– Is closing dieta the end of dieta? –

In response, Becky offered the following reflection about the beautifully imprecise process of dieta and integration:

Do diets ever really end? Should we take time to balance and work on the many parts of ourselves ‘unearthed’ during diet? These are really great questions Tommy! Thank you for posting them. 

I think maybe you already know what I’m going to say…, and of course it’s not going to answer anything exactly. 😁 But at least I think Yoda would agree with how appropriately enigmatic this study is.

In my experience there are no hard and fast rules about how precisely diets operate.

On the one hand we can ask the teachers for specific guidance and we will tend to find that each one of them has their own particular clarity of understanding about the technical details of how goes the dieta medicine path/process. Sometimes their guidance will concur (amongst teachers), but often it will be totally contradictory.

Hmm, so what to do with that? 🤔

Of course, we should and ultimately must, take our own experience. But even then, what we ourselves decide is absolutely clear and certain in one moment, may, a year later, be turned utterly on its head. 🌿🙃💚

So, what can I offer about these topics with some degree of certainty today? I can say that I feel I know for sure there are big ‘happenings’ that occur with the specific acts of opening and closing a diet. But these are unique for each master dieta plant and for each individual person who is dieting.

I can also say that during a master plant dieta there is an observable process of opening, deepening, ’unearthing’ of our stuff as you so aptly describe, cleansing, stretching, testing and learning – at all levels of our being. And that the longer and better ‘held’ the diet is, the more intensely these things will happen.

And, it’s also very clear that when a diet is closed, the physical connection with the plant is ended, but something new begins. We say at that moment the diet is “born”; into the dieter’s personal ‘world’. It is so easy to forget this. In fact, everyone forgets it! We invest so much time and energy into the discipline of the dieta process that we easily forget that it all really begins when we’ve closed the diet! And no matter how many times we remind ourselves, we still forget and we can feel a little surprised or even a little shell-shocked at how much ‘work’ is happening during Integration.

For some plants this early stage of Integration is extremely poignant, and can be very challenging. Especially… (and I know you already know I’m going to say it…😉) with Pinon Blanco! There are several very experienced dieters in this forum who can share their own experiences of how incredibly intense the early days and weeks after closing an extended Pinon Blanco dieta can be. And sometimes it’s not just the first days and weeks, it can continue over even longer periods.

Personally I’ve noticed a kind of rhythm with the early weeks and months when I’m ‘In Integration’ where things can feel quiet for a week or two, and then suddenly I’m being stretched, sometimes invited, sometimes pushed with big waves of energy, into making Transformational changes in my way of relating with myself and with everything and everyone in my life. Remember the real goal of the nature of the work we’re doing at Caya Shobo is actual Transformation, which means renewal, metamorphosis, i.e. truly going through the process of becoming a new person. It’s not usually comfortable, although I believe it is really Everything, the greatest gift of understanding and joy that we can devote our spiritual efforts and even our lives to discovering. ✨

So, is it a good idea to drink medicine during this phase of Integration? Or focus on what the plant has gifted you. Well of course, I’m sorry to say it, but it depends! 😅

It depends on the individual, their present situation, how the diet went, and so on and so forth. In general I’d say it’s a good idea to take at least a little bit of time to feel into what’s happening, to see what new directions are opening up for us in our regular day-to-day lives, to get grounded once again. To re-nourish our bodies and our relationships with our loved ones. To settle into new patterns that now feel good for us with our food habits, exercise, other activities, work, play, creativity, etc.

But for some it can be really beneficial to reconnect with the medicine, especially when it’s been a while, and perhaps especially when you’ve received a remote close for your diet. Generally though, it is better to be physically present with your maestro for this. So they can help clean energies that may have muddied the relationship with the plant/s while we’ve been living the integration process, and they can ‘put our diets straight’ as the Shipibo like to say, and ensure that we’re not heading off into some woo-woo land of self-delusion about our new amazing dieta powers.

As Yoda says “so much ego and impatience the gringo has…”

And undoubtedly more clarity will come, just as more questions arise. The more diets we do, the more they come together into a ‘medicine body’ within us, which provides a more fulsome and clearly felt sense of our relationship with the dieta plants, which doesn’t turn on and off between diets as distinctly as it might have with our early diets. You may have heard the old maestros talk about tending to their ‘Diet’ in a singular manner?

As you can see, it’s complex. And it really depends on each individual, who we are as a unique person, and where we are at in our own healing and learning journey with the plants and with life, as to how it will go for us in dieta and during integration, and as to what is the best next step for us.

Patience and prayer are definitely key.

One last golden advice from Ayahuasca Yoda: “He must pray for clarity. Only then will he find what he seeks.” 🙏💖🐍

Becky