099: "Death of my father and the process of grief with Ayahuasca" with Charlotte Nicholson

What effect does it have on our lives to accompany a
parent in the dying process and to hold them in our
arms  as they take their last breath? Is it even
possible to prepare for such an event? And how might psychedelics
be able to support us? 





Earlier this year Charlotte Nicholson, the Body-Breath-Mind
program director for Essentiya and also one of
our facilitators, felt the call to go back to the Amazon and
work with Ayahuasca. This time with a very clear intention: to
process her deep-seated grief as her father lay slowly
dying. 





Charlie had 4 ceremonies led by Shipibo shamans and, in addition
to confronting the loss of her father, was given other extremely
challenging experiences, including confronting a
future that may not include parenthood herself,
and the fear of her own death.





All in all, her week in the jungle was marked by a
great deal of darkness and pain. So why put oneself
through that?


 


In essence, as Charlie's process reveals, because
suppressing or numbing ourselves to unprocessed emotional pain
causes a build-up of tension, energetic blockage and chaos deep
within our emotional body (the psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune or
PNEI network); whereas turning to face and feel the pain - which
psychedelics like ayahuasca can very effectively bring to the
surface of our body-mind consciousness - can release some of its
charge, soften its edges and allow a reconnection with the
vividness of life.





The ceremonies also opened up within Charlie the space and
softness she needed to calmly support her father on his
final journey, which happened just a short time after
her return.





Probably the most emotional (English) episode on the
podcast. 


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