14-Day Ayahuasca, Yoga, and Meditation Retreats
We are offering special 14-day retreats that are a combination of traditional Amazonian plant-spirit healing with Shipibo healers complemented by a comprehensive program of progressive therapeutic and Eastern psycho-spiritual practices to support effective processing and long-lasting integration.
Since the Temple was established in 2007, we have recognized the importance of integration as the key to ensuring a long-term positive healing outcome when working with ayahuasca and the shamanic healing traditions of the Shipibo. We have been fine-tuning the Deep Immersion Retreat over the last three years so that it has evolved into a pioneering healing retreat, and is the pinnacle of our work and culmination of what we have learned working with thousands of guests since our inception.
This retreat is in essence a condensed version of our 23-Day Deep Immersion Retreat focusing on the key elements of grounding medicine work through sharing and practicing integration and processing techniques. Guided by dedicated, highly skilled and two experienced Shipibo healers and two Western facilitators, we present an incredible opportunity to return to the Temple and experience this ground-breaking program.
Participants of this retreat join the 23-Day Deep Immersion guests together at the beginning of the retreat and leave mid-way through the program. We split into two groups, with separate facilitators and separate ceremonies keeping intimate ceremony sizes and more personally guided facilitation, although all integrative classes are combined (yoga, etc). We recommend that you consider keeping your travel options open after the retreat in case you wish to continue and complete the entire Deep Immersion Program – we often experience guests wishing to stay on longer!
Our 14-Day Ayahuasca, Yoga, and Meditation Retreats offer a combination of the following:
An Ayahuasca/Plant-Spirit Shamanism Retreat:
With 5 ceremonies spread out over 14 days. Intimate ceremonies limited to only 12 participants led by two Shipibo healers (one male and one female).
A Yoga Retreat:
With daily classes lead by experienced teachers.
A Meditation Retreat:
With regular guided meditations lead by experienced teachers and daily sittings.
A Self-Development Retreat:
With particular focus on self-inquiry, self-reflection and deep shadow work.
Additional Components to Support Healing and Integration:
All the above is combined with creative expression classes, dance and movement classes, singing, individual consultations, group processing meetings, time to reflect in the Temple grounds, floral baths, steam baths, traditional plant remedies, and vomitivos.
Overview
Throughout the 14 days we will focus on how to effectively process the insights, breakthroughs and transformational experiences that arise when working with ayahuasca. We guide our guests on how to successfully integrate ayahuasca healing, both during and after the retreat, providing the tools to cultivate and sustain positive change over the long term.
This retreat includes 5 ayahuasca ceremonies and is combined with daily classes that include Yoga, self-inquiry, meditation and art therapy. Regular group sharing meetings and a comprehensive program of integrative practices help guests learn how to create, sustain and cultivate positive change in daily life. For specific details on the program, please see the schedule tab at the top of this page.
The retreat will be held in a separate center on Temple land that is isolated from the 12-day retreat center to further focus and contain the work. Accommodations are private rooms with balconies in shared buildings. We employ a compost waste-management system throughout the Temple, and toilets and washrooms are shared. Laundry service is provided and often takes three to four days depending on weather conditions. We provide three simple meals per day on non-ceremony days and two meals on ceremony days (no dinner is served). Our talented cooks adhere to the ayahuasca diet and foods are deliciously simple and fresh. Fruit and teas are available throughout the day.
The nature and nurture of the Amazon Rainforest is a healing experience in itself. We provide a supportive, nurturing and safe space, with considerable individual attention from highly skilled and experienced healers, facilitators and teachers. With time, space and a variety of practices to process the profound work in the ayahuasca ceremonies ‒ set amidst the powerful natural rhythms of the Amazon ‒ guests are given the opportunity to dive deep into their healing journey from many angles and perspectives. The 14-day ayahuasca retreat takes a holistic approach that facilitates integration, transformation and lasting change.
The Onanya, Ayahuasca and the Master Plants
Our team of healers has been carefully selected over many years to work at the Temple. They bring a rich cultural and medicinal legacy, time-honored rituals, intricate practices, an expansive cosmology, an encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants of the Amazon and a far-reaching ancestral lineage to the healing process.
In the Shipibo tradition, the healing process is focused on cleansing and purifying the energy field that surrounds us – or niwe in their language – which can pick up toxic energies from the environment and the traumatic issues of our past. The Shipibo healers’ encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants (rao) of the Amazon Rainforest allows them to heal a huge range of psycho-spiritual, emotional and sometimes physical conditions. They do this through ancient healing practices involving incredibly beautiful ikaros (songs of the plants), intense perfumes, individually prescribed plant remedies, and powerful energetic work.
The Shipibo tradition is a system of plant-spirit shamanism that facilitates healing from a vast number of different plant and tree spirits, who transmit healing energies through the ikaros sung by the healers in ceremonies. The Onanya see ayahuasca as a nexus to the plant-spirit worlds, and is not the only plant spirit they work with. The key to the depth and efficacy of this ancient healing system is to call in and work with a plethora of other plant spirits in each ceremony, alongside ayahuasca, to affect deep healing. Without bringing together a team of plant spirits, the healing work of ayahuasca alone would be more limited. To be clear, the only plant brew guests drink in ceremony is ayahuasca, although you will receive energetic healing from many different plants spirits in every ceremony.
We provide potent and visionary ayahuasca sourced from deep in the rainforest of the Shipibo territories. Our ayahuasca is made from cielo (sky/heaven) ayahuasca and chacruna with no admixtures. The ceremonies led by our healers offer the highest levels of shamanic mastery available in the Peruvian Amazon combined with an exemplary track record in terms of safety, protection, care for and support of our guests.
The Core Components of the 14-Day Ayahuasca, Yoga, and Meditation Retreat are:
- Traditional Plant-Spirit Shamanism
- Heart and Mind Training
- Self-Reflection, Deep Processing and Integration
- Physical Wellness and Vitality
- Cultivating Joy and Connection
Plant Spirit Healing
Ayahuasca Ceremonies
The 5 ayahuasca ceremonies are intimate, with 2 Shipibo healers (one male and one female), 1 facilitator and a group limit of 12 guests. All ceremonies are held in a maloka dedicated to the guests of the Deep Immersion Program. The maloka is completely screened from mosquitos with toilets just outside. Mats are provided and arranged in a circle facing the healers and the facilitator in the center. A ceremony assistant is available in front of the bathrooms to lend a hand or light as needed.
Jain Póiti (Floral Baths)
A Jain Póiti is a floral bath that forms a vital component of the shamanic healing process through cleansing heavy energies and blockages, clearing negative thoughts and emotions, purifying the mind and body, and promoting transformation through the properties of the specific plants and flowers used in the bath. Quite literally assisting with the ‘blossoming and flourishing’ of life. Traditionally, healers often take floral baths either immediately before or after a ceremony, or simply bath in the river. Floral baths also help to bring down a strong ‘mareacion’ – the effect of ayahuasca.
Vomitivo
Upon arrival, all guests participate in a vomitivo, or stomach cleansing. This involves drinking a strong herba luisa tea followed by water, which induces purging and begins the process of physically and energetically clearing the body in preparation for the first ceremony. This practice gives the medicine more direct access to deeper issues as it is less occupied with the physical cleaning that takes place in the earlier ceremonies.
Individual Consultations and Plant Remedies
Within the first few days of arrival, each guest has an individual consultation with the healers and facilitator. This is an opportunity for the healers and facilitator to get to know you; the challenges that you are facing in your life and the difficulties you have had in the past. Consultations are an important starting point for guests to set intentions and to share them with the healers, as well as begin the process of getting to know the healers and establishing trust.
The consultation will then be expanded on significantly when the healers look into the energetic system of each guest in ceremony. At this stage, the plant spirits will then instruct the healers also on what emotional / energetic aspects need to be cleared and cleansed. Based on the consultation, and the initial ceremonies, the healers may also prescribe plant remedies, which are then taken each day.
Heart and Mind Training
One of the major shifts in emphasis the Temple has adopted as a key aspect of this work is bringing the heart and mind back into balance. We offer a variety of classes to support this process:
Self-Inquiry, Deep Processing and Integration
This retreat is designed to have many avenues to look into and examine our core wounding and shadow work. There workshops are a space designed to help us realize that the ceremony is not simply what happens at night with the medicine but that life is giving us constant clues to examine our patterning and the less conscious parts of oneself.
Combining different methods and approaches from Western psychology and Eastern philosophy, self inquiries are designed to ground and reveal processes throughout the program. Classes consist of varying exercises to explore self through refection on childhood myth, triggers and projections, understanding and unraveling through dyad practices, deep-ecology sessions and archetypal exploration. These classes can serve as integration pillars throughout the experience.
The exercises are carried out in groups, as the relational component makes them particularly potent. During the sessions, people often realize that our core wounds as humans are often very similar although our stories are different. We discover that we can serve as mirrors and teachers for one another in the process of exploring and expressing hidden aspects of ourselves.
We discover the unconscious constructs we hold and shine awareness on our core wounding, which is often self-perpetuated by our lack of awareness of their depths and origins. By learning and beginning to make these wounds and shadow elements more conscious we can learn to work and integrate these energies into our everyday lives. In combination with the psychosomatic openings ayahuasca can catalyze, these sessions are particularly useful in cultivating intentions for ceremony and for weaving the threads of what is learned in ceremony space into the journey of everyday life.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is the practice of learning to live in the present moment. It can also be translated as “awareness”, and is a mental quality that is cultivated and learned through practice. Mindfulness helps us to know and understand our mind, body and spirit on a direct and immediate level. It is a way that we can begin to examine our own minds to see how we create the stress and suffering we experience in our daily lives. By observing ourselves, we can change painful patterns and mental habits instead of being lost in the same stories and thoughts again and again.
Like most people, we are usually living in the past or obsessively planning the future. We may spend hours every day distracted and daydreaming, and never notice that we are rarely present. This would not be so bad, except that most daydreams are actually repetitive stories that play over and over in a loop. We often live in a state of fear, anger and sorrow because we are constantly responding to these stories. We may wake up one day feeling great but the next day feel terrible. We are not aware that we are habitually reacting to our negative thoughts and stories over and again. During meditation sessions, we practice being in the present moment, noticing when we are lost in the past or the future, and then bringing attention back to the present. Over time, we learn to live in the present moment and begin to experience the great peace that was there all along.
Insight Meditation
Insight Meditation is otherwise known as Vipassana, which literally means to see things as they really are, not merely as we would like them to be. This technique consists of probing and investigating the nature of our reality. When we engage in this investigatory practice, we discover the insubstantiality of all things and our capacity to observe the ever-changing phenomena. Insight meditation is the moment-to-moment practice of observing the continuous change that is the truth of our human experience. The practice gives us insight into the nature of our suffering and shows us our attachment to, and identification with, myriad passing experiences.
Metta (Loving-Kindness) Meditation Practice
Metta is a Sanskrit word that translates to “kindness” or “friendliness”. It is the quality of unconditional or universal love that is boundless and all-encompassing. During metta meditation sessions, we seek to cultivate a deep feeling of inner and outer friendliness. It is a systematic practice that begins with directing kind energy towards ourselves, then opens up to offering kindness to all living beings and the Earth herself. This quality of unconditional love acts as a purifying force in the mind and helps us overcome the deeply rooted tendency towards self-hatred and self-aggression. Metta is the foundation of a warm heart.
Physical Wellness and Vitality
What is Yoga?
Yoga is a system of harmony and transformation whose ultimate purpose is one of awakening. Received and refined by ancient Indian Rishis (highly advanced yogis) thousands of years ago, we are blessed that these practices live on today. Living in this modern era of media and technology, the vast majority of us have become estranged from our bodies. Yoga is the journey of, once again, taking up residence in our physical form and enlivening our day-to-day experience. Often in the West, we mistakenly view the practice of yoga solely as a means of getting in better shape or of finding inner peace and tranquility. These are certainly wonderful fruits of a regular yoga practice, but this ancient system is a treasure trove whose most precious jewels lay far beyond these initial rewards.
Yoga literally means “to yoke or join”. It is a path of integration, uniting the seemingly opposing layers of our experience: external/internal, activity/receptivity, pleasant/unpleasant. The aim of the practice of yoga is the movement from a state of separation towards that of our inherent connectedness, or from dualism towards non-dualism.
An essential aspect of yoga is non-harm. Therefore, in its true essence, the practice becomes a vehicle for witnessing and softening our animosity towards ourselves. In our practice, we engage in a way that moves us out of our comfort zone within the body and mind, cultivating our capacity for inclusion. The fruition of a committed practice enables one to relax the contraction of struggle with life’s continuous paradoxes. A yoga practitioner is better able to tolerate the extremities of physical, mental and emotional strife.
Why Yoga Combined with Ayahuasca?
We include yoga to provide a daily tool to integrate the deep experiences of healing and transformation that arise when working with the medicine. While the plants have the ability to illuminate the possibilities of our highest potential, yoga provides a practical application for fostering these new potentials within our day-to-day lives. With regular practice, our familiarity with the edges of our limitations and discomforts physically, emotionally and mentally broadens. The practice of being with the full spectrum of our experience is key, both in and out of ceremony.
There are many other benefits to the marriage of plant-spirit medicine and yoga. Breath is a main focus in yoga, and through practice one begins to develop a keen awareness of its flow. This serves as an invaluable tool in ceremony, providing an anchor amidst all variety of experiences. As the healers mend and reweave the tapestry of our energy body with their ikaros, yoga practice harmonizes and balances the flow of energy in the body.
Different Styles of Yoga We Offer:
Hatha Yoga
The term hatha refers to the opposing energies of the sun (ha) and moon (tha) and consists of various practices that work to bring these polarized energies into harmony. The practice is a synthesis of asana (postures), pranayama (energetic enhancement through breath), laya (absorption, concentration and meditation), mantra (chanting), mudra (gestures) and kriya (purification actions). The specific shapes of the asanas direct the flow of subtle energy in the body to rebalance and harmonize the functions within the various sheaths of our being. The main characteristics of hatha yoga are the movement between expansive, or heating, postures (yang) and contractive, or cooling, postures (yin). Pranayama, the practice of regulating the breath, also facilitates redirecting the flow of vital energy and is a fundamental element of the practice.
Yin Yoga
Yin yoga emerged simply as a balancing counterpart to the more yang-focused hatha yoga that developed in the West. Yin yoga targets the internal tissues of the body: the joints, ligaments, tendons, bones, fascia and organs. This is achieved through stationary, non-rhythmic postures that are held for longer periods of time, generally three to five minutes. When a posture is held in a passive way for a longer period of time, it targets the yin tissues of the body through which the energetic tributaries run. This brings nourishing chi (vital life-force) not only to the areas stressed, but also encourages fresh chi flow in the meridians passing through them.
There are also varying mental, emotional and energetic implications of long-held postures. For example, as one holds an asana that stimulates the liver and gallbladder channels, one may meet a deep sense of agitation or frustration, which are the emotional qualities of liver/gallbladder chi. By going inwards with our experience, this manner of practice is remedial of the imbalances of a fast-paced modern life, in which taking the time to pause and simply be with whatever is present in any given moment is often neglected.
Cultivating Joy and Connection
Dance and Movement Therapy
Movement therapy embraces the idea of conscious movement being a language of the soul. We create a quiet and reflective internal state, let go of self-judgment, and set the intention of being totally present in each moment. From this space, we play with finding our own unique movement and listening to our deeper selves. Movement therapy is a way to integrate insights and healing into the body and a playful way to get to know ourselves on a deeper level.
Singing and Nada Yoga
Historically, singing was an everyday act. In singing classes, we share simple songs from around the world that you can take with you when you leave. These classes are for everyone, both those who are singers and those who are yet to discover their voice. Song can act as a vessel for prayer or as a tool for connection to self, others and something larger. Finding our voice is one way to become closer to ourselves.
Nada yoga is the practice of union with oneself through sound. It consists of various practices related to inner and outer sound expression that seek to retune and align the practitioner with universal frequencies. The sounds or series of sounds, called mantras, hold physical, spiritual and/or psychic potency when chanted in a certain manner.
Mantras were received in high states of consciousness during deep meditation, somewhat parallel to how the Shipibo healers receive ikaros. When repeated over and over, the sound-force gathers and creates vibrational momentum, which has various results depending on the mantra. As a mantra permeates the brain, it holds the power to purify and heal the physical, mental and emotional bodies, and is a potent tool for awakening.
Creative Expression
Creative Expression practices can help to shine light onto the unconscious aspects of ourselves. We can explore our inner symbolism and develop our creativity without judgment. This is an invaluable tool to combine with ayahuasca as it allows us to bypass the mind to access and integrate our deeper experiences. As we work with the medicine and a lot of unconscious content emerges, creative expression can bring transformation to these unconscious aspects.
Day 1
| 12:00pm | Arrival at the Temple, Accommodation Assignments, and Floral Baths, followed by Lunch |
| 2:00pm | Group Meeting: Opening Circle, Site Orientation, and Introduction to the Staff |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
| 7:00pm | Meditation |
Day 2
| 7:30am | Vomitivo at the Maestros Casa |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Group Meeting: Meet the Healers, Discussion about Ayahuasca |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:00pm | Group Consultations with the Healers |
| 3:30pm | Yoga |
| 5:00pm | Flower Baths |
| 6:00pm | Pre-Ceremony Yin Yoga |
| 8:00pm | 1st Ceremony |
Day 3
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Individual Physical Consultations with the Healers |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:00pm | Individual Physical Consultations with the Healers |
| 3:30pm | Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
Day 4
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Movement |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:30pm | Creative Expression |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
| 7:00pm | Meditation |
Day 5
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Self Inquiry |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:00pm | Meditation |
| 5:00pm | Floral Baths |
| 6:00pm | Pre-Ceremony Yin Yoga |
| 8:00pm | 2nd Ceremony |
Day 6 *SILENT DAY*
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:30am | Pranayama |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:00pm | Nada Yoga |
| 5:00pm | Floral Baths |
| 6:00pm | Pre-Ceremony Yin Yoga |
| 8:00pm | 3rd Ceremony |
Day 7
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Group Meeting: Discussion, Processing, and Sharing |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:30pm | Yoga |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
| 7:00pm | Meditation |
Day 8
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Mother Archetype Exploration |
| 12:00pm | Floral Baths |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:30pm | Singing |
| 5:00pm | Floral Baths |
| 6:00pm | Pre-Ceremony Yin Yoga |
| 8:00pm | 4th Ceremony |
Day 9
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:30am | Meditation |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:30pm | Creative Expression |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
Day 10
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Self Inquiry |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:30pm | Pranayama |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
| 7:00pm | Meditation |
Day 11
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00pm | Group Meeting: Arkanas |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:00pm | Meditation |
| 5:00pm | Flower Baths |
| 6:00pm | Pre-Ceremony Yin Yoga |
| 8:00pm | 5th Ceremony |
Day 12 *SILENT DAY*
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8:00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Mantra Yoga |
| 12:00pm | Floral Baths |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
Day 13
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 8.00am | Plant Remedies |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Group Meeting: Discussion, Processing, and Sharing |
| 1:00pm | Lunch |
| 3:00pm | Creative Expression |
| 5:00pm | Silent Meditation |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
| 7:00pm | Meditation |
Day 14
| 7:15am | Yoga |
| 9:00am | Breakfast |
| 10:00am | Departure to Iquitos |
Cost
| USD | $2,100 |
A portion of the income from our ayahuasca retreats funds critical projects on environmental justice, sustainable development and intercultural education run by our Peruvian NGO, The Chaikuni Institute, partnering with Indigenous People in the Amazon.
Payment Terms
| Deposit | $1050 USD |
| Final Installment | $1050 USD – Due 6 weeks before the start of the retreat |
Transferring your payment in installments is for your convenience only. It is possible to pay the retreat cost in one full amount if you prefer to save on transfer fees.
Terms and Advice
- We accept payments via credit card and PayPal. Credit card payments are made during the online booking process. If you select to pay via PayPal, we will issue you an invoice after your medical questionnaire has been approved. If you have made a credit card payment and later learn that you are not cleared to come for a workshop per your medical history, your payment will be fully refunded.
- Payments are only refundable provided we have a minimum of 8 weeks notice prior to the start of a workshop. Any refunds given will occur a $100USD cancellation fee. You may change your workshop reservation to another date at no cost or transfer your payment(s) to another participant, provided said participant has been approved to attend a workshop and that it is a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the start of the workshop.
- If original payment was made with a credit card, any refund will be credited back to the card originally charged. We are only able to refund via PayPal for other forms of payment.
- For cancellations within 8 weeks of the start of a workshop, payments will only be refunded, credited to a future date, or transferred to another participant if we can fill your place in the workshop. We will try our best to do so.
- We strongly recommend that you take out adequate travel insurance for any cancellations due to unforeseen circumstances. Squaremouth is an insurance service we can suggest that can cover not only retreat costs but the possibility to recover airfare costs too.
Availability and Booking
Please choose your preferred retreat date below and fill in the necessary information on the following pages in order to make your booking.
All registrations must be made from a computer as we do not have mobile capability for our medical forms at this time.
Once you have completed your booking and your medical information has been reviewed by our team, we will be in touch with you to confirm your booking.
If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]
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 workshop.
| Dates | Availability | Register |
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