Ayahuasca Retreat Reviews — Helping You Stay Safe with 5,000+ Independent Reviews
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We have been hosting ayahuasca retreats since 1996. Our center is based in the midst of the beautiful Atlantic Rainforest along the coast of Bahia in Brazil. We facilitate a safe and comfortable space for you to achieve harmony in your everyday life by aligning your mind, body, and heart with your true self.
Our 9 day and 11 day ayahuasca retreats are designed to give you a balanced experience. We have ayahuasca ceremonies every other night and in between there are activities to integrate your experiences and insights. There is also ample free time to reflect, to enjoy the beauty of the jungle, to visit the gorgeous beaches, and just to relax, let go, and enjoy the pure bliss of the moment.
Calendar and prices on our website
We have extensive experience integrating ayahuasca, psychology, shamanism, self development, modified states of consciousness, and various other modalities. We are present at all times and are dedicated in supporting you with loving care, attention, safety, and respect.The activities include workshops focused on spiritual development. The techniques covered in the workshops can be practiced even after the retreat to continue the journey of personal growth. Some of the topics include inner child integration, life progression, discovering the source of your blockages and the resources to overcome them. Another very important part of the retreat are the Yoga sessions in the morning which greatly enrich the ayahuasca experiences at night.
Spirit Vine & TheVine Center previously known as Ayahuasca-Healing have been created by Silvia Polivoy. She received her license in clinical psychology and had a private practice in Buenos Aires, Argentina for several years until she began to feel the need to make a transition from studying and healing the mind to exploring the worlds of Spirit. This took her away from the busy city streets to the more tranquil life in the jungle, moving to Brazil where in 2004 she co-founded the TheVine Center, a trans-denominational and inter-faith spiritual center located in the state of Bahia.
The nature of our nonprofit center is philosophical, religious, mystical, spiritual, educational, and cultural. All the retreats’ income’ serves to maintain the center grounds, create employment for the local community, and help preserve the jungle, having replanted thousands of native trees over the years to give but one example.
The retreats take place inside of 39 acres of lush preserved area. It is about 7 miles from Itacaré on the coast of Bahia. Our location is only minutes away from beautiful coastal beaches, which back onto the Mata Atlántica, the second largest rainforest in Brazil.
The experience of sacred tea ceremonies can be challenging for some, deeply religious for others, but profound all around. Please note that we have several programs to offer and the plant ceremonies are always optional and not required to partake in during any of our retreats. The plant ceremonies begin in the evening and go through the night. The group dynamic is very important and there will be facilitators to look after participants throughout. There will be plenty of time for group discussions and also time alone to reflect on the experiences elicited by the spirit vine tea for those that wish to partake in the plant ceremonies.
At the retreat center we grow our own ayahuasca vine and chacruna plants organically! We also have an organic garden to source vegetables for the food prepared during the retreat. We have pure spring water for drinking and also coconut water, juices, and a variety of teas.
During all our programs we follow a strict (though delicious) diet. The meals are completely vegan, gluten-free, and nutritionally balanced, prepared by our in-house chef who has specialized in vegan cuisine and has a post-graduation in functional nutrition. They include plenty of fresh vegetables cooked with delicious herbs and spices, luscious fresh tropical fruits, salads, and grains.
A note about sexual abstinence: this varies from culture to culture; some recommending as long as 30-40 days while others as little as one day or none at all like here in Brazil. For energetic purposes we recommend sexual abstinence during the retreat as well as 3 days before it begins and 3 days after the retreat concludes. As well, a drug free and no salt diet with no red meat, pork or heavy alcohol use for the same amount of time is optimal.
We fully expect you have questions about the retreats, programs and the facilities we offer. Please feel free to explore our website or watch our videos and write to us to come to one of our retreats.
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claragold
April 23, 2021 at 11:33 amLet’s start off by stating that I’m a 30-year-old pain in the ass French woman, leading operations for a 8-billion-dollar company, control-freak who never took any drug in her life. You got it, I’m the rational, never satisfied type. That being said, I had heard several times that Ayahuasca was a life-changing experience that you could summarize by “10 years of therapy in 10 days”. Really? Solving my daddy’s issues in a week? You bet I had to check this out. And guess what, I’ll spoil the end of this review, saying that these 10 days with Silvia and Tio can change your life is a huge euphemism, it’s been (from far) the most incredible thing I’ve experienced in my whole life. And I’ll tell you why.
Firstly, the place is amazing, lost in the jungle, with beautiful bungalows and a lagoon you’ll love to go swimming into during your self-reflection quality time. The whole set up to put you in the best conditions to reach deep consciousness is without any failure: the vegan sugar and salt-free food is so creative that you almost forget the taste of a really good medium rare entrecôte, the yoga classes taught by the lovely Andreia and the deep massages are absolutely what you need to make your body understand that it’s time to genuinely take care of yourself.
Then, to take care of your mind you’ll have the two most impressive experts I’ve met in my life, who truly know what they are talking about:
Silvia, far from the well-known “I’m-gonna-teach-you-life-patriarcal-Guru” that you might encounter in some Ayahuasca retreats, she’s a brilliant psychologist with an amazing track record, she understands everything in a glimpse and help you the whole time to better structure your thoughts, your fears and your ambitions. Just having the privilege to have a one-hour therapy session with her would be worth the investment of the whole retreat!
Tio, on his side, is your guardian angel, anywhere, anytime. He’s been my rock during all the ceremonies, there’s not been any moment I did not feel safe since he’s watching you, guiding you, helping you going through the most challenging breakthroughs.
Overall, what you’ll get with Silvia and Tio is the absolute perfection in terms of feeling safe while getting the maieutic help you need to work on any trauma you had, understand what’s holding you back from being truly happy, and be assertive about what you need and want in your life. The anxiety I had at first about the ceremonies and my fear of the bad trips I could experience quickly vanished into a titanium work on myself that I could have never done without them.
I’ve been that impressed with everything I’ve managed to understand and deeply heal, – because yes, at the end of the day, everything is about healing – that it’s very clear to me that I’ll come back to this place whenever I’ll be at a crossroad in my life, to help me bring it to the next level.
I can’t be more grateful about everything that happened there, I’ve never been that happy in my entire life (and it was not an easy road), and trust me, this place is, without any doubt whatsoever, the sanctuary you need to go about what is gonna be the most inspiring experience of your life.
Turningpoint1
April 21, 2021 at 8:20 amDoes the Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat Center deserve the consistently high 5 star and excellent reviews?
I have been on 5 Spirit Vine retreats, and I would say: No! They deserve higher!! This is my first review of the center.
After a lot of research, I chose this place – I was not disappointed. If you are looking for a major shift in your life and want to put yourself in safe hands, Spirit Vine is the place for you. My initial fears about taking ayahuasca dissipated very quickly, due to the care, the safety and the wonderful atmosphere.
In my opinion, the reviews accurately reflect what I have experienced here. However, the reviews may have not mentioned the following:
Quality of the Ayahuasca
Great care is taken to ensure the high quality of each ayahuasca brew, lovingly prepared using their own home-grown Ayahuasca vine and chacruna plants. They tailor the dose you take to your individual needs – something not always done at other centers.
Application Selection
Silvia´s care also extends to her consideration of your application, and she does not accept an application if she considers that this is not the right place or time for you. She does not accept all applications, and this is in your interest as a potential participant. Numbers are purposely kept low to maintain 1) quality of personal attention and care 2) safety. So the setting, circumstances and atmosphere are intentionally created to ensure the optimum conditions for the best possible experience.
Experience and Expertise
She has been organizing and facilitating retreats since 1997 (as at 2021, that is 24 years), and she has vast experience of how to maximise the best conditions for the participant. Silvia also has extensive experience and knowledge of the use of ayahuasca, as a method of expanding consciousness and spiritual awakening and unfolding. She leads the ceremonies, and expertly supports participants when requested both in the ceremony room and outside. Ti0, her very experienced assistant, also uses his incredibly intuitive senses and interpersonal skills to provide a high degree of individual support when requested. Working together, Silvia and Ti0 are a great team!
Workshops and Activities
Silvia´s and Ti0´s workshops and activities are carefully designed to help you prepare for and integrate your ayahuasca experience. During these retreats, I have really appreciated the depth of Silvia´s workshops on Childhood Regression, Unveiling the Shadow and Spirit Releasement, and Ti0´s two newer workshops about personal energy growth/maintenance and moving beyond the limited self. These workshops help you create your specific intention for each ceremony.
Prepare as well as you can
If you decide to apply, I would highly recommend that you follow all the prior preparation guidance (all on the website), and guidance at the retreat itself – it is comprehensive for a reason: to ensure you have the best possible experience and outcome. I cannot emphasize this enough: the better your preparation, the more you will increase your benefits from the retreat.
Personal Transformation
Last, but not least, you will leave with a sense that something incredible has happened – you might not be sure what exactly – but most probably you will need to make changes in your life to ensure that your shifts are profound, sustainable and long-lasting.
A Worthwhile Investment
My ayahuasca experience at this retreat center has been the single most significant event in my life, in terms of positive personal growth and life change, and I have spent MANY years in psychotherapy as a client. Go ahead, and invest in yourself. Chances are that you will not only be benefiting yourself, your relationships, your work, your health…but maybe you will be making the world a much better place.
maria0101
April 20, 2021 at 1:55 pmIt’s been 10 days since the last ayahuasca ceremony at Spirit Vine.
I hope Silvia and Ti0 will find time to read this feedback. Plus, a good chance for me to shortly summarise this tremendous, life-changing experience.
The first workshop with Silvia (not even a ceremony) revealed to me that my emotions control me, not the other way around. I also learned how to use creativity and imagination in healing childhood trauma. The following ceremony taught me about forgiveness, more important, self-forgiveness.
The second workshop on shadows (held by Silvia) showed me how little consciousness I usually bring into communicating with others. The followed ceremony gave me insights into true, unconditional love and compassion. It seems to also heal my relationships with ageing and death.
The third workshop about energies (held by Ti0) helped me to establish boundaries when interacting with others. The following ceremony showed how the same experience can be interpreted differently by different people and even the same person but at different times. It also showed the importance of having clear intentions, being assertive, and pointed to my self-sabotaging negative thinking and behaviour.
During the fourth workshop (thanks Ti0) about personality and essence, I was happy to learn that there is something beyond the exploration of our sets of behaviours and cognition; that we, humans, are capable of finding pure essence. Though during the following ceremony I was not given much information on this topic, I believe, when I overcome the need to go through my personality journeys, the answers will come.
During the fifth ceremony, I was able to connect with nature. I learned how to appreciate the existence of every living being and enjoy the initial simplicity of my own existence – the raindrops on my skin, the soft grass under my feet, the gentle wind blowing through my hair, the ability to feel, hear, and see the beauty and the great diversity of nature.
My intention for this review is to express my gratitude to Silvia and Ti0. I also hope that my experience will help others to make a decision when having to choose among dozens of ayahuasca retreats available these days.
Many thanks,
Mariia, Russia
P.S. the food and the accommodation were beyond any expectations.
Thanks to all staff members for their hard work, cooperation and friendly environment that made our experience so easy and joyful.
KristoMariia
April 19, 2021 at 4:43 pmAs a couple soon to be married, all possible expectations we could ever have before entering Spirit Vine were exceeded:
TiO with his utterly precise but still playful ambience. Silvia in harmony with everything and everyone. The radiance of wisdom, compassion and understanding from both of them made it easy to just rest back and trust the process.
Looking back to who we were before entering Spirit Vine, both as individuals, and as a couple, there is so much that changed in us:
old patterns of negative behaviours were broken; fears that have been overcome; a giant leap towards true love that is not inflicted by meaningless arguments in daily life. This experience helped us to discover the way in how to consciously continue exploring the journey called life. Life as it is. Not infected by the set of rules we have been taught to live and believe in.
Five stars is not enough. Keep doing what you are doing!
/Kristoffer
ninochkaa
April 19, 2021 at 2:11 pmWe came to Spirit vine with my brothers and my mum and it was an amazing bonding experience for all of us. Silvia and Tio are marvelous guides through this mentally challening experience. They have great observation skills and can offer wonderful insights into human psychology. For me, having a non stop support from a wise and experienced psychotherapist like Silvia was the key to have a good experience. I’ve got so many insights about myself, my patterns of behavior and my relationships. I also had mindblowing visions that were out of this world.
We loved yoga with Andrea, the massages, artistic and tasteful food, beyond beautiful jungle, cozy bungalows, and all the lovely participants. I will be back and bring all my friends 🙂