La Medicina

I have attended two retreats at La Medicina and cannot recommend it highly enough. The place is so well run, they really have thought of every last detail and everything is taken care of for you so that all you have to do is focus on working with the medicine and your own personal journey.

The accommodation is really comfortable, with good quality bedding, hot showers and regular housekeeping. My room had a hammock and their library of inspiring books is exceptional. The food was very high quality, nutritious and curated to perfectly support the medicine experience.

The maloca is set beautifully up in the canopy of the rainforest, you really feel like you are sitting in nature throughout your time at the center and particularly during ceremony when the sounds of the jungle compliment, the sounds inside the Malacca perfectly. The staff are kind and supportive and the facilitation team are highly experienced. The Maestros were incredible, it is hard to put into writing how much of a privilege it is to work with them.

Overall, the way the place is set up and operated by its highly skilled and empathetic team leaves you feeling completely held in the experience from the moment you arrive until the day you leave and this really maximizes how much you can get out of working with the medicine. My first ever ayahuasca experience was at La Medicina and I could not have hoped for a better team to guide me through my first encounters with this powerful medicine.

La Medicina is set up perfectly for those seeking a transformative experience with the medicine in an authentic jungle setting, true to the traditional shipibo approach, but also with enough comfort to ensure that you can focus entirely on your own journey.

I have attended La Medicina four times now. I chose them after extensive research to make sure I was in the best of hands! After all my research, I chose La Medicina. Their interview process to make sure we will have the best journey, is unsurpassed. Their adherence to medical safety is unlike others. Their maestros are extremely experienced and the Ayahuasca preparation is done with the freshest ingredients and by the local maestro. I wholeheartedly recommend La Medicina for your next journey!!

I’ve completed four Ayahuasca retreats and one Master Plant Dieta at La Medicina. Words cannot fully capture what Ayahuasca and this center have done for me. I have been transformed physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically, and spiritually.

I am a recovered heroin addict and struggled with a variety of other addictions, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation for the better part of a decade. Working with Ayahuasca at La Medicina revealed the root causes of my suffering and illuminated a path toward healing. The medicine taught me how to heal myself, and La Medicina provided a safe container for me to learn, grow, and empower myself by taking responsibility for my life. Through this process, I’ve found the capacity to alchemize shadow into light, fear into love, and contraction into an expanded state of consciousness.

I’ve sat with Maestro Jorge and Maestra Sulmira in ten Ayahuasca ceremonies and with Maestro Gabriel and Maestra Tania in three additional ceremonies outside of the dieta, plus five more during the Master Plant Dieta itself. Truly, they are all master healers from strong lineages, with profound connections to the medicine and Pachamama. They have helped me attune to my higher self so that I can step into being an active creator of my reality.

The facilitators are also incredible. They are an integral part of what makes La Medicina so unique—intuitive, kind, and selfless in service. They carry a wealth of knowledge about the Shipibo tradition and share it generously. Both inside and outside of ceremony, they are present and deeply attentive to the needs of every guest. I feel blessed to have them as guides and teachers on this plant medicine path.

The facilities at La Medicina are comfortable and immersed in the jungle. I’ve stayed in both the eco-tambo and Casa Huéspedes; both are excellent. That said, if you’re afraid of large grasshoppers, you may want to avoid the eco-tambo!

The food is outstanding. Across dozens of meals, I’ve never had one that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy.

I’ve also spent countless hours walking along the many jungle paths at La Medicina, encountering insects with intricate patterns and vivid colors, little jungle cats, monkeys, and toads.

Most of the master plants I dieted at La Medicina grow right on the property, which allowed me to connect with them in a visceral and intimate way. Before dieting them, I had already spent time meditating near and smoking Mapacho around these plants, without knowing what they were. Now, after the dieta, they are familiar allies, and their teachings will continue to unfold for decades to come.

I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude for La Medicina. As I’ve said, words cannot fully convey what I feel. Music, poetry, and art come closer to expressing the overwhelming emotions and transcendent experiences I’ve had here, but even they fall short of capturing the magnitude of it all. La Medicina has become like a second home to me, and I already have plans to return in a couple of months for another retreat.

All I can say is — Irake!