Ayahuasca Experience Questions Answered By Expert Shaman
Ayahuasca. Some people call it spiritual medicine, others call it a schedule 1 drug. Ayahuasca ceremonies are quickly gaining popularity, and there are reports from all over the world of people having the most transformative experience of their life. When I think about personal growth and risk, there is nothing more vulnerable than taking a look at the parts of us that we are ashamed of or afraid to look at. That's where ayahuasca takes you according to Kat Courtney, a shaman and expert who has done over 1,000 ceremonies.
On this episode of the Risk Everyday podcast, Kat talks about her own experience struggling with bi-polar and eating disorders. She calls the spiritual medicine a life savor.
Highlights from the interview:
What is ayahuasca?
It's been used by the indigenous people for thousands of years for healing but ultimately to expand our consciousness to make us more aware of ourselves and others. It's a unique altered space. I call it medicine, not a drug, by the way, because it makes us more of ourselves. It doesn't help us escape our lives. It's the only substance I've ever done that helps me to go deeper inside of myself rather than just cosmic. Yeah you take some acid or something and you can have a really mind-opening cosmic experience, but it's rare that you learn more about who you are as an individual. And that's really the magic of ayahuasca. It's intense and amazing and it can be like five years of therapy in a single night.
Can you talk about how ayahuasca helped you personally?
The first thing that comes to mind is kind of describing my process around healing the Bulimia which happened inside an ayahuasca ceremony. What ayahuasca can help you do is realize the root cause of why you're no ill or anxious or just not happy. I remember sitting in a very intense ceremony, and it was my intention to understand, "Why can I not stop throwing up?" On the surface it seems like it's an issue with vanity. Like, oh you don't love yourself or you think you're too overweight or whatever, so you throw up. But she helped to show me that it was my way of controlling the world around me. I could control the input and the output of food.
Yes it was also true that I hated my body at the time and I didn't have a lot of self-love, but my life was out of control and she helped to show me. And I say "she." I know that's weird but it is a plant consciousness and I do refer to her as her. She helped to show me that I was abusing my body because I felt like my life was out of control. And while that didn't, in the moment, immediately fix that compulsion, it was such a valuable information. It helped empower me to become more grounded and create a stronger sense of trust in my circumstances and surroundings, so I didn't have to control food in the same way.
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More about Kat Courtney:
1,000+ shamanic ceremonies, between Ayahuasca and Huachuma / San Pedro and a handful of others (DMT, Vilka, etc.). I trained for 11 years as an apprentice with maestros in both the Amazonian jungle and the U.S., and I led and assisted in ceremonies on a weekly basis in Costa Rica.
4+ years experience as a Spiritual Life Coach, helping hundreds of people awaken and integrate transformational experiences, reconnecting with soul and deepening self-love
Studied with multiple consciousness experts, including Tim Freke, Richard Moss, and Adyashanti
Graduate of Master Herbalist Julie McIntyre’s Earth Medicine Apprenticeship (partner to famous plant expert and author Stephen Buhner), with extensive skills in using plant consciousness as a means of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual healing. I’m also an herbalist and plant communicator.
Reiki Master for more than 5 years, and trained in other esoteric energy healing modalities
Evolutionary Astrologist; I've studied the discipline for 28 years and adore doing charts for clients. I have also been reading Tarot for 3 decades
Taught classes on awareness expansion, shamanic healing techniques, and plant consciousness to hundreds of students
Hostess and facilitator of roughly a gazillion (give or take a gaggle) of spiritual events in the Las Vegas area, through the Awareness and Consciousness Group of Southern Nevada