Walking barefoot through the floor of fresh tiles, its silver face gems shine in sunlight, the sound bath and energy healer Andreeva distributed distributed paper glasses full of brown liquid to the 20 adults mostly young people sitting in yoga mats and blankets on the floor.
They had met this Saturday morning at Abad Kinney Boulevard in the courtyard behind the Japanese skin care Albion Garden to attend Echoes of the Heart, a two -hour cocoa, breathing work and sound bath workshop that promised to guide the participants towards the “deep exploration, the energetic healing and the deep relaxation.”
“Just allow you to feel the intention within you,” said Greta Ruljevaite, founder of the Wellness Xpassion brand that directed the workshop with Andreeva. “Speak in cocoa, your intention, your wisdom, what you choose to let go. Anything and everything: speaks in cocoa. “
Maya Andreeva and Greta Ruljevaite, co-lidiers of the Ecos del Ecos del Ecos workshop, put their intentions in cocoa cups.
(Jean Marc Bertolet)
Around the room, the participants looked reverently at their paper drinks, some of them in silence.
“Now take it to his heart space, connecting with his heart,” he continued, while environmental music gave in the background. “Take it to Earth for the ground connection, and then return to your heart space. … an inhalation more together … and drink your cocoa. “
With great gravity, they drank.
During the next two hours, the group was first directed by Ruljevaite through a breathing work series, and then a sound healing session provided by Andreeva. The workshop's cocoa part may have been minimal, but then, the Saim Alam wizard said that the warm and slightly bitter drink deepened his experience in the event.
“I was genuinely in such a state of that time,” he said.
Cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, has been appearing in a growing number of well -being events in the Los Angeles area in recent years. Only in March, Angelenos can attend a Women's circle and cocoa ceremony In Hollywood, a Women's Day Circle of Day and Cocoa Ceremony In the forest, a New moon cocoa renewal ceremony In Yoga Noho Center and the We are cocoa ceremony In a place not revealed in Woodland Hills.
Small edible flowers float on the surface of a cup of cocoa in a recent cocoa workshop, breathing work and sound healing in Venice.
(Deborah Netburn / Los Angeles Times)
If you want to make the drink yourself Holy cocoa Sale to Ecuadorian cocoa in farmers in Hollywood, Mar Vista, Malibu and Marina del Rey. The local supplier of the Arcana Apothecary farmers sells a cocoa block of a pound of $ 60 that is completely made by women in Guatemala, and pure organic cocoa powder It is available in Erewhon.
“People who organize cocoa experiences continue to grow,” said Nick Meador, who sells ceremonial grade cocoa (an unofficial designation that suggests a minimum processing) online through Soul lifting cocoaThe company that founded in 2018. “People want something that gives them a feeling of embodied spirituality and cocoa is so gentle that it cannot even be said that there are side effects.”
Professionals claim that cocoa consumption opens their hearts, helping drinkers to feel more compassionate, happy, energized and loving. And because it has no psychedelic properties such as other substances labeled as “plant medications”, it is a safe and easy way to experiment with natural compounds that alter consciousness. Consider Ayahuasca Lite.
“I was genuinely in such a state of that time.”
– Saim Alam, assistant to the cocoa ceremony
“It's not like any drug that has taken,” said Kat Ho, who began leading cocoa ceremonies in 2021 after being presented to the drink during the pandemic by an influencer on YouTube. “It's so soft. Your mind feels a little smaller and you feel a little clearer in the things you want to do. “
When folklorist Taylor Burby was investigating cocoa ceremonies for his recent postgraduate thesis, he discovered that more than 89% of the 118 participants he interviewed said they like to consume cocoa because it is a legal and more accessible plant medicine.
Attendees at a cocoa workshop, sound breath and healing work hold cocoa cups in their heart.
(Jean Marc Bertolet)
“If you take fungi, you don't know what is going to happen,” Burby said. “With cocoa, you can feel that you are becoming warmer, dizzying or peaceful, but you have more control over your experience.”
The physical effects of cocoa have not been studied as much as coffee, but research suggests that chemical compounds present in cocoa can affect mood By increasing both alert and cognition, and also improve cardiovascular health lowering blood pressure. And because cocoa has much less caffeine than coffee, fans say it gives them an energetic impulse without making them nervous.
“I can feel that my shoulders fall, my chest opens,” Andreeva said. “I have felt the energy that my body is going through as small tingling in the spaces where I usually don't feel that.”
Making ceremonial cocoa is a process of several steps that traditionally begins to ferment the seeds of cocoa fruit in their own pulp, dry them in the sun, roast them on an open fire and then grind them until they form a paste, which is poured into a mold to harden.
To prepare cocoa for the heart ECOS workshop, Ruljevaite used a cocoa ball that had bought on a recent trip to Guatemala. The night before meditating on the dark brown sphere, filling it with intentions, and then shaved it in small pieces; He mixed it with warm water, oat milk, a bit of manuka and vanilla honey; And then I threw it. He brought it to the event in an electric bar. Just before serving, she and Andreeva whistled him for a few moments, infusing him with “light language” to give him more power. Then they placed the liquid in small cups.
In South and Central America, cocoa is often served mixed only with water, but without sweeteners it is very bitter.
“Our western taste papillae are not really ready for the traditional cocoa experience,” Andreeva said. “Anyway to the angels to drink cocoa, he has never been raw.”
Archaeological evidence suggests that cocoa has been cultivated in Mesoamerica for at least 5,000 years. It was served in Betrothals and other celebrations and was a favorite drink of the Mayan and Aztec nobility, especially in places where it had to be imported, said Rosemary Joyce, a recently retired teacher of anthropology at UC Berkeley and an expert in cocoa history. The texts of the 16th century show that the plant was used by indigenous people medicinally to treat a variety of ailments and cocoa was consumed in rituals and ceremonies, mainly to repair relationships between human worlds and spirits, he said.
Joyce has been offered traditional cocoa while doing field work in Honduras.
Maya Andreeva, sound bath practitioner and yoga teacher, cocoa of a pot in a cup of paper.
(Deborah Netburn / Los Angeles Times)
“He knows medicine, there is no way to avoid it,” he said.
Despite its historical history, its research suggests that ancient cocoa uses in Mesoamerica have little similarity with the rituals that many western ones are creating today.
“It's a complicated area,” he said. “The ceremonies that made cocoa required, but the purpose of the ceremony was not to communicate with the spirit of cocoa or to go down and take over their body. That is a very western notion. “
Most cocoa ceremonies today track their origin to Keith WilsonGeologist, adventurer and founder of Keith's Cacao, which became known as the “chocolate shaman.” Wilson, who died last year at his home in Guatemala, says he was contacted by the spirit of cocoa in 2003 and given the mission of reintroducing ceremonial cocoa to a world that had mostly forgotten. Cocoa began to serve the visitors on their porch, and their friends began calling them “cocoa ceremonies.” Over time, the area around Lake Atitlán, where it was established, became known for its cocoa ceremonies. Visitors brought the practice of return to their countries of origin.
Meator prefers to label your cocoa events “Cocoa experiences” or “modern cocoa ceremonies” to make it clear that they are not derived from old indigenous rituals.
“I don't want to be like a policeman,” he said, “but I teach people to be careful with the words we choose. There are many voices in the conversation and there are people in the United States who really don't know much about it.”
Today, in Los Angeles, cocoa ceremonies are often combined with other healing modalities such as breath work, yoga, meditation and dance. Some facilitators will evoke the spirit of cocoa, which is supposed to be loving, nutritious and even a bit promiscuous. Burby, the folklorist, once heard that he described himself as “the grandmother who still has sex, instead of the grandmother who has ended and done and retired.” A facilitator could remind the attendees that Cocoa is a heart opener, who after drinking it, can feel warm, clear and more alert. But after that, everything goes.
“There are as many ways to practice as the people who practice,” Burby said.
Back in Echoes of the Heart, Andreeva and Ruljevaite make it clear that they are far from cocoa experts. But both had had positive experiences with the drink and wanted to share it with those who attended their workshop.
“I see it as this beautiful welcome bridge for you,” Ruljevaite said. “And with many prayers and intention infused in it, and the power and reverence of the community, increases and amplifies its benefits.”
