For a few twilight hours in a remote jungle of the Spanish Caribbean, I ceased to exist. On my first-ever ayahuasca retreat, a medicine journey that was facilitated by a local healing couple I met while traveling, I curled up inside a sleeping bag beneath a canvas tent structure, with a warm heap of wool blankets on top of me, and was lulled into one of the most transformative awakenings of my life. Over the course of one night, I was transported far and wide, and into a realm I never knew existed.El Sol Retreats exceeded my expectations in every way. The place location is breathtaking, the level of care is superb, and the Spiritual holiness is in the air.
Due to the highly customizable nature of these private retreats, we are able to host you as an individual, you with your close group, or for your entire organization. We may also curate weekend retreats if this is something you are interested in however we recommend you take the full time out of your life for this journey, it will be sacred, it will be life-changing, it will be cathartic. Allow it.
– 22 Ayahuasca ceremonies led by Shipibo curanderos– Authentic training in Shipibo curanderismo– Two plant dietas with Noya Rao and another plant– Daily lectures, workshops, and activities– Natural holistic treatment for afflictions– Ceremonial cushma, pomades, mapachos…– Mp3 player & USB with recordings, photos, and video.
Anxiety is a condition we treat very often and always with positive results. The tradition’s combination of treatment methods is ideal for treating both depression and anxiety, as well as a number of other conditions. Our ayahuasca retreats have a 100% success rate for improvement with treatment of anxiety, but again, it is up to each person to follow through on making and maintaining lifestyle changes after the retreat.
Come here for a fully immersive shamanic experience, with shamanic healing practices, shamanic breathwork, and even a shamanic school with facilitator programs. They have a variety of retreats at their healing center as well as Ayahuasca Retreats in Peru (near Cusco).
This ayahuasca retreat center is under The União do Vegetal (UDV) is a Christian Spiritist religion that originated in Brazil and is recognized for their community and environmental service, and have hosted countless ayahuasca religious ceremonies. União do Vegetal literally means "the union of the plants," and their followers drink Hoasca, which is the sacred sacrament of plants indigenous to the Brazillian Amazon.
El Sol Retreats involves ayahuasca consumption (Daime tea) as part of their religious rituals. Sometimes difficult to find, you can try to find locations around the country by searching for Santo Daime USA. Another Ayahuasca church known as the Peaceful Mountain Way is a Native American Church that specializes in an Ayahuasca ritual as a spiritual sacrament.
Another Ayahuasca church known as the Peaceful Mountain Way is a Native American Church that specializes in an ayahuasca ritual as a spiritual sacrament.
Our retreats blend elements of ancient shamanic rituals with contemporary healing modalities like psychotherapy, mindfulness, art therapy etc. They aim to provide a holistic self-growth experience integrating the ayahuasca journey with various complementary practices. This holistic approach can enhance integration and therapeutic value.Selecting the ideal ayahuasca retreat for your needs requires careful contemplation of several factors:
Prices for ayahuasca retreats in the USA range widely based on length, location, amenities and services included. Typical costs range from:
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian plant medicine that has been used in a sacred context by indigenous and mestizo healers in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years. Made from the mixture of 2 (or more) plants found in the Amazon jungle – the ayahuasca vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), and the chacruna leaf (Psychotria viridis), which contains the powerful psychoactive dimethyletryptamine (DMT), it is a brew capable of inducing altered states of consciousness. The word ayahuasca is based in the Quechua language and translates to “vine of the soul” or “vine of the spirits”. It goes by many different names according to region, such as oni, caapi, natema, yajé, yagé, nepe, shuri, kamalampi, kaji and others throughout the Amazon Basin1.
Traditionally, ayahuasca has been used in a variety of contexts: as a therapeutic tool to diagnose and treat illness; as a means of shamanic communication; and for the communal purposes of hunting magic, warfare, and collective ritual2. While the true origins of ayahuasca have been lost to history, with no written records prior to the 16th century Amazon invasion of Spanish conquistadors, archaeological evidence suggests its use stretches back at least two millennia. Its practice and spread since appears to be as complex and diverse as the people who use it, embodying and blending various cultural frameworks, spiritual belief systems, economic and political landscapes, and social hierarchies. Today, it is the foundation for the traditional medicine systems of over 75 different tribes in the Amazon, and has spread to various regions across the globe, offering healing for many illnesses and dis-ease where modern medicine has failed.
When we are young, Spiritual Integration – we often inherit the patterns, habits, and ways of life from our parents, relatives, or those who raised us. We are also heavily shaped by the events in our lives that happen to us at a young age. Ayahuasca can take us back to this time and revisit memories that reflect on how we perceived life, created our values, and shaped our beliefs. When negative events or emotions happened, our tendency as children was to turn away from that pain, avoid it and push it down into our subconscious. This created great energetic impacts that we carried into our adult life, manifesting in a multitude of ways and practices, including how we handle stress, our predisposition to addiction, depression and anxiety, and the way we connect with ourselves and others. In this work, we are invited to engage with our inner child, and rescue those parts which still carry pain through reflecting upon, integrating, and then releasing the associated negative emotions and their energetic hold on us. By healing the inner child, we heal all that which follows, and can return to a place of authenticity, presence, and peace.
The alchemy of transformation comes from engaging directly with our shadow selves and our emotional pain and discomfort. It is not a process that one can simply “think through” – it is one of the heart, and can only be truly dealt with through the direct experience of the emotions and traumas we’ve been avoiding. When we fully integrate our shadow self, transforming the energy from it and rather using it for life-affirming purposes, we can enter into a state of love and gratitude that can only come from walking through the fire and coming out on the other side. By bringing the subconscious blockages to light, amplifying the patterns and processes that no longer serve us, and helping us face it, ayahuasca allows us the ability to transform that darkness into the keys to our liberation.
With Behold Retreats, you're supported down to the last detail from travel arrangements, to high-end accommodations, and will have the opportunity to receive 7 weeks of personal coaching for optimized preparation and integration. We have a team of therapists and coaches that can help you go deep and get the most from your ayahuasca experience from pre to post retreat.
The El Sol Retreats center is in the heart of a national reserve, far from the artificial brightness of city lights. At night, when the sky is clear, the moon and stars come out to dazzle us. Nothing helps to put things into perspective after an ayahuasca ceremony like looking up into the twinkling gaze of the Milky Way. Our center has a star gazing deck, which also works for sun bathing, playing music, or just hanging out.
What I’ve more or less accomplished and what I’m really grateful for is that I had a really strong, firm belief that something was wrong with me which prevented me from fully accepting myself and I really feel that I have been able to get over it so I’ve been able to let go of this limiting belief and replace it with self love. I’m not saying that I’m there, I still have a long way to go as everybody, but that the roots of this negative belief are gone, which opened the way for me to actually love myself.
It’s important to respect the use of the plant, and Indigenous people who have used it for centuries, as the cultural harbingers of its healing qualities.
My first ayahuasca experience went something like this: After a shaman cleared my nostrils with rapé—a dried, powdered tobacco snuff that’s shot up participants’ noses with a pipe to begin a ceremony—I drank my first of three cups a snake in a pit of other snakes. I even lost all concept of my own appearance—what qualities my face had, from my nose to even the color of my eyes.
Another Ayahuasca church known as the Peaceful Mountain Way is a Native American Church that specializes in an ayahuasca ritual as a spiritual sacrament.
HARMONIZE YOUR HEALTH: Attend 5 ceremonies at the El Sol Retreats Center led by a Shipibo maestro. Receive numerous personalized plant treatments including plant baths, vapor baths, smoke baths, purgatives, inhalants, cleanses, and other plant medicines. Complimentary healing practices like yoga, meditation, breathwork, massage, and counseling are also included in the retreat.
We will show you various hiking trails around the camp and you will be encouraged to get out into nature as often as possible during the retreat. Connecting with nature and the plants often enhances the ayahuasca ceremonies. Towards the end of the retreat there will also be a long hike into the reserve led by a highly knowledgeable guide who will point out numerous medicinal plants and other natural wonders along the way.
Ayahuasca journeys can range from one-night events to multi-day dietas, which usually require a participant to refrain from any intense physical stimulants such as sex, alcohol, and rich foods for a period of time. Most ceremonies are held in a maloca, a wooden ceremonial structure with a thatched roof, and begin at sunset and end the following morning before dawn, lasting around five to six hours. In my experience, a ceremony usually includes fewer than 20 participants and begins with some type of cleansing initiation through the use of tobacco snuff, such as rapé, or mapacho. After ingesting the medicinal tea, most participants will experience a purging reaction, which could include vomiting or even a bowel movement. Participants can drink three cups—each about the size of an espresso shot—throughout the night. Shamans and healing elders usually sing icaros, or prayers through song, to facilitate a sense of calm and tranquility. While some ceremonies observe a practice known as noble silence, many rituals encourage participants to emote as necessary: crying, screaming, and purging included.
PTSD and the negative effects of emotional trauma are helped tremendously by treatment with the indigenous healing tradition during our ayahuasca retreats in the Amazon. Using a series of remedies that help to release pent up emotions, unlock buried memories, and reroute unhealthy neural pathways, the tradition provides a path towards acceptance, self-love, and optimism for a bright future.
The treatment of ulcers goes beyond just the physical. Although the roots of the affliction are similar to acid reflux, the emotional aspects usually go deeper. A complete treatment is necessary. Our ayahuasca retreats have had very good results with the treatment of ulcers, but important lifestyle changes must follow. We assist with the maintenance of those changes.
With Behold Retreats, you're supported down to the last detail from travel arrangements, to high-end accommodations, and will have the opportunity to receive 7 weeks of personal coaching for optimized preparation and integration. We have a team of therapists and coaches that can help you go deep and get the most from your ayahuasca experience from pre to post retreat.
One of the most common components for any healing process in the jungle is chilling in a hammock. During the retreats we encourage plenty of rest, relaxation, and quiet contemplation time between ceremonies and treatments. For those who struggle to stop ‘doing’, the hammock may be your medicine and your office of turning inwards. We also have a library of powerful books about healing and empowerment to pass more wakeful times productively.
COMPLETE HEALING: Participate in 9 ayahuasca ceremonies led by a Shipibo curandero. Receive a complete program of plant treatmentsincluding vapor and plant baths, deep internal body cleanses, blood purification, and consciousness enhancement. Extra offerings include yoga, massage, counseling, meditation, as well as swimming, hiking, fishing, star-gazing, and just relaxing in paradise.
Our aim is to provide you with the optimum environment for you to replant your spirit. All treatments and activities are optional, so go at your own pace. Two or three weeks is a relatively short period of time in a human being’s life, and we really see this process not as a complete and final solution to your problems, but rather as a new beginning, a foundation on which to build over time, providing inspiration for your spiritual growth. We are also here to let you know that anything is possible. What we have found is this: the people who take responsibility for their own healing, put their trust and faith in the plants and in us, let go of expectations and truly commit themselves with intention to their process. These people always get what they need, unfolding into the most profound depths of inner transformation possible for them, and are then gratefully ready to continue the work of integrating their experiences for the rest of their lives.
All are welcome to our public gatherings. Most people with sincere spiritual intent are eligible for our sacrament retreats. If you aren’t sure if you can participate in our retreats, look at our Medical Guidelines pages on our website. Nearly 100% are medically eligible for our Magic Mushroom retreats. Certain medications and medical conditions are not compatible with Ayahuasca.
The spiritual investment varies depending on the location, maximum number of participants, and sacraments being offered. Our Ayahuasca and Mushroom retreats can range between $1000 – $2000 and our Bufo Alvarius (5meo-dmt) retreats range between $400 – $1000. To know the exact cost, please sign up for our email list where prices are announced for each retreat.
Yes! You can find more information about our private ceremonies on our retreat page.
A. With proper preparation, integration, and understanding how our Sacraments work, you will see there’s no such thing as a bad trip. Difficult and challenging experiences can be a part of the deep psychedelic journey. We all have skeletons in our psycho-spiritual closets, whether it’s fear, insecurities, our shadow, or repressed memories. Our approach isn’t to try to avoid a challenging experience, but rather to lean into them, since this is where the real productive work occurs. Can you face your demons with curiosity and love? Can you stand at your edge of your comfort zone with strength and courage? Everybody loves experiencing bliss, but by going through challenges we can develop the tools to live a more integrated and empowered life in the real world We’ve got your back, just breathe.
Our approach does not require you to convert or have faith of any kind. Faith can be an impediment to understanding. Our approach is to facilitate direct mystical experiences so that people can come to their own conclusions.
We don’t give medical advice. As evidenced by high quality research, our spiritual sacraments in the right setting can be very powerful healing tools. This is because much spiritual dis-ease manifests also as physical dis-ease. When spiritual dis-ease is discovered and addressed, many transformations happen downstream.
. A shaman is generally considered a healer or an initiate of a lineage. We are not healers or following any one particular lineage. Our philosophy is that the only healer is you, through proper integration of what you learned in your journey. We also do not follow any one particular lineage or tradition in choosing how we lead ceremony. Our ceremonies are guided by icaros, music, and prayers
Currently we’re serving a maximum of 20 people per ceremony.