Welcome to the first instalment of my blog series which focuses on my experience with plant medicine and the wonderful affects they have on the human body. These incredible plants are a wonderful gift from mamma nature, placed on earth to heal the mind, body and spirit of humanity. This blog series is for anyone who is curious about plant medicine and would like to gather more information. Here I will talk about my own personal experiences with these wonderful plants.

From ayahuasca and San Pedro to psilocybin mushrooms making the decision to begin your journey with plants is a really exciting one but one that needs the correct preparation in order to get the best possible experience. I will share everything from my preparation techniques for ceremony and how to get the best out of a full medicinal plant dieta.

The first instalment is a focus on San Pedro or Wachuma as it is also known. Dubbed The Grandfather of all master plants. Is a psychoactive cactus and mild psychedelic that is indigenous to central and South America. Which has been used as a medicine by indigenous shaman for hundreds of years to help balance emotions and open up the heart of all who drink it. The shamans that work with this plant understand that it has a spirit and the unique ability to show us where we are suffering in life, while giving us the strength to change. San Pedro has the ability to open up the heart and merge our heart and soul with everything around us. A medicine so powerful that it can transport us into a world where we see everything through the eyes of oneness and love. Dissolve addictions and depression paving the way for a new state of being.

I would like to share my own personal experiences with the medicine and the knowledge gained from working with this sacred plant and the special people that have brought these plants to my life.

Rewind my life to 2015, I was stuck and unhappy, I had been battling with self loathing, depression and eating disorders for most of my life. I walked through life worrying unnecessarily about things and allowing the fear of change to rule my life, leaving me stuck and depressed. I was working in a job that I had outgrown many years ago but I was too afraid to take the plunge and leave. I had dreams of being a Life Coach but I felt too unconfident in my abilities. I was esoteric; fascinated by mysticism and spirituality, often daydreaming and wishing I could exist on another realm other than the physical one I was born into. I felt floaty which often manifested to me being a very clumsy and scatty person. I had been to see a shamanic healer to do some inner work and she arranged for me to me to meet with an amazing shaman in Peru for a sacred ceremony which would hopefully bring much needed grounding into my life.

I travelled to Cusco and met with Jamee and Henry, the shaman who worked with San Pedro. The ceremony space was high in the mountains above the hustle and bustle of the city centre. The space was open and the air was clean, I instantly felt safe and calm. We drank the medicine and waited for it to take effect. After around 40 mins everything round me felt different. The space in which I rested suddenly transformed into a magical place which was brimming with life, but not how I had experienced it before. The earth felt alive, I could feel the gentle pulse of the earth’s energy field, I could feel the gentle whisper of the wind and she blew through the eucalyptus trees which created the most incredible aroma around me. I could feel the groan of the mountains and feel the wisdom they carried within them, but best of all I felt alive in a way I had never experienced before. I felt love for myself and everything around me and my life from that moment was transported into a deeper love for me and the world round me. It was at that moment my love for San Pedro began.

On my return to Peru in 2016, again I was drawn to the wonderful power of Wachuma, the grandfather this time at the mountain house of Casas De La Gringa. Our shaman was a wise indigenous man who had spent most of his life living high in the Andes Mountains at altitudes reaching 6,ooo meters. I felt so safe and honoured to be under his care.
I began my ceremony by clearing my mind and setting my intentions with meditation. What did I want to learn from the medicine and why was I there? I began to connect with the earth and the trees. I began to focus on the sun and how beautiful it felt against my skin. After a few moments I opened my eyes and noticed that the three dogs who lived at the mountain house were sitting very close to me. Almost as if guarding me, when I looked into their eyes I could feel pure love. I felt like I was one of them, one of the pack. Our thoughts synchronised. I could feel them; I was them! I looked to the ground and I noticed a beautiful golden threaded energy travelling along the ground to the trunk of the tree, where it travelled up the trunk and out into the branches, where it set the leaves and flowers aglow with this magical universal life force. The sky was also unlike anything I had ever seen before. I saw the clouds breaking down in great detail and watched them form new shapes and structures. Why had I never noticed how beautiful everything was before now?

I began to feel deep despair and compassion for women through the ages and how we have held our self worth through physical beauty. I began to see myself becoming older, my hand ageing right before my very eyes, slowly becoming deep with wrinkles and riddled with arthritis before it began to turn to dust and return to the ground. I realised how we are all living on borrowed time and will eventually return to the earth. The message to revisit my inner child became very clear. We united and she embraced me as she reminded me to be happy and I comforted her for all the moments she had felt alone and afraid. We bonded, adult Alison and Alison the child, sharing love for who we were and who we had become. I was disturbed from my thoughts by a fly who was buzzing around my space. I watched him intently as he switched from flying around to resting and cleaning his legs. I held out my hand and to my surprise the fly landed on the palm of my hand, unafraid and relaxed. I watched him as he cleaned himself and he watched me watching him. It was at that moment I realised we really were the same being. Vibrating on the same plane.

The shaman that work with these medicines are truly remarkable people. Dedicating their lives to heal and serve humanity. They listen to the whispers of the wind, they use the stars and planets for guidance, the worship the sun and respect all living beings as as extension of themselves; Imagine if everyone saw what they saw. My thirst for life has increased ten fold, I feel so deeply connected to the earth that I too see it as a part of me. Imagine how different our world would be if more people experienced these wonderful plants. Wars and famine would be a thing of the past. People would be united instead of separating ourselves from our fellow man. People would be aligned with the earth and respect it as a living being instead of using it as a commodity. We would walk the earth in harmony and life would be a dream.

Look out for the next installment in the plant medicine series where I reveal in great detail my experience on a plant medicine dieta in the amazon jungle.

Love Alison x

Photo credits go to Andreas Nordgren and Jon Nagel

For further information on working with San Pedro contact www.casadelagringa.com