It is a common topic nowadays to talk today about Ayahuasca centers, kinds of medicine, facilitators, and shamans, but very little is said about travelers. When you attend a retreat, you must know in advance that you may experience complicated moments, in which you must always maintain respect for the guides and members of the staff, either before, during, or after the experience.
Being a responsible traveler involves taking personal accountability for your experience and understanding the limits of the retreat staff's role. This includes accepting the outcomes of the Ayahuasca journey, whether profound, challenging, or unexpected.
Through years of working with the plant, I’ve witnessed its remarkable transformative potential. However, it is essential to approach it with realistic expectations—it is neither a panacea nor a miraculous, all-encompassing solution. Its value lies in its ability to offer profound insights and healing, often requiring active participation and integration from the individual.
Understanding this balance between the plant’s power and personal responsibility is crucial for a meaningful and grounded Ayahuasca experience.
Ayahuasca guides are not doctors, so we do not intend to "cure" diseases, make diagnoses, interventions, or follow-up unless the person requests it. The main function of the facilitator or guide is to accompany. The staff is also not trained to assist people in crises not occurring during a ceremony or in scenarios where help is directly requested to treat deep trauma that occurs as a product of sexual abuse, and physical or psychological violence, among others. We stress the importance of talking to a mental health professional about these topics, not us or your holistic therapist. If sensitive topics are shared with the wrong person, this can lead to re-traumatization, revictimization, a crisis, or even temporary psychosis. We are trauma-informed only, which means that we don’t work with trauma but are sensitive to its basic needs.
We are not trained to treat people with psychological disorders of the ¨B¨ cluster (antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic) with Ayahuasca. There are already retreat centers with medical and psychological personnel for better assistance in these cases.
For individuals with Autism or ADHD, Ayahuasca can be a viable option in almost any retreat. Although we are not formally trained in these areas, we have worked with many neurodivergent participants and have observed excellent outcomes. More details on this topic will be shared in an upcoming blog.
Regarding mixing certain medications with Ayahuasca, our experience says that what is practiced in most retreat centers, speaking of the typical ¨leave your antidepressants for 30 days and you can attend¨ has proven to be risky and might not be ideal for obtaining the benefits of the plant. There are exceptions of course, but statistically has shown straight difficult experiences, either for participants or staff.
We have observed interactions and distress even in cases where the medication was stopped responsibly. Imagine what could happen if you irresponsibly take medications of this kind with Ayahuasca.
It's highly necessary from our perspective to stop antidepressants and antianxiety medications for a long period of time and follow by your medical professional. Ideally between 6 to 12 months from your last dose and never stop them suddenly. Let’s remember antidepressants especially when people stop them, the body needs time to adjust, and you may have a relapse of your condition (why they were prescribed in the first place), either way, it’s depression, panic attacks, or anxiety, there is this risk. Putting all these ingredients together along with an Ayahuasca retreat can be quite difficult and unnecessary. Proper preparation minimizes these risks and allows the body to adjust naturally, ensuring a smoother retreat experience.
When it comes to mixing Ayahuasca with another similar substance, instantly becomes another important aspect of the responsible and safe approach to these medicines.
The first thing is that there is a total incompatibility between the joint consumption of Ayahuasca and other synthetic psychoactive substances (MDMA, Amphetamines, Ecstasy, LSD, Mescaline, etc.) or natural-sacred plants (Cannabis, Peyote, San Pedro, Mushrooms)
According to the terms of the shamans, "Ayahuasca is a jealous plant", it does not tolerate mixtures. In fact, Ayahuasca as a concoction already has a mixture of psychoactive plants, two or three in most cases
In traditional Amazonian medicine, the use or insertion of other psychoactive substances would not be consistent with the context and shamanic protocol of the ceremony. It would not make sense to mix more than one medicinal resource if the ancient use of the plant has its own tradition and space, just as it would not make sense to wear two pants at the same time, a person could not sleep in two different beds. Each sacred plant, call it "teacher" or "entheogenic" has its own context, its own space, and protocol of traditional use.
We must have respect for our master plants, each one has its way of acting and the only sense it could have when mixing would be if it were something recreational or playful, which would already be disrespectful when meeting the grandmother. Let's not abuse the natural resources that for millennia we have had within reach for, before attending a meeting where several master plants are offered, make sure that you have adequate preparation and ask what would be the context of mixing these medicines, the spiritualized ego always does its thing, offer respect for master plants. In these retreats, you can still choose to try only one medicine in general, and this would be a safer option.
Talking about the screening part, if your application is not approved, do not take it as a bad thing, on the contrary, we are sharing our experience to let you know that your profile is not the ideal one for us and that perhaps you do not have sufficient reasons to take the medicine or that it's not the right time. It's a good thing to know, and it doesn't preclude you from applying to other retreat centers. All this is to avoid an unpleasant moment for us and the groups that we select so carefully. We recommend practicing prudence. Blocking us, insisting, or feeling offended by our decision, is not a good route.
Blog dedicated to Ann-Marie - UK
Ann Marie’s story is both touching and inspiring, a testament to her creativity and deep engagement. As an artistically gifted individual and clinical hypnotherapist, she attended one of our retreats, fully immersing herself in the experience and contributing wholeheartedly.
Her time at the retreat was not only transformative for her but also meaningful for those around her. She expressed her journey through a beautiful painting that captured her interpretation of the experience, adding a unique and deeply human touch to her time with us. Her gift serves as a lasting reminder of the profound connections and personal growth that can arise during these journeys.
Ayahuasca is an extremely strong and challenging experience, it is not something that one wants to expose anyone to. Ayahuasca should not be undertaken casually. Do not go just because your friend is coming or to accompany your partner. It is not bad to do it, but if they are not completely sure and they are being influenced, that will come out in the ceremony and it could be externalized in a negative way (bad trips) or certain deception on the results you got.
We also have cases where if one person in a group is turned away, then no one comes. It seems curious to us since Ayahuasca is not an experience to be taken accompanied. Chris Isner, a well-known Ayahuasquero, says that in the dark of night and inside the maloka, it does not matter who is close to you, or which shaman, at that moment only you and the master plants exist. Your friends, family, or partner cannot do anything for you during the ceremony, and at all times only the guide must accompany you closely.
All rituals start with the selection of people. Know that if you give false information or hide certain facts such as that you drank alcohol in the diet, that you had open heart surgery a few years ago, or that you hear voices in your head and talk to trees, you are putting many people at risk and this is something which may lead to legal action by the facilitators and guides. We take our work very seriously, and we expect it to be taken equally.
