How to Use Hapé: Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

You have your first Hapé. Now what?

Knowing how to use Hapé correctly is the difference between a grounding, clarifying experience and an overwhelming one. This guide walks you through everything step by step — the tools you need, how to prepare, the exact application process, and what to do after.

What You Need Before You Start

You only need two things for a solo Hapé session:

1. A Kuripe — the V-shaped self-applicator pipe. One end goes in your mouth, the other in your nostril.
2. A Hapé blend — start with soft or medium-strength for your first sessions.

Optional but helpful: a cloth or tissue, a small bowl of water, a quiet undisturbed space for 30 minutes.

Choosing the Right Hapé for Your First Time

Starting too strong is the most common beginner mistake. For your first 1–3 sessions choose:

• Kuntanawa Copaiba — soft, grounding, mild. Most forgiving entry point.
• Samauma Flower blends — gentle and heart-opening.
• Caboclo Paricá — medium strength, smooth, reliable. Our most popular blend.

Avoid strong blends (Nukini 7 Estrelas, Tsunu Forte, Shawadawa Kapayuba) until you have several sessions under your belt. Our Hapé Strength Guide breaks down every blend by intensity. Our Sample Sets let you try multiples before committing.

Preparing Your Space and Mindset

Physical: Sit upright — spine straight, feet on the floor. Never lying down. Phone off. Cloth and water within reach. Light stomach preferred (avoid large meals 2 hours before).

Intention: Before touching the medicine, sit quietly for 2–3 minutes. Ask yourself: What am I working with today? Clarity, release, grounding, presence — know your purpose. Intention shapes the experience.

How to Load Your Kuripe

1. Hold the Kuripe with the nostril end pointing up.
2. Place a pea-sized amount of Hapé into the nostril end — this is enough for a first session.
3. Tap the pipe gently to settle the powder flat inside.
4. Do not tilt sideways or the powder spills.

The Application: Step by Step

1. Close your eyes. Take one slow breath and bring your intention to mind.
2. Insert the nostril end into your left nostril. Seal the tip so no air escapes. Start left — the left nostril is associated with releasing and letting go.
3. Inhale slightly through your nose to create a gentle pull, then blow one firm, smooth breath through the mouth end. Be deliberate — a weak puff leaves the medicine at the entrance rather than delivering it properly.
4. Remove the Kuripe and open your mouth immediately. Breathe only through your mouth. The burning pressure in the sinuses is normal and expected.
5. Reload and apply to your right nostril. The right is associated with receiving and renewal. Complete both sides.
6. Set the Kuripe down and sit still. Eyes closed, mouth slightly open, slow breath.

What to Expect in the Next 20 Minutes

First 60 seconds: Pressure and heat in the sinuses, mucus release, possible tears. Let it all move. Spit out anything dripping down the back of your throat — do not swallow it.

Minutes 2–5: The physical intensity settles. Mental noise begins to quiet. A sharp, present-moment clarity emerges — this is the medicine.

Minutes 5–20: Stay in stillness. No phone, no conversation. The deepest work of the medicine happens in the silence after the intensity passes. This is integration — do not rush it.

After Your Session

• Blow your nose gently after the initial intensity has fully passed.
• Drink a glass of water.
• Journal if you feel called to — insights surface quickly and fade just as fast without being captured.
• Return to activity gradually. Give yourself 20–30 minutes before screens or demanding work.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Too much. A pea-sized amount is plenty. You can go deeper next time — you cannot undo too much in the moment.
• Too strong a blend. Build your tolerance and relationship first.
• Blowing your nose immediately. Wait at least 10 minutes. Early blowing removes the medicine before it absorbs.
• Lying down. Always sit upright. Lying down dramatically increases nausea.
• Fighting the experience. Resistance amplifies discomfort. Breathe into it — intensity always passes.
• Using it daily out of habit. Once or twice per week with clear intention. Habitual use creates nicotine dependency and strips the medicine of its quality.

Receiving Hapé from a Tepi

In ceremony, Hapé is traditionally administered by a practitioner using a Tepi — a longer blowpipe through which they blow the medicine into your nostrils. The practitioner's breath and intention enter the medicine alongside the delivery, which is why receiving from another person is considered more powerful than self-application.

When receiving: set your intention before sitting, trust the practitioner's amount and timing, open your mouth immediately after each application, and stay in stillness once both nostrils are done.