01 · BOTANICAL BACKGROUND
What is ayahuasca made from?
Ayahuasca is an Amazonian plant preparation used in ceremonial traditions. The name also refers to the vine Banisteriopsis caapi. A common preparation combines this vine with chacruna, Psychotria viridis. Ingredients and chemical strength vary.
The vine: Banisteriopsis caapi
Contains beta-carboline alkaloids, including harmine and harmaline. These inhibit monoamine oxidase, an enzyme involved in breaking down DMT.
The leaf: Psychotria viridis
Commonly called chacruna, this plant contains N,N-dimethyltryptamine, or DMT, a compound associated with ayahuasca’s psychedelic effects.
The botanical names help distinguish the vine from the leaf. Within a ceremonial tradition, the name ayahuasca also carries meanings shaped by the people who work with it. Our guides describe those meanings from their own Shipibo practice.
02 · THE TRADITION HERE
Our centre is in Santa Rosa de Dinamarca, a Shipibo community in Ucayali, reached through Pucallpa. The people who host you carry the practice through their family relationships, teachers and daily work with plants.
Learning through plant dieta
For our maestros, dieta is a period of disciplined learning and relationship with a plant. Their accounts connect this learning with the songs they sing and the guidance they receive. It is a central part of their training, with its own practices and commitments. Our introduction to dieta explains how it differs from a visitor’s food preparation before a retreat.
Plants as teachers
Our maestros describe plant spirits as sources of knowledge, protection and guidance. The maternal figure in our ayahuasca artwork expresses that understanding. These are the practitioners’ traditional accounts of their work; scientific research studies different questions about the preparation and its effects.
Meet the people who carry this practice
Diomar López Silvano explains the importance of plants and dieta in his video introduction. Antonio Vasquez Galaretta brings his own history of learning and practice. Their profiles introduce their teachers and experience, so you can get to know the people before choosing a stay.
The four dimensions of our practice—purification, sensitivity, strengthening and protection—are explained on the Shipibo tradition page. They describe ceremonial intentions, rather than four separate sessions or medically established outcomes.
Where do Piñón negro and Piñón Blanco fit?
The Piñón negro cleansing ceremony is a separate included practice. Piñón Blanco dieta is arranged individually and is not automatically included. Neither is another name for ayahuasca.
03 · PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Body, emotion and a sense of connection
An ayahuasca experience can involve bodily sensations, memories, emotions and vivid imagery. The way these elements unfold is personal. A quiet experience and an intensely visual one can raise very different questions for the person taking part.
The body
Nausea and vomiting can occur. Within our maestros’ tradition, purging may be understood as cleansing. It is not proof of toxin removal or a measure of how meaningful the ceremony has been.
Emotions and reflection
Thoughts and feelings may become unusually vivid. People sometimes describe a new perspective on familiar concerns; anxiety or confusion can also arise. Support matters during the experience and afterwards.
Spiritual meaning
Some people describe connection, awe or encounters they understand as spiritual. Our maestros speak of plant mothers, guidance and protection. You can discuss that understanding without needing to share the same beliefs.
What do the icaros bring to the experience?
The songs you hear here are sung live by your shaman. In our team’s account of the tradition, icaros invite the guidance of plant spirits and shape the work of cleansing, strengthening and protection. The voice and attention belong to the practitioner accompanying you.
You do not need to arrive with a particular vision in mind. There is no promised sequence of colours, images or emotions. Read a guest’s own account as one person’s experience, then bring your questions to the team.
04 · OUR APPROACH IN UCAYALI
The plants and the people at our retreat
Choosing a ceremony also means choosing the people who will guide you, the space in which you will rest and the arrangements for practical care. These are the details you can discuss with us before booking.
Plants grown by our shamans or gathered in the rainforest
Our shamans cultivate plants or gather them from the surrounding rainforest. The ayahuasca vines used for our ceremonies have grown for at least ten years. Knowing the plants and the people who work with them is part of the practice we want guests to understand.
Ask your shaman which plants are used in the preparation for your ceremony and who prepares it. Discuss the actual ingredients as part of your health and medication review; a plant’s age alone does not establish safety or predict an experience.
How is ayahuasca prepared for a ceremony?
At a general botanical level, ayahuasca is a liquid preparation made from the vine, often with chacruna. Preparation belongs to the practitioner’s work with the plants. Before attending, ask about the preparation you will receive and how it fits within your shaman’s practice.
A private ceremony
Our Sacred Private Retreat is reserved for one guest, with two shamans and one support team member. Your dedicated shamans conduct the ceremonies. You have your own room, private bathroom and shower, and ceremonies can take place in your room.
The Personal Retreat welcomes up to two guests. Female guests can request accompaniment from the designated women on our team, with availability confirmed for their dates. Meet the shamans and support team before you decide.
Time between ceremonies
The standard seven-day stay includes three ayahuasca ceremonies, on Days 2, 4 and 6, with rest days between them. The separate Piñón negro cleansing ceremony takes place on Day 2. Your itinerary also explains the other included plant practices and the current extended-stay offer.
05 · A SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION
How does ayahuasca work in the body?
The vine changes how DMT is broken down
Swallowed DMT is normally broken down rapidly. Inhibiting this metabolism allows more DMT to reach circulation and the brain.
DMT acts on serotonin receptors
DMT activates several receptors, including serotonin 5-HT2A receptors. This activity is important to its changes in perception and thought.
The effects unfold over several hours
The combined preparation has a different time course from isolated DMT. Timing and intensity vary between preparations and individuals.
What changes in the brain?
A 2023 study used EEG and fMRI to examine intravenous DMT in 20 healthy volunteers. Researchers observed increased communication across brain regions during the experience. EEG measures electrical activity; fMRI tracks blood-oxygen changes associated with brain activity.
This helps investigate altered consciousness. It does not demonstrate that ayahuasca permanently “resets” the brain, and intravenous DMT is different from drinking a plant preparation in ceremony.
What does “neuroplasticity” mean?
Neuroplasticity is the nervous system’s ability to change its connections and functioning. Laboratory and animal research, including a 2018 study in Cell Reports, has found changes in neuronal branching and connections after some psychedelic compounds.
These findings help generate research questions. They do not establish that a retreat repairs a guest’s brain or produces lasting psychological improvement.
06 · RESEARCH AND ITS LIMITS
What does research say about potential benefits?
Clinical research has produced encouraging early findings. The study design matters when deciding what a finding means for a prospective guest.
AYAHUASCA · RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL
A small study of treatment-resistant depression
A trial published in Psychological Medicine in 2019 compared ayahuasca with placebo in 29 patients with treatment-resistant depression. Symptoms were assessed one, two and seven days after a single session. The ayahuasca group showed greater reductions on a depression rating scale at those follow-ups.
The sample was small and follow-up lasted one week. These results do not establish a lasting cure or show that the same outcome will occur in a retreat. Participants were screened and supported in a clinical research setting.
| Evidence | What it can tell us | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| Ayahuasca clinical trials | Whether a measured outcome differs between study groups. | A small, short trial cannot establish lasting benefits for all guests. |
| Isolated DMT brain studies | How brain activity changes during an experimental DMT experience. | The substance, delivery and setting differ from a retreat. |
| Laboratory and animal studies | Possible biological processes worth investigating. | Results cannot be assumed to demonstrate benefits in people. |
| Guest accounts and surveys | What people report about their experiences. | They cannot establish that ayahuasca alone caused a change. |
Our retreat offers a Shipibo ceremonial stay. It is not a clinical trial or a substitute for medical or psychological treatment.
07 · PREPARATION AND CARE
Preparing for an ayahuasca retreat
Start with a conversation about your circumstances, your questions and the support available. Read the daily schedule and ask about rest time, your room, the people accompanying you and local travel.
Understand the possible risks
Ayahuasca can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and distress. Some people report difficulties that continue after the session. A large international survey published in 2022 documented both physical and psychological adverse experiences; some respondents sought professional help. Self-reported survey results cannot predict an individual guest’s risk.
Severe or persistent symptoms should not be dismissed as a necessary part of healing.
Medication and health screening
Disclose all medicines, supplements and relevant health history, including SSRIs, cardiovascular conditions, past mania or psychosis, and pregnancy. Combining substances can cause serious interactions, including serotonin toxicity. Do not stop or alter prescribed medication to attend; discuss it with your prescribing clinician.
Our shaman reviews the retreat questionnaire. This is not a physician’s medical assessment. Dail holds CPR certification; it does not make the centre a medical facility. Before booking, agree how support and emergency transport would be arranged.
08 · YOUR CHOICE OF PARTICIPATION
Can I come without drinking ayahuasca?
Yes. You can follow the same retreat arrangements and attend the ceremonies to listen to icaros without drinking ayahuasca. Tell the team before booking so your participation is clear to the people supporting you.
Listening gives you a way to encounter the songs, the ceremonial setting and the practitioners who carry this tradition. Any other plant practice should be discussed separately.