Article for I love Ayurveyda magazine

Ceremonial Cacao & cacao ceremony

At a cacao ceremony, Ceremonial Cacao is drunken. Ceremonial cacao is 100% pure cacao. It is a plant medicine that has been used for centuries by indigenous peoples of Meso America, among others. Ceremonial Cacao is known as a heart-opening medicine, increasing the ability to experience love and connection with yourself and others. Cacao gives relaxation and at the same time it provides an increased awareness and creativity.

In addition to these properties, cacao has many other positive and stimulating effects on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body.

The specific processing process of this Ceremonial Cacao ensures that the cacao comes into a state in which its properties come into its own. In particular, the fermentation process (small-scale, in banana leaves), roasting (at a relatively low temperature) and peeling (1 by 1 by hand) contribute to this.

What is essential to me for the cacao I offer is that it has been grown with reverence and respect for people (fair wages and good working conditions) and nature (organic cultivation, increasing biodiversity). I have seen with my own eyes how much love, dedication and respect every cacao tree, every cacao fruit, every cacao seed and every block of cacao is treated. You can taste and feel this love when you go into ceremony with cacao processed in such a way.

In cacao products such as chocolate and cacao powder, the healthy properties that Ceremonial Cacao possesses (largely) are lost through the processing process. In general, a lot of (sugar) is added to chocolate, and it is also heated to a higher temperature. To obtain cacao powder, the cacao butter is removed from the cacao. However, this healthy cacao butter is an essential ingredient that allows our body to absorb all the nutrients in the cacao. In addition, cacao powder goes through mechanical and chemical processes to neutralize the taste.

What is a cacao ceremony?

There are many different ways in which a (cacao) ceremony is interpreted and designed. For me, a cacao ceremony is first and foremost an intentional moment. A moment to stop and get out of the doing mode, to let your mental body relax. To connect more with your physical, emotional and spiritual / energetic body and what these bodies want you to feel, see, hear or experience. All of this invited by the maternal, loving and welcoming energy of mama cacao.

In addition, it is very important to me during a ceremony to reflect on and express gratitude for everything and everyone who has contributed to the fact that we have Ceremonial Cacao at our disposal. Mother nature and the elements, the indigenous peoples of the place where the cacao comes from and all the people who made it possible for us here in the Netherlands to work with this wonderful medicine.

Where and how did these ceremonies originate?*

Cacao is a plant medicine that has been used in ceremonies by indigenous peoples around the world for thousands of years. A ceremony will be designed and described differently by these different populations.

Much knowledge about how ceremonies were held by the Mayan people thousands of years ago was unfortunately lost during the Spanish oppression. The knowledge that is still there today is based on how the Mayan elders from this region shape their ceremonies. Mayan elders are reluctant to share their knowledge for fear of persecution and exclusion from their community, which today is largely Roman Catholic.

The cacao I work with comes from a specific region in Guatemala (region around Lake Atitlan) and the knowledge I have about ceremonies is therefore based on how this has been passed on and is shaped in this region. This region is one of many local indigenous Mayan people in Guatemala and more broadly, of Mesoamerica.

What does a cacao ceremony look like?

In the Mayan tradition, cacao is not always involved in a ceremony. If it is, it is still not called a cacao ceremony. This is actually a “new age” term that has only been used for the last twenty years.

The Mayan ceremonies are led by wisdom keepers who receive years of guidance from an older wisdom keeper or elsewhere. They are initiated and the holding of ceremonies is reserved for them. In Mayan ceremonies, the seven (wind) directions, being north, east, south, west, earth, sky and the heart, are often central. In addition, the energy of the day, based on the Mayan calendar, is invoked. Also, honoring Mayan elders, teachers and ancestors has an important place in ceremonies.

The more traditional ceremonies I got to experience during my time in Guatemala were fire ceremonies. Fire and the other elements air, water, earth and ether (spirit) and their associated energies played a central role in these ceremonies. Cacao is sometimes drunk in proper ceremonies, but more often used as an offering to ancestors and spirits.

The combination with a breathing session

Cacao is a wonderful medicine to combine with other forms of bodywork, because of its soft, loving and welcoming energy for everything that deserves your unconditional attention at that moment. With Autentik, I myself combine it with (rebirthing) breathwork, but I have also experienced that it is a very nice combination with for example mantra singing or ecstatic dance.

What does cacao mean to me?

Ceremonial Cacao is very important to me on my spiritual journey. It has supported me to make a switch from living a life based on the expectations and needs of others to a life led from my heart and my Autentik self. It helped me slowly but surely to let go of what was no longer in line with my desired life.

Creating an intentional moment with cacao, a moment to sink from my head into my body and into my heart, is an almost daily practice for me. It helps me to allow myself to continue taking steps towards living in accordance with my deepest desires and towards unconditional self-love and acceptance.

What someone experiences in a cacao ceremony is very personal and depends on what is going on in their life at that moment. My experience is that after drinking cacao in a ceremonial setting, people feel softness, love and openness.

Cacao contains many mood-enhancing ingredients and can therefore amplify feelings of love and gratitude. However, my experience is that mama cacao shines her loving light on everything that deserves your attention and this can also be sadness, grief, fear or anger. Experiencing and feeling through these feelings can be intense and at the same time enormously healing and liberating.

*The information I share about the origin of cacao ceremonies is inspired and partly based on this source: https://www.sourcecacao.com/blog/our-blog-1/what-is-a-cacao-ceremony-2

Article for I love Ayurveyda magazine

Rebirthing Breathwork

“The goal of Rebirthing Breathwork is to free people from physical, mental and emotional factors that limit them to live their lives to the fullest and thus improve their quality of life.”

Rebirthing Breathwork is a form of bodywork that uses the conscious connected breathing technique that brings deep relaxation that allows you to get in touch with deeper and/or heightened states of consciousness.

Rebirthing Breathwork is a form of bodywork suitable for trauma healing. The word trauma is often (rightly) associated with events such as sexual or physical abuse, accidents or war trauma. In fact however, all events that have had an impact on someone are a form of trauma. What is an impactful and traumatic experience for one person is not for another and this is therefore very personal.

What is certain is that everyone has experienced some degree of trauma in their lives and we have not always been able to process it. Our breathing often decreased or stopped at these moments and with that we unconsciously fixed these impactful events in our (breathing) body. For many of us, this means that our respiratory system (lungs, ribs and muscles around it) is limited. This means that we are not using the full potential of our respiratory system.

In addition, this stuck and stored tension and trauma means that our life energy cannot flow freely through our body. In daily life, this can manifest itself, for example, in physical conditions, mental and emotional complaints such as depression, burnout and recurring limiting patterns that prevent people from living their lives to the fullest.

What is achieved with Rebirthing Breathwork?

The goal of Rebirthing Breathwork is to free people from physical, mental and emotional factors that limit them to live their lives to the fullest and thus improve their quality of life. Every person who starts a Rebirthing Breathwork trajectory has his own goals and intentions. These goals can be physical, emotional, mental and/or spiritual.

In general, Rebirthing breathing sessions help you to bring the stored tensions and trauma to the surface, to give it the attention it needs to be liberated. The blockages that caused this stored tension and traumas are lifted and your life energy can flow more freely again.

After several rebirthing sessions, people indicate that they literally experience more breathing space and have more air and energy. In addition, they feel more alive and more in touch with their deepest desires and needs in this life. This can be an impetus for beautiful transformations and personal growth.

The method

Rebirthing Breathwork is based on three pillars, of which the breath (breathing sessions) is the first one. As described earlier, conscious connected breathing is used during the breathing sessions. Conscious connected breathing means that the inhalation and exhalation and the exhalation and inhalation are connected to each other. Rebirthing Breathwork involves breathing through the nose. During a Rebirthing breathing session you take a lying position on your back.

Rebirthing Breathwork according to the school of Leonard Orr, the founder of Rebirthing Breathwork, only happens in 1: 1 sessions. With Rebirthing Breathwork, intense traumas, memories and emotions can come to the surface. It is extremely important for the quality and effect of the session that you feel safe and supported, so that you can fully surrender to the process initiated by the breath. In a 1:1 session, the person undergoing the session receives the full and undivided attention of the facilitator, ensuring that they receive the loving presence and guidance they deserve.

Around the breathing sessions and between the different sessions of a Rebirthing Breathwork trajectory, we also work with the two other pillars of Rebirthing Breathwork. The second pillar is spiritual psychology, which includes working with the power of thoughts (affirmations), the inner child and forgiveness.

The third pillar is spiritual purification, which involves working with the elements air, water, earth, fire and ether (spirit). The purpose of this spiritual purification is to cleanse the energetic body and to get or keep it in balance.

The 1 on 1 guidance

The most important task of the facilitator during a Rebirthing Breathwork is to create a safe space in which the person undergoing the session dares to surrender to the healing power of the breath. The facilitator will give instructions on how to apply connected breathing and how to use the breathing system in its entirety. In addition, the facilitator will guide the person undergoing a breathing session in continuing to breathe with the sometimes intense sensations, emotions and memories that surface. The facilitator is there to support the client and let them experience that they can carry intense emotions, sensations and memories.

It is recommended to go through 10 Rebirthing Breathwork sessions with a trained Rebirthing Breathwork facilitator. During and around the first sessions, a lot can come to the surface emotionally and psychologically.

“After a number of rebirthing sessions, people indicate that they literally experience more breathing space and that they have more air and energy.”

When went through a 10 session trajectory, you have enough experience with this breathing method to be able to apply it independently. You are no longer dependent on a counselor during the sessions and from that moment on you have a wonderful and powerful self-care tool at your disposal for the rest of your life!

Who is Rebirthing Breathwork suitable for?

There are no contraindications for Rebirthing Breathwork. If you have medical conditions, discuss your intention to do Rebirthing Breathwork sessions with your doctor or specialist. The breath is a natural healing mechanism and will give you where you are ready for. You feel and heal what you can handle physically, mentally and emotionally.