What is ayahuasca which Allison Holker blames for Stephen tWitch Boss's death?

Allison Holker Boss has revealed that her husband Stephen "tWitch" Boss was a changed man after he returned from his ayahuasca journey.

"tWitch" Boss, hip-hop dancer, choreographer, actor, and cohost of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, died at 40 in December 2022.

According to a report from Los Angeles eedical examiner, the manner of his death was suicide. 

Holker is promoting her memoir This Far: My Story of Love, Loss, and Embracing the Light. 

During an interview she revealed that her late husband embarked on an “ayahuasca journey” and “wasn’t the same afterwards.”

“I think it was a very big turning point for him,” she said. “I feel like his heart was never really in the same place when he came back. There was something missing in his eyes.”

“It just kind of feels like he opened something up to himself that he never healed. And never fully escaped,” added Holker Boss, 36.

The professional dancer went on to say that she was “really sad” about what her husband went through, and despite it all, she would remember him as “a wonderful person.”

What is ayahuasca journey

An "ayahuasca journey" refers to the experience of participating in a ceremonial or ritual use of ayahuasca, which is a psychoactive brew traditionally used by indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin.

Before the ceremony, participants often engage in a period of physical and mental preparation which might include a special diet (dieta), avoiding certain foods, alcohol, and sexual activities. This is believed to cleanse the body and spirit, making one more receptive to the effects of ayahuasca.

Ayahuasca ceremonies are typically led by a shaman or healer known as a "curandero" or "ayahuasquero" in South American cultures. The ceremony might take place at night and can last several hours. Participants drink the ayahuasca brew.