Location: Tumbaco, Ecuador
Price: $3,000 + accommodation ($300-400 for 6 days/5 nights)
Retreat guides: Paulina and Tatiana (see bios)
Price Includes: (food, ceremonies, activities, transport, but not accommodation – see pricing for more)
Weather: Warm, comfortable days, cool/cold evenings, Andean climate
General information about the 6 Day Private Ayahuasca Therapy Spiritual Retreat
This 6 day ayahuasca therapy spiritual retreat is possibly the only retreat of its kind being offered in Ecuador and, likely, beyond.
This is a retreat designed for individuals with a desire to address specific issues in a therapeutic setting with plant medicine such as ayahuasca and San Pedro (wachuma or awa kolla).
Paulina and Tatiana, the co-leaders of this retreat, are both highly experienced healers that began their spiritual path about 20 years ago, learning from plant medicines and ancestral wisdom. In that time, they were also trained as therapists (Gestalt and embodiment).
As a result, this retreat includes ayahuasca – assisted therapy sessions in a ceremonial setting, led by spiritual guides. This is a type of psychedlic-assisted therapy, but with a strong spiritual component.
It bridges a divide between therapy and spirituality that is often lacking in other retreat settings and is, for this reason, extremely effective.
This retreat is ideal for individuals:
- Seeking greater spiritual connection and open to doing the work necessary to confront fears.
- Desiring to address blockages, traumas, separations/divorce, loss
- Desiring to re-encounter self love and respect
- Seeking to further develop their knowledge in medicinal plants and ancestral healing by learning from authentic, experienced, respected healers.
The price of this 6 Day Private Ayahuasca Therapy Spiritual Retreat ($3,000) includes:
- 2 ayahuasca-assisted therapy ceremonies with a trained therapist-medicine woman
- 1 temazcal/sweatlodge
- Bitter and sweet floral baths
- 1 family constellations session
- 1 sound bath, massage session
- Visit to nearby Andean town to meet a respected local curandero and learn about Andean cosmovision to receive a blessing or limpia (there are different options).
- Other therapeutic sessions are available at an additional cost.
- There is the option to also include a San Pedro temazcal ceremony or Power Hike (with medicine). Please let us know if you would like to include this.
Reserve by emailing: [email protected]
Retreat healers / hosts
What makes this retreat so special are the healers that lead it, Paulina and Tatiana.
These are some of the most experienced women in the realm of plant medicine and therapy in Ecuador.
They work in a gentle, yet firm, way, encouraging participants to move beyond their discomfort and take advantage of the tools available to them in that moment.
Tati
Tatiana, 45 years old, is an Ecuadorian healer specialized in master plants, family constellations, transpersonal therapy and personal growth.
From a young age, she had an affinity to the mystical and ancestral knowledge of medicinal plants. Her path in healing is forged in this knowledge and over the last 25 years, she has accompanied processes using plants and numerous other therapeutic tools, including family constellations.
During that time, Tatiana also became a psychotherapist, with emphasis on Gestalt Psychotherapy and Person-Centered Orientation and later Art therapy, providing individual and group therapy for over 18 years.
She has led temazcales and served plant medicine for a decade, imparting ancestral and traditional knowledge she has gained with others that seek to learn and heal.
Paulina Quilla Pakari -Tsunkinua
Paulina, 40 years old, is an Ecuadorian medicine woman dedicated to supporting others in their healing journey. She has worked with plant medicine for more 20 years, including ayahuasca, aguacolla (San Pedro), peyote and mushrooms.
She was adopted by the original peoples of Shuar nationality (indigenous tribe in the Amazon); their elders gave her the blessing to continue her calling as a healer. She has also shared with and learned from the Shipibo in Peru and the Piaroa in Venezuela. She is an advocate for feminine collectives, an artist, and investigator of ancestral songs and chants.
Paulina hosts regular women’s retreats in Ecuador and Mexico where ancestral rituals and medicines are used to facilitate deep personal work and transformation. She is the Founder of an international women’s collective, Mujeres de Luna, and is also a trained Gestalt therapist, specialized in accompanying processes in a holistic and integral way.
Finally, she is a leader of the Sacred Fire of Itzachilatlan, a sun dancer, vision quester, and healer of the Chakana altar, Andean table, and Heart of the Carnation altar from the Andean elders.
Schedule for 6 day private ayahuasca therapy spiritual retreat 2022/2023
Day 1
- 8:00 Breakfast and Informal interview/conversation, introductions
- 11:00 Bitter medicinal plant bath to to detox
- 13:00 Lunch
- Rest
- 18:00 Ayahuasca ceremony
Day 2
- Rest in morning (following ceremony)
- Afternoon: temazcal/sweatlodge (a few others may join here) followed by sweet medicinal plant baths
Day 3
- 10:00 Family constellations session
- Rest before ceremony
- 19:00 Ayahuasca ceremony
- Rest in the morning (following ceremony)
- 16:00 Sound bath session or massage (your choice)
- Visit to the Andean indigenous town of Otavalo to meet and learn from Taita Oscar (a Quechua healer of that area) and learn about Andean cosmovision and/or to a community of traditional midwives in Cotacachi.
Day 4
Day 5-6 (Can be an overnight trip if visiting both communities or just a day trip)
Food, Lodging and Translation
Meals
The hotel where you will stay during this week serves healthy breakfasts for people undergoing detox experiences.
Lunch and dinner is served at the home of one of the healers. These are vegetarian, dairy and sugar-free meals rich in local fruits and vegetables. This will help us detoxify our body and cleanse our lymphatic system during the retreat.
Lodging
During these 6 days you will stay in a private room at a nearby hotel that is quiet and cozy, only 5 minutes from the home of the healer where most ceremonies will take place.
We find that guests have preferred staying in a different location than where all the work takes place.
Simultaneous translation
All events will have simultaneous translation into English, when necessary. Tatiana speaks good English, Paulina’s English is improving and she normally is accompanied by a translator.
Location and Transportation
Retreat activities take place in and around Tumbaco, Ecuador, about 30 minutes from Quito. For the most part, you will be at the home of one of the healers for rituals and ceremonies, but on some occasions we will go to another nearby location.
For instance, during a power hike (with medicine) we will take you to a nearby mountain.
Transportation to and from your hotel to the healer’s home where the retreat activities take place is included in the cost of the retreat. Every day, we will coordinate for a safe taxi to pick you up and drop you off.
The cost from the airport to the hotel and back (first and last day) is also included.
What to bring for 6 day ayahuasca therapy spiritual retreat 2022/2023
Not sure what to pack for your retreat? Here are a few recommendations:
- Sun protection – sunscreen, hat, sunglasses (remember, we are on the equator; the sun is strong!)
- Clothes to hike in like: short sleeve or lightweight long sleeve shirts, shorts, light pants
- Sweaters – evening can get chilly
- Waterproof jacket or poncho
- 3 full change of clothes
- Head lamp
- Sarong or wrap for entering sweat lodge (optional)
- Flip-flops or sandals to wear when not in hiking boots
- Hiking or trekking boots, closed toes
- Medication you may need
- 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
