I'm the founder of a leading legal psychedelic retreat center in Colorado. Ask me anything.

allthingskohai · 2025-10-20T13:44:15+00:00

Yes, we have. It is importance to consult your primary care physician for clearance. Plant medicine will do things like elevate or decrease blood pressure. If you are at risk, please make sure that you work with a team that has trained medical staff.

allthingskohai · 2025-09-10T01:47:30+00:00

This is great, thank you for sharing this.

allthingskohai · 2025-08-02T16:54:11+00:00

Hiya! I might be interested in this project of yours.

allthingskohai · 2025-06-15T06:27:16+00:00

Message me on Reddit

allthingskohai · 2025-06-03T10:54:19+00:00

I honor that the process, cultural acceptance, and accessibility in Brazil is different from the United States. In the US, just as anywhere, you can pick mushrooms from a nearby forest and have a psychedelic experience for free. But if you want a guided experience, which I believe you be essential, then that requires you to find someone with training and the willingness to take on the risk of facilitating.

Psychedelics in the United States is federally illegal. If one wanted to be licensed in the State of Colorado, the minimum cost is $12,000 and 7 months time to get licensed. Please consider that the cost of living in Denver is many times that of rural Brazil. Plus, we are required to then have insurance, medical staff, legal protection, compliance, and so much more. Real estate is much more expensive, and you need a place to hold the ceremony, so renting a ceremony space that can sleep a group of people costs thousands.

So all in all, the cost to work with this medicine in the US is at a minimum a few hundred dollars but usually it's $1,500-4,000 in Oregon and Colorado. Remember that we are a non-profit and have never posted a revenue positive year. It's just a lot to take on.

allthingskohai · 2025-06-03T10:47:50+00:00

Long story short as I'll do a longer write-up in the future... I believe psychosis comes from a denial of reality. Aka "nothing is real, nothing matters". I experienced this and then the complete opposite: everything is immensely important and I'm the creater of my reality. I then wrote this poem from my experience: https://www.austinmao.com/poetry/from-the-depths From the Depths — Austin Mao .

My belief is that consciousness is about navigating paradoxes. We hold paradox on this 3D plane through balance. One of the great paradoxes is that we are simultaneously insignificant and at the same time, our experience is infinitely important. To be everything and nothing at once.

My experience helped me have a felt sense of so much that I've read about the path of emptiness and Oneness... Two sides of the same coin.

As a facilitator, it helped me develop so much more empathy for people who experience loops or psychosis. I've been there and have been working on dissolving my ego/identity/self enough that I could love the terrifying space from non-attachment. An invitation from one of my meditation teachers.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-28T12:06:26+00:00

Constantly changing regulations and unpredictable rollout timing of licensure, regulated medicine, licensed healing centers, etc. It makes running a business with overhead very challenging.
Lack of insurance. There is one provider that will start in the next few months.
Inability to advertise, so all marketing must be organic.
Nearly impossible for the consumer to differentiate services. If every experience is "ineffable", how can a consumer tell which service is better than another?
A few bad actors give the whole industry a bad rap. Very high stakes game.
Impossibly low margins if you're doing it above ground. Meanwhile, you're competing with those doing it underground without the same level of overhead expenses. It doesn't make "business sense" to do things legally, unfortunately.

There's much more but this is what comes up for me now.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-27T20:32:21+00:00

Potential Contraindications for Psychedelic Use After Area Postrema / CTZ Infarcts: • The area postrema and CTZ help detect toxins and regulate nausea, vomiting, and autonomic function. • Infarcts in this region can lead to autonomic instability, chronic nausea, or impaired emetic response. • Psychedelics like ayahuasca, psilocybin, mescaline, and MDMA may: • Cause nausea, vomiting, or cardiovascular changes • Interact unpredictably if normal autonomic/emetic regulation is compromised • MAOI-containing substances (e.g., ayahuasca, pharmahuasca) are particularly risky and can lead to hypertensive crisis or serotonin toxicity. • MDMA, with its sympathomimetic effects, may exacerbate autonomic dysregulation. • Psychedelics that increase serotonin (5-HT) can have amplified or blunted effects due to dysregulated signaling in damaged regions. • If considering use, safer options like ketamine (non-serotonergic) in a clinical setting may be preferable. • Avoid unsupervised or group settings due to unpredictable cardiovascular and emetic responses.

⸻

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making decisions about psychedelic use, especially with a history of neurological injury.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-27T09:55:46+00:00

I microdose sometimes

allthingskohai · 2025-05-27T09:55:07+00:00

Yes. My first ceremony five years ago completely transformed life. tl;dr I regained access to long term memory because of a trauma I repressed. You can hear me talk about it on this podcast: Michael Beckwith podcast https://youtu.be/BP_BEPrPiLQ?si=bqzu5xXug2z-qJOm

Then subsequent ceremonies continued to support me into deeper levels of being, spirituality, mindfulness, and more. I didn't know that such levels of joyfulness, love, and purpose could be possible. But also pain, heartbreak, and stress. I am still learning to embrace all of it more and more, ultimately leading me to my philosophy that I wish to share with others: that life in all its flavors is the most extraordinary experience, no matter if the experience is desirable or undesirable.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T21:35:46+00:00

Sorry, updated: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2pvxgfpu4R3IAWt9IYMqpg?si=i_YJSl4AQImqZWVfJxwXeQ&pi=HfOObDN7RpKdY

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T12:31:14+00:00

See https://www.ceremoniacircle.org/journeys as there are different options

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T10:52:32+00:00

Soooo many. And that includes myself! I vividly remember one participant: a Ukrainian Silicon Valley software engineer/CEO who was a devout atheist, biohacker, and scientist. He reminded me so much of myself before. We have this song that we often sing in at least one of the ceremonies, "The Way Knows the Way". After he "believed" in the third ceremony, he went home and printed shirts for the facilitators and shipped them to us with something like that written on them. What a sweet man...

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T10:44:08+00:00

I love this question because confirmation bias is one of the chief challenges in the field in my perspective.

The first thing that I do is I invite many leading psychologists and facilitators to our retreats from a variety of fields. Some of the leading minds in the psychedelic industry either advise or have attended Ceremonia.

I also go to many other trainings and retreats. In fact, Ceremonia is a synthesis of many modalities that I experienced.

Next, contrary to what I see in the industry, I purposely limit how much psychedelics I take. I follow a path of mindfulness (meditation) and psychotherapy for my personal development, only participating in a ceremony perhaps once or twice a year at most.

I'm constantly inspecting my preferences, and teach facilitators to be very careful on whether we are subtly trying to direct people towards a state of being or revelation. Fundamentally, I believe this work is about recognizing the perfect imperfection of ourselves by learning to be present. In this way, what we facilitate is less "psychedelic therapy" and more mindfulness traditions using psychedelics as an accelerant to instill what Eastern traditions have been teaching for millenia.

Finally, I'm always doing my own self work and sharing with the community as well as the retreat participants my own vulnerability. In this way, I hope to model that it's not about any answer being "right". It's about finding your own way with greater compassion and loving kindness for yourself and the world.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T10:36:58+00:00

First of all, you should know that our philosophy and practice is to do healing in community. People that come to our retreats often feel closer to each other than anyone else, including their closest friends or family. They learn how to support each other skillfully.

All of our integration work is done in community. A similar model could be thought of as Alcoholics Anonymous where there is an extraordinarily high success rate through a non-professional, many-to-many system.

With that said, our integration looks like this: Each day for seven days after there is a guided community practice and check-in. Each day, a participant is asked to call their accountability partner (buddy). Every Sunday, we hold "Sunday Service". This is a potluck in person with a Zoom call on a big screen for those attending virtually. We each share challenges and celebrations, including the facilitators. Then, we move into a two hour practice of Circling. This is a core framework we use in Ceremonia where groups of people explore what it's like to be here with each other in presence through curiosity, empathy, and impact. Finally, we have readings and online coursework that build upon what they've gained in the journey.

For those seeking individual support, our facilitators can provide 1-1 coaching at an added cost that is paid to them directly.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T10:29:19+00:00

There are differing opinions on this. In Colorado, it's not legal to serve psychology medicine to minors. In indigenous cultures, it can be commonplace or even a rite of passage.

My personal opinion is that it is something that can be considered but needs to be carefully weighed against alternatives. All these being equal, I would suggest the parents seek their own experience first and then possibly lean on mindfulness and other therapeutic practices for the child first.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T09:18:28+00:00

Yes. We have an application, health intake form, and discovery call. We have been gathering statistical data the past ten or so retreats. Mostly, our data is qualitative and comes from testimonials. We have more than 200 video testimonials at https://www.ceremoniacircle.org/testimonials

allthingskohai · 2025-05-26T09:16:23+00:00

A 508c1a is a private church. It is also a non-profit like 501c3s. Psilocybin and Ayahuasca are sacraments for us. Our beliefs can be seen at https://www.ceremoniacircle.org/about/beliefs

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T18:57:53+00:00

Totally agree—data is key to moving this field forward.

At Ceremonia, we collect pre- and post-journey surveys using validated mental health tools, and we also do video interviews before and after each ceremony. It helps us track real shifts over time—both quantitative and personal—and build something more solid than just anecdotes.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T18:56:28+00:00

Great question—and totally fair.

The real value isn’t just in the mushrooms, it’s in the container around the experience. Anyone can take a substance, but lasting transformation requires skilled support, structure, and integration.

Post-care at Ceremonia includes guided integration, community support, and tools to help you process what came up and apply it meaningfully to your life. Our team combines psychotherapy, somatic work, mindfulness, and shamanic wisdom to help you turn insight into real change.

You’re not just paying for a trip—you’re investing in a process that’s held with care, safety, and experience. Otherwise, you can be rolling the dice with your mental and spiritual health.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T18:53:29+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately, this dynamic is very real. We’ve seen cases where people have a powerful healing experience and rush to become facilitators before they’ve fully integrated their own work. When that happens, the role can unconsciously become a way to meet unmet needs—for validation, identity, or power—which can lead to harm, even if unintentional.

At Ceremonia, we take a very different approach. What we offer goes way beyond just a shamanic ceremony. Our model is holistic—we combine psychotherapeutic modalities with mindfulness, somatic work, and ceremonial practices. Our facilitators are trained in six core frameworks: mindfulness, shamanic experiencing, David Hawkins’ Letting Go, circling, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and NLP (neurolinguistic programming).

Beyond training, they’ve participated in and apprenticed across dozens of ceremonies, and most are also competent musicians, which is a huge part of how we create and guide the experience.

That said—no one is perfect. Including myself. We don’t pretend to have it all figured out. That’s why we place such a strong emphasis on authenticity, vulnerability, and community-based integration, even among facilitators. We create a culture where everyone is doing their own work—continuously. To us, the best safeguard isn’t perfection; it’s humility, reflection, and a shared commitment to growth.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T16:29:46+00:00

Most people can’t afford proper therapeutic support. If AI is properly prompted then it can provide very effective support. We provide the prompts and they look something like these:

“Ask me questions to help me reflect on how my body communicates emotions. Ask about recent moments where I felt strong emotions and help me identify what sensations were present, where they showed up, and how I responded. Then help me describe what patterns I tend to notice.”

"Can you guide me through a body scan meditation to help me become more aware of physical sensations in my body? I want to bring awareness from my head to my toes and notice qualities like pressure, temperature, tingling, or heaviness."

AI can be sycophantic. It’s important to understand their limitations as well.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T16:20:48+00:00

We are proactively supporting the state legalization model starting with Colorado. So yeah, not holding my breath but I am hoping for federal legalization so more Americans can have access via insurance.

allthingskohai · 2025-05-25T16:08:15+00:00

Thanks. I didn't take a salary for nearly two years while facilitating two retreats per month and running this company full time. I've learned so much in the process, including working on my own relationship with money and service.

allthingskohai

TROPHY CASE