Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
Our Program
At Arkana, we create the space for you to get in touch with your truth, opening your path for deeper meaning and greater fulfillment in your life. We work with ancestral medicines such as Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Bufo Alvarius, Rapé , using the traditional practices of the indigenous cultures of the Peruvian Amazon. We currently operate two centers in Peru, one in the Peruvian Amazon and a second one in the Sacred Valley (close to Machu Picchu), and one in Mexico, the choice is yours.
With great respect for the plants and the knowledge and healing that comes with them, our lineage of Shipibo shamans set the stage for truly deep and profound healing. Awaken your inner power through their sacred and powerful icaros (healing songs), and discover your connection to all things by exploring some of the 2.2 million hectare Pacaya Samiria National Reserve which is our backyard. Nourish your body and soul with fresh, clean, delicious meals that promote your Ayahuasca experience, and integrate healthy habits into your routine with our yoga classes and extensive selection of gym equipment for all levels. We believe the health of physical body sets the foundation for the health of the energetic body – Often ignored in this type of spiritual work, we find this to be an important part of the healing process, so you can begin implementing the healthy habits that will carry this work with you into your life back home. Finally, relax your mind and spirit with sound baths, meditations, breathwave sessions, and OM circles, or simply enjoy the tranquil views of both sunrise and sunset from our front porch on the banks of the Ucayali River, surrounded by lush biodiversity and the mesmerizing sounds of the jungle.
Arkana’s exceptional team of highly-trained Shipibo Master Shamans represent an unbroken lineage of plant medicine work. With a combined history of over 70 years of experience working closely with Ayahuasca and other master plant teachers of the jungle, our compassionate healers lovingly share their teachings, healing songs (icaros), capabilities, and knowledge with integrity and honor. We strive to maintain the traditional practices passed down through thousands of years of indigenous Amazonian culture, in order to continue to promote the true purpose and nature of plant medicine work.
Experiencing the medicines with us is a transformative personal journey, and so much more. We also work closely with our local community, the Amazonian village of Libertad, to ensure that our Center can benefit and give back to the people who have so generously let us into their homes and hearts. We create employment opportunities, teach free English classes, provide a space for the ladies to sell their handmade crafts, and assist in construction projects, among other things. Our latest endeavor is outfitting the entire village with free solar panels, so every house can have light and electricity. When you join us, you are helping the rainforest and the Amazon communities that live here.
Guests that come to our Center often say they feel like “part of the family” with us – that’s no coincidence, as we are one big family at Arkana! The people that are with you throughout your experience can simply facilitate your own healing journey or become an integral part of it. Our experienced, loving, and professional team of caregivers welcomes you to join our tribe, where we strive to make you feel at home and at ease, supported and cared for with all the love and compassion that is at the core of the plant medicines and people we work with.
Ayahuasca is a powerful medicine that offers us the opportunity to understand our true nature, by shining a light onto our darkness, and holding a mirror up to our fears, negative thought patterns, and self-limiting beliefs. We provide the environment and expertise of a team of highly skilled, warm, compassionate Shamans and facilitators to guide you through the process of awakening, of choosing differently, healing, and expanding. It is a slow but steady path towards freedom – from fear, from illusion, from self-constructed boundaries – resulting in a lighter, brighter, more authentic self, and the full experience of love. It is our honor to help you on this most fulfilling of all journeys: the journey back home.
We look forward to having you with us!
Lots of Love,
The Team
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avajfarber
February 4, 2019 at 10:59 amDuring one of the post-ayahuasca group shares, in which an inclusive and sensitive environment is created for everyone to talk about their experiences, someone from the group said, ”I just need to know when to lead with my head and when to lead with my heart”. Jose, the founder of Arkana, replied in a very gentle tone, “Well, I think the idea is to lead with both at all times, no?”
For me that statement, as well as the empathetic way in which it was spoken, sums up the entire Arkana philosophy. There is such a deep knowledge and passion for plant medicine, and for healing of all kinds at this center. It can be felt in the attention to detail, the requirement to speak with a medical expert by phone before the retreat even begins, the peaceful grounds, the therapists, reiki practitioners, and energy healers present, the generous and knowledgeable shamans, the balance of male and female energy, the carefully adjusted chemistry of the brew based on feedback from the group, the attentive emptying of ‘purge’ buckets(!), the involvement and relationship with the local community, the meals and ever-available delicious local tea, the brilliant structure of each ritual leading to the next, and especially the inclusion of other healing traditions such as temazcal(sweat lodge), Sapo(DMT extracted from amazonian toad, no toads harmed), and ending the retreat with the blissful San Pedro cactus medicine (best vibe EVER!!!). Not to mention the sweetest two dogs and cat you will ever meet in your life as greeting committee! And the timing of the optional outings and tourist activities (with our personable, well-informed tour guide) seemed to flow seamlessly with the healing experience.
I also think that the intimate nature of this center attracts an interesting and eclectic group. There is zero ego or “guru complex” within the facilitators at Arkana, and this kind of humbleness and mutual respect permeates throughout every interaction there. We consisted of all ages, diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds, various reasons for being there, and even now I feel deeply bonded to each person in the group through this vulnerable, oftentimes hilarious, and thoughtful communal experience.
I chose to write this review at least one month after the retreat, knowing that I’d be settled back into reality at home. Some old patterns have returned, but for the most part I still feel quite altered for the better from the experience. Shortly after the retreat I received an email from one of the lovely facilitators with a recording of my personal “arkana” (the shamans come around to each individual mat and sing specifically to you based upon your intention). The email included advice on how to adjust back into daily life, what to eat, what to avoid, etc… along with an open-ended invitation to reach out to José or any of the facilitators for advice or help of any nature. And more recently I received a sincere personal email asking how I was doing.
In short, you are in unbelievably kind, good hands with this place. If you’re going to do ayahuasca, whatever your reasons, I can’t recommend Arkana enough.
Something to consider…
Arkana has two locations- Sacred Valley and the Amazon jungle near Iquitos. I went to the New Years retreat in the Sacred Valley. I spoke with a few people who have gone to both retreats, and apparently the jungle is much more energetically intense. They said the experience in Sacred Valley is a little gentler. There are also more tourist destinations such as Machu Picchu and Cusco near Sacred Valley. So that’s something to keep in mind depending on what kind of experience you want to have.
omzie
January 13, 2019 at 7:19 pmI had the most amazing and life changing experience in the jungle with Arkana and now so glad I went. The facilitators are so open and warm that is impossible not to feel safe and in the company of people you can trust.
The Ayahuasca itself took about 3 ceremonies to really work for me (some people from the first ceremony) and when it did it was really worth it – I had some great and helpful insights into my life and issues from my past that have held me back in many ways through my adult life. Also I was given some tools by the “spirits” that I now use on a daily basis to boost myself up. Given that we were a group of 7 (I have heard of centres with 75 people) I felt safe at all times and knew that help was just a moment away if needed. The shaman guided us through the ceremonies with their beautiful icaros that really did regulate the energy in the room and I found them immensely powerful.
For me the most liberating experience was the Sapo ceremony where I felt a huge and overwhelming release of hang ups from the past. It was so much of a release in fact that I felt so relieved and at peace afterwards it caused me to cry hysterically afterwards. Bear in mind that I never really show emotion and haven’t cried in over 20 years! It really was the most beautiful experiences of my life.
The centre itself is set on stilts on the riverbank within the jungle and it is beautiful. I was concerned in advance of being so embedded in the jungle before arrive and surrounded by snakes and spiders etc, but once you are there you feel safe and can only admire the place. The bedrooms themselves are basic, but very clean and definitely comfortable.
The food supplied was delicious – my only issue with the whole trip was how hungry I could be at some points as we had to limit ourselves to 2 meals a day on ceremony days, but given the advantage this ultimately gives it is by the by.
I am already thinking of returning, just need to work out when!
MBurry47
December 21, 2018 at 3:11 amI attended Arkana, Sacred Valley location, this past spring. The centre is beautiful and very comfortable-great food, beds, showers, etc. Yes, the place is first and foremost run as a business, which I can see from other reviews bothers some people, but I didn’t mind. This place is safe, and honestly, running it as a bit of a commercial enterprise keeps it safe, in my opinion.
I have to single out Angel, Alise, Paco and Rafael-such humble, compassionate, caring people! I learned so much from them.
Why not 5 stars? The staff are a bit disorganized, and we weren’t allowed the opportunity to check in as a group after 2 out of 3 of our sessions, like we were supposed to. Of course, we all chat, but I think a facilitated debrief is important. Also, I think Chandra should be a bit more discerning in selecting volunteers. There was one facilitator (I won’t mention his name because he thankfully no longer works there) who was incredibly immature, boasting about how much ayahuasca he had done, acting like a 5 year old. He was clearly there for the free drugs and nothing else, and it’s alarming he was allowed to stay for months (he was primarily at the Amazon jungle location, so maybe they do things differently over there).
I also want to add a note for folks who are considering ayahuasca as a potential treatment for severe anxiety. That’s why I was there. I had dabbled with therapies and meditation in the past, but never consistently, and had one terrible mushroom trip-that was the extent of my experience with psychedelics. Going into this experience, I had a fear of physical pain and discomfort (nausea, purging, as well as unfamiliar bodily sensations), but no fear about potential visual hallucinations. So, I guess it’s not surprising my trips manifested themselves purely in the body, and not in the mind. I didn’t purge, but I probably should have. During my second ceremony, I started to feel like my limbs were being ripped out of my body, and that my face was being attacked and cut up by chopsticks-it was the most intense physical pain I had ever felt (don’t worry! you always come out of the ceremonies feeling the best you ever have in your life-really nothing to be scared of) I realize now, this was my version of approaching ego death, as I really felt I was dying, but my ego is was so intact and my mind so rigid after a lifetime of destructive thinking, that I was able to stop the experience by curling into a fetal position and repeating to myself “this too will pass” until the medicine wore off. I have since started practicing Vipassana meditation (10 day retreat and now for 2 hours per day) and I do wish I had learned that technique before trying ayahuasca. I know I would have allowed my trip to run its course and I think I would have experienced what they call ego death. I have absolutely no regrets about trying ayahuasca and will do it again, but I would strongly suggest that any folks reading this who have anxiety, to try meditating very seriously for months before trying aya-you will get so much more out of it!
Michelle1974
November 24, 2018 at 1:50 pmI had stayed at Arkana Sacred Valley for one week in October. I have worked with the Medicene before coming to Arkana. I always had issues with trusting the Medicene and battling fear and anxiety during ceremony which prohibited me from having any type of breakthrough. The retreats I participated in prior to Arkana had 80 plus people during ceremony. It was definitely overwhelming for me and there were a lot of distractions. We had a total of 8 during my stay at Arkana and it was absolutely perfect. The shamans were so amazing!! I had never experienced the personal icaros before and it was simply magical. In a nutshell, the Medicene unlocked childhood traumas for me which were needed to be released in order for me to understand my life, my behaviors, etc. Those traumas were completely blacked out and stuck inside my soul. Although it was very difficult to face, that night changed my life. I do not carry with me any type of hate or resentment, I now have peace. The workers at Arkana were by my side throughout this entire journey. They were all there to offer support and love. They are all angels in my eyes. The grounds at Arkana were beautiful and the rooms were very cozy and the bed was SUPER COMFY!! I did a lot of extra things like Reiki, massages and bio magnetic therapy. I’m so glad I brought the extra money for those services because it just added to my experience. The food was delish!!! I loved how we could leave the retreat and go travel to Machu Picchu and other locations. I felt very very safe at Arkana and it’s so important for me as a female that travels alone. The sweat lodge ceremony was amazing and the day we drank San Pedro was beautiful. Words cannot express the gratitude I have in my heart for Arkana and everyone that works there. If I feel the call to work with another again, I would definitely go back!!!
Much love! Michelle NJ
StevieMC
October 25, 2018 at 11:15 amI started researching Ayahuasca about 4 years ago. After many years of anxiety and depression taking over my life, I was looking for something to actually make sense for me. I had tried everything… EVERYTHING! Therapy, medication, support groups, vitamin supplements, you name it. But nothing truly took away the weight that had been holding me down. Even though I thought I had worked through grief, abuse and trauma… it seemed to linger and at times overwhelm all parts of my life. After finally finding a “partner in crime” to join me on my journey, I chose Arkana Spiritual Center for this experience. I truly didn’t know what to expect or what would come of this, but I felt such an extreme pull.
The experience was difficult, there were times I just wanted to go home. My “programmed mind” would creep in and try to convince me that the experience was crazy and too much. But just as the facilitators and shamans continued to say… “you have to trust the medicine and surrender”… I did! I forced myself through the fear and I am forever changed for doing so.
I can not imagine a better place or better people to help me on this journey! Arkana is a true gift and the people are truly there to help and to love you through the journey. I returned home a few weeks ago with the weight gone. I no longer feel the negative, the overwhelming negative emotions, or the sense of doom. I am FREE!! And I owe it completely to EVERYONE at Arkana. The experience was one I will treasure for the rest of my life! There’s still work to do, and I have dedicated my life to continue the journey. Arkana, the facilitators and the medicine have given me the “missing link” I had been searching for, for so long.
If you are being pulled to the medicine, If you are searching for the connection you feel that you have lost… Arkana is the place to find your LOVE, SPIRIT, STRENGTH and HEALING!