What happens during an ayahuasca ceremony? According to Andrés Yael Villa, founder of Pachamama Sacred Paths, it unfolds in three stages: a physical reaction, a visionary stage and a surrender into a new state of flow. In this conversation with Jeremy Van Wert, he also explains initiation, why he cautions against depending on any medicine, and why integration matters.
ᛉKey takeaways
- Andrés says every plant medicine ceremony moves through three stages: a physical reaction, a visionary stage and a surrender.
- He describes the purpose of the medicine as introspection, a chance to look past the limits the ego places on you.
- He advises waiting and sustaining changes for at least a month before deciding whether you feel called to another ceremony.
- He says a ceremony count proves nothing, and that integration is what shows in your daily life.
- In the Andean path he describes, an initiation is a beginning that someone authorizes, and the real work of transformation is yours.
ᛃ Moments in this one
ᚠWhat happens during an ayahuasca ceremony: the three stages
Andrés Yael Villa says that whatever plant a person works with, a ceremony follows the same three steps. He names ayahuasca, bufo, peyote, San Pedro and psilocybin mushrooms as examples.
The first stage is physical. The brew is bitter, and Andrés says the body reacts to something foreign, with the response depending on how it is doing. A person might purge, sweat, cry, yawn or fall asleep.
The second stage is visionary. Andrés explains that as the brew is absorbed, a person can see both within and outside themselves, and some people report traveling across the cosmos or meeting other beings. He says that is fine, but not what he suggests, since the teachings he follows say the path is inward.
The third stage is surrender. After the purge there is a release, and he says it leaves space for new awareness. He calls surrender harder than people think, and says it is where people fall in love with the experience. In his view the medicine then acts as a teacher that can bring clarity about purpose.
ᚢWhat people experience in an ayahuasca ceremony
Andrés describes the common thread as introspection. In an altered state, he says, a person can see past the beliefs the ego holds, including old interpretations formed in childhood that keep conflicts alive.
He says the process is to remember, relive and resolve. He also says it can be hard: finding out you have neglected yourself for decades can be crushing to the personality that keeps you safe. A person without a proper setting or support, he says, may struggle to handle what comes up.
ᚦWhy not to depend on plant medicine
Andrés is direct about this. When someone says they had a wonderful ceremony and want another next week, he tells them to wait. His suggestion is to sustain the changes for at least a month, then ask honestly whether the call is still there and what the first ceremony actually changed.
He says many people feel clear right after a retreat, then find the clarity fading two or three weeks later and want more. He says that is not the path. In his words, it would be no different from smoking weed every day to deal with stress, and he says his retreats do not allow that pattern.
He also describes a woman who told him she had taken ayahuasca more than 350 times. By his account, her life had declined, and he attributes this to skipping integration.
ᚨWhy integration matters after a ceremony
For Andrés, integration is what makes a ceremony count. He says the word is used constantly now, but that many people treat it as a concept, which keeps a gap between what they think and what they feel.
His approach is to build a relationship with each plant over time and practice staying in that clarity in daily life. He says he has seen people with 50 or 100 ceremonies find a different experience once they work this way.
The Mindful Mutiny community is one place where listeners can keep talking about what they carry out of experiences like these, with real conversation, live Fireside Chats and a course library. Jeremy also offers psychedelic integration alongside individual therapy and ADHD coaching.
ᚱEgo, ceremony safety and holding space
Andrés says a ceremony needs someone who knows how to hold space, which he describes as calling in sacredness and creating an intentional space for healing. Without it, he says, people can have chaotic experiences, and what they fear most may feel like possession.
He also warns about ego. A person who has done a couple of ceremonies and decides they are a shaman is, in his words, not ready. He says that if the medicine suggests you could become a healer, it is a reason to prepare, not a title to claim.
ᚲBalancing masculine and feminine medicines
Andrés calls ayahuasca a mother, a mostly feminine medicine that he says deepens a person's ability to feel. His concern is that retreats offering only that one medicine leave out the masculine side, which gives perspective on what you feel.
His organization pairs it with others, including bufo, to unite mind and heart. He says he was criticized for this early on and is glad others now take a similar approach.
ᚷWhat an initiation means in the Andean path
Andrés says an initiation happens through authorization: someone welcomes you into a particular state of consciousness. He stresses that this is the beginning, and that the work of solidifying it is yours.
He describes levels, starting from patcha, which he describes as being asleep and blaming others, and moving to runa, the first awakening. He says no title matters without results in daily life.
ᚹHow Andrés's own path began
Before this work, Andrés managed a car dealership. He says he spent 15 to 20 years in a life of productivity, pressure and money, and wanted a different relationship to it.
He traces his conscious spiritual path to March 2013, when his first son was born. He describes feeling overwhelmed by the sacredness of the birth and by fear that he would not be the father he wanted to be, and says he prayed for help. His first ayahuasca experience came about seven months later.
He then spent years studying Zen and Vedic texts and working with plants on his own. He says awakening did not do the work for him, and that when he hit a wall a friend became his teacher and gave him his first initiation.
If this conversation raises questions about your own next step, Jeremy offers a straight read on whether therapy and retreat work suits you. His Light in the Mountains retreat is a separate offering: a three-day, small-group psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy retreat in the Sierra Nevada.
Psychedelics and plant medicines may be illegal where you live and aren't right for everyone. Nothing here is a recommendation to use any substance. This episode also touches on difficult childhood experiences. If you are struggling, please reach out to a licensed mental health professional or your local emergency services.
ᚨ Questions people ask
What are the three stages of an ayahuasca ceremony?
Andrés describes them as a physical reaction, a visionary stage and a surrender into a new state of flow. He says the pattern is the same across plant medicines, and that the physical stage can include purging, sweating, crying or yawning.
How long does an ayahuasca ceremony last?
The episode does not give a length for the brew itself. Andrés says his one-day ceremonies run from about 9 or 10 in the morning to 7 or 8 at night and include rituals, integration, community time and introspection.
What should you do after an ayahuasca ceremony?
Andrés says to give it time, notice how much has changed in how you react to life, and sustain that for at least a month before deciding on another ceremony. He puts integration ahead of ceremony count.
What is an initiation in the Andean path?
In Andrés's description, an initiation is an authorization to begin working in a certain state of consciousness. He says it means little without the person's own transformation and that results in daily life are the measure.
Why does Andrés pair ayahuasca with other medicines?
He sees ayahuasca as a feminine medicine that deepens feeling and bufo as a masculine one that adds clarity and perspective. His view is that balancing both helps unite mind and heart.