My Experience with Kambo 🐸

What is Kambo? What does it do to your body? And to your mind?

My very good friend Maia asked me to join her to put “frog poison” in our bodies. I told her I am down for it. Let me explain you the process and how I felt after.

In recent years, Kambo has gained popularity in the West as an alternative medicine and is sometimes used for purposes such as detoxification, pain relief, and improved physical and mental well-being.

Three days before the ceremony you need to get your system ready for it. That means removing certain foods from your diet like meat, diary, chocolate, caffeine, fermented food, alcohol and cannabis. The idea is to eat as organic and clean as possible to prepare your body to purge. Ideally you drink also as much water as possible to keep extra hydrated. Can you guess what was the hardest one for me? Coffee!

“Kambo, also known as Sapo, is a traditional Amazonian medicine made from the secretions of the Phyllomedusa bicolor, a species of frog native to the Amazon rainforest. The secretion is collected by placing the frog over a fire, causing it to release the toxic secretion from its skin, which is then collected and dried.”

When I arrived to the shamans’ house they opened the space with their prayers. Then each of us hold a piece of incense and put the intention there. They used that piece of incense to open three or four spots (small burns) in the skin in our legs, close to our ankles. Then the applied the dried Kambo secretion to the burns. At this point we started drinking lots of water and concentrate on our intentions and the chanting of the shamans.

I started feeling dizzy and shaky. I closed the eyes and my concentration was full on my breathing. At one point, all the water that we just drank came out into a bucket. This is the process of detoxifying the body. I must confess, it is indeed not a pleasant procedure yet really powerful. As soon as the purge is over, the shamans removed the Kambo from the burns and healed them. Then we had time for a short nap to integrate what had just happened. All in all, the ceremony takes no longer than 30 minutes.

How did I feel after? Calm, clear, focused. I must confess that Kambo brought to me a connection to my body that was even deeper than before. Cravings for certain food disappeared and there was an incredible state of peace inside me, peace and acceptance. It brought into light the feeling that everything is all right.

The effect is gone after a while but it is recommended to do several sessions a year to ground yourself and purify the system. I loved it and I will do again and again. I am grateful for this natural medicine.

I am always open to try new plant medicine. What have you tried? How was it for you?