Plant Medicine Ceremony Preparation for Individuals with Eating Disorders
Being in eating disorder recovery means that we will meet all kinds of teachers, who will present themselves at poignant times along our path of uncovering, discovering and recovering.
Moving through life with a beginner's mind and with the mantra "sometimes a student, sometimes a teacher", means that anything and anyone can be a teacher (including ourselves). With an open-heart and mind, humility and respect, we can learn from so many teachers throughout our entire life.
Some teachers trigger us, some reflect back parts of ourselves we need to remember, some mirror who it is we wish to become. Sometimes the teacher does not resonate or we are not quite ready to dive in to their teachings.
Knowing that learning and teaching is happening all the time, the classroom can spring up anywhere at any time. I like to keep myself primed for moment of study on a daily basis, and keep myself open to the opportunity to co-create spaces with these teachers for optimal learning. And so, over the years I have met all kinds of teachers, some of them being sacred plant medicines, where the classroom is ceremony space.
plant medicine preparation
If it’s a yes to work with these sacred plant medicine teachers for eating disorder recovery, there are some things we can explore before diving into the psychedelic experience to help us prepare for us journey.
Doing some or all of these exercises may assist in bringing increased awareness to your intention around eating disorder recovery, as well as help bring a sense of calmness to the nervous system:
Write a letter from your ED-free future self to your present self. What would they say to you now?
Practice Nadi Shodhan Pranayama (aka alternate breathing) for a few minutes in the morning or before bed.
In your journal or in your meditation practice, communicate with the sacred plant allies as if they are sitting next to you. What questions do you have for the medicine? What fears or concerns do you have? What would you like to see, learn about or uncover? In what ways can you already start giving thanks to the medicine?
Reflect on five feelings you wish to call more into your life. Practice conjuring up these feelings in your body. How does it feel to embody these core, desired feelings?
Create or redo your altar in your room as a way to start afresh, making way for this new journey to begin.
Practice this anchoring meditation as a way to get to know how to safely resource yourself in your own body.
Note that some medicines require a certain diet ahead of ceremony. Please consider very carefully if it is worth your recovery to do a diet. For me personally, I have chosen to forgo changing what I am eating because it has triggered me the past and has comprised my intentions and energy before ceremony.
These are just some ideas you could put into practice as a way to train the body, heart and mind, and to start connecting with the medicine before embarking on the journey.
why is setting an intention important?
An intention is spotlighted energy that we are directing to a specific place. Spending time formulating an intention brings focus, encourages self-inquiry, and starts the connection and conversation with the medicine before entering the space. And of course during ceremony, with help of the plant medicine, high frequency songs, and the group dynamic, the intention can be accelerated to wherever it needs to go and manifest in the physical plane.
plant medicine journey
With almost every journey I have entered into, I go in with the intention to look at my eating disorder (the work is ongoing! :D). And almost every time, the plants bring up the topic and theme of my eating disorder. The patterns run deep and touch on almost all aspects of my life, including what my ancestors have passed down to me too, so there is a lot of work to be done!
I have been shown that these eating disorder behaviours are patterns that are pervasive, like a complex underground root system from which all of my life grows from. And so what grows from these roots, soil and earth are just more of the same eating disorder strategies and behaviours.
I have to hold a lot of compassion and patience with myself when the medicine once again brings up eating disorder themes in ceremony. I just want to move on but I know these roots have to be weeded out gently, regularly, and genuinely over and over again. Eating disorders are one of the trickiest mental disorders to effectively treat.
Because psychedelics work on the default mode network (DMN), an area of the brain that is highly overactive for people with eating disorders, there may be a newfound experience of letting go of control and rigidity. Surrender may or may not be easy, and the medicine will certainly give you many chances to practice being the art of trust, letting go and being in the flow of the moment.
The medicine will also give you a chance for your voice to be heard. The journey is not a one-sided engagement. There will many opportunities for you to ask questions, to say no, to put up boundaries, to ask to be shown again, or state that you are not ready to face a certain theme that the medicine is bringing. This is incredibly empowering. For many of us working through eating disorders, we have dimmed ourselves, restricted our truth, swallowed our expression, not allowed ourselves to ask for help, or state our desires. The ceremony is a co-creative effort and you are worthy to express yourself with the plants (and beyond).
There other things we can touch upon that you can draw upon in ceremony: remembering the breath as an anchor, having a mindset of compassionate inquiry, humility and resilience, and ensuring you are in the right set and setting. Of course, refer back to any practices you established as part of your preparation during ceremony like recalling your intention throughout the journey and brining elements of your altar from home into the ceremonial space. The anchoring meditation (mentioned above) is a good tool to utilize when facing a challenging moment to come back to a felt sense of safety and groundedness.
plant medicine integration
“Integration is turning your downloads into daily action.”
I used to believe it was impossible for anyone to be free of their eating disorder. After years of telling myself this, I thought, “What if?” What if it is possible to no longer punish, control, restrict, or harm my body?
What if it is possible to feel my emotions, be able to sit in my body and connect with my breath without running away?
What if it is possible to celebrate my vulnerabilities with others, express my sexuality without shame, to speak up and stand in my power?
When I realised this was all possible and recovery is possible, the work with the plant medicine found integration through a renewed sense of empowerment. I felt more inspired to integrate the wisdom teachings from the plants through other healing modalities on an on-going basis.
It was with this shift in my beliefs that my eating disorder recovery fast-tracked. I was no longer limited. Finally recovery was possible and in my reach! This shift - this download - actually changed my behaviours and actions. I felt empowered to take action towards my recovery because I now realised it was possible.
For individuals in eating disorder recovery, it can take a long time for actions to match up with thoughts, let alone for beliefs around recovery to shift. Even with the assistance of plant medicines where downloads and insights can soar in and seem so simple, when stepping into “normal life”, the ingrained patterns and behaviours may still persist. Integration is a continuous, life-long process, and this is true in the realms of eating disorder recovery.
Here are some tips on how you can continue your integration:
Distill the main messages from the wisdom plant teachers into actionable steps.
Work with an integration coach, an eating disorder coach/therapist or someone who just “gets it” on a regular, on-going basis.
Find a psychedelic integration circle (in-person or online) who can also hold you accountable to the actionable steps.
Join an eating disorder support group.
Establish a grounding morning practice that includes journaling, mediation, breathwork, movement, music (anything that brings you into rooted, joyful, inspired alignment).
Spend time in nature. Connecting with the energies of the elements can also be useful.
Consider introducing a microdosing practice into your week.
Stay with the process. Be patient. Keep up the work. Every day is integration day
you are the ceremony
You carry a sacred temple around with you in each moment; that sacred temple is your own human body. You exist right in the heart of this sacred body temple, and within it, you create the ceremony of your life. Through your own body, your life can become practice of cultivating presence. By practicing presence, this very moment becomes sacred, filled with gifts, gems, treasures, messages and signs. You make the ceremony whether you are in a mushroom, Ayahuasca, cacao ceremony, or just in the ceremony of daily life. Every step you walk, every word spoken, every gesture actioned forms the ceremony that is your life. Everyday is a ceremony because you are the ceremony.
All photos included in this article were taken at a a beautiful cacao ceremony on Ometepe Island, Nicaragua, 2020. We drank the cacao medicine, painted powerful symbols on each other with seeds from the achiote tree and danced!
To read more about ceremony spaces, head here: How To Host Your Own Cacao Ceremony