Bodybuilding Legend Dorian Yates: Ayahuasca On The Amazon River, A Spiritual Journey Begins

Dorian Yates, who won the Mr. Olympia title over six consecutive years from 1992 to 1997, was known for training until he nearly dropped and that included hellish workout sessions and steroids. 

Though he retired from pro competition in 1997, the British bodybuilder is still in top physical shape. But now, instead of drugs to build muscle mass, Yates is consuming plants to feed his head and spiritual life. 

It all started with a boat ride on Brazil’s mighty Amazon River, which Yates thought at the time was going to be a party boat blast, replete with cocaine, vodka and all the rest. 

"I’m in Brazil, and I thought, ‘Wow I’m in the Amazon.’ I said to the guy, ‘Oh can we get some coke?’ He’s like, ‘Of course, it’s the best.’ It’s raw shit there, from the plant! I head there and we’re going out, do a bit of that, a bit of vodka, I don’t think I even knew, just keeping it quiet.” 

What About That Other Plant?

Yates had also heard of something else that was available in the Amazon, which was supposed to be fun and cool, so he asked the guide to find him some. Unbeknownst to himself, that request would change Yates' life: Ayahuasca.

“I had a guide that was Indian, and the guy said to me, ‘So you’re doing the ayahuasca tonight?’ He said, ‘Don’t smoke any weed then today,’ because you’re not supposed to. I didn’t do any of that shit I was smoking and drinking vodka the night before,” Yates said in an interview with Fitness Volt.

Moments after consuming the ayahuasca brew, Yates violently threw up and wondered if he’d been poisoned. Then, he heard and felt a "female entity" who told him to stop poisoning himself. “So that was that. That was my experience.”  

And that was enough. 

Yates told Fitness Volt how, after that experience in the Amazon, he defined success as having a positive impact on the world and that happiness was achieved by loving oneself. 

“I mean, some people define it by material possessions…that’s not necessarily success, it’s not necessarily happiness because there’s a lot of rich people who are very miserable,” Yates said. “So, what is happiness? I think it’s being comfortable and being in love with yourself.”

Growing Popularity

Yates is not the only pro athlete to use ayahuasca and essentially arrive at the same conclusion. Green Bay Packers quarterback and MVP Aaron Rodgers said ayahuasca helped him “unconditionally love” himself.

Ayahuasca, the hallucinogenic brew made from the leaves and stalks of certain South American plants containing DMT (dimethyltryptamine) and MAOI (monoamine oxidase inhibitor), is all the rage among celebrities including Chelsea Handler, Lindsay Lohan, Miley Cyrus and Sting. 

The brew triggers intense hallucinations; a growing number of people are sharing their experiences of deep emotions that lead to healing. 

Photo: Dorian Yates Instagram