12 Days

Living in Alignment: Ayahuasca Healing Retreat

Temple of the Way of Light
This 12-day ayahuasca retreat offers an immersion in Shipibo plant-spirit healing. Six ayahuasca ceremonies and daytime healing practices are complemented with yoga classes, and powerful methods of self-inquiry designed to support you as you integrate your healing work.

We work with two female, two male Shipibo healers (Onanyabo) and one female Shipibo herbalist who provide the deepest levels of traditional Shipibo healing, through ayahuasca ceremonies, plant healing songs (ikaros), energetic healing massages, individualized plant remedies, medicinal plant and vapor baths.

The powerful shamanic healing work of the Onanyabo is supported by three highly trained facilitators who provide translation from Spanish to English, and provide expert guidance and support throughout the Ayahuasca retreat, as well as an experienced yoga teacher offering Yin Yoga sessions before each ceremony.

Coming to an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon, the birthplace and source of the medicine, being supported by the energies, elements, forces, and spirits of the jungle, and guided by the indigenous wisdom keepers of these powerful ethnomedical traditions, is the most effective and deepest way to work with ayahuasca.

Honoring Shipibo Healing Traditions

We deeply respect the indigenous healing traditions of the Shipibo People which have evolved over hundreds, possibly thousands of years.

Their far-reaching ancestral lineages carry an expansive cosmology, an encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants (rao, in Shipibo) and a rich, ethnomedical legacy that includes and deeply understands the non-physical dimensions of being and the energetic architecture of the mind, body, and soul.

Shipibo ayahuasca and plant-spirit healing is a reparative, regenerative, and preventative spiritual healthcare system, utilizing sophisticated practices that reach into the psychological, emotional, spiritual, and energetic taproots of trauma.

Moving beyond an anthropocentric approach to healing, focused on individual and materialistic realms, whether physical or psychological, the Shipibo approach to healing is eco-centric, fundamentally carrying the intention to restore our conscious connection and energetic alignment with the natural world.

Amazonian plant-spirit healing is an incredibly complex system and it takes many years to identify the varying levels of healers that practice ayahuasca shamanism. Finding the combination of deeply experienced, high-integrity, open-hearted healers is surprisingly difficult in the Amazon (and beyond). 

We have carefully selected our healing team over many years and are blessed to work with some of the most respected, kind-hearted, and powerful healers (Onanyabo) from the Shipibo tribe who are highly skilled in ayahuasca healing and plant-spirit curanderismo (shamanism) of the Amazon.

Ancestral Wisdom of the Amazon

Our team of Onanyabo provide ‘high quality’, deep healing that stems from their decades of training, the roots of their countless generations of healing lineages, and the ancient transmissions of their wisdom traditions that ultimately are all sourced from the Amazon Rainforest itself.

What is often unknown or misunderstood in the modern psychedelic renaissance is that the key to long-lasting, root-level healing is the entire system – sophisticated plant-spirit assisted, shamanic, ethno-medical practices that clear heavy energies, transform negative thinking patterns, and heal the soul (kaya in Shipibo).

When working with ayahuasca without highly skilled shamanic healers, the psychedelic experience can be profound yet most often does not provide long-lasting healing.

Traditionally, indigenous patients in Shipibo communities typically did not drink ayahuasca when seeking healing.

It was only the village healer who drank the medicine for multiple reasons but primarily to connect with their team of (plant) spirit doctors, who would then identify and treat the energetic source of the illness.

However, there has been an evolution in ayahuasca healing over the last two decades, resulting in more and more people, in and out of the Amazon, stepping into and taking responsibility for their own healing.

The wisdom keepers and guardians of this sacred healing technology are now called to share their mastery of ayahuasca and expert guidance to people who are genuinely seeking and committed to deep healing.

All ayahuasca brew served at the Temple is sourced from two places. Our own sustainable ayahuasca and chacruna cultivation on the Temple grounds, then cooked by one of the Temple healers. Or sourced from Shipibo territory and cooked by healers from our close ally, Shipibo Rao Diea Center near Pucallpa.

We provide potent and visionary ayahuasca to our guests made from cielo (sky/heaven) ayahuasca and chacruna, with no admixtures.

The Temple leads the way in the ayahuasca scene, offering an exemplary track record of safety, protection, care for, and support of our guests together with the highest level of healing and shamanic mastery available in the Peruvian Amazon and beyond.

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 an opportunity to experience profound healing from the true experts on inner wounding.

The Shipibo’s perspectives on optimal health are radically different; they employ a process that is far beyond the understanding of modern healthcare and sits outside of the widespread materialistic experience of reality. This form of healing is a causal approach that challenges the underlying assumptions of the modern biomedical paradigm and addresses the energetic sources of disorder and disease.

The key to the success of the healing carried out by the Shipibo Onanyabo lies in their ability to access and work in the non-physical, non-local realms of being. They are literally able to see and feel your inner world; your past, your pain, and to some extent, your default future.

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

Shipibo Plant-Spirit Curanderismo

The healing traditions of the Shipibo work with ayahuasca as a nexus to many other plant medicines that operate together in synergy and symbiosis, to provide a “harmony of healing.”

To play a symphony, an orchestra is required; one instrument alone can’t create a symphony. This level of healing creates lasting results that are not attainable by working with psychedelics alone.

To become an Onanya, an apprentice must carry out long and arduous training, a process called sama (master plant dietas). The sama build the connection and relationship with the many plant and tree spirits of the Amazon and their spiritual communities. With sufficient training, these ‘doctor’ spirits eventually work through the healers to carry out the healing. 

As much as our soils, forests, and oceans need diversity to thrive, natural healing systems that work within and honor the diversity of nature are able to provide full-spectrum healing. 

Each plant or tree typically has different healing qualities and teachings. It is the diversity that provides the depth and breadth of authentic Amazonian healing. 

Over many years of sama, 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 transmitted to the patient. 

Becoming a high-level healer, who is genuinely in deep relationship with and channeling plant spirits, typically takes at least ten years, although the learning process never stops. True healers continue to train all their lives.

The source of the healing in Shipibo curanderismo are the ikaros – the healing songs / energetic transmissions of the plants.

Dietas enable the Onanyabo to access spiritual dimensions while in an expanded state of consciousness with ayahuasca, where they can then heal a huge range of psycho-spiritual, emotional, and physical conditions. 

They call in plant-spirit doctors to carry out energetic surgeries. It is the plant-spirit allies/doctors who disconnect, extract, clear, cleanse, and purify heavy energies from the system of the patient.

They identify the source of turmoil, disorder, and disease as stemming from heavy energies (mahua niwe) that are trapped due to personal and ancestral traumas or toxic energies picked up in our environments.

Working beyond a Newtonian understanding of reality, it could be said that their healing work is sourced from the quantum realms – a regenerative, energetically focused, soul-based, and highly sophisticated, spirit-assisted healthcare system.

 

Healing Stages of an Ayahuasca Retreat at the Temple

The majority of our healing work is carried out through the ikaros that are sung to each participant, by each healer, in each ayahuasca ceremony, complimented by plant and vapor baths, and plant remedies during the daytime throughout the Ayahuasca retreat. 

All of the following healing stages are part of a spiritual surgical process  that is carried out with deep intention and precision, unfolding over an arc of six ceremonies:

  • The initial healing process is focused on cleansing heavy, negative energies and clearing fear-based thought patterns. This process usually spans three to four ceremonies.
  • The healers then realign your energetic architecture (body, heart and mind),  reintegrate your soul, and reconnect you with the natural world.
  • Then towards the end of the Ayahuasca retreat, they sing specific ikaros to sow seeds of positivity that will grow throughout your life, to protect the healing work, and to illuminate your path forward.

We are committed to providing genuine, deep, and lasting healing. We could not fulfill this commitment in any less than 6 ayahuasca ceremonies led by the Onanyabo over 12 days.

Shamanic Ayahuasca Retreat in Peru at The Temple of The Way of Light

 

Experienced Facilitation

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

We hold space, listen, guide, and inspire guests throughout the program. We help you to understand how to work with ayahuasca and all that this entails; how to process difficult emotions, handle projections and triggers, actively 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, are all deeply committed to the process of sama (long-term healing and training with the plants) and “walk their talk.”

Through having faced and integrated much of their own pain and challenges and transitioned from self to service, they can share from a place of personal experience and guide others through the same process.

During the 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 ayahuasca 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

An ayahuasca retreat at the Temple initiates a long process of deep healing, self-exploration, and spiritual awakening.

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. Our ayahuasca retreats result in substantial and lasting change for most who attend our programs.

Healing with ayahuasca works in cycles. For most people, one workshop will bring your life back into significant alignment and will open up a path of ongoing 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 an ayahuasca 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 and long-term 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 an ayahuasca 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.

Over time, the process increases your awareness of self-constructed boundaries and self-defence mechanisms, and highlights and supports you to release fear-filled and self-limiting beliefs.

Plant-spirit shamanism 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 Living in Alignment Ayahuasca Retreat

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 Ayahuasca retreat (2 female, 2 male) and a female Shipibo herbalist
  • Individual accommodation in comfortable bungalows, all with running water, a private toilet, sink, chair, and hammock
  • Regular group integration sessions and practices to support your process
  • Group size limited to 23 people
  • A skilled team of 3 facilitators to guide you in 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
  • A special plant medicine (Pinon Colorado) head bath
  • Energetic healing massages (where necessary, as part of your healing process)
  • Plant remedies individually prescribed by the healers
  • Individual consultations with the healers and your facilitators
  • A jungle walk to see medicinal plants in their natural environment
  • A walk to visit the Temple and Chaikuni Institute permaculture projects
  • Deliciously simple meals, organic where possible, suitable for working with medicinal plants
  • Laundry service
  • Translation from Shipibo / Spanish to English
  • All Ayahuasca retreats are 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
  • 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 a Living in Alignment 12-day 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 Ayahuasca 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.
  • 12 Days + 5 Days
    6 Ceremonies
    |
    $ 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
    Go to website