You’ve felt the medicine calling and you’ve decided to attend an ayahuasca retreat, but where do you start? With the growing popularity of ayahuasca, there are now hundreds of retreat centers all over the world to choose from so how do you know which one is *right* for you? Trying to navigate the process can feel overwhelming. Don’t worry, you aren’t alone! Many people don’t realize how many different retreat programs are available to them.
To help make the process a little easier, we’ve established some key factors to consider when narrowing down your ayahuasca retreat center options and divided them up into a 3-part series to help guide you.
In Part 1 we discuss set and setting and explore questions like:
Once you have decided on these fundamentals, we move on to Part 2 where we cover shaman, ceremony, brew and dosing. Some topics we discuss are:
Who is the shaman/what experience do they have?
What is the ceremonial atmosphere?
How many participants in each group?
What is in the brew and where does it come from?
How is dosing determined?
Finally, in Part 3 we look at prices, duration, safety and reputation.
What is an average price range/what is included?
Are additional therapies available?
How long are the retreats/how many ceremonies?
What safety protocols are in place?
How long has the center been open?
Where can you access reviews/testimonials?
We have tried to formulate this series with as little bias as possible to give information on what is available and factors to consider when choosing and ayahuasca retreat center. We know that no retreat is ‘one-size-fits-all’ and hope this can help you to find the center that is most compatible with your needs/desires. Use these factors as a tool in your search but always trust your ‘gut’ and you will be guided to the center that is right for you.