Navigating Difficult Moments During Ceremony

The Reality of Difficult Moments

Here’s what no one tells you before your first ceremony:

At some point, you will probably be convinced that something has gone terribly wrong.

You might feel like you’re dying. Or losing your mind. Or that the fear will never end. Or that you’ve made a catastrophic mistake drinking the medicine.

These moments are common. They’re often part of the process. And there are ways to work with them.

This page is your guide for when ceremony gets hard.

Understanding Why Difficult Moments Happen

The Medicine Brings Up What Needs Attention

Ayahuasca doesn’t just show you beautiful visions. It shows you what you’ve been avoiding:

• Repressed emotions
• Unprocessed trauma
• Deep fears
• Shadow aspects of self
• Painful truths

When these surface, they can be overwhelming.

Your Ego’s Resistance

As the medicine begins to dissolve your sense of control:

• Your ego fights back
• Fear intensifies as you feel yourself “letting go”
• Resistance creates more suffering
• The harder you fight, the harder it gets

The paradox: Surrendering to difficult moments often makes them easier.

Physical Intensity

Sometimes it’s just physical:

• Nausea and purging
• Body sensations (heat, cold, pressure)
• Disorientation
• Exhaustion

Your body is processing a lot. This can feel frightening.

The Medicine’s Non-Linear Nature

Unlike therapy, where you can pause and regulate:

• You can’t just “stop” the experience
• Time distorts (minutes feel like hours)
• Intensity comes in waves
• You’re not in control

This loss of control is what makes difficult moments so challenging.

Types of Difficult Moments and How to Navigate Them

Overwhelming Panic or Fear

What it feels like:

• Heart racing
• Can’t catch your breath
• Convinced something is terribly wrong
• Need to escape but can’t
• Terror without clear reason

Why it happens:

• Ego dissolution triggering primal fear
• Resistance to what’s coming up
• Past trauma being activated
• Physical sensations misinterpreted as danger

How to work with it:

1. Recognize you’re safe

• You’re not dying (if you were properly screened)
• This is temporary
• Others have felt this and made it through
• The facilitator is there

2. Focus on breath

• In for 4 counts, out for 4 counts
• Don’t try to control it perfectly
• Just notice breath moving
• Breathe into your belly, not your chest

3. Call the facilitator

• Seriously, don’t suffer alone
• Raise your hand or make a sound
• They can sit with you, sing for you, provide grounding
• This is literally what they’re there for

4. Use a grounding phrase

• “This is temporary”
• “I am safe”
• “The medicine is doing its work”
• “I surrender to this”

5. Feel your body on the ground

• Notice the mat beneath you
• Feel the weight of your body
• Press your hands into the earth
• Physical contact with ground = grounding

What NOT to do:

• ❌ Try to “think your way out” of panic
• ❌ Fight the sensations
• ❌ Judge yourself for being afraid
• ❌ Isolate in the panic

“I’m Dying” Sensations

What it feels like:

• Convinced your heart is stopping
• Body shutting down
• Saying goodbye to life
• Physical sensations of dying
• Can’t tell if it’s real or symbolic

Why it happens:

• Ego death (dissolution of identity)
• Deep surrender process
• Facing mortality
• Somatic memory of past trauma
• Rare: actual medical issue (this is why screening matters)

How to work with it:

1. Assess: Is this medical or psychological?

Call the facilitator immediately if:

• Chest pain radiating to arm
• Can’t breathe at all (not just feeling breathless)
• Loss of consciousness
• Severe physical pain (not emotional intensity)

If it’s psychological/spiritual:

• Remember this is likely ego death, not physical death
• Thousands have felt this and survived
• The fear is real, the danger is not (if screened properly)

2. Practice surrender

• “I release my need to control”
• “I trust this process”
• “I let go”
• Imagine sinking into the earth, being held

3. Ask: “What needs to die?”

• Not your physical body
• An old identity? A way of being? A story about yourself?
• The ego’s grip? Control? Fear itself?

4. Breathe like you’re being birthed

• Long, slow exhales
• Imagine breathing out the old
• Breathing in space, light, newness

5. Call in support

• Prayer (however you understand it)
• Guides, ancestors, higher self
• “Help me through this”

What this often teaches:

• How to truly let go
• That you can survive losing control
• What’s on the other side of ego death
• Preparation for actual death (we all face it eventually)

Overwhelming Sensations (Physical or Emotional)

What it feels like:

• Too much input, can’t process
• Body sensations cranked to 11
• Emotions flooding through
• Complete overwhelm
• Want to crawl out of your skin

Why it happens:

• Nervous system activation
• Trauma releasing through the body
• Heightened sensitivity from the medicine
• Emotions that have been suppressed for years

How to work with it:

1. Titration (go slow)

• You don’t have to feel everything at once
• Notice one sensation at a time
• If it’s too much, open your eyes
• Ground in something concrete (the mat, your hands)

2. Track sensations without story

• “There’s pressure in my chest”
• “There’s heat in my hands”
• “There’s shaking in my legs”
• Don’t make it mean something yet
• Just notice and allow

3. Give the energy somewhere to go

• Shake, rock, move (if space allows)
• Vocalize (tone, hum, cry)
• Breathe it out
• Let it move through you

4. Somatic grounding

• Press hands together firmly
• Squeeze your own arms
• Feel your feet on ground
• Cross your arms and hug yourself

5. Ask for help

• Facilitator can provide grounding
• Physical touch (if appropriate in that space)
• Sung to or prayed over
• Someone to witness you

Remember: Sensations pass. Waves crest and fall. You don’t have to do anything but allow.

Dark or Scary Visions

What it feels like:

• Demons, monsters, entities
• Hell realms, torture, darkness
• Being attacked or pursued
• Malevolent presence
• Can’t escape the imagery

Why it happens:

• Shadow work (facing what you’ve repressed)
• Cultural conditioning (religious imagery)
• Processing fear itself
• Symbolic representation of internal struggle
• Rarely: challenging entities (depending on your belief system)

How to work with it:

1. Remember: Visions cannot hurt you

• They’re symbolic, not literal
• Even terrifying imagery is just imagery
• You’re in a maloca/ceremony space, not actually in danger
• Open your eyes if you need to remember where you are

2. Face them with curiosity

• “What are you here to show me?”
• “What part of me do you represent?”
• “What do you need from me?”
• Sometimes facing darkness transforms it

3. Call in protection

• However you understand it: prayer, guides, light
• “I am protected”
• “I call in love and protection”
• Visualize light or safety around you

4. Don’t engage in battle

• Fighting makes scary visions stronger
• Resistance gives them power
• Instead: witness, allow, breathe

5. Tell the facilitator

• They can sing protection songs
• Offer energetic support
• Help you reframe what you’re seeing

Sometimes the medicine shows you darkness because:

• You need to see your shadow to integrate it
• You’re working through deep fears
• You’re releasing something dark you’ve held
• You need to know you can face your fears and survive

The darkness often lifts once you stop resisting it.

Nausea and Purging Resistance

What it feels like:

• Intense nausea but can’t purge
• Fighting the urge to vomit
• Embarrassment or fear about purging
• Feeling worse the more you resist

Why it happens:

• The medicine often induces purging as part of the process
• Your body is releasing physical toxins
• Emotional/energetic release manifests physically
• But shame or control makes us resist

How to work with it:

1. Stop fighting it

• Everyone purges (most people, anyway)
• No one is judging you
• Your bucket is right there for this reason

2. Practical tips

• Pull your hair back if needed
• Have water nearby to rinse after
• Lean over your bucket, breathe
• When the wave comes, let go

3. Reframe purging

• Not failure or weakness
• Release and clearing
• “La purga” is part of healing
• Many traditions honor purging as sacred

4. Notice what comes after

• Often: immediate relief
• Clarity, lightness, space
• Ability to go deeper in ceremony
• Physical release creates emotional space

If you can’t purge:

• Breathe through the nausea
• It will pass eventually
• Some people don’t purge much (that’s okay too)
• Other forms of release (crying, shaking) are equally valid

Feeling Stuck or Nothing Happening

What it feels like:

• Everyone else is having an experience
• You’re just sitting there
• Nauseous and uncomfortable but no insights
• Wondering if the medicine is “working”
• Bored, frustrated, impatient

Why it happens:

• Slow metabolizer (takes longer to feel effects)
• High tolerance or body resistance
• Ego defending against letting go
• Sometimes the medicine works subtly
• You might be integrating past ceremonies

How to work with it:

1. Give it time

• Effects can take 45-90 minutes for some people
• Sometimes second cup is when things open
• Be patient

2. Check your resistance

• Are you trying to control the experience?
• Waiting for something “impressive”?
• What would happen if you just surrendered to “nothing”?

3. Explore the boredom/frustration

• This might be the medicine showing you something
• How you relate to “nothing happening” is telling
• What comes up when you can’t control the outcome?

4. Consider asking for more medicine

• If facilitator offers second cup and you feel called
• But don’t force it - some ceremonies are just quiet

5. Trust subtle work

• Not every ceremony has fireworks
• Integration work from past ceremonies
• Deep rest and nervous system reset
• Sometimes “nothing” is exactly what you needed

The “boring” ceremony might make sense in retrospect.

Grounding Techniques for Difficult Moments

Breath Practices

Box Breathing (4-4-4-4):

• Inhale 4 counts
• Hold 4 counts
• Exhale 4 counts
• Hold 4 counts
• Repeat

Long Exhale:

• Inhale for 4
• Exhale for 6-8
• Activates parasympathetic (calming) system

Belly Breathing:

• Hand on belly
• Breathe into your hand
• Feel belly rise and fall

“So-Hum” Breathing:

• Inhale: silently say “So”
• Exhale: silently say “Hum”
• Ancient grounding mantra

Physical Grounding

5-4-3-2-1 Technique:

• Name 5 things you can see
• Name 4 things you can touch
• Name 3 things you can hear
• Name 2 things you can smell
• Name 1 thing you can taste

Body Scanning:

• Start at your toes
• Move attention up through body
• Notice each part without judgment
• Brings you back into your body

Earth Contact:

• Press hands into the ground
• Feel the mat beneath you
• If possible, touch the earth
• Imagine roots growing from your body into ground

Temperature Awareness:

• Notice temperature on your skin
• Feel your blanket or clothing
• Use temperature to anchor in present

Mental Anchors

Mantras for difficult moments:

• “This is temporary”
• “I am safe”
• “I surrender”
• “I trust the process”
• “This will pass”
• “I am held”
• “I let go”

Counting:

• Count your breaths
• Count backwards from 100
• Gives mind something to do

Prayer or Invocation:

• However you understand higher power
• “Help me”
• “Guide me through this”
• “I trust in something larger”

Surrender vs. Fighting: The Central Paradox

When Fighting Makes It Harder

The pattern:

1. Something challenging comes up
2. You resist it
3. Resistance creates more suffering
4. Fighting intensifies the difficulty
5. You’re exhausted and still in it

What you’re fighting:

• Loss of control
• Difficult emotions
• Ego dissolution
• The medicine’s timing and pacing
• What the medicine wants to show you

Result: The medicine often intensifies until you surrender.

What Surrender Actually Means

Surrender is NOT:

• ❌ Giving up
• ❌ Weakness
• ❌ Letting bad things happen to you
• ❌ Passivity

Surrender IS:

• ✅ Accepting what is
• ✅ Releasing the need to control
• ✅ Trusting the process
• ✅ Allowing rather than forcing
• ✅ Opening instead of clenching

Practical surrender:

• “I don’t know what’s happening, and that’s okay”
• “I can’t control this, so I’ll stop trying”
• “Show me what I need to see”
• “I trust this is what needs to happen”

How to Practice Surrender

1. Notice when you’re fighting

• Clenching body
• Holding breath
• Mental resistance (“this shouldn’t be happening”)
• Trying to think your way out

2. Consciously release

• Unclench jaw, shoulders, hands
• Exhale fully
• Soften your body
• Imagine melting into the mat

3. Use imagery

• Floating on water, letting it hold you
• Sinking into earth, being supported
• Opening like a flower
• Releasing into light

4. Say yes

• “Yes to this”
• “Yes to what is”
• “I consent to this experience”
• “I am willing”

5. Ask for help surrendering

• “Help me let go”
• “I don’t know how to surrender”
• Call facilitator for support

What often happens after surrender:

• Difficulty softens or shifts
• Fear transforms
• You move through it faster
• Peace on the other side

The medicine often waits for you to stop fighting before it releases you.

When to Ask for Help

Always Ask for Help If:

🚨 Medical concerns:

• Chest pain, difficulty breathing (real, not just anxiety)
• Severe pain anywhere in body
• Loss of consciousness
• Concerning physical symptoms

🚨 Can’t regulate at all:

• Panic for more than 20-30 minutes without any relief
• Complete overwhelm, no way to ground
• Feeling unsafe in your body

🚨 Thoughts of harming yourself:

• Suicidal ideation
• Urge to hurt yourself
• Need immediate support

Definitely Ask for Help If:

⚠️ Stuck in difficult place:

• Can’t find your way out of fear/panic
• Need grounding support
• Want someone to witness you

⚠️ Need physical support:

• Help getting to bathroom
• Need water
• Cold/hot and need blanket adjustment

⚠️ Want energetic support:

• Facilitator singing/praying for you
• Presence and reassurance
• Help navigating what’s coming up

It’s Okay to Ask for Help When:

✅ You’re scared
✅ You don’t know what’s happening
✅ You want reassurance
✅ You need grounding
✅ You want someone to witness your process
✅ You just need to know someone is there

Asking for help is not weakness. It’s wisdom.

What the Facilitator Can (and Can’t) Do

What Good Facilitators Offer:

Grounding presence:

• Sit with you
• Hold space
• Calm reassurance

Energetic support:

• Sing for you
• Pray over you
• Provide protection (in traditions that work with this)

Physical grounding:

• Hand on shoulder (with consent)
• Help to bathroom if needed
• Blanket, water, practical support

Reframing:

• “You’re safe, this is part of the process”
• “Breathe with me”
• Help you remember this is temporary

What Facilitators Cannot Do:

• ❌ Make it stop
• ❌ Take away the difficulty
• ❌ Control your experience
• ❌ “Fix” you
• ❌ Make it easier (sometimes)

The medicine has its own timing. Facilitator can support but not override.

How to Call for Help:

In ceremony:

• Raise your hand
• Make a sound (call out, hum loudly, bang on floor)
• Ask the person next to you to get facilitator
• If possible: “I need help”

Don’t suffer in silence because:

• You don’t want to disturb others (they’re in their own journey)
• You’re embarrassed (facilitators have seen everything)
• You think you “should” handle it alone (you don’t have to)

After the Difficult Moment Passes

What You Might Notice

Immediate aftermath:

• Relief, lightness
• Exhaustion
• Emotional release (crying, laughing)
• Clarity or insight
• Gratitude for making it through
• Or: confusion about what just happened

Coming hours:

• Integration of what came up
• Understanding emerging
• Softness or openness
• Continued processing

Integration Begins Now

1. Journal when you can

• What came up?
• How did you work with it?
• What helped?
• What did you learn?

2. Rest

• Difficult moments are exhausting
• Your nervous system needs recovery
• Be gentle with yourself

3. Talk about it

• With facilitator after ceremony
• With trusted friends
• In integration support
• Therapist if needed

4. Recognize your strength

• You made it through
• You faced something hard
• You’re still here
• That takes courage

5. Note patterns

• Do you always hit a panic moment?
• Is there a recurring fear?
• How do you typically respond to loss of control?
• These patterns are teachings

Building Your Difficult Moment Toolkit

Before ceremony, prepare:

• ✅ Practice breath techniques
• ✅ Develop grounding mantras
• ✅ Know how to call for help
• ✅ Understand surrender vs. fighting
• ✅ Set intention to trust the process

During ceremony, remember:

• ✅ This is temporary
• ✅ Others have felt this
• ✅ Surrender > fighting
• ✅ Breath is your anchor
• ✅ Help is available

Create your personal toolkit:

• Your go-to breath practice
• Your grounding mantra
• Your surrender phrase
• Your way of calling for help
• Your reminder that you’re safe

Practice these tools before ceremony so they’re available when you need them.

Difficult Moments as Teachers

What experienced practitioners have learned:

The moments that feel unbearable in the moment often teach the most.

• Panic teaches that it’s possible to survive losing control
• Dying sensations teach about ego and surrender
• Overwhelming emotions teach that feeling deeply doesn’t mean breaking
• Scary visions teach that the shadow isn’t actually dangerous
• Resistance teaches that fighting creates suffering

Difficult moments show you:

• Your edges (where you resist, control, defend)
• Your capacity (you’re stronger than you think)
• Your patterns (how you relate to challenge)
• Your growth (how you navigate differently each time)

They’re not punishment. They’re not signs you’re doing it wrong.

They’re often where the deepest healing happens.

Final Reminders

When you’re in a difficult moment:

1. You are safe (if you’ve screened properly and are with responsible facilitators)
2. This is temporary (even though it doesn’t feel like it)
3. Surrender > fighting (almost always)
4. Breath is your anchor (return to it again and again)
5. Help is available (don’t suffer alone)
6. You will get through this (you always do)
7. This might be where healing happens (often is)

You’re not broken. You’re not doing it wrong. Difficulty is part of the process.

Be brave. Be gentle. Ask for help. Trust.

Resources

• What to Expect in Ceremony - Context for the full ceremony arc
• Integrating Challenging Experiences - For after ceremony
• Crisis Resources - If you’re really struggling
• Purging Process - Understanding physical release

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The difficult moments don’t last forever. But the strength you discover in them does.