7 Day Women’s Healing Retreats
Flowers of the Labyrinth
Date: July 17-23, 2025
Women's Healing Retreat 2024
Limited to 15 participants.
$1,500 per person 15 participants (not including staff)
Includes transportation Tumbaco - Mindo - Tumbaco
meals, accommodation, ceremonies, workshops and accompaniment.
When: Thursday, July 17 – Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Location: Mindo cloudforest, Ecuador
Price: $1,500 per person (not including fees, if applicable)
Retreat guides: Karina, Leo, Paulina, Shiram, Sandra and special guests (see full list)
Price Includes: transportation, food, accommodation, ceremonies & accompaniment
Weather: Warm, comfortable days. Can get cool at night and in mornings. There are bugs!
An invitation - general information about 7 day Women's Healing Retreat
Dear beautiful souls,
Art, that tangible manifestation of the intangible, is one of the most powerful tools we have for healing. It’s not just a way to heal the body or calm the mind; art is the bridge to the sacred, to what escapes words and reason.
During “Flowers of the Labyrinth” Womens Healing Retreat 2025, we will create a space where the magical and the artistic blend with the therapeutic process, enveloping each woman in a deep embrace that allows her to find her own voice, free from judgment.
We start with a simple yet powerful truth: all living beings are art. As such, we carry within us the capacity to be creators. And even more so, when art becomes a path to open that chest of memories, it transforms into a tool for consciously healing our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual bodies.
At “Flowers of the Labyrinth,” we will work from this holistic perspective. We will acknowledge the labyrinths of fear, destiny, hidden pleasures, and our deepest desires. We want art to accompany us on this journey through the paths of the unconscious and the conscious. We want to become art: to play like children, sing like grandmothers, love like women.
This gathering is a call to liberate that part of us that has been silenced by generations of social norms. We want to discover our highest potential, daring to be, to connect with that primordial energy that allows us to enter the frequency of ultimate creation. We will be those who revel in our conscious decision to express the art that we are.
Join us at “Flowers of the Labyrinth”, women’s healing retreat in Ecuador, in a sacred space in the cloudforest, from July 17-23, 2024.
This 7 day Women’s Healing Retreat is not just an event—it’s an immersion into the sacred dance of self-discovery, where the wilderness of our spirits converges with the wisdom of the ages.
Register soon! These retreats are only held 1 or 2 times a year.
This retreat is ideal for women:
- Seeking greater connection with ones true and divine essence
- With a calling to honor their past and cultivate a deeper relationship with the natural world
- Desiring to awaken and unblock facets of themselves that have been concealed over time
- Desiring to heal from trauma and re-encounter self love and respect
- Longing to connect with the spiritual realm and master plants like Tobacco, San Pedro and Ayahuasca
- Seeking to further develop their knowledge in medicinal plants and ancestral healing by learning from authentic, experienced, respected healers.
♥️"
The price of this 7 day women’s healing retreat ($1,500 per person) includes:
- Transportation Tumbaco (close to airport) – Mindo retreat space – Tumbaco
- All food and accommodation, upon arrival at the retreat space.
- Durodango (polished mud 🙂 Clay Workshop
- Song Circle(s)
- 3 Medicine Ceremonies – 1 San Pedro/Wachuma Medicine Temazcal, 2 Ayahuasca ceremonies (1 during the day, 1 during the night)
- 1 Sweet and Bitter Plant Medicine Cleansing Ritual
- Group hike to waterfall and rapé ritual
- 2 Temazcal/sweatlodges – one to open (with medicine) and one to close
Reserve by emailing: [email protected]
7 day Women's Healing Retreat Schedule
(note that some changes may be made to the schedule in terms of order)
Day 1 (Thursday)
- 10 am: Depart from Tumbaco (Quito area)
- 1 pm: Arrive in Mindo (free time to explore)
- 4 pm: Arrive at Nuestra Tierra for late lunch, official welcome, and orientation
- Evening: Rest
Day 2 (Friday)
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 11:30 am – 6 pm: Medicine Temazcal with Shiram Ucucuy
- 7 pm: Dinner & rest
Day 3 (Saturday)
- 7-8 am: Meditation & conscious movement
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 9:30 am – 1 pm: Durudango workshop with Sandra
- 1-2:30 pm: Lunch
- 3-5 pm: Sharing circle
- 5-7 pm: Free time, rest, time in nature
- 7:30-9 pm: Dinner
Day 4 (Sunday)
- 7-8 am: Soft yoga & conscious movement
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 10 am – 6 pm: Daytime Grandmother Medicine with Leonor
- 7 pm: Dinner & rest
Day 5 (Monday)
- 7-8 am: Meditation & breathwork
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 10 am – 6 pm: Integrating through creativity workshop
- 7 pm: Dinner
Day 6 (Tuesday)
- 7-8 am: Meditation & conscious movement
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 10:30 am – 3 pm: Hike to waterfall, rapeh ritual, floral baths in the river
- 3 pm: Lunch & rest
- 9:30 pm – 6 am: Grandmother medicine ceremony with Karina, Shipibo-Conibo healer
Day 7 (Wednesday)
- 8-9 am: Breakfast
- 9:30 am: Closing temazcal with Paulina to integrate the week’s work
- 1-2:30 pm: Final lunch followed by departure to Mindo – Tumbaco
Women's Healing Retreat Testimonias
Retreat healers / hosts
This retreat will involve a group of female healers, wisdom keepers and workshop leaders.
The healers come from diverse backgrounds and are highly experienced. Many of them are recognized as leaders in their path or with their medicine. Among them:
Karina
Activity: Night-time Ayahuasca Ceremony
Karina is a Shipibo healer from the Peruvian Amazon, dedicated to the preservation and sharing of her ancestral culture. As a medicine woman, Karina has spent her life studying and practicing the sacred plant medicine traditions passed down through generations of Shipibo-Conibo healers. Her deep connection to the spirit of the Amazon rainforest and her community’s healing wisdom have made her a powerful advocate for her people’s traditions. Through her work, she defends not only the medicinal practices of the Shipibo but also the songs, stories, and knowledge that have shaped her identity and her role as a spiritual leader.
Karina will be leading a nighttime ayahuasca ceremony, offering participants an intimate experience with her culture’s sacred medicine. In this sacred space, she will share her powerful icaros—healing songs that guide and protect participants through their journeys. With her gentle yet strong presence, Karina creates an environment of trust and respect, allowing for deep healing and personal transformation. Her mission is not only to heal but to safeguard and pass on her people’s ancient traditions, ensuring that future generations continue to benefit from the wisdom of the Shipibo-Conibo people.
Leonor
Activity: Day-time Ayahuasca Ceremony
Leonor is a 60-year-old Achuar elder and single mother of two, embodying the strength and resilience of a true warrior woman. Having faced life’s challenges on her own, she has carved out a path of wisdom through determination, forgiveness and grace. Her deep connection to the natural world and her people’s ancestral knowledge have shaped her into a healer and guide, offering her gifts to all who seek healing and transformation. A lifelong practitioner of traditional plant medicine, Leonor carries the songs of her ancestors and the sacred ways of her people into each ceremony she leads and in her intricate beadwork (she will be selling some of her pieces at the retreat!).
Leonor will be guiding a daytime ceremony, weaving her powerful, melodic icaros—healing songs—throughout the journey. Her recently released album, Cantos de Visión (Songs of Vision), is a reflection of her life’s work and spiritual connection, available for purchase online. In her ceremonies, Leonor brings both gentle nurturing and strength, creating a space where participants can heal and connect with their own inner power. Her presence is a testament to the strength of the feminine, and her life’s journey as a single mother has made her a true example among woman.
Paulina Quilla Pakari -Tsunkinua
Activity: Integrating through creativity workshop
The Integrating Through Creativity workshop offers a unique space for personal reflection and expression, using various creative modalities to help participants process and integrate their experiences. Whether through art, writing, or movement, this workshop encourages you to explore your inner world in a supportive and open environment. No previous artistic experience is required—just a willingness to connect with your creative self and discover new ways of understanding and integrating your journey.
Through various exploration techniques, we will connect with our primal instinct to unlock patterns and belief systems that prevent us from liberating our behavior and allowing our animal nature to express itself.
Paulina received the Chakana altar, Andean table, and Heart of the Carnation altar from the Andean elders. She has been working with ancestral medicines for about 25 years. Founder of the collective group Mujeres de Luna, she works with chants as a prayer for healing of the spirit and body. She is a Leader of the Sacred Fire of Itzachilatlan and a conductor of temazcals. She is also a trained Gestalt therapist specialized in accompanying processes.
Shiram Ucucuy
Activity: Medicine Temazcal
Shiram Ucucuy is a carrier of ancestral medicine. She has been working with native rituals and power plants for 20 years. She is a conductor of temazcals and a co-founder of the group Mujeres de Luna.
Along her path, she has worked with the feminine energy and the obsidian mirror. She accompanies the work of some of the Andean and Amazonian elders.
What is the Medicine Temazcal ceremony? The Medicine Temazcal is an ancestral ritual that takes us back to the beginning of creation. This sacred space, guarded by ancient stones, is where all life-giving elements come together to transform our cellular memories. Amalia will be our guide on this deep and personal journey through the Medicine Temazcal.
During this journey, Amalia will share with us ancestral medicines such as Grandfather Huachumo (San Pedro Cactus) and sacred chants. Combined with medicinal mushrooms (optional), this experience is a wonderful opportunity to explore our inner selves and discover the vast world within us. It is the primal instinct, the wildness that has long been suppressed and now seeks to manifest itself to teach us the wild and sacred connection humans share with nature.
This journey not only allows us to understand this connection but also becomes a guide for our daily lives. We learn to be vulnerable, to show ourselves as we are to avoid wounds, to break our masks, and reach the essence of being an animal.
Sandra Elena ten Zijthoff
Activity: Durodango Workshop
Sandra is a queer Peruvian-Dutch artist who expresses herself through music and clay. In this workshop, she will guide you through the art of creating dorodango, essentially a polished mud ball, composed of the dirt, clay and sand found in the pristine forest where we will be connecting with ourselves and nature. No prior experience is necessary—just an openness to explore this mindful practice!
As a vision quester and long-time follower of the plant medicine path, Sandra brings a deep connection to nature and spirit into her work. Through this workshop, participants will not only craft their own dorodango but also connect with the earth in a meditative and artistic process, reflecting Sandra’s commitment to honoring the natural world.
or simply email [email protected]
Food and Translation
Conscious and healthy food
For seven days we will eat vegetarian, dairy and sugar-free meals rich in local fruits and vegetables. This will help us detoxify our body and cleanse our lymphatic system.
Simultaneous translation
All events will have simultaneous translation into English. Several members of the team speak English; no event will be held without proper translation.
Location, Transportation, Accommodation
This retreat will take place in near Mindo cloudforest, about 2.5 hrs from Quito at Nuestra Tierra Aldea Creativa. Nestled deep in the rainforest, our facilities are basic, as in a true camp setting. Accommodation is shared in a dorm-like setting. Please read more below!
The plan is to depart Tumbaco (Quito area) together the morning of July 17 to arrive at the retreat location that same day. On July 23, we will similarly be departing the retreat location, arriving to Tumbaco (near Quito) that afternoon/evening. We recommend that you purchase flights arriving on the 16th of July (or very early morning on the 17th) and departing on the 24th of July (or very late evening on the 23rd). It’s always best to give yourself some leeway so that you aren’t too rushed, especially after the retreat. The Tumbaco area is located between Quito airport and Quito city. We will be departing from and arriving to this area together.
The dream for Nuestra Tierra Creative Village in Mindo, Ecuador was borne 15 years ago from the need to create an integral, community space, combining healing tools such as art and master plants to enable transformative, therapeutic processes while respecting and conserving the environment in a sustainable way.
In 2023, we began the construction of the village with 10 hectares of primary and secondary forest. We recently purchased another 2.5 hectares as part of our now registered nonprofit.
Up until now, we have:
– A ceremonial house / maloca
– Temazcal/sweatlodge
– A covered space/pergola
– A guest house suitable for 10 people in a single space, each with their individual bed, living room, balcony, dining room, kitchen, and dry toilets.
– A second house currently under renovation (hopefully done by the July retreat!)
All of this on beautiful, lush, tropical land with a nearby river for bathing and paths to hidden waterfalls.
The retreats that take place at Nuestra Tierra will allow us to connect with a natural, deep, and rooted experience, activating community living dynamics such as cleaning shared spaces, gardening, kitchen service, caring for ceremonial areas, carrying firewood, and taking care of grandfather fire.
Praying for the hearts of every woman to open their understanding and surrender to service and to inhabit a state of openness; stepping out of our comfort zone can be difficult but is necessary for profound life change.
What to bring this women's healing retreat - 2025
Not sure what to pack for your retreat? Here are a few recommendations:
- Offerings: We would be grateful to receive sage flat cedar and organic tobacco offerings, which are difficult to get in Ecuador.
- Sun protection – sunscreen, hat, sunglasses (remember, we are on the equator; the sun is strong!)
- Clothes to hike: loose/breathable, comfortable long sleeve is best.
- Other changes of clothes comfortable for humid weather e.g.leggings can be used under shorts or skirts, tank tops
- Bathing suit and towel
- Light sweaters – evening sometimes gets chilly
- Waterproof jacket or poncho
- Hiking or trekking boots, closed toes, waterproof preferable
- Socks (these are helpful especially if there are mosquitos)
- Head lamp
- Sarong or wrap for entering sweat lodge (optional)
- Flip-flops or sandals to wear when not in hiking boots
- Headlamp/flashlight
- Medication you may need, also anti-histamines can be useful (Benadryl, here there’s something called histacalm)
- Kindle, book and/or journal
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Phone for pictures – no photos allowed during ceremonies
- Bug spray
- Cash, especially small change
- Ear plugs & sleep mask – accommodations are shared
Gallery - Past Women's Healing Retreat 2023 & 2024
Gallery - Women's Healing Retreat 2022
