The ceremony is the physical engagement with the medicine, but the true beginning is the day a commitment is made.
Preparation for an Iboga Journey ceremony begins the day you commit and has four parts. First, bring awareness to your daily patterns and clarify your intentions through self-inquiry and journaling. Second, prepare the body: stay active, limit caffeine, processed foods, chemicals and refined sugar, and be completely free of alcohol, drugs and medications for the period set in your consultation with Treenz. Third, spend time in nature, ideally on quiet forest walks without a phone. Fourth, plan an easeful schedule for the days after the ceremony so integration can take root. No strict diet is required, and guidance is available from Iboga Journey at every step.
Iboga Journey offers guidance for all who reach out, whether committed, considering or simply curious. Treenz shares her experience from hundreds of individual journeys over eleven years of service. The first step is to connect by email or book a consultation; the consultation itself is by phone.
Once a commitment to the ceremony is made, there is a shift. The same forces that lead people to iboga begin preparing them as well, but there needs to be a level of receptivity. The senses are numbed by distraction, so practising awareness is the best place to start. Eating, habits, relationships, family and work all have hidden teachings as unconscious patterns are revealed. Bring awareness to life and watch the subtle patterns emerge. It is always a great benefit to ask, “What is the message in this pattern?” This helps to shape intentions for working with iboga. Self-inquiry is an essential part of reaching a clear expression of those intentions.
This inward process demands patience and stillness, but with practice and Iboga Journey’s guidance, the focal point of the journey will emerge.
Journaling and free-writing are helpful exercises for self-investigation and for clarifying where priorities lie. In this writing, we dare to express deep aspirations, possible life improvements, wounds that need healing and talents waiting to be fully expressed. Over time, move back and forth between simply watching life with awareness and clarifying direction through journaling. By taking time away and then rereading, insight can be gained from what was previously written. Different points may reveal themselves as belonging to the same theme or pattern. There is no right or wrong here. It is about dedication to the inquiry, and staying open to the truth no matter how it reveals itself.
Even before the ceremony, iboga has a strong influence. Synchronicity becomes apparent, and dreams may bring memorable messages. Situations arise that show precisely the emotional blocks a person carries. The medicine illuminates weak points, resistances and the belief systems still being held. While things may seem more difficult as the ceremony approaches, this is simply an opportunity to focus on what is to be shed and what is to be enhanced.
In this process of inner reflection, life becomes the guru. There are countless opportunities to shed and grow. An upbeat attitude helps, as seriousness can weigh heavily. Inner kindness and sincerity allow for forgiveness of oneself and others. Take time to digest each situation and make space to breathe through it.
One of the most potent ways to do this work is a meditative forest walk, best done alone and without a phone or device. The resonance of nature’s balance inspires a remembering of the balance within. Walk with every sense fully aware, taking in the whole energy field. The mind will wander, so keep checking back into what is immediate and now. With every walk this becomes easier.
All guests must be free of alcohol, drugs, pharmaceuticals and medications before the ceremony. The required length of time is determined in your consultation with Treenz and depends on what has been used. This is a safety requirement, not a formality: Iboga Journey ceremonies are not clinical detox, and the screening ensures iboga’s effects stay well within everyone’s physical limits. Never stop a prescribed medication without speaking to the prescribing practitioner.
Iboga Journey’s commitment extends far beyond the ceremony. Pre- and post-ceremony integration support is included with your three-day retreat booking, and private sessions can be booked separately if you simply need support. Iboga leaves a powerful resonance, but that frequency is only part of what leads to the realization of your intentions.
Integration helps to accommodate a higher vibration and frees us from challenging settings or circumstances. A hasty return to obstacles and decisions is counter-productive, and an easeful schedule afterward is essential to experiencing oneself anew.
Plenty of rest and Epsom salt baths are significant assets. Salt continues the outward movement of old energies, toxins and blockages freed up in the session. Take time each day to reflect on the ceremony. Journaling, meditation and yoga are effective ways to maintain the connection, and time in the forest quiets the mind in a way few things can.
The body will need nourishment. Diet recommendations are shared in the closing circle and can be unique to each person. Iboga can challenge the beneficial flora in the gut, so probiotics before breakfast for the first week after the session are recommended. Because the digestive system has been cleaned, a diet free of processed foods and chemicals should follow the ceremony. Eat often and in smaller portions.
Life will not stop presenting challenges, so if old patterns or habits creep back, remain poised and confident. Resistance or blame only feeds them. Recognize what is happening, smile at it and smile inward. Things are often taken far too seriously, fuelling drama and conflict. Whatever is happening, keep light and laugh. Humour makes things relative and places them in better perspective.
