Heart Opening With Bobinsana

Welcome to the third instalment of my Plant Medicine Blog Series. This episode is dedicated to the jungle master plant known as Bobinsana; a beautiful tree which bears bright pink flowers and grows by the river’s edge in the Amazon Rainforest. This plant has powerful heart opening properties and a cosmic mermaid energy. In local communities she is known as the heart of the jungle due to her powerful heart healing properties and her ability to initiate feelings of oneness and unconditional love. This beautiful plant has taught me so much about self-love and compassion and I’d love to share my experience for those who may be seeking a deeper connection and understanding of themselves.

I arrived at The Garden of Peace in Peru in the hope of correcting a dysfunction I felt around love and self-worth. I sat down with the shaman and began to tell them about my life and the blockages I felt around love. I explained that although I am a very loving person who loves nothing more than to nurture and help others see the good within themselves, I find it really difficult to receive that level of love for myself. No matter how much inner work I have done over the years, I still find it so hard to receive love and compassion from other people. I have always put on a front that I am a strong warrior woman who carries a burning torch of inner self love, so I don’t need it from anyone else. I guess the truth behind that is that I’m actually sabotaging my relationships because deep down I’m afraid of love. I give so much to other people to cover my own fears of rejection in the hope that they will somehow see me as irreplaceable, however my actions only smother people and drive them away. I was ready to change this, I had suffered for too long. I was ready to put all of my faith in the magic of the master plant dieta, to let go and transform my life.

So what is a dieta? In traditional Amazonian shamanism, the indigenous healers of the jungle undergo various plants diets to help them receive transformation and healing. They go into solitude, eating a specific plain diet while drinking a tonic made from plants. These plants have specific physical healing properties. Bobinsana for example, helps clear the mucosal lining, cleans the blood and improves circulation, lung function and the urinary system. The plants also contain a spirit that awakens our consciousness and offers incredible teachings when you drink it. The more plants the Amazonian shamans drink, the deeper and more connected they become to the jungle itself. They develop a relationship so strong with these plants that they are able to work with them to assist the healing of others. They often combine these with ayahuasca ceremonies to facilitate deeper healing.

I was prescribed Bobinsana for 14 of my 25 night stay at The Garden of Peace and was told to expect a soft, watery plant that would connect my heart and clean out the mucosal lining of my body. I too would be drinking this plant in complete solitude and would use ayahuasca to deepen my healing. I was to learn just how amazing it feels to have my heart cracked open so wide and experience genuine love pouring in. I first noticed how incredibly spacey I felt. I had no energy and would literally lay in my hammock for hours in an almost lucid state of being. I developed a hideous cold, my nose was streaming non stop. It was hard to believe that any human could contain so much snot. I was finding the solitude and silence really hard and I was longing to connect with others. Bobinsana quickly put a stop to that by giving me a huge ulcer on the inside of my mouth which took away my desire for communication. I felt so awful, all I wanted to do was lay in my hammock and sleep, even going down to the river to wash or use the toilet was an effort.

It was only on day six that I started to get some light relief, I suddenly got this overwhelming feeling that I had been joined by an invisible force and was no longer alone. I experienced a feeling that I had been plugged into my surroundings. I felt so alive, and connected with nature. Which was calling me to sit down on the rocks down by the river, where I would get this overwhelming urge to sing and observe the perfection of nature as it did its thing. I learned to play the Native American flute in a matter of moments just simply by feeling the vibrations of the flute and letting go of expectations. I watched in amazement as the tiny amazonian fishes would swim around my body and dart curiously between my toes and my feet, completely unafraid and at ease with me. I felt such a huge bond with these tiny creatures and really began to enjoy our daily play sessions together. My time at the river was also teaching me to let go of my expectations and to feel the vibrations of nature and in doing so, love started to flow through my veins. I felt so at one with the river I could hear it speaking to me in a magical dialect which seemed so natural, like it had always been there but I had somehow forgotten how to listen. I was being taught the art of letting go by sitting and observing the water as it passed on by. Taking with it leaves and any debris that stood in its way. I could see that the amazon river regained its cleanliness and purity because it was constantly moving, everything was passing by with no resistance. If any part of the river became separated or isolated from the rest, it became stagnant and died. I could see how that related to humanity and our thoughts. When we live in a state of flow everything is easy and effortless, it’s when we begin to resist it, that’s when things become difficult. We hold on to our thoughts and suppress our emotions so deeply that they lead to disease and emotional turmoil, just like the stagnant parts of the river.

As I sat alone in my little jungle house, I began to experience some really weird stuff. Many negative emotions started to come up and it was really uncomfortable. What I would typically do in my normal situation is reach for something to distract me. That might be my mobile phone, some chocolate or other junk food, or a quick scroll through social media. But here, alone in nature I had nothing to distract me, so I had no option but to let it all come out; this was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I felt overwhelming grief and sadness as I suddenly realised how I had spent a massive chunk of my life doing things I hated for financial security, I saw that neglecting my own needs had caused me to hold on to things and people too tightly, which made those close to me feel suffocated and had made me sick. The beautiful part was that I could experience this with complete love, without judgement. The more I allowed my emotions the space to be felt the less intense they became. The more I was able to surrender, the more genuine happiness and freedom I began to feel. In doing this work it created space for something new. My senses had now became so acute that I could literally feel the whole forest around me.  I felt the rain as it lightly tapped on the leaves, the thoughts of the butterflies and stick insects in the tree next to me. I could feel the presence of the lizards as they sunbaked on my balcony. I felt so tuned in to the property in which I was staying that I felt as people left the grounds and arrived. I could feel them conversing, I felt the emotions of those who came close to me and received insight to their thoughts. The sharper my senses became, the more I felt the need to isolate myself. These plants were delivering an experience that was nothing short of miraculous.

During my isolation, I focused on my daily yoga practice and in doing so I was able to feel every physical restriction within my body and a clear understanding as to why it was there. I was being led by an innate wisdom to scan my body and release all my stiffness and physical restrictions which improved my yoga in ways which I can only describe as magical. I worked through my blockages and released them with love and compassion, which set me free and connected me to my heart so deeply I thought I would explode. I began to write material for my business and found  that I could express my thoughts with such clarity that everything seemed effortless. Workshops wrote themselves and my inspiration soared. During my daily journalling sessions my emotions presented themselves onto paper so clearly, they had a deeply healing affect. My singing voice became so powerful, suddenly overflowing with such deep emotion that I was deeply moved every time I sang. Connecting to my emotions within had been really difficult for me prior to drinking Bobinsana, but now it all seemed to make so much sense.  I was inspired to start drawing in a way like never before. The pencils flowing over the paper were guided by an invisible force. I drew my own interpretation of Bobinsana in the form of a pretty pink flower, a beautiful red heart and a mermaid, without knowing at the time the mermaid and heart connection. To seal the deal, just before I broke my diet, Bobinsana presented me with a beautiful icaros (a healing medicine song) to use whenever I felt sad or disconnected. This completed my soul’s quest for love and mended my broken heart.

My life after my dieta with Bobinsana has been truly life changing, I feel alive with more freedom in my body and a wonderful connection to everything around me.  I am constantly being pushed to face my fears with a deep inner wisdom that I will be protected if I follow my heart. I feel love and compassion for everyone and everything. I am ready to welcome love into my life and continue to work through my shadow with the inner burning light of Bobinsana as my guide that will remain in my heart forever.

Bobinsana is a wonderful master plant teacher for anyone who feels like they want to make real change in their life. Undergoing a master plant dieta is a wonderful tool that can be used for happiness and wellbeing, however, it isn’t easy. It takes a really strong level of dedication and maturity as it will require you to make dramatic changes in your life in order to facilitate healing. This could mean moving jobs, moving to a new home or area, or ending relationships that aren’t working. Whatever is bringing you down, you will get the insight and the wisdom to change. If you are struggling, it is important to seek the specialist help of a professional who can help you integrate the teachings from the plants into your life. This will not only ensure a smooth transition, but also will help you avoid slipping back into old habits and self-destructive ways.

For more information, please visit illumination coaching for plant medicine integration.

Until next time,

Alison

xx

For master plant diets visit the garden of peace in the Tarapoto region of Peru

www.thegardenofpeace.com

Image credits to The Garden of Peace