Ayahuasca is a new word in the psychedelic lexicon these last ten years or so, with many (like Playboy Club creator Lyric Everly) reporting spectacular experiences after embarking on recreational drug tourism and consuming it.
The substance itself has ancient origins, however, traditionally used by folk healers as far back as 1500 B.C.E. and considered to be a sacred plant.
In a recent talk with The Playboy Club’s Lyric Everly, she shared about how she came to meet the owners of an ayahuasca farm through her business, Everly Agency.
“We connected on a really deep level during the fit for service experience,” Lyric explained. “And then we started working together on their Ayahuasca drops, because they’re constantly doing retreats and gatherings there that are really profoundly healing. And what they started developing that’s had profound effects for people is the DMT-free Ayahuasca drops.”
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“So that means they are non psychoactive, they don’t have the psychedelics, but you’re still able to connect with that master plant, which a lot of people are saying brings out creativity and a lot of peace and healing to them without having to go through a full psychedelic trip. So if people are looking for a way to connect with a plant like ayahuasca, you could start there and gauge your comfort level with it before you actually go and have a full journey, which can be, you know, intense. And so a lot of people get scared about the idea of going to do that, but you can engage with it in a different way.”
Lyric Everly on Her Own Ayahuasca Trip
As far as her own experiences with ayahuasca, Lyric calls the physical side of the experience “very nerve wracking for me.”
“I took a couple years before I said yes to going on a journey. I watched all the documentaries and I read so much about it, but it was that aspect of knowing that you could throw up or purge in another way in your body that I was worried about,” Lyric explained. “But that ended up being not a huge deal for me. They have you plan ahead of time with a diet, so you’re able to cleanse your whole system a month ahead of time. And that really helps. Because you talk to people who didn’t follow that diet leading up to the experience, and it’s not good. It’s a very different experience. So you want to make sure that you’re eating and drinking the right things leading up to it, so it’s not so intense.”
Despite the physical challenges, Lyric described other parts of the journey as gentle.
“A lot of people go in and, you know, it kind of shines a light on everything subconscious that they’re blocking,” she said. “And there was some of that for me, but overall, I went in with a really open mind to it. I didn’t go in with a specific intention, and I think that if I did it again, I would go in with maybe an intention, because a lot of times you can ask the plant for answers to a specific thing, and you’ll get answers. It’s pretty wild how it works. But for me, it was looking at some things from childhood. It was looking at some relationship things. It showed me a perspective on the world that I think about almost every day, which is, if we went to any other planet and we saw this many plants and animals and insects and just a life growing on it, we would be enamored. We would be fascinated. Every day. Yet we wake up and we just overlook all of the crazy abundance all around us. It really does bring you to the present and makes you appreciate the world that we’ve been given.”
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Many interested parties pause at the idea of the travel required for an ayahuasca trip, which can involve venturing into the jungles of foreign countries with people who do not speak English. Lyric also explained how while this was once the only way for Americans to experience ayahuasca, this is beginning to change.
“There’s a lot of regulations that are loosening up around psychedelics in general, and so you’re starting to see opportunities to go and have journeys even stateside,” she told Playboy. “The Ayahuasca farm in Florida has been growing their master plants for 20 years on their property. They’re allowing people to not have to travel out of the country to go into the jungle and have maybe a scary experience where you’re going off grid for the whole week. You can go to their farm and have it stateside, surrounded by beautiful people who speak English. I think that would calm some nerves when it comes to the whole experience.”
Great Spirit Farm, recommended by Lyric Everly, is open to the public and can be contacted here for those interested in the ayahuasca experience.
Lyric is on The Playboy Club. Talk to her here.
