Welcome to Alma Healing Center, a sanctuary for healing and connection with nature.
In 2018, I (Sandra) founded the center with a deep desire to create a safe and inclusive space for people from all walks of life to experience the transformative power of plant medicine.
As a gay woman, safety and inclusion have always been at the forefront of Alma’s offerings. It is important to me that everyone who comes to drink medicine with us feels welcome and supported, especially those who may have experienced trauma or marginalization in the past. Drinking ayahuasca, or any other psychedelic, therapeutic substance, should be a healing experience, not a traumatic one.
Initially, I worked with a Kichwa indigenous community in the Amazon where we would take small groups for 4-5 day retreats. We developed a beautiful relationship and they even donated land to build more structures for our retreats. However, when the pandemic hit, everything shut down, including tourism and movement was limited. The retreats came to a halt.
This new challenge called for a pivot in our approach. We decided to focus on offering ceremonies and retreats near Quito and in Mindo, the cloud forest about 2 hours from Quito. We also started referring people to a small number of personal and recommended healers that are accepting of all individuals, which you can read about on our team/healers page. We also expanded to include other medicines, such as San Pedro (wachuma), Pscilocybin mushrooms and Peyote.
In 2022, my partner and I, Paulina, a gentle and inspiring medicine woman, began to hold 2 and 5 day ayahuasca retreats near Quito (and Mindo). Though I personally have no intention of serving the medicine, I act as a facilitator, translator, and musician. Paulina, on the other hand, brings her 25 years of experience working with plants and her training as a gestalt therapist to our retreats, guiding carefully and intentionally with her beautiful love and energy for all things (I’m biased, I know!).
Together, we have built up her property in the Mindo cloud forest (a never-ending process!). It will be a creative village where artists from around the world can visit and be inspired by its lush surroundings. The idea is to create a creative and healing space, where visitors can breathe pure oxygen, play with clay, paint, make music and enjoy quiet, rainy nights in the tropics.
We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to connect with themselves, with each other, and with the natural world. We invite you to join us on this journey of healing and transformation.
Note about our location: Though we now have a space in Mindo, we host the short, 2-day retreats in Pintag, about 50 minutes from Quito. The 2nd half of the 5 day retreats, women’s retreats, as well as some private retreats are held in Mindo.
