In this review I will offer my perspective of working with ayahuasca, as well as how Dreamglade facilitates and incredible environment for inner development, healing and self-growth.
For many people, drinking ayahuasca with the right intention can be a very difficult but rewarding experience, and I am no exception. I did a total of 9 ceremonies with Dreamglade over three weeks, and had done 8 ceremonies previously with another retreat in Iquitos.
Part of the reason I was called to return to do ayahuasca again was that I had recently been opened up to energy in a way where it was no longer possible for my scientific mind to deny it, by being sceptical over a) My own experiences, and b) the fact it has not been ‘scientifically proven’; yet.

The Healers:

Drinking ayahuasca is not a magic cure that requires no attention and work on your part, and the healers are never there to do ‘all the work for you’. They are there to help guide you and protect you while you’re opened up through the medicine; this is a very vulnerable experience as ayahuasca will often attempt to show you sides of yourself that you have neglected to acknowledge, decompartmentalised or are afraid to face; with the right attitude and a courageous heart however, one is presented the opportunity for bringing those aspects into the light and back into yourself in a positive way.
For this reason, doing ayahuasca with caring, attentive and honest curanderos (healers) is paramount to a good experience, and Dreamglade has found this in spades within Raul and Lydia (their curanderos). Something that was glaringly obvious to me after my second or third ceremony here, especially when I compared it to my previous ceremonies.

I am an extremely empathic person and in the early days of my ceremonies at a previous retreat; there were times I felt like I was swimming in a vat of s**t. I thought this was my own stuff until someone else attending gave me a piece of white sage; it cleared my space entirely during a ceremony and became like a lifeline.
Upon arrival at Dreamglade, I still thought it was my sensitivity that left me so vulnerable to the energies in the room, and so brought an abundance of white sage with me in anticipation of this.
After only a few ceremonies I realised I did not need it, and in that moment I realised it was because my space was being protected properly… the dense releasing of others around me was not permeating the room, and therefore I did not need to be constantly clearing my own space with the help of the sage.
It was only after this realisation that I realised the retreat I went to before, was not individualising and clearing the space properly. This is not to say they were bad healers necessarily, it could also be that it was in part due to my abnormal sensitivity, but that truth meant that I also needed an extra bit of attention and protection than perhaps the average person attending does.
Now… either – without having to talk to me – the healers at Dreamglade simply recognised this and gave the extra protection I needed. Or more likely, they are extremely thorough and simply give this ‘extra’ protection to every person who comes into their ceremonies.
This is one example of the sort of thing that Raul and Lydia do that demonstrated to me their extreme attentiveness and care when conducting their healing work with participating guests. I will forever aspire to display their kind of responsibility and diligence.

Dreamglades space:

I was extremely surprised by the quality of the buildings and their smooth finished. The effort they went through to keep out unwanted insects and to facilitate a feeling of ‘making yourself at home’ really stood out to me; something that is also important for looking deep within for healing work.
The nearby lake was a lovely addition for them to have as it created a really serene environment, even/especially when it rained. The connectedness of all the buildings meant you didn’t have to worry about getting drenched when you didn’t want to, but also didn’t have to go far to change when you did want to.
If I went again, I would pay for the private room. To save money I opted into staying in the ceremony space, but due to the noise of others and a lack of my own proper space I could go to when I felt the calling, meant this was for me, the wrong choice.
That’s my advice to you if you have read this far, pay the little extra for a private space to rest your head, heart and mind.
Another addition I really liked was their attentiveness towards peoples reasons for going coming for healing. I witnessed serveral people having one on one attention with the healers outside of the ceremonies because they either needed additional treatment or help opening themselves up to the medicine.

Another unique feature I loved was that the curanderos attended the sharing circles. This meant that if they had anything they felt they wanted or needed to impart about your individual healing, they could do this. They also were extremely open about answering any questions that you had about how they operate and what you were going through (Stacy was available to accurately translate this to and from them if you did not speak Spanish).
The first place I went to this was not an option as they said the curanderos did not question what they do in ceremonies, they simply act in the present. This seemed a little strange to me but I accepted it. Upon learning of the readiness of Raul and Lydia to talk to us to facilitate our healing, was to me a terrific display of theirs and Dreamglades dedication to our healing.

After leaving

I had a rough time after leaving. I continued my travels and training in Kung Fu in China and unfortunately cause a rather bad virus. I was then misdiagnosed by Chinese doctors and given antibiotics; in case you don’t know, taking antibiotics with a virus is a terrible thing to do and this left me recovering health wise for 6 months from post-viral fatigue.
Before I flew home and received the diagnosis of post-viral fatigue, I began to panic. Nothing I found online was explaining my symptoms and I started to fret that perhaps I was under some form of ‘physic attack’ (I really hate using that terminology as it has ridiculous pseudo spiritual connotations but it’s the best I can do to impart that feeling). I ended up contacting Stacy and he was absolutely amazing.
The healers took an energetic look at me and told me through him that I was fine. After going back home to the doctors and receiving an actual diagnosis I realised what the actual problem was, but Stacy’s support and a confirmation from the healers that energetically there was nothing to worry about a) Helped calm my nerves, and b) Made me accept that I did have to book flights home to get to the bottom of what was causing my health issues. Luckily I have a very good GP because post-viral fatigue is understood in a very limited sense in the medical profession and many doctors would have missed it.

To summarise. For anyone who is feeling the pull to work with ayahuasca and is willing to put the work in with this fantastic medicine, you really can achieve wonders. If you’ve been looking at retreats and are thinking of Dreamglade, look no further.
Arrive with an open heart, an open mind, an accepting attitude and be grateful for the leap you are taking to do something incredible for yourself.

Peace
Ollie

Note: This review was edited for over capitalization, but has otherwise been left in its original form.