Why Us?
The Temple of the Way of Light is a pioneering healing center in the Peruvian Amazon that has facilitated safe ayahuasca healing retreats for over 4000 guests from more than 30 countries since our foundation in March 2007. Offering a synthesis of ancient Shipibo healing traditions and modern and Eastern integrative practices, the Temple is proud to be known as the safest and one of the most respected and long-established plant-spirit shamanism centers in the Amazon Rainforest.
Safe Ayahuasca Healing Retreats
All our ayahuasca healing retreats feature a balance of highly experienced female and male healers (Onanya) from the indigenous Shipibo tribe. This incredible team of 12 healers represents over 250 years’ experience practicing the ancient art of ayahuasca shamanism. They are supported by our highly trained and knowledgeable Western facilitators, who act as a critical cultural bridge between the healers and our guests.
Through meticulous planning and experience with thousands of guests, the Temple has developed three tailored programs in our beautiful jungle setting about two hours by boat and track from the Peruvian city of Iquitos:
- 9-day ayahuasca retreats (5 ceremonies with 5 or 6 healers),
- 12-day ayahuasca retreats (7 ceremonies with 5 or 6 healers), and
- 1-month ‘Deep Immersion’ ayahuasca retreats (8 ceremonies with 2 healers).
The Temple recognizes our ayahuasca healing retreats as sacred work and is dedicated to providing the optimum conditions for profound, long-term healing. Through ayahuasca, our retreats move us into right relationship with ourselves and others. By bringing clarity to where and how we must change – and treating the psycho-spiritual and emotional imbalances that impede change – ayahuasca and the Temple’s Shipibo healers help guests toward a healthier, more integral and joy-filled life.
All Temple retreats include:
- A high ratio of healers to guests,
- A high number of ayahuasca ceremonies,
- Daily floral baths,
- A steam bath,
- Individual consultations with Shipibo healers,
- Plant remedies,
- A nutritional and balanced ayahuasca food diet, and
- A strong focus on how to process and integrate ayahuasca healing, both during and after our retreats.
Safety and Support
The Temple’s ayahuasca healing retreats are united by an unwavering focus on compassion and safety. We are constantly striving to offer the safest container for our guests while they move through their ayahuasca journey. This level of care extends to before, during and after the retreat.
Before: We apply some of the most stringent health and safety protocols in the Amazon, including in-depth medical screening. Guests also receive detailed guidance on how to prepare for healing with ayahuasca and the initiation of a long term journey of self-discovery, spiritual awakening and transformation.
During: The Temple nourishes a spiritual practice based on the exercise of love and compassion. Put simply, we care deeply about our guests. We have embedded this approach by establishing a high ratio of staff to guests, which ensures an exceptional level of service and individual attention.
After: We view the ayahuasca experience as a continuum. Our comprehensive 3-month aftercare and integration support ensures guests have the assistance and practices to safely navigate their ongoing healing experiences instigated by ayahuasca once they return home.
The Temple and Sustainability
The Temple consists of three separate centers:
- A 9- and 12-day ayahuasca retreat center,
- A 1-month Deep Immersion center, and
- The Chaikuni center (dedicated to permaculture projects).
9 and 12 Day Ayahuasca Retreat Center
The Temple follows a model of health long practiced by traditional and native peoples, who understand that the health of the individual is intimately connected to the health of the whole. As a community of over 70 foreign, local and indigenous people, attending to the health of our guests takes place in the context of attending to sustainability principles. We are working passionately to regenerate the local environment and further afield in the Amazon through the outreach programs run by our sister nonprofit organizations.
Deep Immersion Ayahuasca Retreat Center
Chaikuni Permaculture Center
Each of the three centers is self-contained. There are no mixing of guests on different workshops or programs in order to maintain the integrity of their respective processes. As a whole, the Temple grounds are situated on 175 hectares of land that is being developed and rehabilitated through a permaculture masterplan that combines:
- Sustainable buildings,
- Staple-food production,
- Perennial vegetable production,
- Medicinal gardens,
- Nurseries,
- Sustainable ayahuasca production, and
- Reforestation.
- Food forests (mixed trees of Amazonian and tropical varieties),
- Horticulture,
- Aquaculture,
- Fish farms,
- Rainwater harvesting,
- Natural spring-water systems,
- Renewable energy systems,
