This year we will be hosting a CosmiKiva Sanctuary again at the Boom festival in Portugal from Aug 2 - 10:: www.boomfestival.org

We are currently getting our team together with the help of MAPS (www.maps.org) and the Boom management team. We are seeking volunteers who are interested in offering their support to individuals in crisis related to substances and also for those who feel a need to ground out any challenging experiences during the festival.

The Boom festival is a 6 day psychedelic trance community arts and culture festival. It is located just outside of Idanha-a -Nova, Portugal in a stunning outdoor location surrounded by a beautiful lake (see photos). The weather there is very hot during the day and the environment is quite an intense experience coupled with 6 days of nonstop music and festivities. We often see a lot of people in the cosmikiva sanctuary seeking solace from the intensity, needing support, shade or warmth, water and food or also just to come to if they have gone deep into a trance or otherwise deeply altered state.

We see many people who are in deep need of reassurance and grounding, though they may not always be able to communicate this in words. Sometimes we have deeply affected individuals who are experiencing incredibly challenging emotions, physical issues or are simply extremely 'altered' from the ingestion of a psychoactive or psychedelic substance and sometimes they are temporarily unable to care for themselves in that state. We see people who are seeking just to talk and learn more about the work that we do, about mind altering substances and/or about their past experiences with them and seeking integration through dialogue. There are also those who are having deeply spiritual issues, awakenings and or crises.

The following is a little bit of information about us and our approach. We use this as a template for the training/orientation of our staff and volunteers:

The CosmiKiva team understands that:
• Nobody should ever have to go through a difficult psychedelic journey without knowing that support can be found if needed
• The inclusion of a safe environment is a benefit to any gathering where people are involved in psychedelic exploration.
• Providing this service demonstrates a shared response-ability to look out for and take care of each other


Setting Elements:
• The space is designed to operate not only as a safe zone, but also as a comfortable and interactive exploratory dimension. It includes art supplies for nonverbal expression, bottled water, fresh fruit and other snacks, as well as a collective altar space for spiritual objects, aromatherapy oils, fun toys, and information
• These elements make the environment more interactive and helps to create an atmosphere of comfort and grounding.


The Team:

We are experienced facilitators, therapists and knowledgeable volunteers available to help process whatever difficult issues may arise during a psychoactive related experience or trip

We are there to assist the process of self discovery whether it is a difficult or good experience


Our Therapeutic Approach:
• Is non-judgmental - based on honor and respect for diversity
• Understands that listening is a key component
• Allows the process to unfold
• Acknowledges the individual’s capacity to heal themselves
• Seeks to assist in making it safe to go deeper
• Is non-directive or confrontational
• Is a mutual learning experience


We understand that a crisis or challenge is an opportunity to turn a difficult experience into a valuable one.

Our purpose as facilitators is to support and foster the idea that we all have the ability to look inward and use our own resources to work through hard issues.

For this reason it is essential to allow the natural unfolding of the experience.



Facilitation:
• Facilitate: 1. To make easier or less difficult; to move forward (an action, a process etc,); 2. To assist the progress of (a person).


Role of the Facilitator:
• To establish trust and a sense of safety through a grounded presence
• To observe, listen and be attentive
• To gently engage in a supportive manner while minimizing interference with the flow of the user's experience


Facilitator Skills:
• Recognition of and respect for diversity
• Awareness of one’s own learning process
• Ability to be attentive/good listening skills
• Trust in one’s way of working
• Willingness to do one’s own inner work
• Development of intuition, empathy, compassion and understanding


The experience of facilitating is an opportunity to explore and recognize each individual's reality or model of the world in a manner that enables us to cherish, rather than judge or fear, the differences that make us unique.

This process brings greater awareness of the amazing and wonderful diversity of humanity.


The Varieties of the Psychedelic Crisis:
• Different substances have different effects and variations of these effects will occur in different people.
• It is important to know how long certain drugs may last and what interactions there may be when drugs are mixed.
• It is also important to have an idea of the various issues that people in crises report having challenges with, though these are multifaceted and different for every individual. These may go beyond one’s capacity of understanding or current worldview and can be quite shattering.


Supporting someone through a Psychedelic Crisis:
• Reassure them and assist them in feeling safe
• Remind them that this experience was brought on through the ingestion of a substance,
• They are supported and safe
• This will pass, it is a process, allow it to unfold
• This is an experience other people have had
• Challenges may be considered opportunities for growth


Response-ability:
• Once you decide to engage in the process or assist, be prepared to follow through
• Pay attention to your own process, be careful of projecting your thoughts or judgments onto another
• Evaluate your role, if you don’t know what to do, find someone who does and/or feels comfortable offering support or acknowledge that you don’t know what to do and make an effort to support in whatever way you can (just be present)


Post-Experience Grounding Techniques:
• Movement, stretching, dancing
• Light massage, Reiki or other simple bodywork
• Art
• Journaling or creative writing
• Breathwork
• Making music, singing, chanting
• Meditation and reflection
• Eating food


Re-integration and Follow-up:
• Post experience dialogue
• Encourage writing or creating art/music either for themselves or to share with others and as an aid in reflection and reconsolidation of learned experience
• Provide resources for information and venues for further communication and feedback


Supporting team members:
• Be attuned to eachother, keep eachother grounded
• Allow process time for facilitators
• Provide peer-counselling and support
• Discuss re-integration and explore various techniques together
• Provide opportunities for feedback and evaluation of services
• Offer opportunities/referrals for professional counseling if needed
• Provide access to information about various psychoactive substances, models for how to deal with psy-crisis situations and spiritual emergencies, info about psychedelic- or entheogen-assisted therapy models and techniques

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So,iIf you are already planning on going to the Boom festival, have experience or keen interest in this kind of work and are interested in volunteering; please send me a tribe message or respond here and we will send you an application.

Volunteers who are accepted to be facilitators on the team will be provided with a free ticket for entry, some food vouchers during their shifts, a Boom t-shirt and the opportunity to meet and work with some very wonderful individuals.

We expect that volunteers will be present for a training workshop and orientation meeting on Aug 2nd, onsite at the Boom festival and will be able to work at least 4 shifts of approximately 8 hours (maybe less if we have a lot of volunteers). We understand that this kind of works requires team that works on a system based on mutual support, respect and response-ability, therefore, we will also seek to support eachother by offering peer-counselling to those who need it or request it. We also hope to evaluate and improve our efforts by having each facilitator/volunteer fill out an evaluation form at the end of each shift.

We hope to hear from you and look forward to the journey together!

BOOM!!

~sandra (aka: cubix ruby)