It's been three months since Mom died. And, in all that happened in the lead-up and since, it's been a while since the world felt quite normal. Three months is long enough that it's not...like it was in those first days and weeks, but also...I dunno. It feels like I'm still at the beginning of something.
Anyway, before everything with mom started, I'd been getting the bug to try ayahuasca, which is one of the psychedelics that everyone (Prince Harry! Goop! Lindsay Lohan!) seems to be buzzing about these days. In January, this resort in Costa Rica - Rythmia - was recommended to me, at the same time that my friend Derek was looking into it. Yadda, yadda, yadda, we're both on planes today, and landing in Liberia in two hours.
*After* booking the trip(s), I was doing a deeper dive on the Rythmia website and watched one of the videos. At first, I was surprised to see that Bobbi Brown was featured, which gave me momentary pause. But, then I thought, "well, he *really* knows drugs, so that's actually kind of a strong endorsement."
There's not one specific thing I'm chasing in this journey. After talking about it with my therapist and a little bit of reading, it seems best to try and go into this with an open heart and let it be what it will be. The website has a lot of language that makes me openly uncomfortable "97 percent miracle rate!" seems like a bumper sticker on a car that I'd try to avoid getting into, not the slogan for an all-inclusive resort that I'd seek out.
But, if ever there was a moment for a bit of a reboot, or a fresh way to look at the world - this feels like that moment.
Here's what I know going in (which will be fun to look at in hindsight on the other end of this experience):
- We get in this afternoon, probably about 5:00 - so presumably just in time for dinner.
- The ayauscha tea ceremonies are daily from Monday-Thursday, after sundown each night. Friends who have done this (in other venues) say that the tea ceremonies go all night long.
- Rythmia had a whole bunch of suggested items to detox from before coming. Red meat, alcohol, dairy, sugar, sleeping pills (Hi, Lunesta habit! I see you.), komboucha, etc. I did my best, but was not perfect in this detoxing. I'm told that just about everyone pukes at least a little bit at the begining of each tea ceremony. I'm also told that the people who puke the most are the ones who have detoxed the least. Honestly, I'm just hoping that Derek pukes more than me.
- Outside of that, Rythmia offers daily yoga, a pool, one free massage, and two free colonics (are you even supposed to have two in a week?). So, aside from the ayauscha, this should actually be sort of a cleansing experience?
