Intentions

Intentions are a set of purposeful objectives or goals for the future that are set after consideration of one’s past and present in regards to an upcoming psychedelic experience, specifically one or more ayahuasca ceremonies over the course of a retreat. Intentions are an important part of the integration process of maximizing the beneficial effects of ayahuasca as a plant medicine treatment.

A person’s individual intentions, formed as a result of their individual life experiences, are often related to blockages or obstacles that they have identified as holding them back or impeding their evolution in life. The associated intentions are set to gain perspective regarding these blockages or obstacles; the obstacles and intentions, while intrinsically related, are not the same thing. They can be thought of as two sides of the same coin.

To demonstrate the relationship between an obstacle and an intention, suppose that a person is unhappy with their current professional path but is increasingly convinced that they are unable to do anything about it and is worried that they will never be able to effect a change for something more professionally satisfying. In the days, weeks, or even months before they attend an ayahuasca retreat, the person sets the intention to use ayahuasca as a means to gain insights into their current professional circumstances. They might be interested in gaining insights into the following questions, for example:

• How did I come to start down my current career path in the first place?
• What about my current job is not satisfying, and what does that suggest about me as a person?
• What did I always want to do when I was a kid?
• What do I naturally enjoy doing, regardless of whether I am paid to do it?
• Where do the fears or hesitations related to my career come from that prevent me from taking risks, trying new things, or listening to my inner voice?

Keeping intentions in mind during and after an ayahuasca retreat

Staying mindful of one’s intentions over the course of an ayahuasca retreat is an important part of receiving the most from the plant medicine. A retreat participant may sit for a number of ayahuasca ceremonies over the course of several days with time between ceremonies to process and reflect on each ceremony. The time between ceremonies is an important time to reflect, process, and discuss with facilitators what they have experienced, thought, and felt up tot that point in the retreat.

Ayahuasca’s effects, while often profound and powerfully insightful during ceremony, do not abruptly stop after its active medicinal effects wear off. The temporarily superplasticized state of the brain and nervous system during a psychedelic experience with ayahuasca opens a temporary window wherein a high degree of neural connectivity and growth occur, allowing the brain to create neuronal pathways in ways that are not normally possible – essentially, facilitating the ability of the brain to create deep and meaningful connections in a short period of time.

While this window of greatly increased neuroplasticity closes in a matter of hours, it is important to appreciate that the newly created neural connections, and the new thought pathways associated with them, remain. These new thought pathways, as long as they are regularly exercised with mindfulness toward one’s intentions, will continue to shape and contextualize the person’s thoughts, beliefs, and conclusions in the future. This is, essentially, why many ayahuasca retreat participants describe the experience as “shining a new light” or “providing a different perspective” on their lives in one way or another.

Staying mindful of one’s intentions and the insights gained from their psychedelic experience long after the retreat is over is the means through which one can realize a lasting, practical shift in perspective, ultimately working to accomplish the goals and objectives that were set before attending a retreat.