About Plant Medicine Retreats

One-of-a-kind, transformational experiences with the powerful and sacred plant medicines

Ayahuasca ceremony at Vikara, Healing Retreat Center in Ecuador

Plant Medicine Retreats at Vikara

We offer one-of-a-kind, transformational plant medicine retreats at the beach in Olon. Featuring the powerful and sacred plant medicines Ayahuasca (from the Amazon jungle), San Pedro (Huachuma from the Andes Mountains), Mushrooms, Tobacco and Rapé, our 9-day retreats are designed to help those who seek healing, clarity, inner wisdom, and connection.

Vikara is the only plant medicine retreat center right on the beach in Ecuador. The healing properties of the ocean - combined with your intention, the transformative powers of the fire and the medicines - offer profound healing and a life-changing experience.

We work with incredibly skilled medicine people who have decades of experience in the healing arts and plant medicine ceremonies. Unlike many other retreat centers, we keep our groups very small in order to facilitate a personalized experience and to ensure the safety of all of our guests.

Learn more about our retreats

Healing Ceremonies

The plant medicines we use - Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Mushrooms, Tobacco and Rapé - have been a central aspect of human evolution and spiritual growth as far as human history dates back. The indigenous Amazonian tribes consider these plants to have spirits and those spirits to be a source of great power and healing. These master teacher plants help you on your journey towards more awareness, clarity, healing, and self-love.

In our ceremonies, we work with the light of the fire, the spirit of Mother Ocean, the master teacher plants, and the wisdom of our hearts. This powerful combination is what leads to healing and transformation on many levels.

Everyone’s journey with these medicines is different, and because our groups are small, the facilitators and medicine people can provide special attention to all members during the ceremonies. This creates an environment where you feel comfortable, safe, and supported through the entire experience. After the ceremonies, we have an integration circle, where you have the opportunity to process your experience with the medicine people.

Our Medicine People

Medicine people are those who have learned from indigneous tribes and worked on themselves through their own healing in order to achieve the ability to guide others through the journey of the medicine. After years of experience and embedding other therapeutic practices into their own life, medicine people are given the blessings of the grandfathers to work and share this medicine with others. Medicine people are respectful of the healing processes of the individuals they work with and honor this role. To learn more about our medicine people, please go to "Our Tribe."

What is Ayahuasca?

Ayahuasca is a powerful and sacred medicinal tea-like brew from the Amazons. The psychoactive ingredient in the brew is dimethyltryptamine (DMT) - a chemical that occurs naturally in the brain and is associated with dreaming and visions. Because of its divinatory potential, Ayahuasca is classified as a plant entheogen, a substance that allows "discovery of God within".

Clinical researchers are investigating the healing benefits of Ayahuasca. There is compelling evidence that when used therapeutically, these entheogens are especially effective for emotional and psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, behavioral and substance addictions, healing traumas, etc.

In our retreats, Ayahuasca is consumed in a small group setting as part of a ceremony conducted by one or more shamans. The ceremony usually lasts about four to six hours and takes place at night. At the end of the ceremony, the shaman formally closes the event with a prayer or incantation.

What is San Pedro?

Considered the "medicine of the Heart", San Pedro (Huachuma) is a traditional Andean medicine dating back hundreds of years. The plant contains a variety of alkaloids, including mescaline. San Pedro has very powerful medicinal value, especially as treatment for alcoholism, depression and PTSD. It is normally consumed in a ceremonial setting similar to that of Ayahuasca. It is a beautiful and unique way to work on behavioral patterns, open energy blockages, release toxins from the body and generate vitality.

What is Temazcal?

Temazcal is a form of sweat lodge which originated with pre-Hispanic indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica. Hot volcanic rocks are placed inside a pit located in the center of a covered dome. Water is periodically poured over the heated rocks to create a hot and steamy environment, which is symbolic of the "womb of the earth".

The sweat ceremony is intended as a spiritual reunion with the creator and a respectful connection to the earth itself. We bless and show gratitude for the elements of Mother Earth, and we also purge toxins out of the physical body.

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Vikara shaman - Ayahuasca Retreat in South America