Women’s Ayahuasca Retreats: Why a Sacred Feminine Space Matters

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A wave of women awakening, remembering, and releasing what was never theirs to hold...

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From living rooms to jungles, women are seeking safe spaces to gather in circles and new spaces to move, pray, and journey together through healing practices like Ayahuasca, yoga, tantra, family constellations, and cacao ceremonies. We are finally rediscovering our feminine strength.

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Within this collective awakening, Ayahuasca holds a special place. Known as the “Mother” medicine, she invites women to journey inward with compassion and courage. In a sacred feminine space, the Ayahuasca experience becomes even deeper. Here, we share how women-only Ayahuasca retreats can create a container of safety, shared energy, and intuitive healing where women can surrender, release, and reconnect with their inner wisdom.

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Why Women-Only? Reconnecting with the Sacred Feminine

There is something ancient and unspoken about being held in the presence of women, a sense of safety that allows us to exhale and soften. This is the essence of the sacred feminine: a quiet knowing, a shared intuition, and the deep remembrance of our power to create, nurture, and heal.

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In women-only spaces, we can release old stories, express emotion freely, and reconnect with the wisdom held in our bodies. For many, this safety is not only comforting but essential for true healing. Research and lived experience both affirm what women have always known: when we feel seen, safe, and supported, our nervous systems relax, and transformation becomes possible.

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Read Next: Mother Ayahuasca: Mysterious Meeting With Divine Mother

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As one woman in an online Ayahuasca forum shared, “Knowing myself, I would feel safer with ceremonies led by women since I would be in such a vulnerable position during ceremonies.”

Women-only spaces are about freedom to heal without fear, to surrender completely, and to remember the wholeness that has always been ours.

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Women-Led Healing: The Return of the Feminine

As we create these spaces, who leads them matters deeply. The energy guiding a ceremony shapes the entire experience.

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Many spiritual and healing traditions, including Ayahuasca, have historically been male-led. While masculine energy has its place, many women find a deeper form of healing in spaces guided by the feminine: slower, intuitive, and nurturing.

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Across spiritual traditions, feminine energy is often seen as magnetic, intuitive, and nurturing, balancing the masculine drive for action and direction. Both energies are vital, yet many modern healing spaces have leaned toward the masculine, emphasizing effort over presence.

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The essence of women-led healing is to create conditions for openness, safety, and deep listening. In Ayahuasca traditions, curanderas (healers) and maestras (female shamans) embody this in ceremonies, holding space that honors intuition and emotion as sacred teachers.

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Read Next: Do I Need a Shaman, a Healer, or a Therapist?

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Psychologist Dr. Rachel Harris interviewed elder women psychedelic guides with decades of ceremonial experience for her book Swimming in the Sacred. She explains how their way of holding space embodies feminine empathy and intuition:

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“These women have made a cultural shift to live in a sacred world, not bound by the assumptions of Western culture… The women attend to signs in the natural world, shift easily between states of consciousness, and receive guidance from unseen others.”

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This reminds us that the feminine path isn’t new, it’s ancestral.

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At Behold Retreats, we believe offering women-only spaces is one way to reconnect with that sacred feminine lineage, creating safety for spiritual insight, emotional release, and trauma healing.

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Ayahuasca, Healing and the Divine Feminine

The spirit of Ayahuasca is often called La Madre, or the Mother. Those who sit with the medicine describe her presence as wise, compassionate, and nurturing, yet also deeply confronting.

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Modern research now echoes what many have known intuitively for generations. In one study, participants reported lasting improvements in mood and well-being, including lower depression scores and higher levels of self-transcendence and life satisfaction, even six months after their Ayahuasca ceremonies.

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Read Next: Why Spiritual People Are Happier

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Still, the maternal guiding power of Ayahuasca is something that cannot be fully captured by science. It is known intrinsically. Many women describe her teachings as both soothing and revealing, guiding them toward growth through surrender and self-compassion.

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This energy is often described as the Divine Mother, an archetype that embodies creation, intuition, and unconditional love. She is both life-giver and protector, awakening our innate capacity for self-realization through the release of grief, shame, and fear.

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Those who take Ayahuasca often experience visions uncovering sensations and memories stored in the body, carrying threads of motherhood, ancestral lineage, and the feminine experience itself. These revelations can lead to profound clarity and self-understanding.

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Reconnecting with Self through Ayahuasca

In a safe and supportive environment, Ayahuasca medicine can help any woman seeking a deeper sense of self peel back layers of identity and reconnect inward. Here, the medicine invites women to explore new possibilities in which they are free from their everyday roles and expectations.

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It may be especially meaningful for women in times of transition, such as children going off to college, after a divorce, or during other life changes that can stir disconnection from self-identity.

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In an article on psychedelic feminism, one woman recounts her simple intention: “I just wanted to begin to be kinder to myself.” This beautiful intention underlines how the challenges women carry often go unrecognized or unnamed until they finally have space to sit with them and understand their own needs, desires and blockages.

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Jamie, a Behold Retreat participant, describes her experience this way: “Some ‘knowing’ opening up in me. Something heavy and dark left me… and for the first time in my life, I was able to define myself with words that have nothing to do with what I do for a living.”

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Ayahuasca becomes a mirror of the intuitive Mother within each of us, the part that knows how to nurture, heal, and give new life.

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Trauma Healing through Ayahuasca

In the way of the intuitive Mother, Ayahuasca also brings the possibility to recognize and heal deep-seated traumas, including emotional and sexual trauma.

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In a community forum, one woman shares her experience with a sense of life-giving energy: “It felt like I was being broken down to be built back up… I sat on top of infinite darkness, feeling the power of potential creation within me, and felt infinitely wise. I felt pregnant with all of creation.”

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For some, Ayahuasca’s guidance extends into deep emotional and sexual healing. As one woman wrote in Chacruna: “This new perspective revealed to me the limiting beliefs I collected growing up. I had accepted them as my reality and, as a result, allowed other people’s opinions to shape my worth as a woman.”

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Safety, Connection, and Emotional Freedom

Emotional safety is the foundation of any sacred feminine space. It allows women to surrender, awaken, and heal. At Behold Retreats, creating this safety begins long before the ceremony - from the first inquiry to post-retreat integration.

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Our facilitators are highly empathetic practitioners trained in trauma-informed care, offering steady guidance and compassionate presence at every stage of the journey.

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A previous Behold participant shared:

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“The preparation and pre-ceremony communications were outstanding. I went into both ceremonies feeling well prepared emotionally and very supported. The facilitators made the journey very safe and very informative.” – Carol Bonnafe, Retreat Participant, Costa Rica

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Women-led facilitation and an all-women circle naturally cultivate ease and trust. This sisterhood fosters emotional safety through shared experience and mutual witnessing, while also awakening a quiet yet undeniable sense of feminine power from feeling deeply seen, supported, and authentic.

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Beyond emotional safety, Behold’s team upholds the highest standards of physical and ethical care. All ceremonies are facilitated by experienced professionals who prioritize safety, privacy, consent, and clear boundaries in the use of sacred medicine.

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‍Read Next: How to have a Safe Ayahuasca Experience

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What to Expect at Our Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat

Our very first Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat is here, and we are overjoyed to welcome you into our space in Costa Rica. This week-long journey is designed for women seeking to reconnect with themselves and the world around them. In a nurturing and supportive natural environment, Behold’s experienced female facilitators gently guide participants through the profound healing potential of Mother Ayahuasca, while honoring the unique experiences, emotions and challenges that women carry.

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The retreat flows in tune with the feminine rhythm, balancing ceremony and reflection, stillness and movement, rest and renewal, allowing you to grow at a natural pace. Your comfort and well-being are at the heart of this retreat. Every element, from medical screening to daily structure, is designed to create a safe, compassionate, and empowering space for women.

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“The Ayahuasca experience at Behold was far more than I even imagined. I was so supported and given numerous tools to take home for continuing and enhancing the Ayahuasca message. The abundant generosity and caring was precious and very much from the heart.”
– Anne Chesterman, Retreat Participant, Costa Rica

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What’s Included

A six-night, all-inclusive, integrative plant medicine retreat with an intimate group of 7–11 women. Your experience includes:

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• Pre-retreat medical safety screening
• Three sacred Ayahuasca ceremonies led by female facilitators
• Movement and meditation sessions for grounding and reflection
• Comfortable accommodations in lush Costa Rican nature
• High-vibrational meals and nourishment
• One complimentary massage
• Temazcal (sweat lodge) ceremony
• Personal preparation and integration support
• Trauma-informed support team
• Pre-retreat dieta guidance and airport shuttles

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Read next: How to Choose the Safest Ayahuasca Retreat

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How to Know If a Women’s Ayahuasca Retreat Is Right for You

This experience is for women who are ready to look within, face truth with compassion, and open to healing in a safe, supportive space. It’s not for those seeking a quick fix, but for those who feel a quiet readiness in their heart.

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You can explore this further in our dedicated guide: Am I Ready for Ayahuasca? A Guide for Self-Assessment. Have questions? Reach out to our team for support.

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Come Heal in Sisterhood

If this feels aligned with your path, we invite you to join us at our women-only Ayahuasca Retreat in Costa Rica. Step into a sacred space of sisterhood, healing, and transformation.

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Upcoming Women’s Ayahuasca Retreats:

December 7 - 13, 2025 (2 spots left)

April 19 - 25, 2026 (6 spots left)

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