How To Prepare For Your First Cacao Ceremony
After years of hosting Cacao Ceremonies during my women’s circles in Toronto, I have realized that there are some questions and concerns that are useful to address. So I wanted to offer you this Q&A to help you prepare and better understand what you may experience.
How will ceremonial cacao affect me?
One of the benefits of ceremonial cacao is that it allows us to connect more deeply to our body. It helps to quiet the mind, and gently increases our awareness of our feelings, sensations, and emotions.
For some women, the ceremonial cacao may make them feel more sensitive than usual. They will be surprised to have tears in their eyes, or they may experience emotions rising to the surface more easily.
The beauty of experiencing ceremonial cacao during a women’s circle is that we are in a safe and connected place where all emotions are welcomed. You can show up exactly as you are and that is absolutely perfect.
Can I consume ceremonial cacao if I am pregnant or breastfeeding?
The short answer is yes. In the Maya Tradition, Ceremonial Cacao was drunk as a tonic to support postpartum mothers in bonding more easily with their babies.
During this Women’s Circle, the dosage of ceremonial cacao is 10g per person, which makes it safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Ceremonial Cacao contains a stimulant called theobromine. It is much more gentle than caffeine. Theobromine tends to increase oxytocin and create a calm alertness.
A very tiny percentage of the stimulant can be passed on to your baby through breastfeeding. So it’s possible your baby may feel it, but there is no evidence it would harm them in any way.
I’m very sensitive to caffeine, will ceremonial cacao affect me?
There is a great chance that if you never drink coffee or tea, you may be impacted by the theobromine in the ceremonial cacao. Even though it is a gentle stimulant and the dosage used at this women’s circle is honestly very small, if your body is not used to it, then most likely you will feel it.
Some women have told me they found it challenging to fall asleep the night after, or had some stomach discomfort.
If that is your situation, you can still come to the circle. In fact, you can let me know in advance and I can prepare a Hibiscus Herbal Tea so you can sip on something warm.
You can also choose to start with half a cup and see how it feels. All options are available to make sure you respect your body and tolerance.
I am allergic to nuts, can I consume Ceremonial Cacao?
It depends on how serious your allergy is.
Cacao is made from the seed of the cacao fruit, and it does not contain nuts. The Ruk’u’xlew Collective, which produces the cacao we will be drinking, operates in a nut-free kitchen, however there may be traces of nuts in their kitchen.
As for the Inner Arts Collective - our location of the circle - although we do not produce food, there may be nuts in the kitchen.
I hope this answers any questions you may have, and if you are still wondering about something, feel free to email me at info@emiliegb.com
If you’d like to join the event, you can explore the two monthly women’s circles in Toronto.
