Times are tough, people have more stress and pressure than before and many have unanswered prayers. Science shows that engaging in ceremony and connecting into our spiritual side helps to rewire our brain out of stress and into harmony. Join Lindsay in this fun filled and relaxing ceremony to manifest your desires and prayers through a Peruvian Shamanic tradition of making a Despacho – Gratitude Ceremony.

 

Despachos are a traditional Peruvian shaman ceremony used to honor helpful spirits, Mother Earth and to manifest their needs. This ceremony is relaxing, fun, helps people feel connected to Earth and helpful spirits, and ends up being a form of meditation for all who join in. There is neuroscience that helps explain why spiritual ceremonies work. The Despacho ceremony builds up Spiritual Credit that you can use for healing and manifesting.

 

Each Despacho has 4 important aspects: 

1. That we call to Spirit and Mother Earth (Pacha Mama) and all nature to receive this prayer

2. We express humbleness and ask for forgiveness and acknowledge our role as students

3. We express gratitude

4. We ask for what we desire

We will create a beautiful gift for Mother Earth and Spirit by bringing together natural items that hold specific meanings inside this gift. This is a way for us to honor and show gratitude for each item and its relationship to us and our prayers.

 

A few of these items and their meanings are:

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Sugar- represents bringing sweetness and love into your life and your prayers

Leaves (Qintu)- our prayers, requests which are infused with an intent for reciprocity and balance

Rice– fertility and abundance, to bring your prayers into fruition

Animal crackers- for our animal friends and spirits and for your health

Chocolate- Mother Earth (Pacha Mama)

Sprinkles– to celebrate all life

Beans- for protection and abundance

Flower petals- healing

Candy/gummy frogs- carriers of the messages and prayers

Nuts- gifts for the plant people

Alphabet sprinkles- to be able to step outside and beyond language

Play money- to pay off our spiritual debts

Red cord and white cord- Red is for our human path and white is for our spiritual path

Black licorice- for protection

Loose sage or incense- to feed all the elements of Earth

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The neuroscience of ceremony

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Shamans are masters of perception and are aware that behaviors only change through ceremony. This is because ceremony and spiritual practices turn off the parts of the brain that put us in a state of fear and instead turn on the parts of the brain that engage empathy, planning for the future and connecting us to our intuition and creativity.

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In Western culture we know that the hippocampus has to be healthy. The hippocampus is the part of the brain where we learn, so if the hippocampus is damaged we become, “been there, done that” kind of people. We live in fear. We perceive danger but miss the opportunities life has to offer us.

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The hippocampus has many cortisol (stress) receptors and if we are in a constant state of fight or flight (fear and stress) we are pumping these stress hormones in the brain. If these hormones are not used they become toxic and damage the hippocampus; thus we stop learning from experiences because that part of the brain is underactive.

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When we engage in spiritual practices like ceremony, we turn on the higher order circuitry of the neocortex which is the front part of the brain and is responsible for initiating thoughts and behavior, planning for the future and being able to think in an abstract manner. Spiritual practices also turn on the anterior cingulate which connects us to empathy, compassion, social awareness, intuition, and is the source of our creativity.

 

So if you are feeling stressed, disconnected from yourself and Spirit, engage in a ceremony or practice like a Despacho to begin to turn on these parts of the brain. The more practice, the stronger the brain becomes and the easier it is to find the beauty in life.

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recent Event at my yoga canyon country

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We had a lovely Gratitude Ceremony on October 8th, 2022 at My Yoga Canyon Country. For a recap of the event, go to https://myyogacanyoncountry.com/events/a-gratitude-ceremony-with-lindsay-despacho-manifest-create/. 

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We discussed what a Despacho (Gratitude Ceremony) is and the science behind the benefits to the mind and soul when engaging in spiritual practices. Everyone received a complementary tuning fork activation for their third eye and heart chakras. We dropped into a breathing exercise guided by drumming to relax and enter a meditative state. We then created our gift to nature, our helpful spirits and Mother Nature. 

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