Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness Meditation
“Mindfulness and the Medicine” is a workshop program designed by our resident psychotherapist Sean Chiddy to support the sophisticated healing work of the Shipibo tradition with in-depth practices of mindfulness and related strategies from psychological, healing, and coaching schools of thought.
Ayahuasca research has found that people who work with ayahuasca exhibit improved mental qualities similar to those who practice mindfulness meditation, including less judgmental thinking and reactivity. It has been suggested that this may be one of the factors contributing to the therapeutic effect of ayahuasca. During our retreats, we will work to understand and cultivate these and other beneficial qualities alongside the ayahuasca ceremonies. Not only will you learn how to use applied mindfulness skills to discover a new sense of self that is more resilient and peaceful, but you will learn how mindfulness is directly relevant to working with ayahuasca, and how the two can be mutually beneficial to you. Applying these approaches within the context of ayahuasca retreats provides a golden opportunity to experience direct confirmation of many concepts that may otherwise seem abstract and hard to grasp.
During these courses with Sean, you will be supported in reflecting on what you are learning by using applied mindfulness practices, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, Gabor Mate’s compassionate inquiry, and a range of other psycho-spiritual practices to help you integrate your ayahuasca experiences.
The traditional elements begin the development of a clear understanding of mindfulness along with specific practices to cultivate mindfulness in your life. You will learn in a practical step-by-step manner how, when, and why to “let go” and how to release unhelpful habits of the mind.
These classes give you the tools on how to compassionately investigate the origins and effects of your current habits and challenges, as well as how to develop new and more mindful responses within your thoughts, memories, emotions, body sensations, behaviors and relationships. Daily mindfulness can increase an individual’s self-acceptance, help to recognize the onset of negative mental cycles and break out of them faster, and replace looping thought patterns with positive states of mind. This can profoundly change the way you relate to your own experience of life, to others, and to the world around you.
Ayahuasca-specific adaptations within the Medicine and Mindfulness framework include:
Working mindfully with intense mental imagery and visions
Working mindfully with strong emotions and body sensations
Working mindfully with difficult memories and traumas
Using mindful curiosity to consciously navigate your ayahuasca experience
Integrating ayahuasca experiences using a mindfulness framework
Working with other self inquiry techniques to process and prepare you for what arises in ceremony
Using mindfulness to help you intentionally approach the life you want, instead of unconsciously avoiding the life you fear
The material in this program has been designed to respect, honor, and enhance the work of our Shipibo trained healers, who skillfully guide the medicine where it needs to go while removing energetic blockages to free you from past traumas. You will find that bringing an actively alert and focused presence to your ceremonies allows the work of our healer to be received more openly.
“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh