About Cacao
Nature is so amazing!
She has created this superfood called Cacao that is delicious, insanely healthy for your body and an incredible partner to meditation and spiritual practices. It has been used for thousands of years and was revered by many ancient cultures for it’s healing and heart opening abilities. It’s even part of the Mayan creation myth, which shows how important it was for them.
Cacao’s number one job is to open your heart!
Which is definitely something we could use in this world right now! The Cacao spirit introduced herself to my teacher, Keith Wilson (The Chocolate Shaman) as the ‘Food for the shift’ and She is here to help us create a new way of moving through the world.
Keith often shares the beautiful Mayan myth that says “whenever the balance between humans and nature becomes threatened, cacao comes from the rain-forest to open people's hearts and return the planet to harmony.” And she is definitely doing her work well, having spread all over the world and being used in many different ways to help people find connection.
Cacao got its resurgence in its use as a spiritual partner through Keith’s work in Guatemala and from there it has now spread the globe in the form of Cacao ceremonies; Cacao yoga; Cacao dance; breathwork; kirtan; creativity… the list goes on! You name it, people are offering Cacao with it.
The reason Cacao has become so popular is that it helps you connect on a deeper level to whatever you are using it with. When partnered with meditation, Cacao will help you dive deeper and be able to stay in heart-centred meditative states longer, while being given access to deep parts of yourself that are ready for your attention. If it’s partnered with dance, you’ll feel more connected to your body and to the music and be able to move stuck energies out though the dance. If partnered with energy work, you’ll feel the energy flow better and your system will open up that bit more to increase the benefit and transformation. Anything you decide to use Cacao with will drop a level (or a few) deeper.
Cacao is used as a plant medicine, which means that She will show you messages coming from within, but the beauty of Cacao is it’s gentleness. As Keith would say, She will “show you the door, but won’t push you through it”. This gentleness allows you to be in the driver seat of your journey. Your consciousness is not taken over like it can be with a more intense medicine journey. You can access very deep places, but if you open your eyes you are very much still ‘sober’. This gentleness allows you to see that it’s you doing the work and not the plant. You’re being pointed in the direction of what it ready to be worked on, and supported along the way, but if for whatever reason you’re not ready that day, you have the choice to say no to the process being offered to you. In this way there is an easy integration after a Cacao ceremony, and the uplevelling and learnings come in a more easily assimilated way.
Cacao acts as an opener. It opens up your energetic system; your heart and your mind, to help you shift into a new way of being. That opening helps whatever you are ready to release to come to the surface to be let go of, giving access to the next level of expansion you are ready to embody.
Cacao can help you access a whole new level of self love and acceptance, and help you understand the lessons life is trying to tell you.
Cacao contains this beautiful cocktail of over 300 active compounds. Here are just a few of them that relate to why we use Cacao as a tool for meditation and transformation:
Theobromine - Gives the energy lift and focus, without the nervous system buzz of caffeine. It is also a heart opener.
Magnesium - Gives the relaxation. Cacao is the second best food source of magnesium (which western diets are massively lacking). Magnesium helps relax the body and mind, helping you to drop into meditation more easily. It’s used by the body in many other functions as well, but in terms of meditation, magnesium is the relaxer.
Phenylethylamine (PEA)- Gives the love buzz. PEA is like nature’s antidepressant and activates all the feelings of being in love.
Anandamide - Gives the bliss. Ananda is the Sankrit word for bliss (the all-pervading bliss of Being). Anandamide creates the feeling of connection and euphoria in the body.
So, put that all together and we have the perfect partner to meditation. You have the energy and focus of the theobromine to keep you alert; the magnesium to help you drop in and relax; PEA to open your heart and feel the love, and anandamide to help you ride the waves of bliss. Sounds pretty good right?
But, not all cacao is created equal!
Cacao varies wildly in its quality. The cacao I use is Keith’s Cacao. It comes from Guatemala, from my teacher Keith, and aside from my appreciation of him and his work, the reason I use his cacao is that it’s energetically the best I’ve come across BY FAR!! And I’ve tried a LOT of cacao. To learn more about the cacao I use, go here: Cacao Sales
If you would like to experience the magic of Cacao for yourself, you are very welcome to join me for an upcoming Cacao Event or book a Private Session. Details found here:
SOME PRECAUTIONS:
WHO NEEDS TO GO EASY
Ceremonial doses of Cacao can have adverse side effects for some people. If any of the below applies to you, know that it is still perfectly safe for you, but we would need to start you with a slightly lower dose.
ANTI-DEPRESSANTS
The MAOIs in cacao can interact with some anti-depressant medication so ask your doctor if it’s ok for you. It's not dangerous, just unpleasant as it can create a migraine. Let me know if you're taking any mood altering medication as I may need to alter your dose, but you can absolutely still join. In general it will only effect those on a high dose or mixture of medications, and all should be fine on a slightly lowered dose of Cacao.
PREGNANCY/BREASTFEEDING
Cacao is safe and really good for developing babies but your dose may need to be lowered, depending on the stage so let me know if that applies to you.
HEART CONDITIONS
Cacao increases your heart rate 20-30% so if this would be a problem for you let me know and I will alter your dose. It's an amazing heart medicine but you may need to start slower with it.
To learn more about the Cacao I use (Keith’s Cacao), go to www.keithscacao.com, and to learn more about working with Cacao and about Keith and how we all came to start working with this amazing medicine, check out his blog www.ceremonialcacao.blogspot.com