I attended a ceremony in July 2023 at the St. George location. I had been dealing with anxiety and depression for several years. A recent breakup pushed me over the edge and I knew I needed help. I started seeing a psychologist and while this was helpful it just wasn’t enough. He recommended a psychiatrist and anti depressants. I reluctantly agreed but decided to try ayahuasca first in a last ditch effort to avoid big pharma (no stigma to anyone out there on meds!). I turned to Hummingbird Church and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Before the ceremony my anxiety and depression floated around a 3-5 out of 10 with peaks at 7-8. After the post ceremony euphoria wore off a few weeks later I’d say I’m at a 2-3 with peaks around 4-6. It was not a cure but dang, I’ve got this now, I can handle this. A few months later and I might actually be happy sometimes ha ha, it’s a weird feeling 🙂

Mother Aya taught me more about myself, empathy, compassion, and perspective in one weekend than I’d ever been able to figure out on my own. This will help me for the rest of my life. I can’t imagine the path I would have continued down without this. Actually I can because I’d been on that path my entire adult life and, well, there are better paths in life. Success with this requires ongoing self work. That’s maybe the letdown if you’re looking for a one-time one-and-done cure to your problems. I can see that I will need to continue working on myself in perpetuity, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing! Mother Aya will bring you face to face with your inner demons. She’ll hold up a mirror to your soul. Shit stains and all. She’ll give you the tools to deal with your issues but you have to pick up these tools and use them. I know this sounds like a bunch of hippy bullshit but it’s no joke!

The location outside of St. George was beautiful. Even without the ceremony the location will bring you down to earth! I paid a little extra to have a semi private room, this meant 5 of us in one room. It was totally fine and I was only in there to sleep. I brought ear muffs to drown out any potential snoring. The meals were incredible and I felt so grateful to have something awesome to eat after following the pre ceremony dietary restrictions.

I arrived at the site feeling kind of sullen and withdrawn. I brought several books so I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone ha ha. Yeah, I made it about 20 pages through one of them. Everyone, facilitators and participants included, was so nice. Wait, there were 1-2 participants that I didn’t care for but you’ll probably find that in any group of 25 people. Everyone did seem to be there for the right reasons (I didn’t see anyone doing it for the ‘gram). I came away from the weekend with a couple of friends that I still talk to often. It has been nice to exchange words and support each other. There’s also an integration call held every Wednesday night. I’ve been on a few of these and they’re a great place to seek advice and offer help to others.

While this was my first and only aya ceremony I don’t know how it could have been much better. Thanks Hummingbird Church. I really hope I never need to come back but if I do I wouldn’t go anywhere else. Did this save my life? I don’t know but I sure feel better than I used to!