How to prepare for Ayahuasca: avoid generic advice
Different Ayahuasca traditions, different types of brews and different philosophies — that means different ways to prepare. It’s important to follow the preparation guidelines of the place you have chosen to drink with. The internet will give you generic advice that doesn’t apply to the place you choose.
This is the specific guide on how to prepare for an Ayahuasca retreat at Harmonica. Other retreat centers might have a different focus.
Who should not drink Ayahuasca
Be honest about your medical condition. Hiding a diagnosis or a medication doesn’t protect your place in the ceremony — it puts you at risk.
- 1 · Antidepressants
SSRIs, SNRIs and MAOIs
Risk of serotonin syndrome. Read more on Ayahuasca and SSRI safety.
- 2 · Psychiatric conditions
Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder
- 3 · Heart conditions
Ayahuasca raises heart rate and blood pressure
- 4 · Epilepsy
A clear contraindication
- 5 · Current hard drug use
Not the time for a ceremony
- 6 · Respiratory disease
Asthma is often fine — get professional advice
These topics cover more than 95% of the medical situations where people shouldn’t be drinking Ayahuasca.
Other, more intricate individual health conditions need to be double-checked by a medical professional who knows about Ayahuasca.
What you should avoid before drinking Ayahuasca
-
Weeksahead
Medications
Review everything you take with your doctor well in advance. Antidepressants and several other drugs interact with Ayahuasca.
It’s important that certain medications are continued before drinking Ayahuasca! Never stop or change a medication on your own — and always tell your facilitator what you take.
-
7days before
Alcohol, cannabis & cigarettes
Abstain for at least seven days so you arrive to the medicine clear.
-
7days before
Hard drugs & other psychedelics
Give the medicine a clean slate: your system should be clean of any other drugs or plant medicines for at least seven days. Don’t combine Ayahuasca with other substances.
The Ayahuasca diet
Many people over-focus on the diet. It impacts the ceremony — but not as much as you might think, at least with the Ayahuasca we work with. Still, there are some guidelines to follow.
- 7Days before
Red meat (pork, beef) · alcohol · weed · other substances · processed food
- 3Days before
Coffee · dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt) · garlic · nuts · spicy food
- 0Ceremony day
No citrus fruits · skip dinner to fast for the ceremony
- Chicken & fish, eggs
- Rice, bread, vegetables
- Avocado (in moderation)
- Salt
- Sugar (unless it’s part of your coping mechanism — more about that below)
- Salami, cured & dried meats
- Soy sauce, miso
- Sauerkraut
- Aged or fermented drinks
Aged cheese already falls under dairy.
“In theory there are a lot of foods that interact with Ayahuasca. In practice you only eat small amounts of them — and by the time the ceremony arrives, they are already out of your system, so the Ayahuasca doesn’t interact with them any more.”
Mental preparation
Centering your spirit. Work from the inside out. What you feed your mind in the days before stays with you in the ceremony.
Regulate your nervous system
Breathwork, time in nature, enough sleep. Slow your days down.
Build a spiritual practice
Meditation, yoga, journaling, painting — whatever turns you inward.
Protect your subconscious
Avoid horror movies, excessive news and anything that clouds your subconscious.
Leave out your coping mechanism
We all have one — the thing we do when we are angry, stressed, bored or frustrated. You know for yourself what yours is.
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…more sensitive and clear
You arrive to the medicine more open, with a higher level of clarity of where you are.
If you can’t go a week without it — that in itself is information.
Self-sabotage & fear before Ayahuasca
“The process with Ayahuasca doesn’t start when you’re in the ceremony — but when you make the decision to drink it.”
Inner states get amplified
Emotions feel stronger, unresolved topics come back up.
More active dreams
Many people dream more vividly in the weeks before.
Physical adjustments
The body joins in — like stomach pain, often related to our emotions.
Procrastination & self‑sabotage
Delaying the booking, “forgetting” the diet, finding reasons to cancel.
Fears surface
“I don’t really need this.” “What if I go crazy?” — often the ego resisting change.
Feeling scared does not mean you are not ready.
Finding your Ayahuasca intention
What brings you to the medicine? For what reason and purpose do you want to connect with it? Are you ready to look at the unresolved topics of your life?
Intention
A direction you open yourself to. “I want to heal my relationship with my father.”
Expectation
A result you demand. “Show me my childhood and I will forgive my father tonight.”
Specific
When one topic clearly calls you — a loss, a pattern, a decision.
Broad
When your mind is crowded. Simply “healing” is enough.
- Be open to let go of things that no longer serve you, and to receive new insights.
- Trust the process. Your intention may shift during preparation. Let it.
Sex, alcohol, weed
Sex
~1 week — at least 2 daysIdeally abstain. Conserve your energy and bring only your own energy into the ceremony. Finding this hard? It may be a coping mechanism in itself.
Alcohol
7 days beforeAbstain completely for at least a week — and obviously during the retreat too. Cigarettes: also one week off.
Weed
7 days beforeCannabis clouds the clarity you are trying to arrive with. Daily user? Start reducing earlier. More in weed and Ayahuasca.
What happens if you don’t follow the diet?
More physical cleansing
More purging — vomiting and diarrhea — as the medicine clears out what you brought in.
A more physical ceremony
The focus may stay on the body, leaving less room for the emotional and spiritual work.
Or a powerful ceremony anyway
Some people have a powerful ceremony without proper preparation. Your spirit “needed” that experience.
Joining the ceremony without the full 7 days to prepare
Some people arrive at our retreat this way. More important than the preparation process is the sincere desire to look within yourself.
The humility to see your limitations — and an understanding of why you want to connect with the medicine.
Do your best and forget the rest.
Don’t over-pressure yourself if you weren’t able to follow all the steps.
The Ayahuasca will meet you where you are at.
But what about fasting…?
It goes back to not following generic advice online about Ayahuasca.
- 1
You need a strong body
In the tradition we follow, you need strength to withstand the physical demands of Ayahuasca.
- 2
Just skip dinner
Eat light and clean in the days before; on ceremony day, skip dinner.
- 3
Don’t mix healing modalities
Especially at the beginning of your journey with Ayahuasca.
- Fasting
- Ayahuasca
- Other practices
Each one is powerful enough on its own.
Trust
Trust yourself.
You made this decision for a reason.
Trust the process.
Easy or hard, what comes up is part of it.
Trust the medicine.
It gives you what you need — not always what you want.
Trust the place.
Choose your center with care — then let them hold the space for you.
Ayahuasca preparation FAQs
How long before an Ayahuasca ceremony should I start preparing?
Review your medications with your doctor weeks ahead. Stop alcohol, cannabis and cigarettes, hard drugs and other psychedelics, red meat and processed food at least seven days before, and coffee, dairy, garlic, nuts and spicy food three days before. On ceremony day, skip citrus fruits and dinner.
Who should not drink Ayahuasca?
People taking antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs and MAOIs), people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder, heart conditions or epilepsy, and anyone currently using hard drugs. Asthma is often fine, but get professional advice. These cover more than 95% of the medical situations where people shouldn’t drink Ayahuasca; other conditions need to be checked by a medical professional who knows about Ayahuasca. More in who should not do Ayahuasca.
Should I stop my medication before Ayahuasca?
Never stop or change a medication on your own. Review everything you take with your doctor well in advance — certain medications need to be continued before drinking Ayahuasca — and always tell your facilitator what you take. If you take antidepressants, read Ayahuasca and SSRI safety.
What happens if I don’t follow the Ayahuasca diet?
You may have more physical cleansing — more vomiting and diarrhea — and a more physical ceremony, with less room for the emotional and spiritual work. Some people have a powerful ceremony anyway. Do your best and forget the rest: the Ayahuasca will meet you where you are at. See what you can eat on the Ayahuasca diet.
Should I fast before an Ayahuasca ceremony?
No. In the tradition we follow, you need a strong body to withstand the physical demands of Ayahuasca. Eat light and clean in the days before and skip dinner on ceremony day. If you are an experienced faster, talk to your retreat center first.
Can I have sex before an Ayahuasca ceremony?
Ideally abstain for about a week, and at least two days, so you bring only your own energy into the ceremony. If that is hard, it may be a coping mechanism in itself.
Is it normal to feel scared before drinking Ayahuasca?
Yes. Emotions get amplified, dreams become more vivid and fears like “What if I go crazy?” surface — often the ego resisting change. Feeling scared does not mean you are not ready.
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