What is ayahuasca and how do we prepare to receive this ancient medicine and wisdom? Is ayahuasca a medicine that can be used outside of the Amazon and why is it relevant to the African indigenous experience?

Comfort zones are necessary in certain periods of our lives- consistently pushing your boundaries will wear you out and knowing our limits is important. But we shouldn’t let fear hold us back from attempting to change our routine. Fear has driven me in directions I never thought I would walk. You can’t sit and wait for things to happen. You have to actively work to receive the gifts and achieve the rewards you want from life. A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there. It is a wonderful place for healing and rest but it was time to get my feet moving again.

This is a feature I wrote for One Day In My World: A project that aims to amplify the lived experiences of people with mental health, psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, giving them a chance to be seen, heard and valued.

This term was coined by psychologists Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes in 1978 who in their paper, theorised that women were uniquely affected by impostor syndrome. Women who experience imposter syndrome believe that they are not really accomplished or successful, often despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, believing instead that they have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise. It comes with this fear that you will be ‘found out’ for being a fraud despite the capacity and ability that you posses in your field or career. More recent studies on imposter syndrome include men and the impact that this has on their well-being.