in my last experience with ayahuasca, she actually took her hands, pulled at the top of my head, and like a mother would, told me 'sit up straight" and then mumbled something about how she dislikes poor posture.
how does your posture affect your experience in ceremony?
how does your posture affect your experience in ceremony?
posted by:
|
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 12:52 PMoh yes, just as my thoughts are aligned with God, so is my spine.
very helpful...
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 12:59 PMits funny i have felt teonancatl utter the same words. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 1:10 PMStaff walking on the land is' God'
The pulling on your head was your conciousness leaving your body is all'~
Bounce'~ he he he'
Bliss'~
Motumbu'~
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 1:24 PMI had a teacher in the Advaita Vedanta tradition back in the 80s, who managed, in a meditation group, to gently push on the base of my spine and pull up on *both* my shoulders to straighten my posture.....three-handedly, therefore....and all the while he was sitting at the front of the room.
The memory still makes me smile. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 5:48 PMThe fellow I drink with most often around these parts ;) is pretty keen on encouraging us to keep our back straight for sure, and cause of that I guess I always felt it was a really important part of ceremony to try and keep your back straight for as much of it as you can. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 22, 2008 - 10:09 PMyes i too had this message last time i drank, "sit up proud and strong, and sing from the heart.
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 9:33 AMInterestingly enough, I watched a History channel documentary last night called "From Peyote to LSD" which was primarily about plant explorer Richard Evans Schulte (who was the first American academic to really dig into sacred plants.) They covered Aya, of course, but what struck me, after reading this thread, is that the natives shown having ceremony were all stretched out in hammocks for the night.
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 10:27 AMi'm pretty balanced in my hedonism, and a nice fluffy pile of down comforters and gigantic pillows is alright by me. to be honest if you can stand might as well dance...can't dance then collapse and enjoy how your bones fall. :D
hammocks rock
-
-
-
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 10:09 AMthe last time i did ceremony i was so blocked from the will chakra up that i couldnt hardly sit up at all...by the end she had slowly worked up through me and i remember finally sitting straight except for my head which still hung heavy and suddenly the snakes wrapped around my chest and squeezed until all the energy and air finally shot up, and my head snapped back as my chest came forward, i and my girlfriend sitting next to me both heard and audible POP noise as something in my rib/spine that had been out for god knows how long snapped into place and then i sat, straight proud and effortless, finally able to sing the songs that had been coming to me because my lungs had space to hold the air.
gracias a la madre otra vez -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 12:44 PMhow i long for her to gift me with that POP. the message i get is do more yoga and until i can get regular with that i shouldn't expect her to do it for me.
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 10:21 AMthe alignment with the upper realms gets me to sit up and stack my spine properly, but for a while i really liked touching my palms and forehead to the ground like sujud, and see that way. sends me into a different direction passing through different realms. i would wander a lot of mazes and marvel more in the mysterious while positioned like that, and sitting head high gives me feeling of great expanse, levity, and more beaming truth...like the difference between the whispered secrets of the moon and the trumpeting truths of the sun. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 7:17 PMThe lower realms energies need to be kept at bay, they have virtually no power but can give some minor problems if you let them. Just by virtue of your sending off enough energy in "sitting-up" keeps the low lifes at bay. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Wed, April 23, 2008 - 7:39 PMi was also told that when you are lying down the maestro spirits will think you are too tired to work with them.
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 10:17 AM'they' attach themselves to you. much like a small parasitic creature that crawls up between the plates of armor and begins to disfigure the young knight over time. dealt with many stow-aways like that. when they get too big it is like tearing a huge squawking crow out from beneath your flesh. i still love walking the corners and paths they inhabit. it's my garden too. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Thu, April 24, 2008 - 10:18 AMthat reply in response to lower realm energies.
-
-
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 3:17 PMIn recent ceremony, better posture correlated to a stronger experience, but stronger medicine too. Though when I felt negative energy pulling at me, it definitely wanted me to relax my posture. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 3:40 PMi know in the energy work i do with vibration and chakras sitting up is key to allowing energy flow between the prime meridians
... you have 2 major nerve plexuses in the body ... one near the tail bone, and one near the base of the skull ... all the energy put forth by the heart runs thru here ... when your spine is aligned obviously this energy can run thru these meridians more effortlessly.
i know certain concoctions of aya include plants that will hold your spine straight ... as well as others that do not ... i also am just learning about the skeletal system as a conductor of sound ... which seems very condusive to the sitting up straight thinking
as well as i have been thinking about the old adage - to have a backbone :) = courage. fearlessness ......
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 7:52 PMI don't know - for me, nothing beats dancing with Ma. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Mon, April 28, 2008 - 8:52 PM"i know certain concoctions of aya include plants that will hold your spine straight ... as well as others that do not ... i also am just learning about the skeletal system as a conductor of sound ... which seems very condusive to the sitting up straight thinking.."
hey stella, do you know what plants those are?
im curious about the skeletal system as a conductor of sound for my personal healing..can you PM me about what you know??
whether, yah dancing is an incredible thing with the mediicne! just be sure to take a small dose! -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 8:53 AMrebecca: yah dancing is an incredible thing with the mediicne! just be sure to take a small dose!
LOL! Or wait until you have your sea legs under you again. :)
-
-
-
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, April 29, 2008 - 9:42 AMI can't even tell what my posture is in ceremony until the light bearing plant is over and only the caapi effects remain.
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 5:49 AMThe Santo Daime have participants sit up straight on backless benches and not corss any of their limbs and at intervals stand and move back and forth. This was the best experience I had - clear, no nausea, able to negotiate difficult passages well. I think laying on mats is awful and has always been a bad experience for me. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 12:27 PMlying on mats?
interesting, the only time i've ever done that was at daime, in the "healing" room.
but perhaps the "don't cross your legs" guideline is for similar reasons as the ones mentioned above.. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 12:39 PMI've spent most of an evening lying on a mat. Very low-key, comfortable, and just as rich an experience.
-
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 4:15 AMFor me, it depends on the time of year. Deep winter journeys are always done lying down. If you can sit up, you probably didn't drink enough, or didn't have enough Jurema in the brew. Spring and fall journeys typically have movement , circulation and frequently dance. A ratio or 4-5:1, vine to leaf is preferred. Sitting up is when attending other people's ceremonies so as not to offend them, or in the tropics when hammocks are not available. But, then again, I am an an Amanita Muscaria shaman by training, so you have to take my words with a grain of spice. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Tue, May 13, 2008 - 8:23 PMwow an amanita shaman ay, i would love to hear of your experience with training in that one day maybe this isnt the tribe but if you have somewhere else where you psot about this i would love to hear about it. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Sun, May 18, 2008 - 4:27 PMMy calling to the path of the Amanita is described in a chapter in Daniel Pinchbeck's book "Breaking Open the Head". In the chapter, [I forget which one, but its near the beginning],., he uses the alias "Bob" for me. Bear in mind that this experience happened some 25 years ago , and things have evolved and changed since then, but I have held up my end of the bargain. -
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Sun, May 18, 2008 - 4:48 PMcool i have not read that book i will keep it in mind if i ever read it.
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Mon, May 19, 2008 - 7:33 AMThe chapter about Richard is WHY DID YOU EAT US in Breaking open the Head. Also more on topic, I Can Attest that a cozy pillow Den is a Delightful place to find One self deep with the Aya Journey. Lying Flat on my back looking at the Stars about has been Position 1# one for me. However, I have had the inclination to suggest people sit up straight or even stand proud IN MOUNTAIN POSE to get out of a negative Pattern during a ceremony. Its seems so Obvious (to ME) that the Fetal Position is not a Way to face one Fears/Shadow side its so Meek; The Sitting up Straight or being straight lying down is a position conducive for the Work to Be DONE in ceremony.
BEWELL
-
-
-
-
Re: "sit up straight!"
Fri, May 16, 2008 - 11:22 AMno mention of xochipilli yet. "absorbed in temicxoch"
although to me it appears his ass is killing him.
-
SINK INTO THE EARTH
Mon, June 9, 2008 - 9:49 AMForget about your posture. You're not doing yoga at the ashram. All the indigenous with whom I've done it have laid back and relaxed. Ayahuasca wants you to be comfortable. I have never been able to maintain an upright position in all the years I have done ceremonies. I find the best positon is to be laying directly on the jungle floor, totally plastered to the Earth. Your body, head, mind and spirit can more easily develop roots and connection to Ayahuasca. And if you're lying on a hard surface, why can't your spinal column be straight??? -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 9:44 AMSometimes I wonder how much of the "sit up straight" and other rules come more from a northern Puritanical streak that than anything Ma requires. It may even be genetic, given our ancestry. The belief that we need to suffer to learn -?
-
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 1:33 PMI believe that everything is valid, and different approaches for different people definitely work. But keeping your back straight doesn't even remotely come from some puritanical streak, IMO. Keeping your back straight is about lighting up your chakras like a traffic light. It's about energy flowing from the base of your spine through the crown of your skull. It's about alignment, about how the human back was supposed to be (rather than slouched in a chair as I am right now :)
This energy movement through the spine is documented in many cultures, many many cultures, from Kalahari Bushmen, to India, to Native Americans, etc....I'm not saying it's law that you should sit with your back straight, but just that sitting with your back straight carries energetic benefits that other positions might not..... -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 1:54 PMalso stimulating the two pressure points at the base of the spine with a cross legged position (or half-lotus asana, if you will) seems to help me rise.
I also noticed that when I move my eyes upward,
so does my consciousness
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 3:31 PMindeed Jav! this is how the energetic system works for me too!
... funny to me how much people on this tribe like to argue ... rather than relate and share perspectives, healing, and insights received from this holy medicine!
don't we all know that nothing is constant ... that some people have blue eyes, and some people like salt ... and some times it rains and sometimes people need a hand...
Rain falls from the sky onto the hills ... some of it evaporates into the clouds, some of it freezes into ice ... some of it seeps into the ground and integrates with other energetic systems... and many many little droplets rush downwards towards the seas, and oceans, in a thousand different streams, rivers, trickles, and currents.. it will all in the end be the same thing...
... we are all correct... we are all expressions of the great spirit.... not one way is better than another so long as the intention is pure! ... what are your motivations?
even with in my limited perspective, and experience... i have sat in the dark lotus style all night ... i have layed ... i have sat in a chair with out crossing my arms or legs all night looking at silly pieces of paper ... and it's all good ... it's all right. ... i find my rhythm... i feel my energies i know what i like ... i like cookies, and i like to sit lotus with my back straight and i like to breath, and feel all my nadis open up ... and i really really like hummingbirds!
and i like people too ... and all their funny idiosyncrasies and in's and outs ... and i love watching us heal and grow into our true being. -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 3:38 PMto clarify about the cookies ... that would be ... in general ... definantly not pre or post ceremony :)
-
-
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 2:48 PM> The belief that we need to suffer to learn
The real suffering is in the fear Ayahuasca produces, not in sitting up straight.
I prefer to lie down. To me, Ayahuasca is about letting go, not asceticism which is quite the opposite.
To me, Ayahuasca is about learning how to rid myself of all the shit that makes me human. -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 4:48 PMDzikius, I like your sentiment about ridding yourself of "all the shit that makes me human" because that "humanness" is the big barrier that disables us from attaining the spiritual essence that we really are. For me that's the highpoint of my ceremonies, when I lose my human identity, but also the initial reaction is the fear you are talking about; at least that's my experience. When all is said and done, do you think that it is possible that humanity is a malignancy on this Earth? I strongly posit that this Earth is not here for the benefit and pleasure of mankind, and we are not the highest form here. Just because we are at the top of the food chain, our existence is not sanctified in any way. When I'm alone in the jungle with Ayahuasca, I cry, but I cry for her and not myself. I apologize for what we have done and are doing to her. In her presence I often feel her sadness. ATTENTION: FOR THOSE WHO DISAGREE AND WANT TO TELL ME I'M BEING NEGATIVE, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE WITH YOUR POSITION. -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Wed, June 11, 2008 - 3:07 AMBoo, I was referring to what makes you care about things, analyze things, develop inhibitions, etc.
Animals just do what they feel like doing and that makes them superior to humans. They follow their instinct, while humans suppress it.
Animals are never traumatized. Animals never have persistent anxiety or phobias. Animals never commit suicide out of misery. We humans have lost touch with our instinctual selves and that's what causes all kinds of problems.
Mankind is a dead-end branch of evolution. It's good animal genes gone bad.
I wish I had been born an insect, reptile, or some other magnificent animal, but I haven't.
Ayahuasca shows me what it's like to be an animal, sets me free of the "humanness" for a short while. -
-
AYAHUASCA LOVES STINKBUG MORE THAN YOU AND ME!!!!!!
Wed, June 11, 2008 - 6:54 PMDzikus, Im agee with you. I am sure that Ayahuasca loves Stinkbug more than you or me. The other kingdoms are superior to us, but many people bridle at the mere thought of that. Stinkbug never makes war (although he/she does make love), never clearcuts rainforest, never is consumed by greed, leaves no carbon footprint (quite unlike you and I) and lives in the here and now. Why would Ayahuasca think more highly of us? I agree with you posit that "Mankind is a dead-end branch of evolution". I am sure if Ayahuasca has Her way, we will not last too much longer, and if we go the way of the dodo bird, do you think the world will suffer tremendously??? After all, we are here as out-of-control consumers, very much unlike Stinkbug, who has been here hundreds of times longer than mankind. I love to lose my humanness, and in this way I feel I can be closer to Ayahuasca. In the presence of Ayahuasca, I feel deep shame for what we are doing to her. I want to comment on Stella's comment referring to fear as being a product of "human ego". The concept of ego is that it is an integral part of humans. So, I am a bit confused as to what she means by fear being its product. Kind of a bit of non-speak, personally speaking. As for fear, I assure you that if she accompanied me and Ayahuasca down a moonlit trail in the jungle, she would learn what fear is (as in being overwhelmed by awe). She might find her mind focusing on the fer-de-lances- the bushmasters and the wandering spiders, that is if she did not trust Ayahuasca's protection. I will soon be communing with Ayahuasca, Stinkbug and Chullachaqui, although he has previously caused me problems. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity"
-
-
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 4:49 PM"The real suffering is in the fear Ayahuasca produces, not in sitting up straight. "
i have never understood fear to be a product of anything other than the human ego, personally.
"To me, Ayahuasca is about learning how to rid myself of all the shit that makes me human."
if you weren't human... you wouldn't drink Aya ;) ... -
-
Re: SINK INTO THE EARTH
Tue, June 10, 2008 - 5:45 PM"i have never understood fear to be a product of anything other than the human ego, personally. "
"i have never understood fear to be a product of anything other than the human ego, personally. "
Both very good points Stella, and let's all remember, as Brother Motu always likes to say, "all is reflection".
-
-
-
-
