La Purga - Understanding and Embracing the Purge

Let’s Talk About Vomiting

You will probably throw up during ayahuasca ceremony.

Not maybe. Probably.

And here’s what no one tells you in the glossy ceremony brochures: It’s going to be okay. Actually, it’s going to be part of your healing.

This page is about destigmatizing, understanding, and even embracing la purga - the purge that’s central to the ayahuasca experience.

What Is La Purga?

In traditional Amazonian medicine, la purga refers to the various ways your body releases what doesn’t serve you during ceremony:

Physical purging:

• Vomiting (most common)
• Diarrhea (less common, still normal)
• Sweating
• Urination
• Yawning, burping, coughing

Energetic/emotional purging:

• Crying
• Screaming or shouting
• Laughing
• Shaking, trembling
• Toning, singing, or making sounds

All of these are considered part of the medicine’s work.

Why Purging Is Considered Healing

Western culture teaches us that vomiting is:

• A sign of illness
• Something to avoid
• Embarrassing
• A failure of the body

Indigenous traditions see it completely differently:

Purging is:

• Releasing physical toxins
• Clearing energetic blockages
• Letting go of what you’re holding
• Making space for healing
• A gift from the medicine

The Traditional View

In Shipibo and other Amazonian traditions, the purge is how the medicine works. The plant spirits are literally cleaning you out - physically, emotionally, energetically.

What you purge might be:

• Physical illness or toxins
• Emotional pain you’ve been carrying
• Energetic attachments or “heavy” energy
• Patterns and traumas lodged in your body

After purging, many people report:

• Immediate relief
• Clarity
• Lighter feeling
• Deeper access to visions or insights
• Physical sensation of space opening

Common experience: Many report that their most profound healing moments came immediately after intense purging. It’s as if the medicine was waiting for physical release before deeper insights could emerge.

Types of Purging: What to Expect

Vomiting (Most Common)

When it happens:

• Usually 30 minutes to 2 hours after drinking
• Can happen multiple times during ceremony
• Sometimes happens with second cup
• Occasionally during integration wave

What it feels like:

• Nausea building (you’ll have warning)
• Urge to purge
• Usually quick and clean (not like alcohol vomiting)
• Often brings immediate relief

What comes out:

• The ayahuasca you drank (reddish-brown liquid)
• Bile (yellowish-green, bitter)
• Stomach contents (if you didn’t fast properly)
• Foam or mucus
• Sometimes very little (dry heaving)

After purging:

• Many people feel immediate clarity
• Nausea often lifts
• Medicine can intensify or soften
• Sense of relief

Diarrhea (Less Common but Normal)

What to know:

• Some lineages specifically brew ayahuasca to cause this
• Usually happens during ceremony (not hours later)
• Facilities will have bathrooms accessible
• Not shameful, just another form of release

Practical tips:

• Ask beforehand about bathroom logistics
• Bring toilet paper/wipes in your pocket
• Wear loose, easy-to-remove clothing
• Baby wipes are your friend

Other Physical Releases

Sweating:

• Can be profuse
• Often comes in waves
• Bring a change of clothes

Yawning:

• Deep, jaw-cracking yawns
• Releasing tension and energy
• Can continue for hours

Burping:

• Releasing gas/pressure
• Often brings relief
• Let it out

Shaking/trembling:

• Body processing and releasing
• Can be subtle or intense
• Trust it, breathe through it

Emotional Purging

Crying:

• Deep, soul-level grief releasing
• Can come in waves
• Often brings profound relief
• You don’t need to understand why

Screaming/shouting:

• Releasing rage or pain
• Completely normal in ceremony context
• Other participants understand
• Can be incredibly freeing

Laughing:

• Sometimes the purge is joy
• Releasing tension through laughter
• Equally valid as crying

How to Purge Gracefully

1. Don’t Fight It

Resisting the purge makes everything worse:

• Increases nausea
• Prolongs suffering
• Blocks the medicine’s work
• Creates more tension

Instead:

• Feel the nausea building
• Accept that purging is coming
• Let it happen
• Surrender to the process

“Okay, I need to purge” is much easier than “No, no, no, I can’t throw up.”

2. Use Your Bucket

Every ceremony participant gets a purge bucket. This is not optional equipment. This is sacred ceremony infrastructure.

Bucket etiquette:

• Keep it within arm’s reach
• Know exactly where it is (in the dark)
• Lean over it when purging
• No shame - everyone has one

After purging:

• Most spaces have facilitators who discreetly clean/replace buckets
• Or there’s a designated area to dump/rinse
• Ask beforehand about procedures

3. Breathe Through the Nausea

When nausea builds:

• Slow, steady breaths
• In through nose, out through mouth
• Don’t hyperventilate (makes nausea worse)
• Breathe into your belly

But if you need to purge:

• Stop breathing exercises
• Let it happen
• Return to breath after

4. Rinse Your Mouth After

Most ceremony spaces provide:

• Water bottles for rinsing
• Bowl to spit into
• Avoid swallowing rinse water (may trigger more nausea)

Fresh mouth = better experience afterward

5. Return to Center

After purging:

• Settle back onto your mat/cushion
• Take a few centering breaths
• Notice how you feel
• Often there’s relief and clarity
• Continue your ceremony

What If I Don’t Purge?

Not everyone purges physically, and that’s completely okay.

Reasons you might not purge:

• Your body doesn’t respond that way
• The brew is different (some brews purge less)
• You fasted really well
• You’re processing energetically rather than physically
• You’re a “slow metabolizer” (medicine works more subtly)

This does not mean:

• The medicine isn’t working
• You’re not healing
• You did something wrong
• You need more medicine

Some people never purge physically and still have profound healing.

The Embarrassment Factor: Let’s Address It

Reality: Many people are terrified of throwing up in front of others.

This fear is completely understandable and common.

What Actually Happens

What you fear:

• Everyone watching you
• Being judged
• Making disgusting sounds
• Being gross or messy

What actually happens:

• Everyone is deep in their own journey
• Most people have their eyes closed or are looking inward
• Ceremony is dark (minimal lighting)
• Purging sounds are just part of the soundscape
• No one is judging you (they’re usually relieved it’s not them purging at that moment)

After dozens of ceremonies: Experienced practitioners report that no one remembers or cares who purged. Everyone is focused on their own experience.

Reframing Embarrassment

Purging in ceremony is like:

• Crying in therapy (vulnerable, but that’s the point)
• Sweating in a sauna (everyone’s doing it)
• Breathing heavy at the gym (sign you’re working)

It’s not:

• Throwing up drunk at a party
• Public illness
• Something to apologize for

In ceremony, purging is normal. Expected. Welcomed.

The Spiritual Dimension of Purging

Many people report that purging feels different from “regular” vomiting.

Common Experiences

It feels intentional:

• Like the medicine is pulling something out
• Purposeful rather than random
• Healing rather than illness

It’s connected to emotional release:

• Crying while purging
• Purging at the moment of a realization
• Feeling specific emotions or memories leaving

It creates space:

• Before purge: stuck, overwhelmed, nauseous
• After purge: clear, light, open, ready

It can be visionary:

• Seeing what you’re releasing
• Understanding what was being held
• Receiving teachings during the purge

Common experience: Some report purging during moments of profound realization about shame carried since childhood. During the purge, there’s a felt sense of the shame leaving the body. In visions, it appears as dark, heavy energy coming up and out. Afterward, there’s a sensation of being physically lighter. Years later, that specific shame often hasn’t returned with the same intensity.

When Purging Is Difficult

Extended or Repeated Purging

If you’re purging a lot:

• Stay hydrated (small sips of water between purges)
• Call the facilitator over
• Ask for support (they can sit with you)
• Remember this will pass
• Surrender rather than resist

Unusual for purging to last the entire ceremony, but if it does:

• Tell the facilitator
• You might be processing something big
• Or your body might be sensitive to the brew
• They can provide support and guidance

Dry Heaving

What it is:

• Purging reflex without much coming out
• Can be uncomfortable
• Still considered purging/releasing

How to handle it:

• Breathe when you can
• Let the reflex happen
• Sip water after
• This too will pass

Aspirating or Choking Concerns

Good news: The purging reflex is strong and protective. Aspiration during ceremony is extremely rare.

However:

• If you have medical conditions affecting swallowing/breathing, inform facilitator
• Experienced facilitators will monitor participants
• If you’re in distress, get help immediately

Practical Preparation for Purging

Before Ceremony

✅ Fast properly (4-6 hours)

• Empty stomach purges more easily
• Less uncomfortable
• Nothing traumatic coming up

✅ Follow the dieta

• Cleaner diet = easier purge
• See Dieta Guide

✅ Hydrate during the day

• But not right before ceremony
• You want hydrated but not full

✅ Tie back long hair

• You don’t want hair in your face/bucket
• Bring hair ties

✅ Bring a change of clothes

• In case of splashing or sweating
• Comfort after ceremony

✅ Mentally prepare

• “I might purge, and that’s okay”
• “Purging is healing”
• “Everyone understands”

During Ceremony

✅ Know where your bucket is (critical)

• Within arm’s reach
• Practice finding it in the dark
• Never question if you can reach it

✅ Don’t wait too long

• When nausea builds, lean toward bucket
• Better to be ready than scramble

✅ Let sounds happen

• Don’t stifle purging to be “quiet”
• The medicine needs to move through

✅ Rinse after

• Fresh mouth
• Return to your space
• Continue ceremony

After Ceremony: Post-Purge Care

Your body has been through something:

First 24 Hours

• Throat might be sore (from stomach acid)

• Honey tea, warm water

• Gentle foods

• Stomach might be sensitive

• Reintroduce food slowly

• Simple, bland foods first

• Hydrate

• Replace fluids lost

• Electrolytes if you purged a lot

• Rest

• Your body did work

• Sleep as much as you need

Cultural Respect and Language

A note on terminology:

Different traditions use different language:

• “La purga” (Spanish - the purge)
• “La limpia” (Spanish - the cleansing)
• Specific indigenous terms in Shipibo, Quechua, etc.

If you’re not in a traditional indigenous context:

• It’s okay to use common terms (purging, vomiting, releasing)
• Don’t appropriate language you haven’t earned
• Respect the tradition you’re in

Reframing Your Relationship With Purging

Before ayahuasca: Vomiting = bad, scary, to be avoided

After ayahuasca (ideally): Purging = healing, releasing, making space

This reframe might take time.

It’s okay if purging is still uncomfortable for you. You don’t have to love it. But you can learn to accept it as part of the process.

Some people come to actually welcome the purge - recognizing it as a sign the medicine is working deeply.

Final Thoughts

Purging is not punishment. It’s not failure. It’s not weakness.

Purging is the medicine doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

Your willingness to surrender to the purge - to let go physically, emotionally, spiritually - is part of what makes the healing possible.

Everyone in that ceremony space understands. Everyone is going through their own version of this. You are not alone, you are not weird, and you are exactly where you need to be.

Resources

• What to Expect During Ceremony - Full ceremony guide
• Dieta Guide - Preparing your body
• Before Ceremony - Complete preparation
• Crisis Resources - If you need support

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The medicine knows what it’s doing. Your body knows what it’s releasing. Trust the process.

And keep your bucket close.