Ceremony, A Great Excuse to Stop...

They say the ceremony begins the moment you decide to join it. Many indigenous shamans who serve Ayahuasca teach that the spirit of the medicina begins to work on your body, mind, and soul as soon as you take that first bold step toward meeting Her. Sacred Acacia—containing the same alkaloids as Ayahuasca—is no different.

But what does this actually mean? What shifts or benefits can you expect in the weeks and months before ceremony? This blog hopes to shed some light.

In many ways, the moment you commit to ceremony is an invitation to stop—to stop the constant rush of daily life, the old patterns, the confusion about what you really want. Ceremony is more than just a spiritual experience; it’s a divine opportunity to pause and reflect, to get honest with yourself, and to ask the big questions you’ve been avoiding.

Ceremony: A Great Excuse to Stop Hiding from What You Want

"How long are you going to wait before you expect the best from yourself?" — Epictetus

Most of us go through life with a vague sense of wanting “more” but never daring to say what that actually is. We tell ourselves we want success, love, or purpose—but avoid getting specific, because getting clear would mean admitting what isn’t working, and committing to change. Perhaps the fear of failure makes us shy away from speaking our goals and dreams aloud, so we play small and manifest a small life.

But ceremony doesn’t let you hide. The moment you say yes to sitting with Sacred Acacia, you’re making a promise to yourself: to stop being vague, stop making excuses, and get honest about what you really want from life.

Your intention isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a prayer. It’s the map you hand to the spirit of Sacred Acacia so she knows where you’re ready to be transformed. When you’re clear, she knows exactly where to work. And she will answer—though rarely in the way you expect.

When we work one-on-one with members preparing for ceremony, we often recommend journaling as the first step. Because defining why you’re coming is transformational in itself. It forces you to admit what you want—something most people avoid for years.

Your intention is your commitment to change. It’s the moment you stop lying to yourself that things are okay, start asking for what you need, and invite the medicine to help you make it real.

Exercise: Light a candle. Take out a journal and pen. At the top of the page, write: What do you want? Answer it honestly. Then write: But, [Your Name], what do you really want? Answer that too. Repeat this as many times as you need to uncover what it is you are truly seeking.

The Universe favors those who boldly take steps toward their destiny. So get out a pen, name your very first step—and take it.

Ceremony: A Great Excuse to Stop Avoiding and Face Your Shadow

Everyone has a room in their house where they keep their skeletons. Most people avoid this room like the plague, convinced there are things inside they're better off forgetting. They’re so afraid to look inside that they do everything in their power to hide from their memories, their mistakes, and the secrets their family kept.

The reality is that the fear of facing your shadow is actually far more painful than the experience of confronting it head-on. For starters, it prolongs the torture—stretching it out over years to haunt you in quiet moments. Secondly, the way our memories work, we tend to blow negative things out of proportion. Someone might have called you “stupid” in grade school, and you repeated it to yourself ten thousand times until it became a mountain of crushing self-doubt.

Another form of avoidance is starting down the spiritual path and stopping at the “love and light” phase. While this may feel better than pure ignorance, it bypasses the deep inner work required for your soul to realize its mission in this lifetime. Whatever your reason for avoiding your shadow, it ends up closing you off from achieving the goals of your Higher Self.

Deciding to join a ceremony means you’re ready to open that door and look inside. Deep down, your soul understands that all of you is needed in order to live your most free and authentic life. When we push parts of ourselves away, we only perpetuate our suffering. The divine light of healing often lies on the other side of the dark night of the soul.

Just making that decision is a signal to the Universe that you are open and ready for healing. Many people find that the Universe responds even before ceremony begins—dropping omens, synchronicities, messages, and situations that facilitate healing in unexpected ways.

Ceremony: A Great Excuse to Stop Numbing and Feel

The Buddha taught that from the moment we're born to the day we die, life is full of suffering. We’re born screaming, and life is marked by pain, illness, loss, and eventually death. Suffering and living are inseparable.

Yet many of us have found ways to numb ourselves from feeling difficult emotions in a myriad of ways.

Alcohol, cannabis, other substances—even relationships and social media scrolling—can all become methods of avoiding what’s hard to feel. When we’re young, we might have a drink to ease anxiety in social situations. Years later, we may find ourselves reaching for the bottle late at night to cope with work stress.

The thing about crutches is that their negative effects tend to creep up on us. Cannabis, for example, helps our nervous system relax, but over time, we may forget how to self-regulate without it. Situations we once could handle become anxiety-inducing triggers that send us hunting for the nearest dispensary or liquor store. We lose ourselves to the very thing that once felt so helpful.

Some people resist the dietary guidelines we recommend for 1–3 weeks prior to joining a ceremonial retreat. They wonder why they shouldn’t use cannabis or drink alcohol. After all, they don’t see themselves as addicts—just people who enjoy relaxing with a drink or a joint. Why should they need to give these up?

But when you make the decision to join a Sacred Waters ceremonial retreat, you’re making a commitment to yourself—and to us—that you’ll observe the dieta. Again and again, we hear from members that even this step alone was profoundly helpful in resetting their bodies and nervous systems before ceremony began. Regular cannabis users report reduced brain fog and anxiety. Regular alcohol drinkers often share that they feel less depressed, more energized, and overall healthier and more positive about life.

What’s going on here is not purely the result of the body detoxifying these substances. It’s also about making affirming choices that align with your highest path. You’re putting your Higher Self in the driver’s seat of your life and inviting discipline into your routines. You’re choosing emotional resilience instead of numbing. You're trusting in your strength to get through the hard moments, to sit with discomfort, and to accept yourself as you are.

The Buddha also taught that in a world full of suffering, the path to enlightenment isn’t about running away from pain, but learning to sit with it—while also opening to joy and bliss at the same time.

It’s a powerful decision to feel. Because feeling is healing.

Ceremony, A Great Excuse to Stop Procrastinating and Take Action

"Most of the time, you don't need more information. You need more courage." — James Clear

Your goals for healing and spiritual growth lie on the other side of taking that first step: getting clear on what you want out of life, doing the shadow work you’ve been avoiding, and allowing yourself the healing that comes with truly feeling your feelings.

If you’ve been guided to this post, it may be that your soul is telling you it’s high time you get started. Take this as a great excuse to stop getting in your own way—and take meaningful action toward your life’s purpose.

Join us in ceremony by scheduling an Introduction and Screening Call.