A Jungle Diet with Chullachaqui and Ayahuasca
I had no idea how dysregulated I was from everyday life, until landing in Peru and settling down at the retreat centre Kesten Rono.
Over the winter, I’d been spending way too much time watching movies, playing games, eating sugar, and drinking coffee, and I was in a complete doing mode and nervous system activation.
It had been a difficult year: I had experienced blood clots from my last dieta, almost gone through a breakup, moved out for two months, recreated my business, and sold all my bitcoin to get money for Peru.
Over the course of the next month, I would be learning a lot about regulating myself through different practices.
What is a Shipibo plant dieta?
“The plant dieta, often considered the roots of this tradition, is a sacred agreement between a curandero (or an apprentice of curanderismo) and a specific plant spirit. This agreement, or dieta, involves a dedicated period where an individual follows strict dietary and behavioural guidelines to foster a strong spiritual connection with the chosen plant.”
Source
The actual intake of food is limited to a handful of vegetables, some rice and beans. For some, it may include fish and plantain, or occasional chicken.
During the dieta, it’s important to cut out salt, sugar, spices, and oils.
While drinking the plant extract of what you are dieting, it is recommended to water fast.
Some people choose to limit physical contact and speech.
You may choose to go offline, limit phone time, and isolate yourself in a supportive environment for going through an experience like this.
Though there are some general guidelines, it is ultimately a relationship between you and the plant spirit, and it’s important to write your own contract with the plant and continuously check in with yourself about what feels right and what feels like too much.
Throughout the dieta, you may wish to use Ayahuasca to connect more deeply with your plant.
Fasting
Once arriving at the retreat, Kesten Rono, I was directed to my tambo—a little jungle hut—where I was to spend the next 3.5 weeks. A couple of hours later, I was handed my bottle of plant extract. I started with a 12-hour dry fast, leading into a 5-day water fast.
During these five days, I spent a lot of time reading, journaling, doing yoga, learning icaros, visiting the Chullachaqui tree—and it all went by fast as my body transitioned into a state of ketosis.
As a child, I had a tumour in my ear, and every year I need to have my ear wax cleaned out, as it easily gets infected. On day three of water fasting, as the body starts absorbing things other than food for energy, I felt my right ear pop—and a year’s build-up of wax started clearing out. Suddenly, I could hear better, and my body had started self-healing.
I continued fasting for five days, ate for two, and then I went in again for another seven days of fasting. During my time in Peru, I completed a total of 12 days of water fasting.
Over the course of my fasting period, I decided not to read any fictional books, and I spent a lot of time writing and journaling. There were days I felt really tested, too, and my mind was fighting the process.
“What the fuck am I doing here?”
“I don’t belong.”
“This is not my tribe…”
“I could have gone to a yoga retreat in Bali.”
It was on days six and seven of my second fast that I felt deep insight and direction coming through. I hadn’t received messages with such clarity in a long time.
I now know what’s next. I know what I need to create. There is direction, clarity, and purpose.
If you are curious about fasting and want to learn more, I highly suggest the book: The Transformational Power of Fasting by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
Breathing
During the diet I ended up focusing on breathing—specifically, the importance of breathing through the nostrils. I learned how using longer exhales than inhales can really support conditions like asthma, allergies, and other breathing difficulties.
Breathing became a powerful tool and ally during the Ayahuasca Ceremonies.
Throughout my diet, I began integrating a daily morning and evening practice of Pranayama breathing techniques.
Alternate-Nostril Breathing Practice
Place your middle and index fingers between your eyebrows, using your ring finger and thumb to open and close the nostrils.
Start by inhaling through both nostrils.
Then:
Close your right nostril and exhale only through the left for a count of 6 seconds.
Inhale through the left nostril for 4 seconds.
Hold the breath for 2 seconds.
Exhale through the right nostril for 6 seconds.
Inhale through the right nostril for 4 seconds.
Hold for 2 seconds.
Continue in this rhythm at your own pace, eventually completing the practice by inhaling through the right nostril and exhaling through both nostrils.
Ten minutes might be a good amount of time to start with.
If you want to learn more about breathing, I highly recommend the book Breath by James Nestor.
“Then the priestess said, Speak to us of Prayer. And he answered, saying:
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.”
- Khalil Gibran
Prayer
Prayer was another daily practice I introduced during my time in the jungle. I’ve had an on-and-off relationship with prayer for a long time—often using it in ceremony, but finding it difficult to integrate into daily life.
The possibilities with prayer are endless. There is prayer to relieve suffering and find peace, prayer for gratitude, and prayer to offer blessings to family, loved ones, and friends.
Now, I pray morning and evening, and I follow a simple structure that helps keep me grounded.
1. Opening & Greeting Your Guides
Sometimes I greet a long list of guides, and other times I keep it simple—greeting my Creator.
“Dear God, Great Spirit…”
2. Gratitude
Giving thanks for all the beautiful gifts that life offers keeps me connected to a state of abundance, appreciation, and grace.
“Thank you, God, for every breath that I breathe.”
“Thank you, God, for giving me a beautiful sleep and waking me up to a new day with sunshine and birdsong.”
“Thank you, God, for the beautiful connections, friendships, and love in my life.”
3. Manifesting & Prayer for Self
This part was what I thought prayer was all about for so long—asking God for something.
What I’ve come to learn is that prayer is a relationship. And any relationship is about reciprocity—giving and receiving. That’s why greeting and gratitude are important steps before asking for needs and desires.
“May you bless this day with effortless ease.”
“May you give me flow and abundance.”
“May you support me in my work and connect me to my life purpose.”
4. Prayer for Others
Once I’ve called in my guides, expressed gratitude, and prayed for myself, I move on to praying for others.
“May you bless my family with good health.”
“May you give my daughters strength and support in their lives.”
“May you support my friend through his breakup.”
5. Closing
To make it clear that the communication is complete, it’s important to close the prayer.
Sometimes, especially when praying silently or in the mind, thoughts can drift in before the prayer is fully closed. That’s why it’s good practice to pray out loud when possible.
There are endless ways to close a prayer—find one that resonates with you.
“And so it is. Amen.”
“Thy will be done. Amen.”
“Awen.”
“And so it is. Thank you.”
“Aho.”
Prayer, like any form of communication, is a skillset with limitless potential. It can be a creative art that involves singing, instruments, painting, ritual, and more.
My current practice is to pray morning and evening to reprogram my mind—to offer gratitude, to ask for what I need and desire, and to send support to those I care about.
By praying, I open a line of communication with something greater than myself, and I practice letting go and trusting. I create a larger container for my life—where life becomes my ceremony.
I begin each day with an opening prayer and end each night with a closing one.
Integration
There is a lot more I could write about my experience in the jungle, and some insights may come through in future posts.
My first 3 lessons from the diet:
Fasting to cleanse the system and focus solely on spirituality.
Breath as a pathway to regulate the nervous system.
Prayer for gratitude and manifestation.
An equally important part of the actual diet is the idea of a post-diet.
What I’ve learned about nervous system regulation is the role dopamine plays. Once I had detoxed from all my cheap ways of getting dopamine, I could finally take a big out-breath and feel my entire being drop into a deeper state.
To integrate my time in the jungle, I had to take a look at the ways I use dopamine in my everyday life, and I decided on a few practices to help limit my access to cheap rewards.
I’m only watching one movie a week for a year.
Numbing myself through an excess of movies and Netflix had been keeping me from fully engaging with life. Now I spend my evenings actually doing important things that I love.I can only use social media until sunset for one year.
I only recently rejoined Facebook after 4–5 years offline, but it quickly sneaks back in as a scrolling habit I don’t want to waste time on. So, to limit this, I’ve decided not to engage with social media after sunset.I’m not watching or reading mainstream news for one year.
There is already so much subliminal programming in our society, and as I work to become more sovereign with my energetic field, I am choosing not to engage with the news.
I’ve been doing this for almost a month now, and I’m already seeing how a part of me is trying to work around these commitments. This will definitely be a test for me.
What practices can you implement to regulate yourself?
What can you let go if this full moon or next cycle?