How to Prepare Mentally and Physically for an Ayahuasca Retreat in 2026

A practical retreat preparation guide on what to eat, how to get ready, and life after your first ceremony.

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Like most intense psychedelic experiences, an Ayahuasca retreat demands an intentional approach. If I’ve learned anything from dozens of deep medicine journeys, winging it rarely works out well.
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The challenge is, most Ayahuasca preperation guides focus on the traditional and spiritual aspects of preparing for a retreat. Don’t get me wrong, those are foundational…however, with seekers around the world seeking to join an Ayahuasca retreats in 2026, guides often leave out some practical questions retreat-goers commonly have, such as: what to eat or avoid; how to prepare mentally, and importantly - how to stay safe.

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If you’re readying yourself for an encounter with the sacred vine and looking for hands-on advice to support your process, we’re here to be of guidance. Whether you choose to have your experience with us here at Behold, or another thoroughly vetted and researched company, we urge you to take the preparation very seriously.  

In the journey ahead, we’ll explore

• What is Ayahuasca
• Setting intentions for your ceremony
• What to eat and what to avoid during the Dieta phase of preparation 
• Mental and physical preparation
• Planning for integration

Let’s start with a look at what Ayahuasca is and how it works.

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What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca is a sacred plant medicine traditionally used for centuries by Indigenous peoples of South America’s western Amazon basin, including the Shipibo-Conibo, Asháninka, Shuar, Achuar, and several Quechua-speaking groups across what is now Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, and Colombia.

An Ayahuasca brew is made from two primary ingredients:

Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys cabrerana - These plants contain dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychedelic chemical that produces short, but very intense, altered states of consciousness.

Banisteriopsis caapi:  An Amazonian vine that contains MAO inhibitors (MAOIs), which stop the body’s natural process of breaking down DMT when it’s swallowed, as it is when drinking ayahuasca.

Starting about 30 to 60 minutes after consumption, Ayahuasca conjures up an inner journey filled with moving visualizations, strong emotions, and deep soul-searching. During the ceremony, you might connect with important or painful memories, get a different view of personal patterns, and notice intense bodily sensations.  To learn more about what an Ayahuasca journey can feel like, check out our Ayahuasca Experiences article.

The experience usually lasts for 4 to 6 hours, but can go as long as 8 hours depending on the way the brew is made, personal body chemistry, and how many servings are offered.

For some, the Ayahuasca journey can be gentle and reflective, while others might face difficult emotions and intense bodily sensations. However your trip goes, many people report moments of clarity, peace, and wholeness that aren’t otherwise possible in everyday life. Your facilitators will be present to guide and supervise you throughout your journey. So you can relax into whatever experience the medicine has for you.

What your journey looks like can depend a lot on your intention going into it, so let’s explore that next.

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Start With Intention

Psychedelics like Ayahuasca are known as “non-specific amplifiers” because they amplify thoughts and feelings that are already present in your mind and body. In other words, they turn up the volume on your inner world.

So, taking the time to explore and get clear on your intention(s) can be the difference between a deeply healing journey and getting tossed around by whatever comes up.

Setting an intention starts with unpacking why you want to drink ayahuasca in the first place. Are you seeking  emotional healing? Clarity about some aspect of your life? Personal or spiritual growth? Freedom from anxiety or depression?

After you get clear on your why, write down some simple intentions. It could be just one, or you might have several that are connected to a common theme.

Intentions tend to sound something like:

• Help me understand why I struggle in relationships.
• Let me release difficult emotions I’m holding from past experiences
• May I stay open to learning whatever this experience has to teach me
• Help me better understand myself
• Show me what I need to heal

It’s critical to remember that an intention isn’t an outcome. When it comes to plant medicines, nothing is predictable or guaranteed. They are the teachers, and we are here to learn.

Perhaps the most important intention you should carry into an Ayahuasca ceremony is to surrender to whatever arises. The more you try to control or fight the experience, the harder it can be. You may read more here about the specific Do's and Don't of Ceremony, but let's continue.

That said, resistance isn’t always bad or something you need to push through. Sometimes it’s your nervous system feeling overwhelmed and seeking safety, or letting you know that something inside needs attention. This is where the steady presence of a facilitator can be both helpful and deeply healing.

The question to ask yourself is, is resistance related to safety and boundaries, or is it from a fear of seeing what’s true?

Once your intentions are set, the next step is getting your body ready. This starts with the Ayahuasca diet, or “dieta.”

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The Ayahuasca Diet (Dieta): What to Eat and Avoid Before Your Retreat

The Ayahuasca dieta is an ancient Indigenous Amazonian ritual designed to purify the body and prepare it for the intensity that often shows up in ceremony.

Foods on the dieta no-no list include:

• alcohol
• caffeine
• red meat & pork
• fried / processed foods
• refined sugar
• spicy foods
• aged / fermented foods

Through a modern lens, it’s also an important safety precaution:

The MAOIs in the brew don’t mix well with certain foods, so the diet removes common foods that can cause adverse reactions like high blood pressure, heart issues, and serotonin syndrome.

Processed and inflammatory foods can intensify the nausea, vomiting, and other intense bodily experiences that can happen during the ceremony. A simple diet decreases body load and can contribute to a better physical experience.

Cutting caffeine, alcohol, and sugar helps stabilize your nervous system, making it easier to stay grounded when the brew kicks in and things get real.

Finally, it helps create a better overall experience by giving a cleaner baseline starting point. When your system isn’t juggling drugs or heavy foods, facilitators can get a better read on dosage and offer more effective support.

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Medications and Substances

Like foods, the MAOIs in Ayahuasca don’t mix well with some prescription medications, supplements, and recreational drugs.

Most ayahuasca retreat preparation requires stopping the following prior to ceremony:

• Antidepressants like SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs and tricyclics
• Stimulants like ADHD meds and some weight loss drugs
• Anti-anxiety medications and sedatives
• Migraine medications (especially triptans)
• Herbal supplements like St. John’s Wort, 5-HTP, and SAM-e

Here’s a chart you can use as a general guideline for your dieta:

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Preparing Heart, Mind, and Body

The human mind and body naturally put up boundaries to protect us from thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations that are painful or overwhelming to help us keep functioning on the daily.

Ayahuasca tends to break down these barriers by temporarily altering how the brain works. This can let disowned feelings, unresolved trauma, or old habits come into all-too-real awareness. It can feel like finally getting in touch with parts of you that were there all along, but difficult or impossible to connect with.

How you meet what the medicine reveals has a big impact on how your experience happens. That’s why mental and emotional preparation are critical.

You could think of this process as clearing mental bandwidth by making space inside so you’re not carrying unnecessary static into the journey.

As your retreat gets near, I’d strongly suggest that you:

• Start journaling to process thoughts and get to know what’s just underneath the surface
• Practice meditation or breathwork can build awareness and regulate stress
• Go to therapy or coaching to connect with difficult material you might not want to have an initial encounter with in ceremony
• Cut overstimulation by reducing social media, news, and other incessant input
• Spend time in nature to reconnect with your body, slow things down, and soak in the healing energy

Speaking of the body, physical preparation is a must for an Ayahuasca retreat. But we’re not talking about “climb Everest-” or “run a marathon-” type preparation.

For the most part, showing up rested and regulated is enough.

In the lead-up to your retreat, you should prioritize sleep, do lots of gentle movement like walking or yoga, stay hydrated and eat simple, healthy meals as part of the dieta.

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Small steps and consistent habits are all you need to support your body as it goes through what can be a physically demanding ayahuasca experience.

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What to Pack for an Ayahuasca Retreat

So you’ve done the dieta, got your intention(s) locked in, and primed your body/mind as best you can. Now it’s time to pack.

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Let me be clear: An Ayahuasca retreat isn’t like your average getaway. You’re going inward on what can be a physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding experience. So you need to pack accordingly.

This handy dandy packing checklist will keep you comfortable and remove unnecessary distractions:

Ayahuasca Retreat Packing List

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What to Pack

• loose comfortable clothing
• layers for ceremony nights
• toiletries (unscented if possible)
• journal + pen
• reusable water bottle
• flashlight/headlamp
• approved medications
• eye mask / earplugs
• small grounding item

What NOT to Pack

• strong perfumes, colognes, or scented products
• alcohol, recreational drugs, or banned supplements
• revealing or tight clothing
• unnecessary electronics (laptops, tablets, speakers)
• anything you’d be upset to lose (Nothing takes you out of the moment faster than worrying about where your grandmother's gold necklace or favorite childhood stuffy ended up.)*

* While we’re not responsible for lost items, none of our retreat participants have ever had personal items stolen. This is a safe and loving space and everyone is required to agree to this prior to being issued an invitation to any of our retreats.

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Preparing for Integration: Where Real Transformation Happens

Most people are drawn to Ayahuasca retreats for the potential of healing, insight, and personal or spiritual growth. There’s also a common misconception that these come directly from the ayahuasca experience itself.

But the real transformation happens in integration. Integration is the post-journey process of exploring what came up inside the medicine so it can be incorporated into our lives.

Any Ayahuasca retreat worth its cups offers integration as part of the package. This often looks like on-site group sharing circles, 1-1 facilitator guidance, light coaching, and/or encouragement to keep doing your work after you head home.

The last point is where preparation comes in.

To prepare for integration, I recommend that you:

• Pencil in time for rest and reflection after you leave
• Plan to do some coaching or therapy with someone skilled in psychedelic integration
• Book a massage or other preferred bodywork session soon after to keep encouraging physical release
• Keep journaling, minimizing overstimulation, and spending time in nature
• Don’t make any major life decisions for at least a month (trust me, I learned the hard way.)

Integrating a significant psychedelic experience can take weeks to months or longer. So, make a plan to have the right supports in place so you can make the most of the medicine’s gifts in your life. (Sometimes the act of planning to care for ourselves in this way can be healing in and of itself!)

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Preparing for an Ayahuasca Retreat in 2026: A Final Note

To bring it back to where we started, being prepared doesn’t mean your Ayahuasca retreat will be easy or comfortable.

What it does is make it more safe, increase the chances of it being meaningful, and help you take away maximum benefit into your day-to-day life.

While there might seem like there are a lot of ingredients involved in proper preparation, it all boils down to three fairly simple guidelines:

• Respect the medicine and the process
• Show up informed and grounded
• Stay humble and open to whatever arises (and seek support if whatever you’re opening to feels like too much.)

Do that, and you’ll be prepared as anyone can be for an experience that’s definitely unpredictable and meant to be felt - not controlled.

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FAQs

How long do Ayahuasca insights last?

The answer to this question depends on you: your personal history, temperament, sensitivity to the medicine and many other factors. For some people, insights show up right away in the ceremony. For others, the teachings show themselves gradually through the following days, weeks, and months. As mentioned in the article above, integration is critical. Doing things like journaling, therapy, or coaching, spending time in nature, and making meaningful life changes help keep insights alive and have them become part of who you are. You could think of Ayahuasca as opening a door and giving you a look into a room full of wisdom. What you do with that wisdom depends on what you do after.

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TL;DR: The experience and initial insights are temporary. How you integrate them into your life determines the impact.  

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Can ayahuasca change your personality?

Ayahuasca won’t wipe your hard drive and install a whole new set of programming. Most people don’t walk away as a totally different person. It’s more like subtle tweaks over time, like more emotional awareness, perspective shifts, or letting go of longstanding habits and reactions. Some people say they feel more open or less reactive in the weeks and months after a retreat. But these retreats rarely come directly from the ceremony. They’re most often the result of intentional follow-through, like therapy or coaching, lifestyle changes, and deep personal reflection. Ayahuasca gives you information about what is and isn’t serving you. It’s up to you what you do with it.

TL;DR:  Ayahuasca can affect how you relate, internally and externally, but you have to keep doing the work to see meaningful, lasting change.

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Is it normal to feel confused afterward?

Yes, absolutely. Aya can quickly surface a lot of difficult feelings and painful memories . So it’s normal for things to feel messy before they start getting clearer. After a retreat, you might feel foggy, extra sensitive, or notice a mix of thoughts and feelings that don’t quite make sense. This isn’t a sign that things went south on your journey. It’s the experience continuing to unfold after the ceremony. Again, this is where rest and integration are critical. Give yourself plenty of time, space and support afterward to let the dust settle, so you can see more clearly how to bring insights into your day-to-day life. Think about it this way, when your grandmother had a serious chat with you when you were little, did everything snap back to how it was when the conversation was over or was there some integration time while she made sure you understood lessons?

TL;DR: Feeling confused afterwards is totally normal. It’s a natural continuation of the experience, not a sign something went wrong.

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What should I avoid doing right after a retreat?

It’s good to move at turtle speed in the days and weeks after a retreat. The experience can really open you up emotionally and mentally, which means it’s not the best time to decide to quit your job or make other high-stakes decisions. It’s also best not to jump back into high-stress situations, keep a busy social calendar, or numb out with alcohol or other substances. It’s best to keep your schedule light, prioritize sleep and hydration, and make lots of space to reflect on what came up in your journey.

TL;DR: Give yourself time to get grounded before making any big moves. Integration can take weeks or longer, so be gentle with yourself.

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References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/maois/art-20043992

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/serotonin-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20354758

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-020-0367-2

https://maps.org/2020/01/29/integration-in-psychotherapy-introducing-a-paradigm/

https://psychedelic.support/resources/psychedelic-integration/

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