Confluence Retreats

I lost my wife of 32 years nearly three years ago. Although I have progressed well through the grief process, I had changed. I no longer was the same person. I had a lot of anxiety built up and was very insecure in many ways. I decided to give psilocybin a try. I honestly stumbled upon Confluence by a simple Google search. I’m so glad I found them! These were the most transformative 5 days of my life. Through the preparation process suggested by Myles and Jules, I was absolutely ready for the experience. The entire retreat was great. The venue was beautiful nestled into the hillside of beautiful mountains. So much nicer than being in a town or city. We did great breath work sessions and meditation on the days we weren’t doing the mushrooms. The food was phenomenal! All fresh and expertly prepared. For me though, the mushrooms were the stars of the experience. We had mushroom journeys on Thursday and Saturday. I received exactly what I wanted and what I needed. On the long journey on Saturday I felt as if I was told “Chris, it’s your time to be happy”. Not only that but I realized I can be happy on my own. I don’t need anyone else to make me happy. I hadn’t felt this way in years(if ever)and I truly believe the mushrooms are responsible for the new me. It’s been over a month since my experience and I am in a better place in my life. The journeys were life changing for me. The small group dynamic was wonderful. Everyone felt like family by the end of the retreat; participants, facilitators, everyone! I can’t imagine having the mushroom journey and going back to a lonely hotel room afterwards. I don’t think I would have gotten as much from the experience. The support received post retreat has been outstanding. They really want you to continue the integration process and they help guide you through this with supportive Zoom calls. These are done with the entire participant group and individually. I’m so grateful to the entire Confluence and Omnia teams. They are awesome people. I felt safe and secure in the container they provided.

I attended a 5 day Confluence Retreats psilocybin session during October of 2024 on the recommendation of my spouse
of 45 years who had been there several months earlier. It was a very simple “I think you would find it a very positive
experience and you may find answers to questions you don’t realize you have”. I was a bit hesitant of the thought at
first but had seen first-hand the very positive results she had achieved and decided to follow her lead to see where it
took me. To describe it as life changing would be an understatement.

What would I want to improve in my life? What answers to what questions am I looking for at this stage of my life? Will I
really get something out of this or will I come back wondering why I went? I pondered these questions over the next
several months and prior to attending. If I was going to attend, I wanted to get the most out of it that I could, so what
did I hope to achieve?

I’m 64 years old and have been in leadership positions since my early years and always felt my self-worth revolved
around completion of tasks or a “job well done”. I’ve never been a good communicator on an emotional level, nor have
I been in touch with my spiritual side. I’ve always struggled with a sense of self, had trouble expressing how I feel and
fully understanding others feelings when shared with me. These topics always made me very uncomfortable so I would
close myself off by avoiding the conversation or shutting down, assuming that if it wasn’t discussed then everything
must be okay. I decided that I wanted to find a way to overcome the emotional blocks I’ve experienced throughout my
life, dig deep to improve communication and get in touch with my spiritual self. I went to the retreat feeling a bit up-
tight and reserved but with the mind-set of “If I’m going to attend, I’m going to trust the process, fully immerse myself in
the experience and see where it takes me”.

Being “off-grid” in the remote Southern Oregon Mountains for a 5 day retreat was the right decision for me. It gave me
the opportunity to unplug from my daily life, focus on myself and immerse myself in the full experience with others who
were attending for their own reasons while allowing me to be there for mine. The well-defined daily schedule of events,
group sessions, quiet time to reflect and look inward, community meals (excellent food by the way…), friendship &
comraderie all fell in place to make the experience more meaningful and one I will never forget.

Having 2 separate psilocybin journeys during the 5 day retreat was very beneficial to me and because of the retreat
format, group sessions, etc. I felt prepared for each of the journeys as they occurred. Having them close together with
the support and guidance of the retreat leaders added to and greatly improved the experience for me. Both journeys
had their place and each had their own message for me; the first being one of facing some internal demons while the
second was finding paths to improve my life. Answers to questions I had prior to attending came in to focus. Questions I
didn’t know I had presented themselves as well, some were answered while others influenced future thought. Some
came during the journeys, others soon after or over the next several days.

I could feel new pathways had opened in my brain & I began to see things differently. I became more aware of and can now more readily express my thoughts & emotions. Prayer, spirituality and looking inward are no longer foreign to me but a comfort I’ve long sought. Meaningful conversations and hard topics are something I now look forward to. Living “in the moment” and being here right now-wherever that “here” is, has become my new normal.

My wife said I came home a different but better person than the one who left. I agree with that statement and am very
thankful to Confluence Retreats for helping me become that person.

I like this version of me, I think I’ll keep it.

The 5-day retreat was one of the most profoundly enriching experiences of my life. While committing to five days is a significant investment, I found the well-designed and expertly facilitated program invaluable for deep immersion. The "container" that Confluence cultivates provided a safe and supportive environment for honest reflection and sharing—something I didn't expect, but which led to meaningful insights for healing and growth.

We had two distinct sessions involving the ingestion process—one at a lower, yet still potent, dose, and another at the maximum legal dose. Both took place in a spa-like setting, opposite from the cold, clinical setting. The space featured super comfortable beds, weighted blankets, and an atmosphere that maximized our experience.

The retreat's stunning forest setting only enhanced the experience, with beautiful trails, quiet cabins, towering trees, a tranquil yurt, and even a cozy dining cabin offering amazing home-cooked meals.

I can't praise Myles and his team enough. They are truly angels, providing unwavering support before, during, and after the retreat. Their care and dedication helped make this retreat a transformative, keystone moment in my life. It has propelled me forward in my journey of self-growth and healing, allowing me to level up in ways I hadn't thought possible.

In the fall of 2024, feeling quite desperate I made the decision to finally take a journey. I have utilized many modalities seeking to improve my overall health and wellbeing through the years including therapy, EMDR, SSRIs, neurofeedback, ketamine infusions and more. Researching mental health and resources for PTSD has opened my mind to the therapeutic use of psychedelics as medicine.

I felt so stuck inside myself, stuck in therapy, stuck in the same thought patterns despite active work seeking change. Honestly, I felt so trapped by mental barriers, weary, and hopeless.

So I reached out to Confluence Retreats, it took me a couple of weeks before I committed. The experience that I had facilitated through Confluence Retreats is one of the most profound of my life. I felt released from mental roadblocks and energetic blocks. This experience was indescribable; I felt an incredible energetic clearing and recalibration.

I have so much gratitude that I participated with a group, the environment felt safe and supportive. I am also so glad I was able to journey 2 times as each journey had its own offerings and I appreciate the breath work offered prior to journeying.

I believe I was meant to have the experience I did with the people in my group and will always feel connected to them, very impactful. Confluence offered well thought out supportive activities, delicious healthy food, and incredible facilitators and adjunct supporters.

Hard to imagine a better experience for a psilocybin journey. Not kidding at all.

Myles and Julianna were absolute masters at guiding us through the intentions and the nerves and the steps, and the whole Confluence staff was assiduous about taking care of our every need throughout the event. Gentleness, professionalism, openness, warmth, well-timed nudges, listening ears, flexibility, a breathtaking setting, great food, nice accommodations, deep discussion, laughs—it was all there. There was even a sacredness and ritual around the delivery of the medicine that put me in a reverential state for the mystery of what was about to happen.

I was initially reluctant about the group setting versus just a one-on-one experience, afraid that it would be too personal or that I'd do something embarrassing under the influence. None of that happened, and quite to the contrary, having the group was a massive benefit, almost to the point that I wouldn't want it any other way. We bonded up front, and that made it feel safer to go through such an intense experience for the first time. After the first journey, we processed together, supported each other, and shared that feeling of having weathered something powerful hand-in-hand. I still feel a gratitude and a love for my retreat-mates and hold them almost as family.

Having it be a retreat setting with multiple days in a place of beautiful nature was likewise surprisingly poignant. The follow-up one-on-one sessions with the facilitators, the walks in (stunning!) nature, and the group sharing circles all gave the medicine's effects space to sink in and integrate freely without the normal worldly cares interfering.

As for the psilocybin itself, just... wow. I had been stuck, with serious depression, anxiety, and anger, for years. That's not all gone, but I couldn't get any freedom or purchase on progress at all, and now I can. Something tight and blocked in me, emotional in nature but that I could feel even physically in my body, just opened right up, and now I'm moving forward again. I consciously wanted that ahead of time, and it was like the psilocybin was a genie that just granted the wish. Not all of my intentions panned out exactly like that, but this one was massive. In addition, this years-joyless man started feeling joy again, and this intuition-dead man started intuiting again. I started trusting again that God is watching over me. On those counts, I'm talking night and day before and after the journey.