The Best & Safest Ayahuasca Retreat: How to Choose (2024)

These tips will help you choose the best Ayahuasca retreat that will allow you to have a safe and transformative Ayahuasca experience!

You heard the medicine calling and have decided to attend an Ayahuasca retreat — awesome! At this point you’re probably uncertain about what to expect, yet excited for what’s to come – two totally natural and common feelings. Choosing the best, and safest, retreat center for your Ayahuasca journey will do wonders in helping quell any uneasiness you have surrounding the process, but how to find it?

 

The Best Ayahuasca Retreat

 

What is an Ayahuasca Retreat?

An Ayahuasca retreat is a retreat center that offers Ayahuasca ceremonies. It’s important to know that while attending an Ayahuasca retreat is an incredibly sacred and transformative journey, it’s also a very challenging one.

Before you decide on a retreat center, I highly recommend you do your research on Ayahuasca so you know exactly what to expect from its effects.

While the reasons someone might decide to go on an Ayahuasca retreat are varied, it generally comes down to healing, spirituality, and enlightenment. Deciding which Ayahuasca retreat to book will be the biggest factor in the kind of experience you have.

A few years ago, I went on an Ayahuasca retreat at the Gaia Sagrada retreat center in Ecuador. This post is in no way sponsored by them, but I feel completely comfortable suggesting this place to everyone with the same values who are looking for a spiritual, transformative experience.

My time at the retreat center was profoundly life-altering, and I recommend it to anyone looking to heal trauma, deepen their spirituality, and learn about the traditional, sacred traditions of Ayahuasca.

 

Ask Yourself “Why”

Understanding the reasons why you want to go on an Ayahuasca Retreat will be the biggest factor in picking the right center for you. Ask yourself why you want to work with Ayahuasca, what your expectations are in regards to the environment, if the culture of your destination is important to you, and what intentions you want to set with your retreat.

Truly understanding your “why” will make all the difference in how the Ayahuasca works for you — including how you interpret the experience once it’s over.

 

Ayahuasca Retreat Location

One of the most important aspects in choosing the best Ayahuasca retreat is to pick one in a country with clearly defined Ayahuasca laws. Ayahuasca is legal in many South American countries including Ecuador (where I did mine), Peru, Brazil, Colombia, and Bolivia.

Ayahuasca is also legal in many European countries, but as native South American tribes use the substance in a traditional way, there is more authenticity choosing a retreat in South America.

Read more: How Ayahuasca Changed My Life

 

Do Your Research

When researching where I wanted to do my Ayahuasca retreat, I used the site AyaAdvisors.org. This site was an invaluable resource as it listed out the different retreats by rating, price, and category.

Along with these parameters, I recommend learning as much as you can about the different retreat options, and what each retreat generally entails. There are retreats of different lengths, retreats that include the substance San Pedro into the itinerary, and retreats with different mission statements.

It’s only when you read through each of your options can you truly know what the best one for you will be!

 

Read the Reviews

Reading what others have said about your retreat will be a major factor in picking a reputable one. Read both the positive and negative reviews, and come up with a list of factors that are most important to you. For example, different people have different ideas of what comfort means, and what is a negative experience for one person might not be a negative experience for the next.

And when you think you’re done reading the reviews, go ahead and read some more!

 

Ask for Recommendations

If you feel comfortable, then asking your personal and professional network for Ayahuasca retreat recommendations will be hugely beneficial in finding a great retreat center. While it’s always an option to book a retreat based on the research you’ve done online, there’s nothing quite like getting a recommendation from someone you personally know.

 

Ask About Their Support System

Once you’ve narrowed down your potential retreat-center list to a few of your favorites, reach out to the center for more information. In particular, ask about their support system. After your Ayahuasca ceremonies, you’re going to go through a reintegration process. Ensuring that your retreat center has trained employees to help you through this is extremely important as, without it, the days following your retreat can be extremely difficult.

At the retreat center I chose, there was an integration circle that helped us all understand our experience more thoroughly. You may also want to look into other healing modalities once you return home to help integrate all that you have learned. We both practice and teach Pranayama Breathwork, which can be done both online and in-person.

Read more: 10 Important Wellness and Self-Care Tips for Travelers

 

Know the Safety Procedures

Different retreat centers have different safety procedures in place, and while choosing a center based solely on this depends on your comfort level, there are basics that the center should provide. Every reputable retreat center should be equipped with an on-site doctor or nurse that can assist you should they be needed.

Additionally, it’s always smart to choose a retreat center that requires a medical background check for everyone involved. You want to make sure you and your fellow participants will be safe taking the medicine!

 

Take Your Fellow Participants Into Account

Before you book your retreat, take into account class size — how many people do they allow at the retreat? A larger group will have a very different feel from a small group size. The ratio of staff to participants is also important, and there should always be enough staff to help the participants through their Ayahuasca journey.

Additionally, if this is important to you, take note of whether or not your retreat is male-only, female-only, or mixed.

 

Research the Shamans

The Shamans who guide you through your Ayahuasca journey are so important. Make sure you thoroughly research the Shamans who work at your chosen retreat center, ensuring that they can speak your language, have extensive histories with the substance, and that they are skilled in their practice.

When I chose my retreat to be in Ecuador, I did so in part because of the high standard the country has for their Shamans, and because the Gaia Sagrada retreat center has Shamans who speak English.

However, if the Shamans don’t speak your language but you love the retreat center you’ve chosen, research and see if the center provides apprentices or translators who do speak your language.