6 Best Ayahuasca Retreats in Kentucky (Updated 2023)

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For deeper insights into what makes up a safe and quality plant medicine retreat, check out the results from our recent plant medicine retreats survey.
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1. If you’d like a holistic understanding of your opportunities to improve your quality of life, take this self-diagnostic.

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2. If this is your first time with Ayahuasca, this short quiz will help you assess your level of mental, emotional, and spiritual readiness for this powerful and sensitive work.

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3. If you’d like to understand more about the nature of psychedelic healing work, human potential, and who and what you really are, watch the video below.

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

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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 affect 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.
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 uncertainty about their work 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.
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 you are less likely to receive a sufficient level of attention from the facilitators. Our recommendation is to choose a retreat with an intimate group, in the range of 8-15 people.
4. Length of the retreat: Shorter retreats feel rushed, do not support the cultivation of meaningful relationships, and can limit what can be achieved in time available. We recommend you spend at least a week for an ayahuasca retreat to give your mind, body, heart, and soul the attention it deserves.
5. ‍‍Comfort: We recommend you choose a retreat where you are confident that 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.
6. Alignment: Select a retreat that feels aligned with your values and allows your own subjective experience to unfold naturally. There are many different worldviews out there and having a different worldview pushed on you through the retreat may not be in your highest healing interests. This is also particularly relevant for first-timers.
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.
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.
9. Booking process: Take the time to speak with the provider before finalizing your booking. If the provider does not have a screening process in place during the booking process anyone could be sitting next to you in ceremony. Some people are not in the right place to work with this powerful plant medicine, and it is the responsibility of the organizers to ensure that only people who can handle ayahuasca are accepted onto the retreat.
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.
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. A reputable retreat center will have a professional online presence with testimonials from previous retreat attendees. This is essential for you to see that they are a legitimate organization who you can trust to contain this powerful experience.
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 lives , they're not going to be able to lead you to yours. Don't be shy to ask this question directly when you speak to prospective centers.

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Ayahuasca is a powerful psychedelic drug that has been used for centuries by indigenous people in the Amazon for religious and spiritual purposes. In recent years, ayahuasca tourism has become popular, with people from all over the world traveling to South America to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies.

Although there are no legal ayahuasca retreats in Kentucky, there are a number of illegal ones. These retreats are often run by shamans who have no training or experience, and who may not be using pure ayahuasca. Taking ayahuasca can be a dangerous experience, and it is important to do your research before attending any ceremony.

If you're looking for a legal and safe ayahuasca experience, there are a number of reputable retreat centers in other countries, such as Peru and Brazil. Make sure to do your research and choose a reputable center that has experienced staff and a good safety record.

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1. Behold Retreats, Mexico, Costa Rica

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Enjoy stunning scenery and soak up nature while staying in modern and luxurious amenities Behold Retreats. Located just 20 minutes from San Jose, Behold Retreats not only offers ayahuasca retreats but also a seven-week program tailored to your specific wants and needs.

Their expert practitioners focus on safety and personal development. Their intimate groups are never larger than six to eight people and they offer private retreats for those seeking a more in-depth experience.

The Behold experience starts before you arrive with coaching sessions and personal work to set you up for the best possible experience and to ensure not just a great retreat but sustainable and permanent personal growth and development. After the retreat is over they continue working with guests and offer aftercare to ensure personal growth and development are cemented.

Behold Retreats also offers plant medicine ceremonies in Mexico and The Netherlands, with a 5-Me0-DMT retreat being offered in Tepoztlan, Mexico and a psilocybin retreat in The Netherlands.

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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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