Dietary Preparation

Preparing well for your arrival

Please do not book your flights until we have approved your application. For the safest and best possible experience with the medicine, it is mandatory prior to your arrival to prepare well by observing a simple and clean diet and restricting certain lifestyle habits to avoid undesirable side effects. The following must be eliminated for a minimum of 10 days before your arrival, ideally 2 weeks prior:

AVOID: ❌

All pharmaceutical Drugs - It is critical to advise us well before your arrival of any and all medications you've taken within the last year. The medicine we work with is contraindicated with many pharmaceuticals and can produce undesirable and even dangerous effects when combined. Please inform us prior to your arrival if medications are necessary and let us know your dose and the type of medication(s) you are taking.
Alcohol (strongly recommend avoiding for 2 weeks or longer if possible)
Pork (avoid for at least 1 week. Highly incompatible with the medicine)
Red meat
Dairy, aged cheeses, yogurt, ice-cream
Salt (can create blocks)
Sugar (can cause inflammation..which can cause physical discomfort in ceremony)
Chocolate
Caffeine
Fermented foods such as soya sauce, fermented tofu, sauerkraut (high in tyramines)
Spicy foods
Citrus fruits (lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges)
Canned foods (high in tyramines)
Whey protein powders, collagen peptides, bovine or other supplements containing animal by-products
Oils ( a little olive or coconut oil prepared in foods or in a salad is ok )
Aspartame
Junk foods (chips, candy bars etc.)
Peanuts
Hemp seeds or hemp products
Avoid Garlic, Ginger, and Onions 4 days before ceremony

CONTRAINDICATED HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS:

Ginseng
Boswellia
St. Johns Wort
Kava
Nutmeg

CONTRAINDICATED PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLEMENTS:

Any drugs to treat depression, MAO inhibitors, anxiety, ADD, ADHD, blood pressure medicines, cold and flu medication, allergy medication, anti-inflammatories, statins, medicines for nausea, asthma sprays.

You can read more about all restrictions here

* it is necessary to advise us during the booking process of any and all supplements or medications you are taking or have taken within the last 12 months so that we can be sure you will arrive prepared to safely participate in ceremony. It is also required to abstain from sexual energy for at least 1 week prior.

LIFESTYLE HABITS:

It is strongly recommended to abstain from sexual intercourse and masturbation one week prior to and after attending ceremony. Sexual energy is extremely strong, depletes your energetic reserves, and interferes with the medicine, causing major blocks in the process of cleaning and healing issues within the body,

MENSTRUATION:

During menstruation, it is very important to take rest and isolate with your dieta, so you will be asked not to attend ceremony at this time. Please contact us if you wish to discuss in more detail about these requirements.

FOODS TO EAT: ✅

The following is a list of foods that are favorable for the plant medicine ceremony preparation diet and can be prepared in a wide variety of ways. We recommend experimenting with fresh herbs, and different food preparation methods such as roasting, lightly sauteéing (with minimum oils), steaming, or any other preparation method you'd like within guidelines to keep things interesting. We recommend organic foods where possible, and drinking plenty of room temperature or lukewarm water to help flush out any toxins. (Cold water is hard on the body and the stomach and causes imbalances in the body over time.)

Fresh Wild Salmon
Organic Chicken
Fresh white river fish (where possible)
Organic eggs
Fresh or cooked vegetables of all varieties
Oats (can be blended with banana and plant-based milk and made into pancakes)
Rice, Quinoa, Buckwheat, Barley and other cereal grains
Fresh whole grain breads (in moderation)
Beans and legumes
Chia seeds, Flax seeds,
Avocados
Fresh fruit, particularly apples, pears, and bananas (except citrus fruits)
Fresh pressed juices
Nut butters (small quantities EXCEPT peanut butter)
Rice cakes
Nuts, all varieties (EXCEPT peanuts)
Plant based milks, unsweetened, unsalted
Olive oil (in moderation)
Low sodium vegetable or chicken broth for soups
Herbs: fennel, dill, parsley, cilantro, marjoram, tarragon, cinnamon, rosemary, basil, thyme, etc. fresh is best
Herbal teas (cinnamon, camomile, mint, lavender, etc)

Integration after your stay at Amazonia Moyano

With all the hard work in ceremony, the energetic “surgical” procedures that the maestros have performed on us, the clean diet, and the serenity and calm in the jungle; we become highly sensitive to our surrounding environment. Returning back to the energies and responsibilities of life at home can feel jarring and overwhelming. It is important to give yourself the time you need for a slow re-integration process. We recommend giving yourself a buffer of a few days before going back to work once you return home, however, we understand that this is not possible for everyone. Be gentle and kind to yourself, and take it slow during this time, even if this means giving yourself 10 minutes of alone time every day to just reconnect in solitude and breathe.

The medicine will continue to work through you and bring up layers of emotions and energies to be released, and it’s completely normal to feel a wide range of emotions from extreme happiness and a renewed love for life, to deep sadness, confusion, anger, uncertainty, or a combination of these emotions. Don’t be hard on yourself when difficult emotions and challenges arise, and remind yourself that this is a normal part of the integration process. It’s helpful not to react in a difficult moment, but only to observe the thoughts and emotions bubbling up. Some people find it really helpful to write in a journal when this is occurring to aid in their process through it. As we take the time to observe our thoughts and emotions and maintain discipline without reaction to triggering circumstances, we learn to recognize our unhealthy patterns of thinking which helps us to become more resilient and enables us to slowly change these patterns which releases negative thoughts and emotions more easily.

Mindfulness meditation, embracing gratitude, spending time with nature, exercise, and writing in a journal, are all helpful ways to release some of these energies coming up and integrate the teachings from the medicine. Even 10 minutes of meditation per day can help boost serotonin in the brain and change your perspective in stressful situations. If meditation is new for you, try a guided practice on youtube, or practice a gratitude meditation where you just sit and breathe and focus on the things you are grateful for in your life. It might be helpful to write down a list somewhere in a journal or in your phone, so you can look at it and remind yourself of this daily.

Another vital part of the reintegration process is to continue eating as clean as possible upon your return home, slowly re-introducing salt, caffiene, sugar, and spices. Diet is one of the most important aspects of healing, and re-introducing salty, spicy, or acidic foods too quickly can cause a shock to the system and may also cause some unwanted digestive discomforts.

Our retreat programs are designed with at least a day of rest before you depart to give you time to process and adjust before travel. Should you have any questions or require support upon your return home, the facilitators at Moyano are available to help you through your integration process after your departure. Please contact us if you need support.