, thanks to Nixon’s administration and his war on drugs, today when we think of “drugs,” we are thinking of hardcore drugs such as cocaine and heroin. However, if you were to go to your local pharmacy, you can buy over-the-counter “drugs” without a prescription or advice on how to use them, suggesting that “drugs” come in all shapes and sizes, offering different levels of benefits, or simply said some “drugs” are healthier than others.

And this is where Ayahuasca comes in. Technically speaking, it is still an illegal “drug” in many parts of the world, except for Peru, where it originates, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and some other parts of the world. However, if we were to explore the literature and personal experiences of people taking ayahuasca, we would see that this “drug” offers way more beneficial and healing potential that we simply don’t get from other approaches (e.g., therapy or medicine), such as the already mentioned benefit of overcoming life-long addiction or psychological distresses that have been haunting people for years overnight, making ayahuasca medicinally and spiritually sacred for both a healthy body and mind, while at the same time opening the mind towards something bigger than us, which is spiritual awakening.

The price of such a session could cost around 725 EUR (800 USD) for a 2-day session. These sessions can be longer or shorter depending on people’s needs, time, money, and desires. They can be 1 day long only, 7 days, or they can also offer other experiences, such as San Pedro or other similar experiences. There are many different shamans who you can visit, and a good source of finding an ayahuasca retreat is https://ayamundo.com/.

The Path of the Spiritual Warrior

Today, two weeks after the ayahuasca session, I had a follow-up call regarding my experience to check in and see how everything is going. I think it’s a very important and interesting practice because, on one hand, ayahuasca remains in my system for approximately two months after the retreat. In other words, after taking ayahuasca, spiritual experiences may still occur spontaneously and on a regular basis, although to a lesser degree, and we can experience ayahuasca-related life changes, which may come up in some undefined ways.

In my case, I feel more relaxed. People have been telling me that my face looks more relaxed and with less tension, and I generally feel less tension in my body. I find myself sleeping more, going to bed at the right time, not going out excessively, and avoiding any negative behaviors such as drinking alcohol, consuming unhealthy food, overeating, or engaging in other harmful activities.

I was advised to be more vulnerable and to stay more connected with my emotions. It’s amusing to hear these words, as I already consider myself one of the happiest people alive. Still, to some extent, it’s true that there is always room for improvement regardless of how well we are doing in life. It takes a certain level of humility to acknowledge that we can always strive for more, even if we are doing really well in our lives, not to mention times of emotional distress, when we actually need help. So, it does help to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses and keep working on them in order to grow personally and spiritually, almost like a “spiritual warrior,” a title that my spiritual guru told me that I am.

In other words, it’s always good to check in with yourself, which I personally do through writing almost daily, as regularly write about my personal to-do list for the day, about events that happened in my life, and any strong emotions that I feel. I recommend that everybody have a similar practice, to keep a happiness journal of sorts, as it is one way we can have free therapy without having to pay for one.

Of course, this doesn’t replace the need for professional help, since sometimes an expert can shorten our learning curve significantly, by several years at times, taking us to places where we were perhaps not even aware we could reach.

Ayahuasca and Happiness

In case of Optimal Happiness, we teach people how to reach their happiest potential, a noble goal that we all aspire towards in our way or in other in our lives, since happiness is told to be an actual #1 goal in life. In other worlds, everything we do, such as taking ayahuasca, partying, relaxing, and virtually everything else in life, we do because of certain benefits we expect to receive, which is other words means that we generally speaking want to improve our well-being, and become happier in the process.

However, unfortunately, most people are still struggling, no matter how much effort they put into trying to achieve this goal. They turn to practices such as ayahuasca (among a million other things) believing that it will provide “healing” and other benefits in the pursuit of well-being improvement and happiness, only to realize that they are still not as happy as they had hoped to be. They continue engaging in a never-ending rat race, chasing one carrot after another, never quite satisfied with who they are, what they do, and what they have.

Yes, personally, I didn’t go to do ayahuasca because I wanted to heal something or be happy. I did it because I generally enjoyed the experience and wanted to have more of it. I already know what it really takes to reach Optimal Happiness and stay in this state indefinitely, as even ayahuasca can’t find cracks in my happiness armor. And so, if you are ready to become as happy as you always wanted to be, can be, and meant to be, then we can start with a free 30-minute call. During this call, we can discuss your current state, challenges, and goals. This can be your first step towards creating and maintaining the life of Optimal Happiness that you have always wanted to have.

Don’t doubt yourself any longer. You only live once, and take advantage of this free 30-minute call, where we can work together towards achieving everything you have always wanted to have. I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Stay healthy, happy, and enlightened!

Picture of Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo: Author of Optimal Happiness

Roman Russo wasn't always happy and struggled with his own negative emotions, anxieties, and depression, until one day he pledged to resolve this part of life, whatever it took. The journey took 6 years, but it was worth it. Today, Roman considers himself to be one of the happiest people alive, part of the 1% of the happiest elite, and he now teaches others a working and universal happiness formula to reach a similar goal. He offers his best advice on Optimal Happiness social media, newsletter, blog, and books, and teaches a complete and unconditional happiness formula in his online courses.

2 thoughts on “Ayahuasca: My Experience, Journey, & Spiritual Awakening”

  1. Project Unknown

    Glad you had a good experience. Starting to look through your blog, keep up the good work. Stay happy.

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“The problem is that of optimization,” states Roman Russo, author of Optimal Happiness: The Fastest & Surest Way To Reach Your Happiest Potential. There is plenty of advice on how to be happier or less sad, but no one is speaking about how to become the happiest we can be. And this is the difference that makes all the difference. By not looking at our maximum potential for happiness, we fall short of achieving it. After all, we all have hundreds of ideas on how to be happier or less sad, but most people still feel like they are not living their best lives. As such, Optimal Happiness explores the question of how to be the happiest we can be, regardless of who we are, where we are from, and what our life circumstances are. It proposes a complete and unconditional formula for happiness and explains how you too can become happy today and forever, inviting you to join the 1% happiness elite and become one of the happiest people alive.

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