An Ayahuasca retreat could be the best experience of your life, or it could leave you worse off, confused, or traumatized.

Your outcome depends upon 3 things: your readiness, preparation, and your ability to choose a high-quality retreat.

1) To help you assess your level of mental and spiritual readiness, take this short quiz.

2) To understand more about ayahuasca, and to prepare for a retreat, check out our guide.

3) If you're feeling ready for a retreat, then congratulations! Whether your first or your 10th retreat, this is a momentous occasion.

Like most things in life, there are a broad variety of Ayahuasca retreat options, and a number of factors that effect the quality and cost of an ayahuasca retreat.

Here are 12 recommendations to help you avoid sketchy options and choose a safe and transformational experience:

1. Safety First: Unfortunately, many small retreat centers are not in a position to make meaningful investments into screening and safety. Even if you're fine, someone else on retreat might not be, which can effect the overall experience. Our recommendation is to choose a retreat provider that does in-depth conversational, medical, and psychological screening to protect your safety and well-being.‍
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2. Legality:  Experienced practitioners who have dedicated their lives to plant medicine typically live in locations where the work is legal, so they don't have to live in a state of "what if". Our recommendation is to travel to legal locations where you can benefit from legitimate healers who operate above the radar, so you can truly relax on retreat. That's kind of the idea, right?
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3. ‍Size of the group: It's common for retreats to have 20, 50, even 100 people in ceremony, which can be chaotic to say the least. In such large groups, there's a lot of collective bucket-time in the room, and you are less likely receive the level of attention from healers that you are probably looking for. Our recommendation is to choose a retreat with an intimate group of say, 8-15 people.
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4. ‍Length of the retreat: Shorter retreats feel rushed, don't support the cultivation of meaningful relationships, and there are limits to what can be achieved in a few nights. We recommend you spend at least a week for an ayahuasca retreat to give your mind, body, heart, and soul the attention it deserves. ‍
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5. ‍‍Comfort: We recommend you choose a retreat where you are confident you will be physically comfortable and have your own private bedroom to decompress and integrate, especially if this is your first time. Go for the full jungle mosquito immersion another time, your future self will thank you later.
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6. Energetic Alignment: Select a retreat that feels energetically aligned and allows your own subjective experience to unfold naturally. There's no right or wrong here, but it's worth recognizing that there are many different cosmologies (ways of seeing the universe), and having the energy of a different cosmology pushed through the ceremonial space may or may not be in your highest healing interests. This is also particularly relevant for first-timers.
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7. ‍Holistic approach: Work with an organization that takes a holistic approach to working with plant medicine, and has options to support and guide your mental and emotional evolution alongside a retreat. If a provider implies that "medicine will solve all your problems", proceed with caution (because it won't!).
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8. ‍Service: Select a retreat that you believe can meet your individual needs. Are you being treated as a human, or as participant #22 in their fourth retreat this month? Consider whether or not they've taken the time to get to know you and understand you, or it's more of a take it or leave it retreat center.
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9. ‍Booking process: Take the time to speak with the provider before finalizing your booking. If it's all 100% online, ANYONE could be sitting next to you in ceremony. Everyone deserves to heal, but it's unlikely you want to be sitting in ceremony with a recovering addict going through their process next to you
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10. Expertise: Find an organization that emphasizes healing, and you believe has the breadth and depth of expertise to guide your transformation. Look for facilitators and healers who have a lightness of being and a sparkle in their eyes. Healing work is all about the transmutation of energy, so you are looking for people who have the energy you aspire to. If they aren't able to keep their energy right, that tells you quite a bit about either where they are at and their capabilities.
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11. ‍Reputation: At a minimum, Google the provider, you may be surprised by what you find. If there's not much information, that is also information :) You may also like to look up the Founders and see what their energy is all about (hint hint). A famous comedian recently went to one of the most popular Ayahuasca retreat centers (known for large groups) and mentioned there were people on the retreat who didn't even know what Ayahuasca was. Yes, seriously.
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12. ‍Volunteers: Please support ethical plant medicine work by selecting an organization that pay their team. Unfortunately, it is common practice for retreat centers to cycle through young, eager, and worn out volunteers and/or not pay healers fairly. If the people supporting your retreat aren't living their best life, they're not going to be able to lead you to yours. Not the right vibe. Don't be shy to ask this question directly when you speak to prospective centers.

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Who you choose to attend an Ayahuasca retreat with is undoubtedly one of the most important decisions in your life, especially the first time.

We encourage you to take the time and energy to do your research, follow your intuition, and to know why you are choosing a specific retreat.

If our recommendations resonate with you, and you'd like to explore a transformational journey with Behold, click on "Begin Your Journey" below to request a complimentary Discovery Call with one of our Medicine Guides.

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Want to know what a well-run retreat is like? We asked some of our past guests to do the impossible and summarize their retreat experience with us in 1 word.

Watch the video to get a sense of the magic that's possible:

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Ayahuasca is an increasingly popular plant medicine used for healing the body, mind, and spirit. This master plant is a psychotropic preparation obtained by two different sacred plants that originated in the Amazon basin in South America. The begging of the use of this powerful date back to pre-history and its use has always been connected to ceremony and healers.

Because of its amazonian origins, the societies of South America are more aware of the healing aspect of the preparation and its connection to ceremony, healing, and deep transformational nature. But this is not the case in many countries in the world. 

Most countries view this sacred plant medicine as harmful because of its psychotropic qualities. This becomes even more evident in cultures that are far away from South America as Asian countries. 

The distance from its birthplace and the lack of understanding of the plant makes it almost impossible to be part of a legal Ayahuasca ceremony in Asia. Therefore, if your goal is to connect to the plant and its profound healing properties the best you can do is to go to Central/South America and experience the ceremony in one of the many retreats available as the following. 

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1. Behold Retreats. Mexico

Behold Retreats sets the standard for safe, legal, and transformative plant medicine retreats in idyllic destinations. Retreats are kept to a small group size, and attendance is by invitation only.

Behold does not facilitate Ayahuasca in Asia, but does offer options in Costa Rica and Mexico. Other popular retreat options include Psilocybin in the Netherlands and with the powerful God Molecule 5-MeO-DMT in Mexico or Portugal.

Ready for deep healing and transformation?

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2. Ankara Ayahuasca Church- Oakland, California

Ankara Ayahuasca Church is a regenerative space proudly run by indigenous women of color. Their focus is on the preservation of indigenous medicine, trauma healing, plant medicine, and the stewardess of plants. They desire to meet the highest standards of emotional and physical safety, bring trauma awareness, and advocate for self-autonomy and self-advocacy.

They offer multi-day retreats in California and Mexico. Their ayahuasca retreat in Mexico is held in an intimate nature-based setting and seeks to connect the Shipibo maestros from Peru and Maya midwives in order to heal from past trauma. They also offer online circles to further support members.

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3. Ayahuasca Healings- Colorado Springs, Colorado

Ayahuasca Healings’s goal is to offer the healing of past traumas via holistic methods including ayahuasca retreats. They offer a full care plan including preparation work, a nine-day retreat in Peru, and aftercare.

The features of the nine-day retreat include a purification ceremony, multiple ayahuasca ceremonies, yoga, meditation, and healing therapy. With a focus on safety, particularly for women, their facilitators have been hand-picked and are exclusively women. Their facilitators have decades of experience leading ceremonies, assisting in healing, and leading retreats.

Their retreats take place in their private center. With no neighbors in sight and a private waterfall nearby, it’s easy to soak in the beautiful nature.

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4. Hummingbird Healing Center- Iquitos, Peru

The Hummingbird Healing Center, located near Iquitos, Peru, believes in healing all aspects of oneself by changing negative thought patterns and belief systems, and understanding patterns of conditioning. They combine plant medicine ceremonies and dietas with integration and mindfulness sessions. The center is guided by Don Fernando Laiche, a traditional healer with more than 38 years of experience.

Their ayahuasca retreats include one San Pedro ceremony and an ayahuasca ceremony, and they are either 9 or 12 days with an option for completely customized retreat. Their retreats are never more than 12 people and there are always multiple caretakers present

for each ayahuasca ceremony.

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5. The Temple of the Way of Life- Loreto, Peru

Located in the basin of the Amazon, The Temple of the Way of Life offers an immersion into Shipibo plant medicine. Their retreats include flower baths, steam baths, multiple ayahuasca ceremonies, and massages. Each ayahuasca retreat has equal male and female healers from the indigenous Shipibo tribe. Their retreats and ceremonies are assisted by highly trained and knowledgeable Western facilitators to assist in linking the guests with the healers and acting as translators.

Their retreats vary in length but are between 9-14 days and take place in the temple. The Temple of the Way of Life sits on over 175 hectares of rainforest land. It also features a permaculture center, food forests, aquaculture systems, and medicinal gardens.

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6. Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth- Orlando, Florida

The Soul Quest Ayahuasca Church of Mother Earth is a healing and spiritual learning center located in Orlando, Florida. They focus on providing the community with education, service, guidance, and healing practices such as breathwork. They have an emphasis on knowledge, safety, and overall experience.

This retreat space offers single and multi-day Ayahuasca retreats, shadow work retreats, and retreats for the divine feminine and masculine. Their team includes facilitators, a yoga teacher, musicians, coaches, psychologists, and a medical team that includes a doctor, physician's assistant, paramedics, and nurses

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