Group Session Prep

“So what can we really do for each other, except just love each other and be each other’s witness? And haven’t we got the right to hope for more? So that we can really stretch into whoever we really are? Don’t you think so?”
- James Baldwin

Creating Safety and Comfort for the Optimal Experience

Here are a few recommendations to support your physical, emotional and mental comfort throughout the session. Taking more time for yourself the week prior to your session will prepare your body, heart, mind and spirit for the exploration to come.

The week before a session, it is natural for you to experience more intense dreams, images, feelings, fears and memories. Your psyche knows it is going into a supportive space for expression and emotion and starts the process of revealing itself early...go easy on yourself through this. It is helpful to write down your dreams, thoughts, awarenesses, insights and questions. You will begin to see patterns, understand clues and/or set the stage for deeper memories and truths to surface.

How To Prepare

  • Intentions & welcome in new information

  • Food, drink & supplements

  • Reduce the external noise

  • Relaxation & sleep

Intake Form

To ensure your safety, please complete your intake form with as much information as possible. Please disclose any allergies, dietary restrictions and medications you are currently taking (and include any other special needs you may have). A detailed intake form combined with a thorough intake call will provide the information necessary to best care of you. We are here to support the totality of your experience and are open to any additional support requests or questions you have.

Sleep

Aim to maximize your sleep in the week leading up to the session or retreat. Doing so will help balance your hormone levels, immune system and mental state. If you find anxiety or falling/staying asleep challenging, consider using magnesium supplements, CBD or GABA supplements for additional support.

Social Media & News

Social media and news can amplify anxiety, so a media detox is a fabulous idea for 48 hours prior to the experience. The clearer you are, the clearer you can hear your inner voice. Try signing off of everything a day or two (or three!) before the session to see how much calm you can invite into your nervous system. Did you know you can delete your social apps from your phone without losing any data? You simply delete them off and put them back on whenever you want to avoid any and all notifications. It's a welcome break!

Self Care Suggestions

Squeeze half a lemon and add a pinch of Himalayan or Real salt to hydrate and re-mineralize your body each morning. Wait 30 minutes before eating. Get as much sleep as you can the night before arriving. Spend some time walking, being in nature, reflecting, journaling, breathing, and listening. Allow enough space for emotions to arise. Re-discover the activities that enhance your pleasure, joy and sense of connection within. As with any guidelines, follow those that resonate and can be adapted easily into your life. These are recommendations only. Creating small shifts that resonate with YOU will help this journey feel fun, delicious, comfortable, and approachable along the path of your unfolding.

Supplements

Safety and comfort are a top priority for this work. Most vitamins and supplements are fine to continue taking, but please fill out your intake form thoroughly and we will go over things together. If you need any kind of pain reliever prior to the session, ibuprofen is fine, but not aspirin.

Increasing your intake of magnesium the week before through whole foods such as raw almonds and cashews, dark chocolate, avocados, legumes, or supplements can be helpful with the muscular and jaw tension that can happen. If you are new to magnesium supplements, please go lightly as they can cause diarrhea and other digestive upset if used incorrectly. Supplements will be provided as needed throughout the session. Boosting serotonin levels with amino acids following ceremonies can be helpful in resetting sleep patterns, maintaining balanced moods, feelings and an overall state of well-being.

Recommended supplements

  • L-Tryptophan or 5-HTP for 3 nights following ceremony

  • B-complex vitamins

  • Amino Acids

  • NAC

Replenishment After Session

Making rest a continued priority will help with balancing mood, strengthened immune system and provide the ideal environment for your brain to store and use the new information available to you. There are many new parts of you coming online right now, so care for them in the best way you know how. Our body is deeply connected to our emotions. If there are dietary changes you have had trouble making before, this is an excellent time to re-commit to sustainable shifts in your physical health.

Foods & Drinks to Have / Avoid

It is helpful to cut out alcohol the day before and day of session. This will help regulate your sleep patterns, mood and provide clarity. Coming into the session as clean and clear will benefit you in so many ways. Stay hydrated by drinking 8-10 glasses of filtered water a day.

Herbal infusions, matcha and yerba mate can substitute for coffee and black tea. There is absolutely no need to cut out caffeine or coffee completely, but just be mindful of your use and if it impacts your sleep and anxiety.

On the day of your session, your last meal should end 3-4 hours before the session begins.

The week before your session, eat in whatever way makes you feel healthy, nourished and reflects you fully loving yourself. Preparing your body with a healthy diet, adequate rest and plenty of filtered water will reduce the possibilities of most physical discomfort. However, there is some amount of discomfort and anxiety that is very normal and we will always work with things as they come up.

Ongoing Support

Consistent ongoing support is so important for our emotional and mental realms following any experience of healing, transformation and altered states. We usually encounter parts of ourselves and the world that are new to us and this process can be filled with wonder and awe as well as challenge. Having support, encouragement and connection during challenging times is critical to making sense of our new discoveries. If you do not feel like you have adequate support in your relationships, please let us know. We have many ways of providing ongoing integration and community ranging from calls to other types of sessions, modalities and facilitators. You are not alone on this journey.

The Day of the Session

  • No food or anything in your body that needs to digest for 4 hours prior to session start.

  • Be Hydrated! Drink plenty of plain water prior to, during and following a session.

  • Go light on caffeine. If you are a regular coffee drinker, it is not necessary to go cold turkey, but cutting the amount down is recommended.

  • Please eat a healthy breakfast with carbs and protein. Depending on your start time, you want to have 4 hours of fasting prior. So if your
    session begins at 4pm, you should be done eating around noon.

  • No need to skip your regular vitamins and supplements the day of a session (especially magnesium and B vitamins) but please do not take any kidney or adrenal herbs/supplements the day of a session.

  • Especially do not take any prescription drugs the day of without having discussed it with your facilitator.

  • Before you begin, take time to 'come home to yourself’. This can just be a few moments to check in with yourself, to center, take some deep belly breaths and connect to your intention. Nervousness and anxious anticipation of what is to come are completely normal, just be aware of how you are feeling and we will address whatever arises.

Post Session Recommendations

  • Create space for yourself after a session. It’s highly recommended to not schedule many strenuous activities the day or two after a session.

  • Especially do not schedule time with family or anyone who causes you stress or who you have to alter parts of yourself to be around.

  • Enjoy relaxing yoga, walks, time in nature, warm baths, making love with yourself or a partner, sleeping, massage or bodywork. Write down anything that comes up - pieces of information will be surfacing over the next few days, weeks and months, so remain aware.

  • Playlists from the session are an excellent way to re-visit these states. We normally include the playlists in the follow-up email, but ask your facilitator if you do not receive them.

How to Surrender

Please voice any resistance you feel. Share your worries and concerns openly. Resistance is a natural part of us that needs acknowledgment, not suppression. When you bring it into the light, it often softens. We’ve been conditioned to hide discomfort around others, so it may take time to recognize what’s coming up. Notice physical sensations—like nausea or feeling overwhelmed—and try to express or experience them without attaching too much meaning. We are here for any support or comfort that you need. Fear of losing control is a very common place to find yourself...just remember that you are safe here. Your control is not the gateway to your freedom, allowing yourself to experience the lack of control is.

Holding Space for Others

Remember that we do not know what someone else is going through, but we often project our own story onto someone that we see having a difficult time. Our natural inclination as loving humans is to ease someone else’s pain. But in these spaces, this could keep someone from feeling what they actually need to in order to heal. There is also sometimes an unconscious agenda of avoiding our own discomfort by diving into someone else's. If you do feel the urge to embrace someone, become curious to see if you can figure out whether you want to give the hug or receive the hug. This small energetic difference can make a huge shift in how you become attuned to your needs and communicate them well if what you are actually needing is to receive instead of give. Any of us holding space will be delighted to hug you, hold you and offer a safe, compassionate touch throughout our time together. If you do feel the need to approach someone to share or touch them, please ask them if they are in a space for connecting. If you are approached by someone who wants to talk or hug you and you aren’t ready, just say that you need some time and will circle back to them when/if you are ready.

Confidentiality

It is absolutely vital that nothing personal from anyone's process, including their name, is shared outside the group. Confidentiality creates the safety we need to open up and express freely. The safer we feel, the deeper we can go.

Your Agreements With Us

  • I hold myself responsible for my own well being.

  • I agree to stay in clear communication with my facilitator if I feel that my needs are not being met.

  • I agree to hold the session, the other participants and the space with respect and confidence. I will not speak, write, or publish any information about other people in the session with people outside the session.

  • I understand that this work can be life changing. I will take responsibility for self care prior to, during and following our time together.

  • I will reach out to my facilitator if I feel I need more support.

  • I agree to stay at the session until the integration is complete.

  • I understand that integration is an ongoing process. If I feel I need more integration work, I will contact my facilitator to ask about
    availability, options, and recommendations to continue the process of my unfolding and becoming.

Our Agreements With You

  • We agree to create a nurturing and loving space that keeps you safe and supports you to have freedom in your experience.

  • We agree to hold space for your process fully with compassion and presence, to the best of our ability.

  • We agree to hold your personal process, information and the session details in confidence.

  • We agree to meet your issues and ours as fully as we are able to with a loving and truthful heart.

  • We will show up for you in diverse ways that support your awakening process and communicate in creative ways, the knowledge, skills and understandings of this work that we have acquired to date.