Rooted in a long Amazonian medical tradition and enriched by the experience of Polish therapists working within a holistic, transpersonal framework, this ayahuasca retreat with a master plant dieta offers far more than a psychedelic journey or a conventional psychedelic therapy session. It is a path of self-discovery, deep work with the roots of personal challenges, and a way to find direction, meaning, and ongoing growth alongside plant allies.

Our approach to serving ayahuasca

Ayahuasca is priceless. This means no price can be placed on the relationship built with the medicine, just as love, health, feelings, and abundance cannot be measured in money. For that reason, we do not sell ayahuasca or charge for it directly.

We see the “I pay, therefore I demand” mindset as a limitation, one that can block a meaningful relationship with the plant and trap us in consumer expectations that ultimately harm us most.

Our main intention is to offer a deep, safe, and transformative experience with ayahuasca and the other teachers of the Amazon rainforest.

The retreat fee covers the work of the healers and the full team, as well as all costs related to the venue and the retreat itself. Thanks to this model and your trust, we can help sustain and develop living plant medicine traditions.

The medicine itself remains free. We treat it as a living, intelligent being. Gathering it, preparing it, and cooking it are just as important as the ceremony. We do our best to return it to the forest and plant it wherever possible. Our role is to serve it, just as we serve you.

The role of ayahuasca in the dieta process

In the Amazon, ayahuasca is considered one of the plant teachers. For the healers who work with it, it is a source of knowledge, and that is its primary function in the dieta process. This knowledge concerns both the shaman’s understanding of what is happening with a patient and how to help, and the guest’s ability to recognize the mysteries of their body, mind, place in life and in the world, as well as the roots of their problems and ways to resolve them.

Ayahuasca also supports and deepens the connection with the additional plant chosen for the dieta. All elements work in synergy here: the structure and restrictions of the dieta, the strength of the psychoactive brew, and the healing potential of the other plants. This approach often creates a more powerful effect than even experienced ayahuasca users may know.

During a plant dieta, ayahuasca is usually felt more strongly thanks to the participant’s preparation and the way the dieta affects the body. Sensitivity is heightened through isolation, the removal of everyday stimulation and distractions, and the avoidance of certain foods, spices, salt, and sugar. In this way, the participant can go deeper. Ayahuasca also responds to determination, patience, and humility.

What a Shipibo ceremony looks like

At every ceremony, at least two indigenous Shipibo shamans are present, together with experienced Polish-speaking therapists and assistants. An indigenous female healer also works with us, ensuring that if any physical intervention or care is needed for female guests, it can be offered in a safe, transparent, and respectful way.

The Shipibo style means complete darkness, no unnecessary objects, and no decorative extras. Only you, the medicine, and the power of personalized healing songs known as icaros, weaving visions, harmony, and new energetic patterns.

We follow a safety protocol designed to support each process with care and minimize serious complications. It is based on many years of experience and hundreds of ceremonies guided by our team. Safety and effectiveness are equally important to us.

Introduction to Samá — the plant dieta

The word “dieta” comes from the Greek diaita, meaning a way of life. It includes not only food, but also how we exist in the world, how we think, and how we relate to our environment and others. In Shipibo, Samá refers to a therapeutic and spiritual practice of isolation and focused work that allows for integration and lasting benefit from plant medicine.

In Amazonian tradition, this means stepping beyond the trance of everyday life and reorganizing it completely in order to shift attention and open a new quality of communication — with the plants and with yourself. If you are seeking a radical breakthrough, you need a radical approach.

You may already have taken ayahuasca or gone through another initiation that showed you the direction you need to follow. Yet it can still feel difficult and complex, and you may not know where to begin, caught in the web of habitual living. But there is a way.

It is an ancient practice found across many cultures: withdrawing from the social game, releasing habits, and listening for the voice of wild nature. Whether it is Jesus in the desert, an Amazonian shaman learning from plants, a hermit, an ascetic, a vipassana meditator, or a modern person seeking deeper self-understanding — these are different expressions of a similar intention.

How the dieta works

The dieta begins with a special flower bath in medicinal plants, designed to cleanse and make you more open to contact with plant spirits. Your dieta plant is selected based on the intention you send us: what you wish to heal, change, or learn.

The dieta is formally opened with the first ayahuasca ceremony, during which the healers can further diagnose your process, connect you with the plant you will diet, and possibly choose an additional one. You, too, will be able to see more clearly what is happening — the details of what troubles you and the direction worth following.

You may diet one of many available teacher plants, such as Ajo Sacha, Bobinsana, Chiric Sanango, Chuchuhuasi, Uña de Gato, and others. You may choose one yourself if you know the local flora, or the healers will select it according to your intentions.

After the first ceremony, you receive your first dose of the plant the next day. Preparation, portion size, frequency, and total number of doses depend on the plant and the length of your dieta. Some are taken every other day; others only three or four times at the start of a longer process. Different plants have different requirements, and some call for greater care, including avoiding sun exposure or excessive effort.

Living in isolation, supported throughout

Most of the dieta is spent in isolation. The first day allows time to meet the other participants, and the final day includes shared integration, celebration, and exchange, but during the process it is essential to avoid casual conversation and social gatherings outside the ceremonies. The only people who visit your hut are staff, for specific purposes, including individual consultations if needed.

You will stay in a private tambo — a forest hut protected from mosquitoes, with a bed, hammock, and desk. Simple meals are brought twice a day. Food is served without salt, sugar, spices, oil, or sweet fruit.

We recommend pausing reading, music, and internet use, and turning inward through meditation. Activities that do not involve external stimulation are encouraged. Instead of reading someone else’s book, you may write your own journal or record your dreams. Instead of electronic music, you may play an instrument or sing. Some communication with plant spirits happens through musical inspiration.

Forest walks, yoga, and drawing are also welcome.

Our retreat schedule allows time for rest and integration after each ceremony.

Ceremony structure and post-dieta support

Ceremonies take place in the maloca, a round traditional meeting space used by Amazonian tribes. Guests, shamans, therapists, and assistants gather there every other day during the dieta, allowing for physical rest and integration. Ceremonies are held in darkness, each guest has their own bed, and personalized healing songs — icaros — are sung for them. Everyone sleeps there together and leaves for their own huts only at dawn. The following day is a noble silence day, giving each guest space to digest the experience and draw their own conclusions. The next day, individual consultations are available. During the final ceremony, the dieta is closed and protected through special protective songs called arkanas, and the following day is a celebration, an official closing, a feast, and an integration circle. You are also guided through the important post-dieta process of gradually returning to ordinary life, with additional consultations available if needed.

Why diet with us

Learning and healing are inseparable on this holistic path of traditional medicine. Many healers began by addressing their own overwhelming problems or those of someone close to them. Even if you are not considering becoming a healer, healing itself is a long process of uncovering, untangling, and repairing trauma, harmful habits, and their deeper causes — the roots behind both physical and psychological blocks to health, growth, and happiness.

With ayahuasca, you explore the mysteries of your own life, your personal history, and the present moment. You release trauma buried in the unconscious and become more responsible for your destiny. This does not mean you will no longer feel sadness or suffering, but you will be able to make more conscious choices instead of being pushed by forces you do not understand.

The plants also help ease or even remove symptoms, sometimes cleansing the body in a very direct physical way from negative energies accumulated through years of neglect.

This traditional therapy, combining ayahuasca ceremonies and plant dieta, has proven effective for many guests facing issues such as addictions, depression, lack of purpose, anxiety, emotional difficulty, low self-esteem, anger, PTSD, trauma, and various physical concerns often linked to psychosomatic causes.

Retreat lengths

10, 20, 30, or 40-day ayahuasca retreat and master plant dieta in Peru.

This intimate dieta is designed in a traditional style within a family community, under the care of Shipibo healers and an international team of facilitators.

We invite you into a transformative process in isolation — a kind of shamanic vipassana — offering contact with plant spirits, deeper self-understanding, insight into the roots of personal challenges, release from blocks, and a renewed path of growth.

The dieta is a special tool and ritual for improving mental and physical well-being. It is also a fundamental step on the path of traditional Amazonian shamanism, making it a meaningful opportunity for anyone who feels called to healing.

If anything is unclear or you would like to know more, please send us a message. We are happy to go into the details, and if needed, we can also arrange a direct online conversation.

Ayahuasca Ceremonies in Nauta