Jessica Lewis |
It’s been a while since I last shared a post about Sananga, so I wanted to talk about my experience after working with this sacred plant medicine every day for 30 days.
Sananga is an ancient, powerful, and sacred eye medicine used by many Amazonian tribes. It is extracted from the roots of a shrub known as Tabernaemontana undulata and has been revered for generations for its cleansing, healing, and spiritual properties.
Often described as a cousin of the African Iboga plant, which is traditionally used as a rite of passage into adulthood and as a means of connecting with ancestors, Sananga is considered a master plant teacher. While Iboga has become known for its ability to help people overcome addictions such as alcohol and heroin dependency, Sananga has a capacity to deeply cleanse and realign the physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual bodies.
The spirit of Sananga is believed to assist in clearing energetic blockages, opening and balancing all of the chakras, particularly the third eye and crown chakras, while also enhancing visualisation, intuition, and spiritual insight.
My intention for working with this medicine was to see whether it could help correct the astigmatism in my right eye. For around twelve years, I had experienced repeated injuries to that eye, sometimes as many as three or four times a year, often in completely different circumstances. As a former ring and cage fighter, I sustained several severe eye injuries that left me unable to tolerate light for days at a time, forcing me to lie in complete darkness because even the slightest dilation of my pupils caused intense pain.
Following these injuries, even the smallest irritation to my eye would trigger a reaction that felt as though I had been punched. My entire eye would swell and close up, and there were occasions when I would wake up feeling as though the surface of my eye had been scratched, leaving me in pain for several days.
Over time, I noticed that the vision in my right eye was becoming significantly poorer than the vision in my left. Concerned about the possibility of long-term damage, I visited an optician who, given my history of repeated injuries and my background as a fighter, decided to perform a detailed examination of my retina. Thankfully, no retinal damage was found, but I was diagnosed with an astigmatism in my right eye, while the vision in my left eye remained close to 20/20. Although the optician found it unusual that both the injuries and the astigmatism affected the same eye, he couldn’t find any physical damage that would explain the condition.
Even before receiving this diagnosis, I had begun to suspect that the issue might have an energetic issue, I wanted to rule out any underlying physical damage before exploring that possibility further. Having already worked with Sananga for the previous five years and experienced significant benefits from individual applications, I became curious about what might happen if I committed to working with the medicine every day for a full month.
This kind of intensive work is done when a person is carrying a significant amount of stagnant energy and requires a deeper energetic reset. Intuitively, I felt that a longer period of consistent work with the medicine was necessary to shift whatever was stored in this area.
With that in mind, I set a clear intention for the journey, and asked the medicine to clear anything contributing to the issues with eye, improve my vision, and deepen my connection with the spirit of Sananga so that I could receive any teachings or insights it wished to share.
Excited to discover what the next thirty days might reveal, I began my journey with Sananga and decided to stop wearing my glasses.
After the very first day, I noticed a remarkable shift in my vision and he fogginess that I had become so used to seemed to lift, colours appeared brighter and more vibrant, and everything around me felt sharper and clearer. Alongside these changes, I experienced a deep sense of calm and relaxation, and as the days progressed, these effects became increasingly more noticeable.
During the first two weeks, it was very clear to me that the medicine was working more intensely on my right eye than on my left. The sensations were stronger, lasted longer, and seemed to penetrate much deeper into the affected eye. I could feel the energy of the medicine moving through different areas of the eye, creating a level of discomfort that, while challenging, felt purposeful. Even after the immediate effects of the drops had subsided, I could still sense activity within the eye that had the astigmatism.
One of the greatest lessons Sananga has taught me is how to navigate discomfort. The most effective approach, in my experience, is to focus on deep breathing, relaxing all the muscles in my face and turning inward instead of externalising. As you continue working with this medicine, it becomes easier to separate yourself from the physical sensations and observe them without becoming consumed by them. This process helps to develop a powerful capacity to remain calm in intense situations in life, and teaching a valuable lesson about mastering the mind.
When I first began working with Sananga years back, my attention was completely fixed on the physical discomfort, but over time I realised that the experience becomes either more difficult or more manageable depending on your thoughts. Once I stopped resisting the sensations and accepted them as an essential part of the process, everything changed. I came to view the stinging and discomfort as a necessary part of clearing accumulated Panema and dissolving old patterns of thinking and behaviour. By accepting the experience rather than fighting against it, I was able to make peace with it and access the deeper teachings that lay beneath the physical sensations.
Panema is a form of stagnant or negative energy that attracts experiences of a similar vibration. It’s associated with what some tribes describe as bad luck, but its effects can also manifest as depression, lethargy, lack of motivation, poor concentration, irritability, sadness, low mood, emotional heaviness, laziness and negative energetic influences that attract further challenges and dis-ease into a person’s life. As the days progressed, Sananga began revealing areas of my life that were creating stress, frustration, and energetic congestion. Rather than simply showing me what needed attention, it also allowed me to experience what life would feel like once these issues were cleared away.
The teachings I receive from Sananga often revolve around identifying what no longer serves me and understanding what must be released in order to move forward. One recurring lesson involved my living environment. The medicine showed me that I was holding onto far too many possessions and that the clutter surrounding me was creating energetic stagnation and blockages. It became clear that I needed to clear out everything that was no longer aligned with my path and create space for new opportunities, experiences, and growth to enter my life.
Working with Sananga has also deepened my ability to sit with difficult emotions and uncomfortable truths. Once the drops are applied, there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The process asks you to remain present and move through whatever arises. Yet it is precisely by moving through that discomfort that the deeper gifts become available. As soon as you begin to transcend the physical sensations, you can access the subtler dimensions of the medicine and receive the insights, guidance, and teachings that Sananga has to offer.
As I moved further into the thirty-day journey, I began noticing something amazing. My reliance on glasses steadily decreased, and by the third week, the vision in my right eye had improved so dramatically that both eyes appeared to be functioning at almost the same level. I felt immense gratitude for this sacred medicine and the support it had provided throughout the process.
Even more surprisingly, these improvements remained with me long after the thirty days had ended and without making any medical claims, I can honestly say that Sananga significantly improved my eyesight and my overall visual clarity. More recently, however, I have noticed some discomfort around the muscles of the eye, accompanied by a return of the heaviness and fogginess that I experienced before. To me, this suggests that energy may once again have accumulated in this area.
One of the interesting aspects of working deeply with Sananga is that, once you have experienced the clearing of Panema, you become much more aware of when it begins to build up again. For me, one of the first signs is the return of that familiar fogginess in my vision. When I notice it creeping back in, I recognise it as a signal that it may be time for another period of dedicated work with the medicine.
So, with gratitude and curiosity, here’s to another thirty days with Sananga.
Over the years, Sananga has become known for its wide range of traditional, energetic, and spiritual benefits and while experiences vary from person to person, many people who work with this sacred medicine report positive effects on their physical wellbeing, emotional balance, mental clarity, and spiritual development.
Sananga is said to help realign and open all of the chakras, with a particularly strong influence on the third eye and crown chakras. Many people report enhanced visualisation, increased spiritual awareness, deeper intuition, and a stronger connection to their inner guidance after working with the medicine.
• Realigning and opening the chakra system, particularly the third eye and crown chakras
• Increasing visualisation and spiritual insight
• Supporting the reduction of fever as a traditional febrifuge
• Being used as an emetic in certain traditional cleansing practices
• Clearing mental fogginess and confusion
• Supporting those experiencing nervous disorders
• Acting as a traditional diuretic
• Assisting with various skin conditions and disorders
• Helping to suppress appetite
• Supporting dental health concerns
• Assisting with wound healing
• Helping to heal eye injuries
• Providing antimicrobial properties
• Offering antioxidant support
• Supporting the body’s natural inflammatory responses
• Providing antibacterial properties
• Assisting in the release of past emotional traumas
• Helping to repair energetic imbalances within the auric field caused by unhealthy lifestyles
• Supporting lucid dreaming practices
• Helping individuals work through depression and anxiety
• Assisting with stress reduction
• Supporting the healing of long-standing anger, frustration, and negative emotional patterns
• Helping to alleviate sadness and emotional heaviness
• Activating and cleansing the pineal gland
• Supporting various eye-related conditions
Among Amazonian tribes, Sananga is used as a febrifuge, emetic, diuretic, and soothing medicine for a variety of physical complaints, and also to support skin conditions, reduce appetite, alleviate dental discomfort, assist with wound healing, and address a range of eye-related issues.
Some of the biggest medicinal properties associated with plants from the Apocynaceae family is their antimicrobial activity, is that they hold antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimycobacterial, antimicrobial, antifebrile, and potentially anticancer properties, making Sananga a subject of growing interest within both traditional and modern discussions surrounding plant medicine.
On an energetic level, Sananga is often used to help release stored emotional trauma, clear stagnant energies, repair disruptions within the auric field, and support lucid dreaming practices. Many practitioners believe that the medicine assists in clearing energetic residue accumulated through challenging life experiences, unhealthy habits, emotional stress, and unresolved psychological patterns.
The drops are also used to clear what Amazonian tribes refer to as “Panema.” Panema can be understood as a state of energetic heaviness or misalignment that may manifest as depression, laziness, lack of motivation, poor concentration, irritability, sadness, emotional instability, low mood, or other negative influences that attract further difficulties into a person’s life.
Several tribes throughout the Amazon continue to use Sananga to enhance their hunting abilities, improving their night vision, increasing depth perception, sharpening focus, and allowing hunters to detect even the smallest movements within the dense rainforest environment. These enhanced perceptual abilities are said to help hunters navigate the forest more effectively and sustain their energy during long journeys through challenging terrain.
Beyond its physical applications, Sananga helps to open the third eye and facilitate deeper inner vision. For this reason, many people choose to work with the medicine before plant medicine ceremonies to prepare themselves for visions and spiritual experiences, or afterwards to cleanse and clear their energetic channels.
Sananga activates and cleanse the pineal gland, reduces mental confusion, releases negative thought patterns, and deeply cleanses the energetic body from the inside out. Many people describe feeling lighter, clearer, and more aligned after working with Sananga, both emotionally and spiritually.
Sananga is also associated with supporting those experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, anger, emotional stagnation, addictive tendencies, and difficulties with grounding. By moving through the body’s energetic centres, the medicine helps restore balance across the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual bodies. Sananga works through each of the chakra centres, helping to remove blockages and restore energetic flow and as this process unfolds, negative thought patterns can begin to dissolve, allowing mental clarity, emotional stability, and a renewed sense of purpose.
The energetic body naturally accumulates lower vibrational energies over time, often as a result of stress, unhealthy dietary habits, excessive alcohol or drug consumption, environmental toxins, persistent negativity, and other lifestyle factors that create imbalance. These influences can weigh heavily on a person, affecting not only their emotional and mental wellbeing but also their relationships, goals, productivity, and overall quality of life.
When these energetic imbalances remain, they will eventually manifest as physical discomfort, chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, depression, or other forms of dis-ease. Sananga help to clear these accumulated energies, helping individuals feel calmer, more focused, relaxed, present, energised, and connected to themselves.
These are among the many benefits I have personally experienced through my own work with this sacred medicine.
Sananga works on both energetic and spiritual levels whilst supporting physical wellbeing. The indigenous tribes describe the spirit of Sananga as the intelligence behind the plant, guiding the healing process by addressing the root causes of imbalance. From this perspective, Sananga works with psychosomatic processes, helping to uncover and clear the deeper emotional, mental, and energetic influences that cause physical discomfort or dis-ease.
The eyes are often considered gateways through which we process both the external world and our internal experiences and everything we see, interpret, remember, and project through the mind passes through this lens of perception. Our vision can also be influenced by unresolved emotions, subconscious patterns, ancestral influences, and even karmic experiences carried throughout our lives.
Sananga is believed to help restore balance between the physical body, the energetic body, and the soul. Through this process, it supports the expansion of awareness, strengthens the connection to intuition and higher perception, and assists in opening the third eye while also supporting the physical eyes.
Among various tribes, Sananga has been used in cases involving eye-related conditions such as glaucoma, cataracts, short-sightedness, long-sightedness, dystrophies, colour perception alterations, and other visual disturbances. While individual experiences vary significantly and scientific research remains limited, there have been reports from users who claim to have experienced substantial improvements in their vision after working with the medicine.
Sananga is extracted from the root bark of Amazonian plants.One of the compounds associated with Sananga belongs to the same broader family as Iboga, a powerful teacher plant used to facilitate deep states of awareness and connection with the spiritual realm. Through these altered states of perception, tribal practitioners seek guidance, healing, wisdom, and insight from the spirit world.
The tribes also use Sananga to clear Panema, the energetic heaviness or spiritual dis-ease that interferes with a person’s wellbeing, clarity, success, and connection to life. Before hunting, drops are applied to each eye in order to sharpen perception and heighten awareness, this allows hunters to notice even the slightest movement within the dense rainforest, giving them a better ability to navigate and survive within their environment. Sananga has remained an important part of tribal life, not only as a medicine for physical wellbeing but also as a tool for spiritual development, energetic cleansing, and personal transformation.
Sananga works energetically, helping to address imbalances that eventually manifest in the physical body. Within many indigenous cultures, illness is viewed as beginning within the energetic body before becoming visible in the physical body. Thoughts, emotions, beliefs, unresolved experiences, and energetic blockages are believed to create disturbances that, over time, may influence particular organs or systems within the body.
Sananga is therefore regarded as a medicine that works on these deeper energetic layers, helping to clear stagnant energies, dissolve negative thought patterns, and restore energetic harmony. As these energetic shifts occur, improvements may then be experienced physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually.
Sananga helps to clear energetic congestion associated with the eyes while opening what is often referred to as inner vision, outer vision, and higher vision. In this way, the medicine is said to support not only physical sight but also clarity of perception, intuition, and spiritual awareness.
Because the eyes are among the most sensitive areas of the body, the application of Sananga creates an intense stinging sensation, and for many people, this discomfort is strongest during the first few moments but subsides within several minutes.
While the experience can be challenging, I have come to view this phase as an important part of the process, and rather than resisting the sensations, I have learned to meet them with acceptance and deep breathing. In my experience, the discomfort should not be something we dread, but embraced as part of the healing journey that Sananga invites us into.
The more willing we are to surrender to the experience, the easier it becomes to move beyond the physical sensations and access the deeper energetic, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of the medicine.
For those interested in learning more about Sananga and the emerging research surrounding its traditional applications and potential therapeutic properties, the following resources may be of interest:
• Psychedelic Times – Scientific Studies Hint at How Sananga Eye Drops Treat Ocular Diseases
• National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) – PubMed ID: 9683347
• National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) – PubMed ID: 17889471
• Pharmacognosy Research – Ruttoh et al. (2009)
• American Optometric Association – Antioxidants and Vision Health
As with all traditional medicines, continued research is needed to better understand Sananga. While traditional knowledge provides valuable insight into its uses, individuals should always exercise discernment, conduct their own research, and seek professional medical advice regarding any health concerns.
