12 Days

Women’s Ayahuasca Healing Retreat

Temple of the Way of Light
There is something powerful that happens when groups of women get together. For this 12-day women's Ayahuasca retreat we will be working with exclusively female facilitators and female support staff to create a magical and profoundly healing container.

We have strived to honor the divine feminine in all of our work at the Temple through working with mainly female healers since 2009. This very special retreat is for self-identified women only. Holding a retreat specifically for women brings an added focus to that guiding principle and aims to support the embodiment and empowerment of feminine energy in our guests and on the planet.

More importantly, very few women, especially early on in their healing journeys, are fully comfortable with their own femininity, fully connected to their own feminine power, and fully supported by a community of strong women. The only way to truly heal and re-create these parts of ourselves is to face them, and what better way to do that than by creating an environment of exclusively women in which to do this healing work.

Too many women report not having close female friends, and lacking sisterhood. All too easily, feminine power gets corrupted and manifests as jealousy, competition, self-sacrifice, anger turned inward, and a disjointed relationship with our own sexuality. Western society very much reinforces these dynamics, but healing has to start with you…

A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and herself only
– Maya Angelou

The first step to effecting change in the world is to do your own inner work. While it’s impossible to separate an individual from their environment, to extract a woman from the paternalistic society she grew up in, the focus is going to be very much on you and your own process, and not on society as a whole.

Your facilitators will be helping you to increase the depth of the work you’re able to do, and maximize the healing that is possible for you. As we process our experiences in ceremonies, we will focus as much as possible on female and feminine-specific issues and ideas, paving the way for you to go back into your life in a powerful and connected way.

This retreat is perfect for you if:

  • You’re longing for greater connection with yourself and other women
  • The thought of joining a women’s retreat brings up a certain amount of fear in you
  • You are committed to your own healing and making a difference in the world
  • You want your workshop to be supported by a high level of processing and integration support
  • You want to learn from and work with trusted and respected female indigenous Shipibo maestras

In this retreat, we will:

  • Explore what happens as a group of women committed to our own healing get together
  • Create a space for deep healing to occur
  • Experience the divine connection and power of feminine energy
  • Face the fears that we have around female friendship and sisterhood
  • Learn ways to stay connected to feminine power in our day-to-day lives

You will leave this retreat:

  • With a new community of close female friends
  • Empowered to access your own feminine energy to help you move forward in your life
  • With a new understanding of the ways that you suppress or sacrifice yourself
  • Tools to support yourself and other women
  • Inspired to approach your life in new and powerful ways
Check Available Dates

Video Reviews

“For those called to work with the plant, this is the place to do it, right at the source. No secondary reflection of it elsewhere can possibly match the authentic nature of the experience offered here at the Temple.”

“After coming to the Peruvian Amazon for close to thirty years, I have never really seen a project or center quite like this!”

Bruce Parry, award winning documentarian, filmmaker, and indigenous rights activist, talks about his experience at the Temple of the Way of Light after attending a 12-Day Ayahuasca Retreat in April, 2014.

Medicine hunter, author and educator Chris Kilham talks about his experience at the Temple of the Way of Light after visiting us in July 2014 and his perspectives on traditional healthcare and issues in conventional western healthcare.

“I came to the Temple a scientific materialist. I realised here that consciousness and spirit have always existed. It’s hard to put into words the profound change I have experienced.”

Amélie discusses her experience at the Temple focusing on healing self-hatred on one of our 12 day ayahuasca and plant spirit healing retreats.

Dr Dan Engle, Integrative Psychiatrist, shares a review of his experience at the Temple of the Way of Light. In this short interview, he shares his reflections on the work of the Temple – the healers, the facilitators, the set and setting, and his perspectives on the importance of respecting traditional healing practices of the Amazon when working with ayahuasca.

The Process

An ayahuasca retreat at the Temple is an intense process that offers a powerful opportunity to experience profound healing.

Due to decades of training, and wisdom that is passed through many generations, the work of our Shipibo healers allows ayahuasca deeper access into the system, reaching into the roots of trauma and clearing energetic blockages that disconnect you from your true nature.

Through clearing the past and bringing energetic alignment to your body, mind, and soul, this transformational process initiates, or further deepens, a long-term journey of self-reflection, self-discovery, and spiritual awakening.

Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat With Female Shipibo Healers

Shipibo Plant-Spirit Curanderismo

The healing traditions of the Shipibo work with ayahuasca as a nexus to a vast number of other plant medicines that operate together in synergy and symbiosis, to provide a “harmony of healing.” In order to play a symphony, an orchestra is required; it is not possible for one instrument alone to create a symphony.

In order to become an Onanya, an apprentice must carry out long and arduous training, a process called sama (master plant dietas). Sama is the process of establishing a connection with the spirit of the plant that is being dieted. Over many years, the plant spirits teach the apprentice how to navigate the inner worlds, how to heal, and how to become a conduit for the energetic medicines of the plants to be channelled to the patient.

The most powerful energetic healing transmission is in the form of sound – the ikaro – the healing songs of the plants. Becoming a high-level healer typically takes at least ten years, although the learning process never stops.

Dietas enable the Onanyabo to open up portals while in expanded states with ayahuasca and to call in plant-spirit doctors to carry out energetic operations on a patient. It is the plant-spirit allies/doctors who disconnect, extract, clear, cleanse, and purify heavy energies from the system of the patient.

The healer then works with the plant spirits to realign the patient’s energetic architecture (body, mind, and soul), reconnecting them to their essence and the natural order/world, and administers specific ikaros to protect the healing work and illuminate the patient’s path forwards.

The Shipibo’s perspectives on optimal health are radically different; they employ a process is far beyond our understanding of modern healthcare and sits outside of the widespread materialistic understanding of reality.

The key to the success of the healing they provide lies in their experience of working in the inner, non-physical, non-local realms of being, a causal approach that challenges the underlying assumptions of the modern biomedical paradigm. As well as focusing on physical and psychological symptoms, they address the non-physical, energetic sources of disorder and disease, moving beyond the limitations of modern medicine.

Our wounds are the doorway to rediscovering our true nature – Paul Levy

Experienced Facilitation

Our experienced facilitators carry out an important role as bridges and translators between our healers and guests.

They also hold space, listen, guide, and inspire guests throughout the program. We help our guests understand how to work with ayahuasca and all that this entails; how to process difficult emotions, handle projections, surrender, manage expectations, face challenges, overcome fears, embody teachings from the plants, incorporate visionary experiences, and make the journey from the head to the heart.

Our facilitators have many years of personal experience with ayahuasca and “walk their talk.” Through having faced and integrated much of their own pain and challenges and transitioned from self to service, they are able to share from a place of personal experience and guide others through the same process.

We are deeply committed to our guests’ healing journeys and are passionate about our work.

Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat With Female Shipibo Healers

During the women’s Ayahuasca retreat, you will receive a substantial amount of integration support to help you process your healing experience after each ceremony. We also offer guidance on how to sustain and cultivate any breakthroughs and insights you receive during your retreat, and how to ground transformative healing experiences into your day-to-day life.

We ensure that every person who comes to the Temple receives individual attention and is held in a compassionate and caring environment throughout their healing process.

The Journey Back to Wholeness

The Temple’s ayahuasca are the beginning of a much longer process of healing and self-exploration.

Our retreats offer a significant intervention to address chronic emotional pain and psycho-spiritual issues that accumulate in modern life, and a profound catalyst that accelerates our overall journey back to wholeness. The shamanic healing provided by our team of Shipibo healers effects substantial and lasting change for most who attend our programs.

Healing with ayahuasca works in cycles. For most, one workshop will bring their lives back into significant alignment to continue a path of healing, expansion, and self-discovery without further treatment being necessary. We also see some guests returning to continue their healing work with the plants and with ayahuasca after their first retreat.

We advise, in most cases, that it is important not to return for another program before having spent at least six months to one year after a retreat focused on integration, to allow time for the work with the medicine to continue to expand and unfold.

It is important to know that ayahuasca is not a panacea. We can never offer any guarantees regarding healing. The key to successful healing in most cases is the combination of a quality ayahuasca brew, highly skilled, and well-intentioned healers acting as conduits to a large team of plant spirits, experienced and caring facilitators, and a safe and compassionate environment.

Of equal importance is your own approach to healing – coming with clear intentions, a strong commitment to your process, trusting the healers, and having the courage to face your shadow will significantly deepen your healing and transformation.

Focus on Integration

The healing you will receive will cleanse dense energies that have accumulated in your system as well as bring up many aspects of your past that have been buried in your subconscious.

It is important to understand that this process not only takes place during the ceremonies but also normally for days, weeks, and months after a retreat. Ayahuasca and the plant spirits will continue to work with you after you leave the Temple, and the more self-reflection, courage, responsibility, and awareness you bring to your process during this crucial phase, the more benefits you will gain.

Ayahuasca helps dissolve the illusory self and increases awareness of self-constructed boundaries, highlighting and helping release fear-filled and self-limiting beliefs. Ayahuasca initiates a long-term healing journey that supports overall liberation from the hypnosis of conditioning – shining a light onto your shadow and helping you to become aware of your patterns, intimate with your fears, and consciously parent yourself back to wholeness.

What's Included & Cost

Cost of Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat

USD $3,900

A portion of the income from our ayahuasca retreats funds projects on environmental justice, regenerative agriculture, and intercultural education run by our Peruvian sister NGO, the Chaikuni Institute (established 2012), collaborating with indigenous people and communities in the Amazon.

Payment Terms

Upon Application: Your card will be charged $1 when you submit your application. If we cannot approve your application for any reason, your card will be refunded the $1.

Upon Application Approval: If your application is approved, your card will be charged for the remainder of the 50% deposit (unless retreat starts within 6 weeks, your card will be charged for the full amount).

6 weeks Prior to Retreat Start: Your final payment is due and will be automatically charged to your credit card, unless you make the payment before then.

What’s Included

  • 6 ayahuasca ceremonies over the 12 days
  • A high ratio of healers to guests – 4 Shipibo healers per retreat (2 female, 2 male) and a female Shipibo herbalist
  • Regular group integration sessions and practices to support greater alignment
  • Group size limited to 23 people
  • An skilled team of 3 female facilitators to guide you with processing and integrating your experiences
  • A series of steam baths at the beginning of the retreat to clear the most dense energies
  • A series of 3 plant baths followed by 3 flower baths for cleansing, purifying, and strengthening
  • Energetic healing massages (where necessary, as part of your healing process)
  • Deliciously simple meals, organic where possible, suitable for working with medicinal plants
  • A jungle walk to see medicinal plants in their natural environment
  • Individual consultations with the healers and your facilitators
  • Plant remedies individually prescribed by the healers
  • Individual accommodation in comfortable bungalows, all with running water, a private toilet, sink, chair, and hammock
  • Laundry service
  • Translation from Shipibo / Spanish to English
  • All retreats facilitated in English
  • Porters to carry your luggage to and from the pickup location and the Temple
  • All transportation to and from the Temple from the pickup location in Iquitos

What’s NOT Included

  • Airfare (international and national)
  • Airport transportation
  • Travel insurance
  • Accommodation in Iquitos before/after retreat
  • Peruvian Visa costs for non EEC or USA nationals
  • Personal expenses (such as meals and drinks in Iquitos, etc.)

Important Terms and Advice

  • Once your registration is approved, your credit card will be charged for the 50% deposit payment or full payment if the retreat starts within 6 weeks.
  • Your balance must be paid in full at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the program to guarantee your space. Your credit card will be charged automatically for any outstanding balance 6 weeks prior to the start of the program.
  • If you cancel more than 8 weeks prior to the start of a program: you may transfer to a different program or transfer your payment to personal credit to be used for a future program in the next 2 years, or you may receive a refund less $250 cancellation/admin fee.
  • If you cancel within 8 weeks of the start of a program, you may only transfer to a different program or transfer your payment to personal credit to be used for a future program in the next 2 years or receive a refund less $250 cancellation/admin fee, if we can fill your place in the program you are cancelling from. We almost always have waiting lists and will try our best to do so, however it may be difficult to find someone to replace your space if it is close to the start of the program.
  • In the unlikely event that we are forced to cancel any programs for any reason due to circumstances beyond our control (the only time this has happened in 17 years of operation was in 2020 due to the pandemic and border closures in Peru), all registration payments will be transferred to personal credit to be used for a future program at a later date within 2 years of whenever the Temple would be able to reopen. Refunds may not be possible in this circumstance.
  • We strongly recommend all guests purchase flight and travel insurance to cover all contingencies and non-refundable payments and expenses.
Book this Retreat

Schedule

Schedule

Here is the schedule for the 12-day Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat. Six Ayahuasca ceremonies are complemented throughout the retreat with a wide variety of daily healing practices, yoga classes, as well as group meetings, and one-on-one sessions.

  • Day 1

    Collection at Iquitos Meeting Point
     Arrive at the Temple, Tambo Assignments
     Plant Baths
     Lunch
     Orientation Meeting
     Dinner

  • Day 2

    Vapor Baths
     Breakfast
    Group Meeting (Meet Healers, Ayahuasca/Ceremony Discussion)
     Lunch
     Group Consultation
     Plant Baths
    Pre-Ceremony Yoga/Meditation
    1st Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 3

    Silence/Introspection until 10:00am
    Vapor Baths
     Breakfast
     Private Consultations with Healers and Facilitators
     Lunch
    Private Consultations with Healers and Facilitators
     Yoga [Gentle Flow]
     Dinner

  • Day 4

    Vapor Baths
    Breakfast
    Time for Relaxation & Introspection
    Lunch
    Group Meeting in Maloka (about Plant Remedies, Intentions)
    Plant Remedies
    Plant Baths
    Pre-Ceremony Yoga/Meditation
    2nd Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 5

    Silence/Introspection + Optional Fasting until 12:00pm
    Plant Remedies/Massages
     Breakfast
    Quiet Time in Tambos/Rest/Introspection
     Lunch
    Rest/Relax/Introspection
    Plant Baths
    Pre-Ceremony Yoga/Meditation
    3rd Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 6

    Silence/Introspection + Optional Fasting until 12:00pm
    Plant Remedies
     Breakfast
    Quiet Time in Tambos/Rest/Introspection
     Lunch
    Group Meeting/Sharing Circle
     Dinner

  • Day 7

    Plant Remedies/Massages
     Breakfast
    Plant/Jungle Walk With Healers
     Lunch
    Group Session
    Floral Baths
    Pre-Ceremony Yoga/Meditation
    4th Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 8

    Silence/Introspection + Optional Fasting until 12:00pm
    Plant Remedies
     Breakfast
    Quiet Time in Tambos/Rest/Introspection
     Lunch
    Rest/Relax/Introspection + Optional Group Session
    Floral Baths
    Pre-Ceremony Yoga/Meditation
    5th Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 9

    Silence/Introspection + Optional Fasting until 12:00pm
    Plant Remedies/Massages
     Breakfast
    Quiet Time in Tambos/Rest/Introspection
     Lunch
    Group Meeting/Sharing Circle/Processing
     Dinner

  • Day 10

    Plant Remedies
     Breakfast
    Group Meeting w/ Healers
     Lunch
    Rest/Relax/Introspection
    Floral Baths
    Rest/Relax/Introspection
    6th/Final Ayahuasca Ceremony

  • Day 11

    Shipibo Market (until 10:45a)
     Breakfast
    Permaculture/Chaikuni Walk
     Lunch
    Group Photos w/ Healers
    Closing Meeting/Discussion
    Visit to the Local Village
    Farewell Dinner w/ Healers

  • Day 12

    Luggage to Maloka
     Breakfast
    Leave for Iquitos
    Arrive in Iquitos

Temple of the Way of Light

A New Paradigm in Health-Care, Soul-Care and Planet-Care

We look forward to welcoming you to the Temple!

Book this Retreat

Getting Here

The Temple of the Way of Light is located in the Amazon basin, in the Loreto region of Peru, a few hours journey by bus, boat, and hike from the city of Iquitos.
In order to come to the Temple you would need to fly into Iquitos International Airport in Iquitos, Peru. All flights to Iquitos are via Lima, Peru. We recommend booking your flights for one day before and after the start and end date of your retreat to first allow yourself time to acclimatize to the environment and then allow yourself ample travel time and time to reintegrate into the “mainstream” world once the retreat has ended.

**Please do not book flights or make any travel arrangements until your registration and medical information has been reviewed and you have been approved to attend a retreat.**

Each retreat group will be picked up on the first morning of the retreat at a designated pickup location in central Iquitos by one of our staff members and then travel to the Temple together from there. The group will be brought back into Iquitos after breakfast on the last morning of the retreat and will arrive in town by early afternoon (usually 2pm at the latest).

The price of a Temple retreat includes transportation from the group pickup place in Iquitos to the Temple on the first morning of the retreat and transportation back to Iquitos on the last morning of the retreat. The price does not include any flights, hotel costs, or transportation to the group pickup on the first morning
By Dates
By Program
  • 12 Days
    6 Ceremonies
    |
    $ 3,900

    Living in Alignment: Ayahuasca Healing Retreat

    The backbone of our work and regular retreat offering, providing an immersion in traditional Shipibo plant-spirit healing complemented with yoga classes, individual and group support, and powerful methods of self-inquiry.
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    6 Ceremonies
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    $ 5,100

    Ayahuasca Healing Retreat + 5-Day Integration Retreat

    NEW OFFERING – a 12-Day ‘Living in Alignment’ Ayahuasca Healing Retreat with the opportunity to stay on at the Temple for a 5-day Integration Extension Retreat. Available in April, July, and October 2024.
  • 12 Days
    6 Ceremonies
    |
    $ 3,900

    Women’s Ayahuasca Healing Retreat

    For this retreat we will be working exclusively with female facilitators and female support staff. There is something very special that happens when a group of women come together to heal! To be held from April 16th to 27th, 2024 and November 26th to December 7th, 2024.
  • 12 Days
    6 Ceremonies
    |
    $ 3,900

    Queer Ayahuasca Retreat

    This special queer retreat will provide a safe, welcoming, and caring environment where participants can feel comfortable being who they are. Shipibo healing will be complemented with Compassionate Inquiry sessions. To be held from October 25th to November 5th, 2024.
  • 14 Days
    5 Ceremonies
    |
    $ 2,000

    Traditional Plant Dietas at Shipibo Rao

    We are honored to support Maestro Jose Lopez Sanchez and his healing center, Shipibo Rao. Maestro Jose runs 14-day dietas working in the Shipibo tradition.
    Visit Shipiborao's website to book
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