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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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Spirit Vine Ursula
October 31, 2018 at 7:51 amThe beauty and richness of the Spirit Vine experience cannot be overstated. The first time I visited turned out to be the most profound and transformative experience of my life. I just returned from my second trip and I’m hoping to return annually, if possible. The entire experience is exquisitely crafted on every level: the setting is breathtakingly beautiful, the accommodations are lovely (even better than the pictures!), the food, despite being saltless, is delicious. Silvia is an astoundingly wise and skilled therapist/spiritual teacher and the workshops she provides between ceremonies are incredibly instructive. Her razor sharp insights are always delivered with kindness and humor. Rohan, her assistant, embodies a wonderful combination of staggering intelligence and genuine kindness. Together they create an atmosphere of total safety. I can’t imagine a more nurturing, enriching and positive setting in which to drink ayahuasca. If you have been called to adventure by ayahuasca, then go, no doubt she has something very important to teach you.
beni20387
September 10, 2018 at 9:48 amWholeheartedly recommended!
Silvia and Rohan are very experienced Ayahuasca facilitators which benefitted me greatly both during the ceremonies but especially after as they helped during sharing sessions and individual talks to make sense of the experience and how to best integrate the learnings into daily life.
I really enjoyed the group sessions (which were almost as helpful as the ceremonies themselves) which covered childhood traumas, ones shadows and lots of other topics. I learned a lot about myself just from those sessions and from other peoples experiences that they shared.
The accomodation is very comfortable with a beautiful natural property with a lake, nice bungalows that have everything one needs from comfortable beds to clean bathrooms with warm water to hammocks outside the rooms. And i was very impressed with the food prepared which is in accordance with the fairly strict ayahuasca diet (no salt, sugar, meat, milk, avoidance of certain vegetables etc) but far from tasting blant. It was actually some of the best food Ive had in a long time, prepared with much love by the culinary team.
Overall great retreat center with all the comforts one could wish for and tremendous facilitators to get the most out of your Ayahuasca experience.
Audrey
September 9, 2018 at 10:18 amUn endroit incroyable dont VERT pourrais être le mot qui résume l’ambiance de ce lieu si calme et paisible entouré de palmiers, hibiscus et autres arbres du voyageur…la douce Sylvia et Rohan le bienveillant sont ici pour vous faire sentir comme à la maison du début à la fin. Les autres participants, 11 au total, étaient des gens extraordinaires de tous les continents. Il ne faut pas avoir peur de ne pas parler anglais il y aura sûrement quelqu’un qui sera prêt à traduire pour vous… les synchronicités de la vie, heureux hasards répondront certainement à vos besoins. Les cérémonies et la rencontre avec Mother Ayahuasca sont intenses et très personnels mais le travail fait au préalable dans les workshops et les échanges nous permettent d’accéder avec indulgence au voyage et à la connection avec la plante sacrée.
Une semaine douce, passée à Spirit Vine pendant la retraite d’août, de longues nages dans l’étang, des bains de soleil, de grandes marches sur les délicieuses plages qui entourent la retraite… les discussions interminables les yeux plantés dans la jungle ou dans ceux de votre partenaire de cérémonie qui déroule émerveillés ou intrigués ces expériences de la veille… La nourriture est INCROYABLE le régime sans sel et vegan est le nouveau régime prometteur 🙂 Je recommande formidablement Spirit Vine et j’aimerais faire venir plus de français:) Love Audrey
—In English:—
A stunning place, green is the G word to describe all this beauty, peaceful space, drowned among palms trees, hibiscus, traveler’s trees… Sweet Sylvia and benevolent Rohan are here to make you feel confortable and at home from day one to the end. My partners in that retreat were amazing people from all around the world and don’t be afraid of no speaking english someone would translate for you… sweet synchronicities of life 🙂
Ceremonies and meeting with Mother Ayahuasca are pretty intense and personal but all the work that we do before and in between the ceremonies are helpful and gives us the tools to connect with MA.
A sweet sweet week I went through during my retreat in august, long swims and sun baths by the pond, enjoying the long talks, walks on the amazing beaches that surrounds the retreat or just painting or reading on the deck.
FOOD IS AMAZING, no salt and vegan food is the FUTURE 🙂
I will highly recommend and Spirit Vine and would love to bring more frenchies in. LOVE Audrey
peaceoftanyadunn
September 5, 2018 at 9:15 pmIf you’ve landed on this site, one can only assume that you’ve received the call and have been doing your research as to where to get the best experience with the sacred plant medicine so many refer to as Mother Ayahuasca. Although I cannot speak for the retreat centers I have not been to, I can openly and honestly say that my time spent at Spirit Vine exceeded my expectations on every level! When I first began researching, I was under the assumption that in order to receive an “authentic” experience, I had to tough it out in the jungle and follow certain tribal rituals that I didn’t fully align with. NOT TRUE! Although the setting of this retreat is in the jungle, there is no toughing it out. The grounds elude peace, the bungalows provide comfort, and the ceremony room allows for experiencing the language of the wildlife, the scent of the flowers and the sensation of the misty rain…all without the bugs! The food was spectacular. Vegetable dishes, native fruits, whole grains, fresh juices, coconut water and herbal teas were prepared daily as to keep our bodies light and energy centers open in preparation for the ceremonies. And as for the sacred tea itself, the caapi vine and the chacruna leaves are the only two ingredients, both of which are organically grown on the grounds and harvested with love and intention before being brewed in the shamanic traditions.
What I am most grateful for though, is the guidance of Silvia and Rohan. Not only did they hold space for every participant there, but through their workshops, sharing circles, and one on one conversations, they helped us to prepare, understand, process and integrate our journeys on an individual basis. I received so much more than I ever anticipated and I highly recommend this place for all of you who have come to answer the call of Mother Ayahuasca.
Alessandrinho
July 30, 2018 at 6:57 amI visited Spirit Vine for a retreat in early July 2018. I had little previous experience with psychedelics (or drugs for that matter), I am not particularly spiritual and am not a religious person. I work in finance. I don’t have big problems. I am rational. But I was interested in learning more about myself and breaking some behavioural patterns that I kept repeating. I was not sure what to expect, and you could describe me as slightly sceptical overall. Still, I thought it was worth exploring, and having researched that the side-effects and negative consequences of drinking Ayahuasca are virtually non-existent, I signed up.
If you really want to, you can find Ayahuasca in your own country and drink it in a one-off ceremony. What you will get is a pretty intense avalanche of sub-conscious images, some painful, some pleasant, with perhaps a surge of compassion and a little bit of ego dissolution. It is difficult, however, to extract any lasting value from such an experience, particularly since many places don’t meet the most basic requirement of making you feel completely safe.
Spirit vine goes a long way to solve this. It is a beautiful place, comfortable, well-run and managed with care. It is set in the middle of the Atlantic jungle, and some of the most beautiful and least populated beaches you can find in the world are just a 5 min drive away. More importantly, the way Ayahuasca is treated at Spirit Vine is, in many ways, pioneering. Generally speaking, by the time we reach adulthood, we all carry baggage with us that we either picked up when we were children or that we have picked up along the way as we have grown. Some carry a lot, some carry a little. But we all have behavioural traits that we are not completely satisfied with. Ayahuasca opens up a window on this baggage and asks the question of whether we want to deal with it or not. However, dealing with it require certain tools, which is why Silvia at Spirit Vine has integrated Ayahuasca in a wider psychotherapeutic (read: introspective) programme. She blends Western psychotherapy theories with shamanic techniques in her workshops (don’t let the word “shamanic” put you off, it’s all pretty sensible stuff) to give you the tools to deal with your subconscious on your own.
This makes the whole experience much more valuable and long-lasting, so that you can go back to your own life and continue to benefit from what you have learned at Spirit Vine. I read somewhere that a good sitter (the person running the Ayahuasca ceremony) is someone you trust; but a really great sitter is someone who loves you. I think this is the main point to highlight: generally the most basic thing you need if you’re going to take Ayahuasca is to feel safe and to trust the sitter. But Silvia and Rohan at Spirit Vine go well beyond this. You have the feeling that they love everyone who visits them, and they go to great lengths to give you the tools to manage your life in a more assertive, fulfilling way.
When integrated this way, the whole experience is less scary, more manageable, and ultimately far more valuable; however, at the end of it all, the person who comes out of this experience is still you. It doesn’t turn you in to someone you don’t want to be; it doesn’t show you random hallucinations just to make the experience scary. For my part, I still work in finance. I still don’t have big problems. I am still rational. But I got to take a good look at my subconscious and at my own self. In many respects it felt like I was properly doing so for the first time, and it has made breaking out of certain flawed behavioural patterns far easier. I would repeat the experience at Spirit Vine in a heartbeat, but even if I never manage to go again, what I have learned about myself there will have made my life much more fulfilling. There are not many reasons why most people should not benefit from such an introspective experience at least once in their lives. No need to fit a stereotype – this is incredibly positive for anyone’s personal development, and there are not many experiences you can say that about.