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5 Things To Know Before Experiencing a Bufo Retreat

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Bufo Retreat Summary (but since you're here, read the whole article as it is for your benefit.)

  1. Profound and Intense Experience: 5-MeO-DMT, derived from the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad, offers an intense, short-lived psychedelic journey, diving deep into profound states of consciousness without a sense of self or ego.
  2. Research and Recognition: This substance is being studied by major research institutions for its potential benefits in treating conditions like depression and anxiety, and enhancing life satisfaction. Read through all testimonials and research to have the best idea of what you're getting into.
  3. Preparation Is Key: It is vital to enter the Bufo Retreat experience without trying to control it. Surrendering fully allows for a more profound and beneficial transformation, where emotions and sensations can flow freely.
  4. Set Clear Intentions, Not Expectations: Your Bufo Retreat experience will be unique, influenced by personal mental and emotional states. Approaching the journey with specific intentions rather than expectations helps manage the psychedelic experience more effectively.
  5. Integration of Experience: The impact of a 5-MEO-DMT/Bufo experience extends beyond the session. Integrating insights into daily life is crucial for lasting change. This involves reflecting on the journey and applying learned lessons to foster personal growth and improvement.

About The Sacred Bufo Experience

5-MeO-DMT (also known as the “God Molecule” or “Bufo”) is a psychedelic substance that is derived from the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad, Bufo Alvarius. The psychedelic experience it produces can be intensely powerful. Only thirty minutes long in duration , this medicine takes one into profound states of consciousness that are beyond what it is possible to imagine, typically where there is no sense of self or “ego”. Commonly used in South America, the use of this substance is expanding more and more into the modern Western world.  

Bufo is being studied by world renowned research centers such as John Hopkins and Maastricht University for the treatment of depression and anxiety and increasing overall life satisfaction [1,2]. 

As of the last few years, Bufo is on the radar in mainstream culture due to celebrities, such as Mike Tyson, smoking the toad venom and talking publicly about their experiences of existence beyond the ego. How do we get to the point where we are ready to shed the ego? What is essential to know before entering the ceremony, in order to prepare mentally and physically? Keep reading.

Plant Medicines such as Ayahuasca and Psilocybin are comparatively more common and accessible whereas 5-MeO-DMT / Bufo Retreats have typically been more rare and more underground. Though similar in chemical structure to other psychedelics like Psilocybin, the effects of Bufo are unique.

The following 5 points are intended to help those who are interested in raising their consciousness to feel more secure and safe in themselves as they approach this powerful experience. These lessons are simple, yet valuable, and have come from firsthand experience. 

Don't Try to Control

Surrender is a crucial part of working with this substance It is through wise surrender to life that we come into alignment with the rest of existence and thereby reduce our suffering. The most important thing when experiencing Bufo is to try not to control one’s experience. A safe container with a guide will allow room for emotional release and expression, rather than repression or suppression.

When we suppress emotions, they get stuck within the body and can potentially result in psychosomatic symptoms [such as ?] When faced with intense emotional experiences , allow everything to flow through you and pass. The more you resist an emotion or sensation, the more tension will build within you. There will naturally be an inner conflict if you cannot surrender. 

One practice we can use to release control is re-centering oneself through the breath and genuinely allowing whatever emotion that arises to exist then go. The breath is the anchor into the present moment.

We can let go of difficult emotions not by resisting them but by allowing the moment to be what it is fully even when difficult feelings are present. On this journey, releasing control is vital to spiritual expansion. 

Ready to surrender to Higher Consciousness with Sacred Plant Medicines?

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Let Go of Expectations. Let Go.

Before we approach an experience like 5-MeO-DMT, it is natural to try to gather information about what it will be like. Our minds can be left filled with what we imagine the experience will be like. Though it is wise to be prepared through information, know that your retreat experience will be unique because it is happening through the lens of your mind. It is unlikely to be exactly how you expect.

Your mind that holds (many of and not limited to) your specific database of memories, ideologies, desires, and fears. The experience you heard about Mike Tyson or Chelsea Handler or Hunter Biden having, is not going to be your experience. Because after all, you are unique and that's beautiful. Your journey is your own.

What’s more, you may find the experience itself to be beyond anything you could ever have imagined beforehand. It is very normal to be nervous right before a Bufo ceremony. Anxiety and excitement occur as similar sensations in the body and it is best not to read too deeply into it. Facing the unknown always produces these kinds of feelings but, as long as you have chosen a safe, reputable, and responsible provider for your retreat experience, you can reassure yourself that it is safe to just let the nerves be and step into the unknown.

In approaching the Bufo experience it is good to have an intention instead of an expectation. When having an intention, you have a ‘why’ or the reason you are doing the medicine, and something you are willing to explore. If your intention is not met still remain open. 

In owning the uniqueness of your experience and holding your intention closely in your heart, there is a letting go of expectations and pre dispositions. Here is an account of how expectations can play out in 5-MeO-DMT ceremonies:

Before I began my first ceremony, a friend had a session right before me, which I witnessed intently. It looked like an exorcism mixed with a full body orgasm. He was crying in both joy, pain, and wonder. I developed a sort of expectation for a peak experience like his, thinking it would be so great to feel such a range of emotion and let go of so much mental baggage. My intention was to explore my mental darkness and find the inner light. The opposite happened. I did not cry, or release stored emotions. I did not rage against my past. Instead, I floated into the cosmos. In this reality, I did not stop laughing for forty five minutes. Most of my friends had cried or screamed or raged, but I could not stop laughing hysterically. I did not expect it. I thought I would be releasing pent up rage, or be in a state of ecstasy, but instead I truly felt the cosmic joke of life. That all the things I took as so real and heavy, were not. There was a lightness of being. I am happy that I allowed myself to express what I genuinely felt, once I vaporized the smoke venom, my mind let go of preconceived notions. I met what was within me, rather than what I expected to happen. This dropping of expectations is part of the process of surrender, to let the moment be what it is and experience it fully.”

The Void and Past Traumas

At times the spiritual path can be about unraveling past traumas, analyzing childhood memories, or releasing patterns of addiction. At other times we can connect with states of perfection that are beyond our personal struggles. When we move beyond the ego, we can find ourselves in another space that we might call “the void”. It is a space of stillness where there is a strong undercurrent of peace. In this space there is no past or future, time does not exist and neither do the problems that come with humanity. There is a feeling of nothingness, but it is not depressing. It is a nothingness that contains everything. 

In this state we can find that there is no unraveling of heavy burdens. There is no feeling of the enormity of the human predicament. The void is beyond humanness, it is formlessness. The wisdom of knowing that we are more than the body and mind arises in this space. Inside us is a space that nothing can touch or disrupt. It rests in a state of total calm. 

Prepare the Mind

The state of mind you are in before the experience is very important because it sets the tone of the plant medicine ceremony. It is natural to have fears or worries, before an experience of this kind. Some will be helpful worries, ones that aim at ensuring you are in safe hands. There can also be neurotic worries, however, that block us from feeling fully.

Preparing the mind through meditative practices to be able to differentiate between these kinds of experiences is essential. At Behold Retreats, our world trained facilitators practice mindfulness and energy work. They are equipped with the wisdom to help you regulate your nervous system and prepare a steady  mind for the psychedelic experience. 

Particularly, deep breathing through the nose with longer exhalations can work for clearing the head space. If the mind is clouded with many thoughts, simply watch as thoughts arise, rather than automatically taking their content to be true. Just witness them without aversion or attachment. 

You can also prepare by journaling down your intentions, fears, hopes and prayers. The act of writing things down is a form of transmuting thoughts. Putting them down onto paper, can be an act of release from the mind. The 5MeO DMT experience is of reality beyond thought, logic, or rationality, and the quieter the mind is, the more we can allow the sense of the beyond to seize us.

Integration is Crucial

A Bufo Retreat experience can be, and most of the time is a life changing experience. It can take us out of the ego and into the space of eternal love, into an experience of the foundation of existence. How do we take the lessons we have learned from such a life altering experience and bring it into everyday reality?  What is there to do coming back down to Earth? So what is there to do with this information?

What happens after the ceremony ends is as crucial as taking the medicine in the first place. The ceremony often shows us our negative thought patterns, our predispositions, it can dissolve our ego, and make us see behind the veil. We are peeling back the layers of self which are not us. This includes the protection mechanisms, the trauma responses, the roles we play to fit into society. When we can release this, it loses its importance. We focus on our inner truth and we integrate this experience into the fabric of daily life through the way we think, speak, and conduct ourselves. We want to be better than we were yesterday and with a heightened awareness we can be. We want to pursue nurturing relationships and self love. Bufo brings us to this place of goodness, though the psychedelic journey lasts only thirty minutes. It’s what we do after it ends that truly counts. 

Ready for a Big Shift?

Behold Retreats is the leading choice for safe high-end  retreats with 5-MeO-DMT (Bufo Alvarius), Psilocybin, and Ayahuasca Retreats. Our team is composed of doctors, healers, professional therapists, life coaches, massage therapists, and yoga teachers. We provide before and aftercare through integrative tools and expert knowledge, refined over hundreds of sessions. Industry leading professionals tap into spirit and lead from the heart.

Behold Retreats hosts both private and small group retreats in Mexico, Portugal, Costa Rica, and Peru. Group retreat sizes are based on no more than 10-12 guests. Reach out to request  a 1 on 1 discovery call.

Behold Retreats also offer a 7-Week Coaching Program for optimized preparation and integration. 

Discover this amazing opportunity for yourself with a Toad 5-MeO-DMT Bufo Retreat.

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‍Bufo Retreats in Mexico - Behold Retreats

The 5-MeO-DMT / Bufo Retreats in Mexico offer intimate, personalized healing experiences with small groups (2-4 people) or fully private options. The retreats feature up to 3 Bufo ceremonies, traditional Temazcal (sweat lodge) ceremonies, daily movement and breath work classes, cacao ceremonies, and sharing circles, all supported by a dedicated team including a Psychedelic Integration Counselor. Guests can choose between private and shared accommodations, enjoy high vibrational meals, and benefit from continuous support, personalized coaching, and integration assistance. Pricing for small group retreats ranges from $6,250 to $8,500 USD per person, while fully private retreats start at $25,000 USD. The experienced facilitators, such as Joy and Alexa Ellis, provide compassionate guidance throughout the journey. Participants have reported profound personal insights and lasting positive changes. Additionally, the 7-Week Life Accelerator program offers 1-1 coaching to help integrate lessons from psychedelic experiences into daily life. For more information or to schedule a discovery call, visit the Behold Retreats website.

Bufo Retreats in Portugal - Behold Retreats

The 5-MeO-DMT / Bufo Retreat in Portugal offers an intimate, personalized healing experience in serene, nature-filled environments. Hosted at various vetted locations, participants enjoy safety, comfort, and sacred medicine work in small groups of up to 8 guests or fully private retreats. The retreats include up to 3 Bufo ceremonies, traditional Temazcal (sweat lodge) ceremonies, daily yoga and meditation, and nutritious chef-prepared meals. Additional offerings include massage, bodywork, hiking, and integration workshops, all supported by experienced facilitators and somatic therapists. Pricing for the small group retreat is $8,500 USD per person, while fully private retreats start at $25,000 USD. For more information or to schedule a discovery call, visit the Behold Retreats website.

Bufo Weekend Retreats - Now Available!

For those seeking profound transformation but are pressed for time, our new Bufo weekend retreat offers the perfect solution. Designed for the time-conscious yet deeply committed individuals, this retreat provides an immersive, intensive healing experience over just a few days.

Nestled in the tranquil embrace of nature, you'll dive deep into your journey with carefully curated Ayahuasca ceremonies, expert guidance, and holistic practices. Experience the power of sacred plant medicine, connect with your true self, and return to your daily life rejuvenated and transformed.

Ready to make a big shift in a short time? Join us for a weekend of deep healing and profound insights. Apply here.

Article References

[1] Barsuglia, J., Davis, A. K., Palmer, R., Lancelotta, R., Windham-Herman, A. M., Peterson, K., ... & Griffiths, R. R. (2018). Intensity of mystical experiences occasioned by 5-MeO-DMT and comparison with a prior psilocybin study. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 2459.

[2] Uthaug, M. V. (2020). The Exploration of Naturalistically used Ayahuasca and 5-MeO-DMT: An assessment of their respective Sub-acute and Long-Term effects on Mental Health Related Variables.

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