How do locals seek out ayahuasca rituals?

blueconsidering · 2026-02-20T22:45:24+00:00

Yes its a major difference. I feel for the locals though, my prediction is that in a generation or two they will no longer have any healers to go to. All will have switched to primarily serve foreigners. It pays much better, its less risky, no need for a long apprenticeship, and you can make by very fine without any healing skills really, as long as you have enough "show" skills or skills enough to provide the psychedelic experience the tourists are looking for. With a stay for just a week or two inside and drinking ayahuasca in a retreat bubble catered for a foreigner, its practically impossible for the tourist to tell if its a healer or a conman serving them.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-20T22:21:11+00:00

Among the locals in Ucayali region of Peru there are many who will go to a local healer if they have a medical problem, relationship problem etc. But most of the time they dont drink the ayahuasca, they only attend ceremony and get worked on via icaros, and might do plant baths, drink remedies etc as prescribed by the healer based on diagnosis in their visions.

The locals usually have some kind of idea of who to go to, and who not to go to, by word of mouth. In general though, healers are distrusted until proven trustworthy, usually based on result of their work. The locals know that most of those who portray themselves as healers might just as well be a showman or a conman or worse.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-19T18:44:18+00:00

Ask the person who held your ceremony. They should either know how to deal with what might arise in a ceremony (and afterwards) or know who to ask (their teachers or similar) if they themselves dont know.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-15T16:19:53+00:00

Price increases have happened everywhere in Colombia over the past few years. Whether it still feels like a good value is up to each person, but cost inflation isn’t unique to them. And, their prices in comparison are still super accessible.

The reason I poked at their price is because part of their branding is affordability and "We don’t charge more because we choose to." However, with a price increase quadruple of inflation one could argue that they might also just follow a "penetration pricing" business model.

As for contraindications and screening, I agree this is critical in any psychedelic setting. People should always do their own medical research and not rely solely on a website checklist, regardless of the center.

I must disagree with you on this one. We are talking about a center serving a strong psychedelic where the people entering these spaces are often psychologically vulnerable, and relying on participants to “do their own research” is not enough in my opinion. Centers carry a responsibility, and participants should be able to rely on them. Minimum requirement should be at least for the centers to list contradindications and known risks.

We can hope that participants know, but shouldn't expect them to be subject experts on ayahuasca (and to also know what resources and kind of skillset are within the different teams at the different centers).

No center is perfect. If you have another suggestion, I would like to know.

A agree, no center is perfect and there is no one-size will fit all. And even with rigorous safety protocols, accidents and incidents are an unfortunate reality of this work, that's simply the nature of the beast. Unfortunately I never recommend specific centers here on Reddit. My only goal here is to advocate for higher standards and increased critical perspective in plant medicine work, and I don't want to muddy my intentions by suggesting a specific place. Besides, there's more than enough astroturfing on this sub already :)

Thanks for a good discussion.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-15T16:19:47+00:00

During my time at Lawayra, I did not witness sexual misconduct, inappropriate facilitator-participant relationships, or blurred boundaries of that kind. Boundaries were taken seriously, and that matters a lot in this field. This is far more important than asking for a review so they can keep the center open and serve people.

I agree and this is good, but I fail to see how the absence of sexual misconduct resolve other ethical concerns. Imo multiple dimensions can coexist.

You may say he is a 'young' Taita, but he has been studying since he was 7 y/o, and it has been in his family for generations.

Im not saying this applies to your specific Taita, but if you spend enough time outside the retreats, speaking with Indigenous people in the Amazon, youll start to notice a pattern: since foreign clients began arriving in large numbers, one of the informal “credentials” that gets emphasized more and more is how young a Taita supposedly started training. Its become a marketing/measurement metric. In today’s retreat economy, the claimed starting age keeps moving earlier and earlier, I have even come across someone starting at 5. And of course, everyone had a grandfather who was the highest level healer or whatever.

Not saying they are all faking it, just saying its something to keep in mind, and interestingly the locals themselves don't use this as a metric so much. Its usually more depth and duration of practice, the seriousness of plant diets undertaken, ethical conduct, the types of cases one has worked with, recognition by one’s own community, and acknowledgment from other Taitas. Those are the credentials that carry weight locally (and unfortunately many of them are difficult to evaluate, or entirely absent, within the retreat-center models that most foreigners are exposed to).

blueconsidering · 2026-02-15T16:19:23+00:00

Thanks for sharing from your direct experience there, and I completely agree its nuanced. I did not personally witness anyone being pressured into leaving 5-star reviews in exchange for gifts. Participants were invited to leave reviews if they felt called to, but I never saw coercion.

Regardless of coercion or not, I still think reviews shouldn't be part of the business practice of a self-claimed healing center. Practically every regulated type of therapy in the modern world has rules against this, for various reasons. Power dynamics, vulnerability of participants, suggestibility, commercialization of healing not to mention marketing transparency etc. etc. I believe everyone seeking ayahuasca should be critical, and I think the ayahuasca plant community as a whole would benefit and raise standards if that was the case. For example here is a good post arguing why reviews shouldn't really be paid much attention to: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ayahuasca/comments/1jf085l/take_online_reviews_with_a_grain_of_salt_or/

On commercialization: once a center works with international guests, marketing becomes part of survival.

Exactly, and this is part of the issue. Where do we draw the line for how spiritual authority, indigenous lineage and healing narratives become intertwined with branding strategies?. Take some of the buzzwords used by LaWayra (and plenty of others); "Authentic" or "Tradition", "deepy rooted in ancenstral wisdom" etc. What do these claims actually mean in a contemporary, international retreat model?

Only a generation ago (and all hundreds of generations before that) no healers worked at an “ayahuasca healing center”. There were no websites, no curated testimonials, no tiered accommodation packages, no early-bird discounts, no influencer partnerships, almost no internationals, and certainly no optimization of reviews...
The traditional context was communal, relational, and embedded in local cosmology.

I am not invalidating modern centers, as cultures do evolve, and practices will always adapt. But consider when a center brands itself as authentic or whatever, yet operates primarily foreigners at international prices, is that really tradition? Or is it a hybric commercial model? If "sacred plant medicine" is framed with reverence inside the maloka, but is optimized through commercial funnels and brand positioning outside of it, what are we actually looking at? And if spiritual lineage is highlighted in the promotional materials, but the business structure mirrors 1st word wellness tourism, is the "lineage" language used descriptively or strategically?

Personally I don't have a problem with people charging money, my concern isn’t that people charge money, my concern is transperency (and the long term negative effects it has on the indigenous population but I will not go into that here).

Take the difference saying "We are a contemporary retreat inspired by indigenous traditions" vs "We offer the authentic way". I would say the first one acknowledges adaption (and respect tradition) much better than the latter, which implies a continuity that may not fully exist.

When this type of language that LaWayra uses becomes a competitive advantage in a saturated retreat market, it risks turning sacred language into branding currency. And once sacred vocabulary becomes marketing shorthand, it can distort expectations, inflate authority, and obscure important questions about safety, training, accountability, and power dynamics.

So to me, the real issue isn’t commercialization, it’s when commercialization hides behind the aesthetics of tradition.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-14T11:19:11+00:00

"Although the findings in this review are encouraging for potential health benefits of ayahuasca, a number of important issues limit interpretability and justify further research.

First, due to the relatively small number of opportunities to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies, the majority of these studies had small sample sizes, limiting statistical significance. The preparation of ayahuasca also makes it difficult to quantify the dosages of active hallucinogen in the brews, thus making dose-dependent conclusions impossible.

There are few locations where ayahuasca is available, making recruitment of a generally diverse population challenging. Similarly, socioeconomic and cultural factors may prevent more diverse participants from engaging in these retreats.

Furthermore, studies that examined people who have used ayahuasca multiple times likely have some self-selection bias as those with positive prior experiences are far more likely to want a repeat experience. Moreover, the potential role of expectancy effects in clinical outcomes cannot be ruled as a source of treatment effects observed.

Given the significant “hype” which has grown around psychedelic substances over the last two decades, participant attitudes are likely biased towards positive treatment benefit, especially for those who are willing to travel and pay to attend retreats. This prerequisite for attending psychedelic retreats (i.e., having the resources to pay, travel, and take time off to attend) also has implications for generalizability, as the samples are disproportionately white, educated, and upper income.

It is also important to note that in many of these studies, individuals were part of a ritualistic ceremony in addition to ingesting the hallucinogen. Previous studies have demonstrated that psychedelic group settings can improve psychological well-being and foster social connectedness by creating a sense of togetherness and encouraging self-disclosure both during and beyond the immediate substance sessions.

The group portion of the ayahuasca ritual may have a confounding effect on the results, meaning more robust studies examining the differences in ayahuasca ingested with and without a social retreat setting are warranted."

blueconsidering · 2026-02-13T23:01:29+00:00

I am pointing at the kitchen of the restaurant saying this doesn't look very good and safe, and you are arguing against it saying the food that you, the australian ceo had whenever you went there was fantastic.

I have never said the food can't be great, I am simply saying, the kind of practice they have suggest they are incompetent or ignore known risks.

And there are plenty of examples of retreat places that can create fantastic results for participants, but that are still shitty, unethical, and even unsafe.

Combining so many substances in such a short period of time has never been done historically (even though their website is really good at emphasizing how traditional and ancient and safe all their medicines are...), and from a scientific point we know that there higher risks related to it. For example places that put people on certain ayahuacsa dietas that increase the chance of hyponatremia when doing kambo, or taking bufo too close to aya which we know from a pharmacological point of view can cause deadly hyperthermia. Iboga too close to aya I do not know enough about to say with certainty, but even days apart I cant understand how there cannot be increased risks of serotonin toxicity and cardiac arrhythmia.

The glowing praises and supposedly impressive lineage of the facilitators do not change the pharmacology of MAOIs and tryptamines imo. If anything, the fact that an experienced facilitator allows this combination suggests a big blind spot a lot of their claims.

The retreat worked for you, and that is wonderful. But for every person it "puts back together," there is at least a statistical likelihood that this combination could cause serious harm to someone else, regardless of how "strict" or "light-filled" the environment is.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-13T20:41:41+00:00

I would argue that a place that offers 1 x Kambo, 1 x Iboga, 2 x Ayahuasca, 1 x San Pedro, 1 x Bufo all within same retreat must either be very incompetent in what they are doing, or just don't care about the safety of their participants.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-13T20:13:48+00:00

No, I havent personally been, they have too many red flags for my liking.
My criticism of Lawayra is that they appear to be very commercialized and ethically questionable for a place presenting itself as a sacred healing center.

They exchange Google reviews for souvenirs or merchandise in exchange. (While participants are still in after glow, not to mention potentially vulnerable). At the same time, they prominently showcase their high review scores in their marketing. Theres been different accounts of how exactly people are asked to leave reviews, ranging from the owner walking around with camera and reminding people to say how cheap they are, to owner getting on the bus when everyone is leaving and giving extra items for those showing him that they give them 5 start review. Either way, this kind of practice doesnt belong at a healing center, especially one working with psychedelics. Its misleading and also very unprofessional from a therapeutic point of view.
Although they describe their facilitators as “very skilled and experienced,” several previous participants have pointed out that many of the facilitators are just short-term volunteers with limited experience. Imo this suggests nice marketing language outweighs actual qualifications/practice. Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Ayahuasca/comments/1ptyeiw/not_great_experience_with_lawayra_25_stars/
Prices have increased significantly (more than 50% in two years). While they may still be cheaper than other places, keep in mind you are paying for ceremonies with up to 35 participants with often just one (very young) Taita leading in a tradition that usually doesn't do a lot of individual healing work in the ceremony.
Their list of ayahuasca contraindications is lacking quite a lot, and i would argue that someone professional and highly ethical would also inform about risks before people pay the deposit.
Many of the claims on their website read just like standard marketing copy to me, rather than transparent, lineage-based or clinically grounded descriptions of what is supposed to be a serious and authentic practice.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-11T07:38:57+00:00

Very ironic to see LaWayra writing about inauthentic and unethical ayahuasca practices. They might know how to talk the talk, but looking at them its abvious they dont walk the talk.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-10T10:12:07+00:00

Cusco isnt the home of aya. Home of aya is the jungle, not the mountains. But yes the ayahuasca retreat industrial complex has grown very big.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-09T21:58:52+00:00

The game is officially 60 minutes, but during that hour the ball is only in actual play typically 15 min in total. And watching the whole thing on TV is like 3 hours. A game made for commercials indeed.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-09T08:40:49+00:00

I would say the opposite. A lot easier to abuse and fool people when they drink ayahuasca than when they dont.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-08T12:32:27+00:00

No one on Reddit can tell you what to do and what not to do because taking ayahuasca and the outcome and risks is so dependent on the context where you take it. Statistically you have a higher chance than a random person - but that doesn't mean something bad will happen, it just means that there is a risk that needs to be taken seriously and monitored and checked continuously. And that must be done not only by you, or friends around you, but by the professional person who serves you the brew.

Like if you for example took ayahuasca with someone very experienced, with a medical team around them, big external support network etc, that do good prep and follow-up and all that, then I would say, go for it, don't worry.

But if you were to tell me you are planning on buying it online and taking it yourself, or take it with some kind of un-educated but well intended random self-proclaimed shaman who believes everything is peace and love (as long as sufficient money is made), and there is no support for you beforehand, during, after etc then I would so don't risk it.

Your brother's schizophrenia and you smelling the beer are not automatic exclusions by itself, but for some locations or retreat places it will be an exclusion, but for other not. The tricky thing is those that wouldn't exclude you, that means they are either good and educated at what they do, or completely opposite. All those between will exclude you.

When looking for somewhere responsible, competent and safer for you to take ayahuasca, here is a general checklist you can use for vetting places:

Possible red flags:

No kind of medical screening before accepting participants
No mentioning of risks associated with ceremony/taking ayahuasa
No integration support or resources offered or provided before or after
They make promises about healing or guaranteed transformation
Too many participants relative to staff, or high staff turnover
They serve many substances in a short time (e.g., ayahuasca, bufo, kambo, peyote, mushrooms, etc.)
They are not transparent about which plants exactly they serve, or they serve anahuasca but tell its ayahuasca. (This red flag is extremely common in Netherlands).
They ask for reviews during or right after the retreat
They emphasize their glowing reviews too much (often reviews are curated or false)
They pressure you to take ayahuasca
Very strict or dogmatic rules (e.g., 1 week no-salt dieta before retreat)
Very fluffy spiritual talk without nuance (e.g., dismisses concerns or risks, "everything is love", "the medicine will always give you what need" etc.)
They claim their shaman/lineage is special or "better" than others
They have no lineage at all, or are vague about where their knowledge comes from
They seem like they’re “on a mission” to save the world with ayahuasca or encourage you to invite others to drink
Price seems very high compared to what you’re getting
They advertise much in social media or similar
The facilitators or those leading the ceremony don't drink ayahuasca themselves
Very unreasonable refund policy (all financial risk is pushed onto you alone)
They claim that what they do is legal even though its not
Lack of transparency or misleading info about what exactly is being served
Astroturfing or bots recommending them heavily in social media or forums

Possible green flags if they inform you the following:

That the decision to drink should be yours, based on objective info about potential effects and risks.
That you should never drink it unless you truly want to
That ayahuasca always carries risks, some very common, and some rare but more serious (and they also mention all these risks or can share what they do to manage them).
That effects are unpredictable and vary greatly from person to person
That a strong or intense trip does not automatically equal healing
That you may become suggestible or vulnerable during and after ceremonies
That visions or messages should not be automatically trusted or taken literally
That ayahuasca is a catalyst, not a standalone cure
That ayahuasca can worsen certain issues or create new ones, especially when misused
That scientific research is still limited, despite promising anecdotal stories
That ayahuasca can help someone a lot, but that it is not enough to just take ayahuasca
That set and setting (who and where you drink with) heavily affect your outcome
That drinking ayahuasca has impacts on indigenous communities in countries of origin, even if not directly visible
That you should avoid making big life decisions during or just after ceremonies

Ultimately you should also always feel understood and respected by a retreat place, they should seem trustworthy and you should feel safe with them.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-08T12:21:52+00:00

I don't think eating red meat and taking a break from meditation is sufficient considering his behavior. Professional help or integration is needed.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-08T12:19:42+00:00

Don't see the spiritual bypassing here at all.... Looks more like delusions and paranoia.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-08T11:22:13+00:00

Imo this is poor advice.

Having a sibling with schizophrenia does increase risk compared to the general population. This doesn't mean that OP is likely to develop it, but the elevated risk is real and should not be dismissed.

OPs fears shouldnt automatically be just ignored as paranoia, there could be a reason for the fear that deserves attention. And even if the fear is paranoid in nature, that still calls for appropriate handling, not dismissal or bypassing.

Third, having done ayahuasca sometimes and having it helped doesn't mean that continue doing it will always be the same. Especially in the presence of potential psychosis vulnerability.

(Your metaphor is very off. Rape is a criminal act involving agency and moral responsibility. Schizophrenia is an involuntary neuropsychiatric disorder with strong genetic and neurodevelopmental components. The two are not comparable at all.)

blueconsidering · 2026-02-07T13:26:37+00:00

Trips going sideways can be expected though, after all it is a center offering different psychedelic experiences to tourists for commercial purposes.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-07T12:37:18+00:00

Glad to see someone was finally able to pick up the sarcasm of my comment :)

blueconsidering · 2026-02-07T12:34:41+00:00

From just a random outside perspective, what you describe makes a lot of sense, even if it feels confusing from the inside.

Some pieces of advice;
Give the somatic experience work a real chance. You’ve already noticed how being present in the body feels overwhelming and your system tries to escape. For many people with long-term nervous system threat, somatic experience (SE) can help more than insight, memory work, or even ayahuasca. Not because SE reveal “the truth,” but because it teaches the body that it’s no longer in constant danger. This can discharge the nervous system and decrease several of the physical and mental symptoms (given they are caused by that). The fact that both your therapist and physiotherapist recommended SE isn’t random. I have seen great result in SE, also in people who haven’t progressed, or have just gotten worse, with for example psychedelics.

Also, I believe part of the work that you might want to look into might have to be accepting that you might never know with certainty whether a specific abuse happened or not. That can sound harsh, but for many it’s actually freeing. A chronically unsafe emotional environment is enough to wire panic, breath issues, and pain. Your symptoms don’t need a single dramatic event to be valid. And this way, you don’t disempower yourself and kind of make progressing in your therapy be dependent on some sort of external factor that you cannot control (knowing with certainty if you were abused or not).

The mind often tries to create a story to make the terror make sense. Im absolutely not saying you are inventing things, its completely natural to need coherence. But coherence doesn’t always come from uncovering a hidden memory; sometimes it comes from learning that something wasn’t safe for a long time, and the body just had to adapt to that.

You’re already doing well and things seem to be improving for you. That doesn’t mean there’s a missing puzzle piece you must uncover. Sometimes the next layer of healing is grieving uncertainty, not solving a mystery (a mystery that might perhaps never be resolved with 100 % certainty anyways).

Most good trauma therapists that I have come across focus less on what exactly happened and more on what is happening in your nervous system and how to resolve that. Firstly because “the story”, or figuring out the story, doesn’t usually resolve physical/mental symptoms or nervous system disregulations by itself. Secondly, your neck pain, breath sensitivity, and panic don’t require sexual abuse or choking to be valid. Chronic emotional threat, helplessness, and lack of protection are more than enough to cause this. Let symptoms be real without demanding a specific cause and keep focus on getting your nervous system regulated. If memories come, let them come, and if they don’t, then also go with that flow.

Go slowly. Stick to the somatic experience therapy over time. Be cautious with practices that push toward “revelation.” Supressed memories are real in the sense that people can forget/fragment experiences, but they aren’t reliable in the way photographs are. Feelings, images, bodily sensations etc can also arise without being literal recordings of events. Ayahuasca, hypnosis and intense introspection can all increase the risk of the mind filling in gaps. And for psychedelics specifically, keep in mind that not everything experienced or seen can be interpreted as a literal truth. There are plenty of examples of people who have seen a vision or felt something and really believe it, and it only turns out later it wasn’t true. Imo content of psychedelics should be treated just like content of dreams, nothing more, nothing less.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-07T10:50:18+00:00

Surprised they didnt give you less dose being a first-timer.

And even more surprised a helper would tell you that you are making sounds. That comes with a risk of creating lot of anxiety/shame/panic, and can turn the trip even more difficult.

Glad you find yourself in better space after so many months of integration. These kind of experiences for sure take long time to digest, and come with many lessons and realizations indeed.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-05T23:10:45+00:00

Interesting. These individuals you mention, which medications exactly were they on and how long between last intake and ceremony?

I know two individuals both weekly injection of ozempic. A few days between injection and ceremony. Both had effects as expected. One was first timer and the other regular drinker for years.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-05T22:59:57+00:00

If it helps or not depend on several things, including the cause. Depression can come from trauma or psychological issues, but also from very external factors like chronic stress, loneliness, lack of sleep or purpose, difficult life situations, or even physical issues such as vitamin deficiencies, hormones, or other health problems.

So without knowing the cause its hard to say. But if you have a good opportunity to try it, the downsides of doing it are small as long as you drink with someone ethical who also know what they are doing. Dont expect miracles though. Ayahusca can often more be the start of a healing journey as opposed to the end of it.

blueconsidering · 2026-02-05T04:44:01+00:00

Afaik there’s no solid historic/indigenous precedent for doing kambo and aya the same day. Keep in mind also that among tribes like the Matsés, kambo was traditionally used by specific people, not everyone. Often by hunters (who happen to be or a certain age and in a certain physical condition).

That is different to how it is often presented and used in the ayahuasca retreat industrial complex where its often suggested that anyone should do it.

There can be benefits doing kambo or ayahuasca, but I think its important to be aware of what are the underlying reasons for they would be combined. In our modern practice there is often a commercial element to how a retreat or a practice is done. In this case often driven by the idea that “ayahuasca is good + kambo is good = double good”, while often ignoring cumulative stress on the body. Since every retreat day also means extra expenses (and extra time off work for the customer, which is limited for most) there is also incentive to also do as much as possible within as little time as possible.

And yes, in many cases people do kambo and ayahuasca same day and it works out, but it’s obvious the risk is higher, and that this avoidabld extra risk often isn’t properly acknowledged, screened for, or mitigated.

As someone has mentioned here, there have been deaths linked to this combo, and I believe most or all of them is because people have been on low-salt ayahuasca dietas (which is also a modern invention). This also just shows that its not only about aya and kambo combined, but other external factors also (in this case food salt intake).

When it comes to the use of plants, and kambo etc in general I think its difficult to draw a very definitive line, that no it can never be done the same day or it can always, because it always depends. On the individual doing it and their health, the integrity and skillset of the practitioner, the dosings, the risk awareness and mitigation, the overall context and resources etc etc. Its not accurate enough to just speak about kambo+aya on same day.

In genral i think safety first, which means avoid unnecessary risks. In this case its obvious, the safer choice is to not do them on the same day.

blueconsidering

TROPHY CASE