Integration: A Psychedelic Love Affair of the Conscious & Unconscious

Integration is a popular buzzword. Practitioners commonly praise integration as a crucial part of whatever transformational event they just facilitated, but seldom else seems to ever be mentioned about what integration is, why it's important, and how to go about this word that seems to reap so many rewards.

As someone who has been on both the giver and the receiver end of Earth medicines, psychedelics, multi-day meditation retreats, and the healing community for years, integration is a word I find to be largely misunderstood and overused, yet is an essential part of intentional metamorphosis.

Integration is the process of weaving the learned parts of the subconscious self into conscious awareness in order to receive greater wholeness of being. This can (and needs to be done) with both the Shadow and Light parts of ourselves in order to heal trauma, make peace with our innate complexity, and move into accordance with our True Selves.

To understand integration as a process, we need to define the subconscious, or unconscious, self.

Psychologist Carl Jung once said “until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” The unconscious self is the deeper part of our psyche - it encompasses the memories, beliefs, and emotions that we are not actively aware of, but influences our behavior, reactions, and relationship with the world nonetheless.

The entire autonomic nervous system, our fight or flight responses, and automatic responses to external stimuli are all aspects of the unconscious self. Traumas, childhood memories, learned behaviors, and ingrained beliefs are all stored in the subconscious self. This facet of the psyche makes up a total of 95% of the brain's processing power, leaving only 5% to our conscious awareness.

The unconscious conserves precious mental energy for us to cope with the world. It allows us to turn off the sensory disturbances of modern day life, go through the day free from active decision making at every single moment, and can protect us from emotions we are not ready to face. It is the part of us that is forefront when we mindlessly go through our morning routine or that allows us to zone out on our drive home from work. It is also the part responsible for repetitive patterns in our lives - seemingly for better or worse!

This is why psychedelics, meditation, and certain practices of personal inquiry can be so helpful; they possess the potential to bring forth aspects of the subconscious mind. They allow us to know what has been unknown, see what has been unseen, and feel what has been unfelt. This puts us in the driver seat to install real, tangible change through active review and reprogramming of the subconscious self. These experiences also tend to provide a big boost of energy to bring desired results into fruition.

While big boosts of energy are undoubtedly helpful, it takes real, palpable habit changes and mindset shifts to create lasting transformation. This is where integration comes into play - we receive the downloads from these modalities that let us know how wonderful we can truly feel, and then it is up to us and our humanness to keep these learnings in place to actualize long-term.

As you can probably guess, this is not a simple, one-size fits all process. True integration requires radical awareness, loving presence, tangible practices, and, oftentimes, accountability from someone who understands us and our patterns.  Working with a consistent life coach or specialized practitioner can be immensely helpful in the endeavor to understand the self on this level, as facing triggers and resistance is almost guaranteed.

There are ways, however, to work with the subconscious mind on your own when installing change, such as through meditation, journal exercises, and the general openness to spot the self-limiting beliefs that keep you stuck. The subconscious loves reminders and repetition, so the more this is practiced, generally the easier it will become.

Remember to practice this equally with shadow and joy - it can be helpful to bring in as much authentic happiness and feel good vibes as possible following a transformational experience. The fullness of life is best experienced when we are able to hold it in all of its spectrum of multiplicity, after all.

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On Kambo, Its Recent Notoriety, & Dispelling Myths

Kambo has gained increasing notoriety as a “frog poison detox” that people burn into their skin to induce vomiting. With headlines like that, it’s easy to see that kambo can be great click-bait, but in reality, that description is inaccurate and neglects to mention all of kambo’s amazing benefits, rampant versatility, and fascinating history.

Phyllomedusa Bicolor, also known as the Kambo Frog.

Kambo is a purification method for the mind, body, and spirit. It has been used for centuries by Amazonian tribes as a way to prepare for hunting, treat illness, and to cleanse panema,  or “low vibration” mind dis-eases such as lethargy and jealousy. Some Pajes (the local word comparable to “shaman”) see kambo as a “heart medicine”, as it is said to cleanse the heart-space of negativity and bring more goodness into life.

Kambo has been on the scientific radar since the late-20th century. Vittorio Erspamer, the twice-Nobel Prize nominated scientist credited for discovering the neuro-chemical  serotonin, historically wrote that kambo contains a “fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequalled by any other amphibian”. A high regard, given that many modern-day pharmaceuticals are derived from amphibians.

Kambo contains a mixture of bio-active and neuro-active peptides that host a wide-range of treatment potential for modern day ailments including autoimmune diseases such as Lyme, migraines, cancer, depression, addiction, and more. Given that the components in kambo are all bio-active, it is by definition not a poison, and there is nothing in kambo that is known to be harmful to mammals. Phyllomedusa bicolor, or the kambo frog, produces the secretion as environmental protection, and kambo is safe for the vast majority of the population to receive under proper care.

The Matses Tribe (pictured here) is one of 7 tribes that has worked with kambo for centuries.

In addition to the aforementioned issues, people receive kambo today to prepare for psychedelic ceremonies. As a deep cleanse, kambo ensures that a person is less likely to be physically ill during a psychedelic experience. Kambo is also deeply grounding, and can cleanse a lot of the typical fear, anxiety, or control issues that can prevent someone's consciousness from fully journeying, leading to smoother and more blissful experiences.

But, what is it like to receive kambo? Kambo can be a deeply somatic and cathartic experience. Outside of the Amazon, Kambo Practitioners largely apply it ceremonially to align intention and best prepare the recipient for its inherent intensity. Nausea & vomiting (after fasting a certain number of hours) is almost unavoidable during a kambo ceremony, but to say that’s all that happens would be to ignore the research on it components, delegitimize thousands of people’s claims to successfully healing myriad issues through kambo, and to disregard the tribes who continue to utilize kambo as a traditional medicine after centuries.

Kambo travels in the lymph, and is applied subdermally, lasting about 20 minutes. It takes effect quickly and is accompanied by tachycardia, vasodilatation, and undulations in blood pressure. Kambo’s peptides are highly anti-viral and anti-fungal. It causes smooth muscle contractions to cleanse the digestive system through purging while also detoxing the liver and gallbladder. Simultaneously, it delivers neuropeptides that can treat depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. It works on the pituitary axis and is said to reset the endocrine system and balance hormones. At the same time, kambo is able to cross the cell membrane and cleanse the body of irregular cells and possibly first-hand or ancestral trauma stored in the body. In the days following a kambo experience, people typically report feeling light, free of brain fog, and energized. People with substance abuse issues commonly say that kambo takes away their impulse to use, and others say that they are able to break patterns around triggers or loops that were largely unconscious prior to the experience.

A Kambo Ceremony

Kambo is said to be a “smart medicine”, as it is believed to give people exactly what they need as individuals. It is common for several people to receive kambo at once and have completely different experiences mentally and physically. Some claim they can feel kambo “scanning” their bodies in order to cleanse them of anything stuck physically or energetically.

Kambo is not psychedelic and is legal in almost every country in the world. It is important to find a Kambo Practitioner that is trained and certified to work with it in your culture of origin due to modern day complications from diet, medications, and trauma, and to ensure ethical sourcing.