Garett: 00:28

Welcome to the deeper you go, the weirder it gets. I'm your host, Garett Renon. So in this episode, I want to talk about one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to plant medicine. And that misconception is thinking and believing that plant medicine is a, quote, unquote, medicine. Now I understand why that is confusing because we call it plant medicine, and medicine is in the name.

Garett: 00:59

So the issue or misconception isn't really with the name. It is with our definition and expectation and even understanding of that word. See, we have been led to believe that the word medicine is defined as something external that we take that immediately provides relief and heals or fixes our issues. We believe that it is something that makes us better. But the truth is that that is not how medicine works at all, particularly plant medicine.

Garett: 01:38

But before we get into the episode, I wanna take a moment to thank you all for being here. I know it's been a while since my last episode, but here we are. And so I'm gonna remind you that this show runs on your support. And if these conversations resonate with you, here are a few simple ways to help keep the show alive. You can share it with a friend.

Garett: 02:03

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Garett: 02:07

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Garett: 02:07

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Garett: 02:26

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Garett: 02:57

So when it comes to Ayahuasca or any plant medicine for that matter, there's a big misconception on how these substances or plants work. And a big reason for that is because of the word medicine. We call plant medicines medicine. Right? It's in the name.

Garett: 03:22

And while on one aspect it is a medicine, this word medicine gives us false expectations into how these substances actually work.

Garett: 03:37

See, when

Garett: 03:38

we think about the word medicine, we think about a concoction or a substance or a pill or a shot that when consumed or taken that this will immediately make you start feeling better and it will heal you from whatever ails you. And the reality is true medicine doesn't necessarily exist. Yes, there are lots of substances you can take that will help you on your journey to becoming healthier. But true medicine is actually a holistic approach, right? There are many factors in helping you one, stay healthy and two, overcome any illness.

Garett: 04:26

And that's dictated on the food you eat, do you exercise, what does your environment look like, what does your mental state, right? All these things help determine how quickly you will overcome any illness or anything that ails you. And because of our false understanding of the word medicine, many people believe that when they drink Ayahuasca, for example, that all of a sudden they will show up for a ceremony, some Ayahuasca and all their problems will be solved. They will be healed and relieved of their traumas, They will be healed and relieved of their illnesses. They will become automatically more energetically aligned and their life will suddenly get better.

Garett: 05:18

Now, this is not necessarily true. Ayahuasca helps with all those things, but it doesn't immediately cure you. And that's actually probably a good thing because if it did, if you could just drink a cup of plant tea, and then suddenly you are miraculously healed and your life becomes better, well, you wouldn't really respect it. Right? If something is just given to you, you don't respect it.

Garett: 05:53

You only respect the things that you earn. And so if we could just give you healing, if we could just give you a pill to automatically improve your life, you wouldn't learn anything about yourself, you wouldn't make the necessary changes in order to build a better life. Most likely, you would just go back to your old behaviors and pick up your bad habits because why not? You can be bad, you can eat like crap, you can drink, you can smoke, you can do drugs, you can party, and anytime you need healing, you just come back to the medicine. So how does Ayahuasca work?

Garett: 06:38

How does it help you? How does it heal you? How does it bring you an energetic alignment? Well, there's two factors kind of going on. And one, we actually know that there is some scientific scientific evidence that can back this up.

Garett: 06:53

And so what essentially happens when you take Ayahuasca is that it temporarily shuts down your default mode network. Now, your default mode network is exactly like it sounds, and you can think of it as your operating system. Your default mode network is your thoughts, your habits, your patterns. It's essentially your brain wiring system. And our wiring system becomes very hard wired.

Garett: 07:30

For example, you may have heard the quote from Joe Dispenza where he says that neurons that fire together, wire together. And so as we go about our lives and we repeat our same habits and patterns and view the world the same as we did yesterday, what happens is our programming gets hardwired in and this becomes our personality. And it's very hard to break out of these hardwired habits. And we know this because if I were to ask you, if I were to ask anyone, how do you improve your life? What could you do to make yourself better?

Garett: 08:16

What could you make yourself? What could you do to make yourself healthier, stronger, more successful, a better husband, a better wife, a better worker, you would all know the answer, right? It doesn't take it's right, it's not rocket science. And in fact, science isn't even rocket science, but we're not going to go there. But you would all know that I should probably clean up my diet, I should exercise, I should meditate, I should do an inventory of the people around me.

Garett: 08:53

I should clean up my environment. I should step into the unknown. I should confront my fears. Right? We know we know exactly what it is that we should be doing.

Garett: 09:05

Should be reading books, taking courses. So if we all know what to do, then how come it's so hard to break out of these habits and these patterns? Well, it's because, like I said, that default mode network is locked in. So what Ayahuasca does and what it helps with is that it temporarily shuts down the default mode network, which gives you which gives your brain a clean slate, so to speak. Now, doesn't mean that you completely change who you are and that you're going to drink some Ayahuasca and completely lose your sense of self.

Garett: 09:49

But what it does is it makes those hardwired connections valuable and it gives you the opportunity to then forge new patterns. And this is critical, and this is why taking any plant medicine and not having an integration plan afterwards is essentially a waste of time. Now, yes, you can gain benefit from plant substances without an integration process, but it's few and far between and those and what you learn and the insights you gain very rarely stick around. But because the default mode network temporarily gets shut down and your neurons become more malleable, then the things you do after the ceremony closes and you go back home matter more than ever and you now have this opportunity to break out of your old habits and patterns and form new connections, which is absolutely amazing. It gives you a new lease on life.

Garett: 11:00

But the thing is, it's not given to you, you have to earn it. So what Ayahuasca does is it puts you in the best possible position to create that new life. That's the magic and that's the power, but it requires you to then do the work and put in the effort and have focus on creating the life that you want. And while that is not as easy as just having all your problems fixed for you, the beauty of this is that you earn it. And if you earn it, you respect it.

Garett: 11:38

And if you respect it, you keep that pattern going because you don't want to lose ground on the progress you've made. And this is why anyone who works with me is always supported in integration programs and ninety day challenges and using tools like the unplugged journal. I do everything I can to help you make real significant change. So that's the scientific explanation for how this works. And it's very important.

Garett: 12:13

Well, I should say one other thing that this is critical, that if you do any type of plant medicine, something that shuts down your default mode network and puts your brain into a state of hyper neuroplasticity, that if you go back to your old patterns, that you can actually rewire them stronger. So this neuroplasticity is a gift, but it can also be a curse. And this is very important to understand. So you should not be taking these substances if you are not ready to take on life changing actions, Right? If you're just taking this because you're curious and you have no intention of making lasting changes, you are actually putting yourself in danger of making your negative habits and negative patterns stronger and setting yourself back even further.

Garett: 13:09

With all that being said, there is actually another way that Ayahuasca, and particularly Ayahuasca, helps you build a new life and that can be best described as spiritual aspect or the miraculous aspect. Those of you that have done it know that it is something much more than a quote unquote drug and the and what you're experiencing is something much more in-depth and much deeper than quote unquote hallucinations. What you are doing is you are actually connecting into the spirit world and you are connecting into the intelligence of mother earth, of Gaia. And this cannot be explained by science, but it's extremely fascinating. I've talked about this many times that there is something special about where we live.

Garett: 14:20

There was something special about earth and it's much bigger and much more in-depth than just a blue ball floating in infinite space. Right? That's what the mainstream narrative tells us that we are just one planet amongst an infinite amount of planets, rotating around a star amongst infinite amount of stars, living in a universe and galaxy amongst infinite amount of universes and galaxies. And while that is a very interesting take on where we live, it is also very limiting and it makes us believe that we are very small and insignificant, just a grain of sand amongst infinite amounts of sand. But those of you that know better know that that could not be further from the truth.

Garett: 15:23

You know, I don't know where it is we live, but it is not necessarily what science tells us it is. We live in some sort of realm, a planet, whatever you want to call it, that seems to be very important. And it seems to be a critical aspect of our soul's journey and that we are here for a reason. And you are here to learn lessons and I also believe that you are here to connect into and communicate with the intelligence of the realm. And that's why Ayahuasca, particularly in the Shipibo tradition, this is why it is so important and so powerful because it puts you in direct communication with mother earth with Gaia and this is very interesting because you have to kind of learn how to speak a different language.

Garett: 16:26

When mother earth speaks to you, when the plants speak to you, it's not always logical. They speak to you through your heart mind and they speak to you through your intuition and feelings and you get a different type of communication going on. So that takes time to get good at that and learn how to do that. But when you begin to decipher this new language, a whole new world opens up to you and suddenly you have opportunities that seemed impossible and you go from simply drifting through life and just being a pawn or an NPC to someone who starts to create their own reality and forge their own path, which is why more often than not, after someone does a Shipibo style ceremony, they suddenly get the urge to eat better. They suddenly get the urge to start focusing and harnessing their energy in a specific direction.

Garett: 17:36

They get the urge to meditate, to cut out toxic people and toxic habits out of their life. And they feel if they do this work and this doesn't happen overnight, this plays out over years and years, but they feel as if their life starts to become more guided, that they are being led to their purpose and they are being led to discover and unlock their potential. And so it's an absolutely beautiful process and it is extremely weird, right? The deeper you go, the weirder it gets, but also the deeper you go, the more magical it gets. And you start to look at the world through different eyes.

Garett: 18:23

Right? It makes me think of that scene from the matrix where Neo having just been unplugged opens his eyes and says why do my eyes hurt and Morpheus says because you've never used them before and that's what happens when you approach Ayahuasca with the right intention and you do it in the right environment with the right guide you suddenly can see for the first time and hear for the first time and feel for the first time. It's like a veil has been removed from your soul. And while all of that is absolutely amazing, it still requires work. And that is the key aspect of all of this.

Garett: 19:13

Ayahuasca doesn't give you anything. Plant medicines don't give you anything. They guide you and help you become a better version of yourself. So if you have a feeling that you could do more, be more, and have more, if you have a feeling that the world is not what it seems, and if you are willing to do the work and walk a path, a lifelong path, this journey never ends until the lights go out. If you're willing to do all that then and only then should you consider partaking in plant medicine ceremonies.

Garett: 19:59

Until then, don't waste your time. Let me know how I can help. See you on the other side.