ESSENCE OF BEING
ESSENCE OF BEING
Day 9 - Holding Intentions Lightly + Daily Rhythm
Why This Matters Now
As you come close to ceremony, it’s natural to think about what you want from the experience.
Some people arrive with a long list of requests: heal my trauma, fix my anxiety, show me my purpose, take away my pain. Others feel lost and unsure of what to even ask for.
Intentions matter - but how you hold them matters even more. Ayahuasca is not a vending machine that delivers on demand.
It often works in ways we can’t predict, revealing not what we want, but what we need.
Holding intentions lightly means approaching ceremony with clarity, but without control. You plant a seed in the soil of the medicine, and then you step back and trust the process.
Teaching: The Seed of Intention
Think of your intention as a seed.
Each time you enter ceremony, you’re given the chance to plant something in the fertile ground of awareness.
It might be a seed of compassion, forgiveness, courage, or clarity. The seed itself is simple, but what unfolds from it is out of your control.
If you grip the seed too tightly, afraid to let it go, it never reaches the soil. If you dig it up every day to check on its progress, it won’t have the chance to take root.
The medicine is like rich earth: it knows how to hold the seed, how to nourish it, and when to bring it to life. Your role is not to force growth, but to offer the seed sincerely and let the ground do its work.
This approach takes the pressure off. You don’t need to “get it right.” You don’t need to shape the ceremony into what you think it should be. Intention is not a demand; it’s a direction.
It’s a way of orienting yourself towards what truly matters, while releasing the illusion that you can control the outcome.
Sometimes seeds sprout quickly. Sometimes they take months or years before you notice their fruit. Either way, the sincerity of planting is what matters.
Trust that whatever unfolds is part of the deeper intelligence of life - not something you need to manage.
When you step into ceremony with this kind of openness, you’re not pushing for answers or chasing experiences.
You’re offering yourself honestly, and allowing awareness - and the medicine - to tend to what needs to grow in its own time.
Examples of Gentle Intentions
Instead of long lists or rigid demands, choose one or two simple intentions, such as:
“May I meet whatever arises with compassion.”
“May I see what I most need to see.”
“May I find the courage to open to my truth.”
“May I learn how to trust what is already here.”
These kinds of intentions are spacious. They orient your heart, but they don’t close you off to what else might come.
Reflection & Journal Prompts
Here’s a way to let today’s teaching settle more deeply.
Use the reflection prompts below to explore what stood out to you, what felt true, and how it lands in your own life. You might want to jot down a few notes, or simply pause with each question and notice what arises.
There are no right or wrong answers here.
It’s about staying with the thread of insight, giving it space to unfold, and allowing the teaching to move from idea into lived experience as you go through your day.
What intention feels most alive in me right now?
Am I holding this intention as a seed, or as a demand?
How does a daily rhythm of meditation, silence, and reflection shift how I feel about stepping into ceremony?
Daily Rhythm Suggestion
Alongside your intention, today is about strengthening a simple daily rhythm. Structure helps steady the mind and body, so that when ceremony begins, your nervous system already knows how to return to presence.
Here’s a rhythm you can follow for the days leading into retreat:
Morning
Repeat meditations from previous days (Body Scan, Breath, or Knower & Known, ACT & ERPT practices).
Silently repeat your intention once or twice.
Daytime
Pause once or twice to reconnect with breath or roots.
Ask yourself: “Am I acting from intention, or from habit?”
Evening
30–60 minutes of silence before bed (as practised yesterday).
Journaling: write what arose during the day, then close with your intention.
Closing Note From Nik
Intentions are about direction, not control.
By holding them lightly, you free yourself from pressure and allow the medicine to meet you as you are.
By living your daily rhythm now - meditation, silence, reflection - you are already practising integration.
“When I let go of demanding an outcome, the ceremony gave me exactly what I didn’t know I needed. It was more healing than anything I could have planned.” - Client testimonial
Tomorrow we will step into Day 10 - Ceremony Readiness & FAQs, bringing together everything you’ve learned so you can arrive at the retreat steady, safe, and open.