A lot of people get in touch with us at almahealingcenter.com because we offer a relatively cheap ayahuasca retreat i.e. our 2 day Ayahuasca retreats near Quito ($200 pp) and our 5 day retreats ($700). We initially began offering these retreats, especially the 2 day one, to provide a more affordable option to local residents/Ecuadorians that wish to experience ayahuasca and don’t have the time or money to travel to the Amazon. In the end, we get more foreign visitors to these retreats because there seems to be greater demand among this group and it’s likely that the price is still too high for ..read more

A medicine man I used to drink ayahuasca with once told me, in response to my question about the differences between DMT and ayahuasca, “DMT is like a one-night-stand, like a lover and ayahuasca is the long-term relationship, it’s the building, growth and healing.” DMT visuals video Psychedelic substances are a group of powerful compounds that have been used for centuries to induce altered states of consciousness for spiritual, therapeutic, and recreational purposes. Many different plants and compounds exist within this category, with two of the most well-known and widely used being dimethy ..read more

We will be adding new stories over the course of several months. Stay tuned. Registration is now open for our annual 7-day women’s  spiritual retreat from September 26 – October 2, 2023. Click here for more! Bear with me as I address a highly controversial topic in the ayahuasca world: ayahuasca deaths.  One of the most common questions we receive about ayahuasca is, “Can you die from ayahuasca” and, as mentioned in our FAQs page, the short answer is YES.  However, the probability of dying from drinking ayahuasca is practically null, especially if you ensure you are drinking th ..read more

Shamanism has become quite the hype lately. But how can you tell between a real shaman and a fake shaman? In a way, recent interest in shamanism indicates increased consciousness; people are connecting with their spirituality and nature and usually helping others do the same. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it can only be beneficial to those involved. The moment this global trend towards shamanism becomes a concern and, without exaggerating, dangerous, is when a so-called shaman begins to serve medicine like Ayahuasca, San Pedro, or Kambo – to name three that we serve at Alma Healing ..read more

How do you choose a safe ayahuasca retreat in 2022 when the internet is saturated with 5-star reviews and yet some people have pretty sketchy, if not outright dangerous, ayahuasca retreat experiences? As stories of Ayahuasca’s healing and transformative power spreads, so does the demand for ayahuasca retreats and, along with that, greed. The sad fact is that not all ayahuasca retreats are safe, even the ones with the higher price tags.  For full disclosure, I’d like to start by saying that Alma Healing Center organizes ayahuasca and plant medicine retreats in Ecuador so this is not a c ..read more

“So, what’s it like?” Before trying ayahuasca or booking an ayahuasca retreat, you probably want to hear other people’s ayahuasca stories and experiences. Registration is now open for our annual 7-day women’s spiritual retreat from March 14-20, 2023. Click here for more! What did it feel like? What did you see? Did you come back a changed person? These are a few of the other common questions I’ve gotten, especially by those that have heard about ayahuasca’s healing power, but may have never tried psychedelics. Everybody has a different life experience. Similarly, every ayahuasca experience is ..read more

Guests at our ayahuasca retreats in Ecuador often want to know how to prepare for their ayahuasca experience, especially when it comes to a so-called “ayahuasca diet”. May 21, 2022 – We will be posting ayahuasca diet recipes in the coming days – please be patient! Aya diet – is it necessary? You’ll get different answers to this question depending on who you ask. The concept of an aya diet or a pre-ayahuasca diet has grown in popularity in large part due to western influence, the same way ayahuasca medicine has grown in popularity across continents. That said, indigenous people and nationa ..read more

Scroll down for text and video (weird glitch in WordPress template)! The importance of darkness One of my favorite parts of our ayahuasca retreats is when Alejandro shares something prior to the ayahuasca ceremony itself. Anyone that has met Alejandro can attest to his ability to connect with other through words, stories and songs. He truly has a knack for it! First time guests that join our ayahuasca retreats are usually nervous before their first ayahuasca experience. It makes sense and I’ve been there. In fact, that nervousness can (and maybe even should?) last beyond the first night. Th ..read more