Iboga is a truly unique medicine. Not only does it have astounding neurological effects that help people overcome addiction, but it can leave you feeling as if you’ve been reborn. Yet even though this can feel miraculous, iboga isn’t a miracle cure for any physical or psychological ailment (and it comes with risks). The real transformation begins after the ceremony as you reconnect with the plant and what it taught you, then live your life differently as a result.
“If someone is dealing with depression and anxiety, ibogaine doesn’t necessarily fix those things overnight,” says psychotherapist and ibogaine treatment specialist Juliana Mulligan. “It takes things like therapy or somatic work to dive into that. Sometimes the negative feelings are alerts; they’re there to show you what needs to get worked on.” (Ibogaine is an alkaloid in iboga that’s responsible for most of the psychological effects and is sometimes taken by itself.)
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And chasing the feeling you had on the medicine can take away from the beautiful things happening in your life right now. Rather than pursue the substance-induced state you reached in the past, aim to establish a new state within your present life that honors what you’ve learned and experienced through iboga. But for the purpose of establishing this new baseline and working on what’s been unearthed, it helps to remind yourself of the journey and what you gained from it. Here are some ways to do that.
Talk about it
Talking about a psychedelic experience can help you remember what it taught you. There are plenty of psychedelic integration specialists, but you can speak to anyone you trust. “Sometimes just saying things out loud can help you to explore perspectives from your journey in a way that you wouldn’t if it’s just in your head,” says Mulligan. “A lot of people have experienced being really stuck in a mental loop and then sharing it with a therapist or just a friend, and then having that person who is listening and validating and offering thoughts be instrumental in shifting a perspective. Sometimes just sharing about an experience, you realize this aspect was really profound and you didn’t really notice.” Because a lot of people have difficult experiences, getting support will also be important for processing emotions that were brought up.
Take down time
Iboga has a way of staying with you as it is. Journeys are said to last up to 48 hours — often longer — and the afterglow can last for weeks or months. But sometimes we miss it when we jump back into our busy lives. Slow down, and you’ll make room for the insights from your journey to float back into your mind. “We have a period of time where physically, the medicine — noribogaine — is inside of us and continues to guide us to what we want in life,” says Levi Barker, an iboga provider at the Iboga Wellness Center. “This may be two to six months, but the spirit of the medicine is in us forever unless we expel it.”
Create a ritual
Some people reconnect with plant medicine through music that was played during the ceremony. Because the ritual of the iboga ceremony comes from the Bwiti tribe in Gabon, Bwiti music can sometimes bring back the effects of iboga. “Night, fire, and Bwiti music will awaken the medicine,” says Barker. “Taking a candle at night, laying back, and listening to Bwiti music for a half hour or more will awaken and keep the medicine active.”
Spend time with friends
“One of the most important integration tools after doing iboga or ibogaine is engaging in social activities or just spending time with friends,” says Mulligan. “A lot of people who have gone to do this medicine have lived in a lot of isolation, and connection with people has not been an easy thing in their lives. A lot of people haven’t realized that’s missing from their lives because we live in a hyper-individualistic society. Making plans with friends so you have something to look forward to and get outside your head is one of the most potent medicines post-ibogaine. Just the act of being close with other people and having a good time allows the realizations and the work done with ibogaine to flow more easily because being in community is our natural state.”
Connect with nature.
Getting outside can allow the insights you’ve gained through your trip to resurface. “Iboga is a plant and it connects you to plants, and you can keep that connection rolling if you make [outdoor time] a regular part of your routine,” says Mulligan. Activities like swimming and running can also be great for keeping yourself in a positive state of mind.
Help others
One of the biggest lessons iboga teaches is kindness — for others, oneself, and the planet. So, doing something kind for others can keep the spirit of your journey alive, whether that’s getting involved in volunteer work or just helping a loved one. “Doing service work helps you to get out of yourself and into experiences with other people,” Mulligan says. “It’s a way to experience the world in a new way and have experiences where you get to see things through another person’s lens.”
