The Portal: One-Day Community Gathering at Libélula
The Portal: One-Day Community Gathering at Libélula
Libélula Healing Center, Esperanza, Esperanza, Turrubares, CR, 11605
Up to 35 in group
Feb 7, 2026
A preparation course valued at $109 is included with the retreat at no extra cost
Retreat Highlights
- Plant Medicine
- Holistic Health Suite
- Indigenous Communities
- Land & Community Reciprocity
- Bodywork & Pain Management
- Rest & Integration
- Community
- Organic Land Grown Food
- Heart & Soul
- Jungian Psychology Undercurrent
About this Retreat
Kene is the co‑founder of Libélula and a long‑time walker of the ceremonial path. His work is rooted in lived experience, humility, and deep respect for Indigenous wisdom. Through plant medicine, meditation, and embodied practices, Kene supports others in reconnecting with themselves and remembering their innate capacity to heal.
Maisie is the co‑founder of Libélula, a lifelong lover of nature, creativity, and sustainable living. Her work is rooted in connection — to the land, the body, and the wisdom of plants. She is deeply devoted to creating spaces of safety, beauty, and nourishment where authentic transformation can unfold.
Txua is a Txana of the Huni Kuin people from Yube Nawa village, carrying a lineage of deep relationship with the plants, the forest, and the unseen worlds they reveal. For Txua, this work is not something learned in theory or chosen as a role. It is something listened for, something remembered & something that grows through years of devotion and discipline.
His first teachers were his grandmother and the elders of his community, who passed on both the knowledge of the plants and the permission to work with them. In Huni Kuin tradition, becoming a pajé is not a title that can be trained for or claimed. It is a calling that unfolds through long diets, prayer, and direct relationship with the medicine itself. Txua will tell you that the training never truly ends with these works!
Txua began drinking medicine at a young age, entering more deeply into the work as a teenager. Over the years, he has completed two major dietas working with the plants for very long extended periods of time; these dietas span years. He continues walking the path toward the third, a stage in which the medicine itself reveals which role a pajé is meant to carry.
In his tradition, there are different ways of serving: those who pass the medicine, those who heal through spiritual work during ceremony, and those who work intimately with the plants themselves, understanding their qualities, spirits, and teachings.
Txua regards the plants as professors who teach how to care for the body, how to restore balance & how to work with the spirit world in service of healing. During ceremony, he works closely with specific plant spirits, including the spirit of the muca plant, which is the spirit of a specific potato which guides his prayers and songs. His icaros (Sacred chants) are living tools used to cleanse, protect, and hold people through different stages of their process
When someone’s journey becomes difficult or intense, Txua listens carefully to what is needed in that moment. Different icaros serve different purposes: some clear heavy energy, some protect, some soothe, some help restore balance.
What Txua hopes guests carry with them after ceremony is not just insight, but realignment. A return to the heart. A sense of happiness, protection, and right relationship with their path in life. For him, the medicine is ultimately about reconnection: with oneself, with others, and with the joy of being alive.
Beyond ceremony, Txua also carries a deep responsibility to his family and village. While the forest holds abundance in plants and knowledge, there is often scarcity in practical resources needed to support healers and connect communities, such as tools, instruments, and transportation. His work is rooted in service: helping his people, supporting his home, and bringing prosperity back to the village so the tradition can continue.
He describes his village as holding an essence of the desire to help - help humanity transform & move closer to the path of love in all they do.
Txua walks this path with humility, gratitude, and devotion. He does not claim to know how long he has been with the medicine. In his words, the medicine has simply always been there, guiding the work as it continues to unfold.
Syriani carries the medicine of the feminine force of the forest. As a Txana, her role is to bring balance, sacred geometry & the wisdom of the serpent into ceremony, embodying the receptive, intuitive, and deeply listening current of the medicine.
She works in relationship with the jiboia which is the great boa constrictor spirit & is a living intelligence that moves through geometry, breath & sensation within the body. Through this connection, Syriani listens to what is unfolding inside each person who has received the medicine, allowing her songs to arise directly from the process being lived
For Syriani, the serpent is not symbolic. It is a presence felt within the body itself. By attuning to this spirit, she can sense where energy is moving, where it is held, and what is ready to be softened or released. Her ícaros help guide guests back into their centre, anchoring them through breath, slowness, and embodied awareness.
When someone’s process becomes intense, Syriani meets them gently. She first asks whether support is needed, honouring choice and consent. If assistance is welcomed, her songs work to calm the nervous system, reconnect the person with their core, and restore inner rhythm. In keeping with tradition, women support women and men support men, preserving safety and energetic integrity.
Syriani hopes guests leave with a deeper sense of happiness, peace & alignment with their life path. Her wish is that the strength found in ceremony continues long after the retreat, supporting each person to walk their path with clarity and heart.
She carries deep gratitude for her family and the Great Spirit & for the opportunity to share the knowledge passed down through her lineage. Her journey with the medicine began at the age of eleven alongside her father. She has been working ceremonially since her teens and continues to walk a lifelong path of learning, dietas, and devotion
For Syriani & the other Txias this work is never finished. It is a living relationship with the forest, the ancestors, and the unfolding wisdom of the medicine — offered in service, song, and alegria!
Kaya Isa carries the path of the Txana as a living relationship with the spirit of the medicine, the ancestors, and the joy that moves through song. For him, this work is not learned in the mind, but remembered through listening: to the plants, to prayer, and to the guidance of those who walked before him.
His journey with the medicine began at a young age, first drinking alongside his brother Txua and his uncle. Like all his brothers, his grandmother has been his greatest teacher, transmitting the lineage through presence, prayer, and lived experience rather than instruction alone.
Kaya Isa understands the medicines as teachers that work through vibration, sound, and feeling. When he sings, he channels the spirit of the Txana itself: the spirit of music, play, joy, and healing. His songs are guided by ancestral presence and arise in direct response to what is needed in the moment.
In ceremony, Kaya Isa meets each person with attentiveness and respect. When processes feel intense, he first listens deeply, sensing whether support is needed or whether the medicine is already doing its work. From there, specific ícaros are offered to cleanse, hold, or restore balance, always guided by the spirit.
What Kaya Isa hopes guests carry with them is an open heart, happiness, and a renewed sense of alignment. His focus is alegria: a joy that comes from reconnection with oneself and with life. A prayer often heard in ceremony, Eskawata Kayaway, reflects this understanding: the healing is already happening. The cleaning is already working. Everything is in motion, and everything is well.
Kaya Isa feels deep honour to share the ancestral knowledge he carries alongside his family, offering this work with humility, devotion, and love.
Eskawata Kayaway, Kayaway Kiki - Constant Transformation Through Love.
Originally from Argentina, Fito has walked the medicine path from a young age, guided by lived experience, travel, and a deep listening to life’s unseen currents. Leaving home at twenty-one, he spent many years travelling through Brazil, often living simply and working on the road, gradually being drawn into relationship with sacred medicines.
A profound life-changing event marked a turning point, leading him into deeper study with the medicines in Brazil and later in the Amazon, where he lived and learned alongside different Indigenous tribes. His path eventually carried him to Peru, where he connected deeply with Huachuma and the spirit of the Condor, spending over a decade in the Sacred Valley holding ceremonies, living in community, and weaving medicine work into daily life.
Fito’s journey has included powerful spiritual initiations & deep inner transformation. With the guidance of trusted teachers, these experiences were gradually grounded into disciplined practice, purification, and humility, shaping a steady and embodied way of working with the medicines.
He later trained with Shipibo teachers and continued his path with the Huni Kuin, supporting ceremonies with quiet presence, care, and respect for lineage. For Fito, the medicines are teachers rather than experiences, and ceremony is a living relationship rooted in responsibility and devotion.
At Libélula, Fito brings the wisdom of a long and deeply lived path, offering grounded support within ceremony and holding the space with integrity, warmth, and reverence.
Jesse is a holistic health practitioner, bodyworker, and guide working at the intersection of somatic healing, depth psychology, and ceremonial practice. His work is rooted in lived experience, long-term devotion, and a deep respect for the intelligence of the body, psyche, and spirit.
What began with a series of deep mental challenges followed by years of health problems became a calling leading him to move from mechanical engineering into body engineering working with complex pain cases before moving into deeper aspects of Jungian based holistic health coaching understanding that the root of a client’s pain often is not just physical but mental, emotional & even spiritual in origin.
Trained as a holistic lifestyle coach, CHEK practitioner, pain therapist, and fascia based bodyworker, Jesse has have spent many years supporting others through physical pain, trauma, and life transitions.
His work is strongly informed by somatic intelligence, fascia-based therapy, nervous system regulation, and Jungian psychology, with a particular sensitivity to shadow material and the inner landscapes that can emerge during deep healing work.
Alongside clinical and body-based approaches, Jesse has walked a long ceremonial path under guidance, learning how prayer, ritual, plant medicines, and embodied presence can support transformation when held with care, humility, and integrity.
At Libélula, as manager Jesse looks after the ecosystem of the center, ensuring that each guests holding begins long before they walk through our doors & he supports guests through preparation, embodied integration, 1:1 holding & bodywork during retreats & ceremony.
Details of this retreat
The Portal: One-Day Community Gathering at Libélula
Friday 7th February | 9:00am–8:00pm
A day of prayer, purification, wisdom, and song with our Huni Kuin family.
We’re opening the Libélula Sanctuary for a full-day gathering to bring the local community into the heart of the land, the medicines, and the living traditions we’re honoured to host.
This is a day to rest into presence, reconnect, and remember.
We work with the Temazcal to cleanse the body and steady the spirit, the Txanas will then share a wisdom circle sharing their knowledge of the forest.
We will work with Hapé to clear the mind and anchor the heart before enjoying songs and prayers shared by the Huni Kuin to weave protection, alegria, and medicine through sound musical vibration.
We’ll share a buffet lunch, with the invitation to stay with us for the full day.
Schedule
9:00 – 9:45 Arrivals, welcome, grounding tea (please arrive before this to be ready for the lodge)
10:00 – 12:00 Temazcal (Sweat Lodge)
12:00 – 1:00 Cooling, rest & hydration
1:00 – 2:30 Buffet Lunch
2:30 – 4:00 Huni Kuin Wisdom Circle
4:00 – 5:00 Rest, integration & enjoying the land
5:00 – 6:30 Hapé Circle
6:30 – 8:00 Songs, prayers, sharing + closing circle
(Exact pacing may flex slightly based on the group and the land.)
What To Expect In Each Part Of The Day;
Temazcal
A purification lodge for the body, mind, and spirit.
Temazcal is an ancient sweat lodge tradition found across many Indigenous cultures. It’s a simple technology with deep power: heat, steam, prayer, breath, and the humility of being inside the dark. In that darkness; the nervous system softens, the body releases and the mind gets quieter so that something deeper can be witnessed and heard.
Inside the lodge, stones are brought in and herbal water is poured to create medicine infused steam. The experience often moves through waves with the invitation being not to “tough it out”, but to stay connected to your breath, your body, and your own inner yes/no.
People often feel deep cleansing through sweat, emotional release and nervous system settling creating a sense of reset and renewal and a quieter, more grounded state afterwards.
Important note
Temazcal is not about forcing. You can always step out if you need. We hold it with care, guidance, and respect for everyone’s limits.
Buffet Lunch
Food as medicine.
After Temazcal, the body is open and sensitive. Food becomes part of the integration. We’ll share an organic buffet lunch prepared to be nourishing, grounding, and supportive after heat and prayer.
Huni Kuin Wisdom Circle
Listening to living knowledge.
This is a space to receive directly from our Huni Kuin brothers and sister as a sharing from the heart about their relationship with the forest, the medicines, prayer, and ther way of ceremony.
You’ll have the chance to ask questions, learn about their worldview, and feel the grounded humility of people who carry tradition as a living path.
The circle will bring context for the medicines and the songs, a deeper sense of lineage and relationship, guidance on how to approach ceremony with respect and a feeling of being close to something real and rooted.
Hapé Circle
Hapé (rapé) is a sacred Amazonian medicine traditionally used for grounding, energetic clearing, focus, prayer and intention. It is administered through the nose via a pipe, and often brings you into a still, centred place.
Some people experience it as a “mental sweep”, with the mind becoming quieter and the heart becoming clearer. Others feel emotional release or a strong embodied reset. The medicine meets each person differently, and works with a deep technology of transformation.
What you may experience
You may experience gounding and presence, a cleared mind with sharper focus, emotional release and a deep “reset” feeling in the system.
Songs & Prayers with the Huni Kuin
In many Amazonian traditions, songs are not entertainment, they are a form of medicine: protection, cleansing, guidance, joy, strength. Prayer and song create a field. The nervous system and heart recognise it with the prayers bringing a lot of uplifted & beautiful feelings to those who hear them.
We’ll close the day with songs and prayers which is a beautiful way to seal what’s been opened with vibration, gratitude, and presence.
What To Bring
Water bottle (very important)
Light towel + change of clothes for after Temazcal
Swimsuit
Comfortable clothes for the day
Journal
Any personal medicines you need (inhaler etc.)
Please avoid alcohol and recreational substances before coming.
Who This Day Is For
Locals and friends who feel curious about Libélula
People wanting a grounded introduction to the land & traditions
Those looking for community, prayer, cleansing, and connection
Anyone needing a reset without it being a full retreat experience
We look forward to hosting you! :)
Friday 7th February | 9:00am–8:00pm
A day of prayer, purification, wisdom, and song with our Huni Kuin family.
We’re opening the Libélula Sanctuary for a full-day gathering to bring the local community into the heart of the land, the medicines, and the living traditions we’re honoured to host.
This is a day to rest into presence, reconnect, and remember.
We work with the Temazcal to cleanse the body and steady the spirit, the Txanas will then share a wisdom circle sharing their knowledge of the forest.
We will work with Hapé to clear the mind and anchor the heart before enjoying songs and prayers shared by the Huni Kuin to weave protection, alegria, and medicine through sound musical vibration.
We’ll share a buffet lunch, with the invitation to stay with us for the full day.
Schedule
9:00 – 9:45 Arrivals, welcome, grounding tea (please arrive before this to be ready for the lodge)
10:00 – 12:00 Temazcal (Sweat Lodge)
12:00 – 1:00 Cooling, rest & hydration
1:00 – 2:30 Buffet Lunch
2:30 – 4:00 Huni Kuin Wisdom Circle
4:00 – 5:00 Rest, integration & enjoying the land
5:00 – 6:30 Hapé Circle
6:30 – 8:00 Songs, prayers, sharing + closing circle
(Exact pacing may flex slightly based on the group and the land.)
What To Expect In Each Part Of The Day;
Temazcal
A purification lodge for the body, mind, and spirit.
Temazcal is an ancient sweat lodge tradition found across many Indigenous cultures. It’s a simple technology with deep power: heat, steam, prayer, breath, and the humility of being inside the dark. In that darkness; the nervous system softens, the body releases and the mind gets quieter so that something deeper can be witnessed and heard.
Inside the lodge, stones are brought in and herbal water is poured to create medicine infused steam. The experience often moves through waves with the invitation being not to “tough it out”, but to stay connected to your breath, your body, and your own inner yes/no.
People often feel deep cleansing through sweat, emotional release and nervous system settling creating a sense of reset and renewal and a quieter, more grounded state afterwards.
Important note
Temazcal is not about forcing. You can always step out if you need. We hold it with care, guidance, and respect for everyone’s limits.
Buffet Lunch
Food as medicine.
After Temazcal, the body is open and sensitive. Food becomes part of the integration. We’ll share an organic buffet lunch prepared to be nourishing, grounding, and supportive after heat and prayer.
Huni Kuin Wisdom Circle
Listening to living knowledge.
This is a space to receive directly from our Huni Kuin brothers and sister as a sharing from the heart about their relationship with the forest, the medicines, prayer, and ther way of ceremony.
You’ll have the chance to ask questions, learn about their worldview, and feel the grounded humility of people who carry tradition as a living path.
The circle will bring context for the medicines and the songs, a deeper sense of lineage and relationship, guidance on how to approach ceremony with respect and a feeling of being close to something real and rooted.
Hapé Circle
Hapé (rapé) is a sacred Amazonian medicine traditionally used for grounding, energetic clearing, focus, prayer and intention. It is administered through the nose via a pipe, and often brings you into a still, centred place.
Some people experience it as a “mental sweep”, with the mind becoming quieter and the heart becoming clearer. Others feel emotional release or a strong embodied reset. The medicine meets each person differently, and works with a deep technology of transformation.
What you may experience
You may experience gounding and presence, a cleared mind with sharper focus, emotional release and a deep “reset” feeling in the system.
Songs & Prayers with the Huni Kuin
In many Amazonian traditions, songs are not entertainment, they are a form of medicine: protection, cleansing, guidance, joy, strength. Prayer and song create a field. The nervous system and heart recognise it with the prayers bringing a lot of uplifted & beautiful feelings to those who hear them.
We’ll close the day with songs and prayers which is a beautiful way to seal what’s been opened with vibration, gratitude, and presence.
What To Bring
Water bottle (very important)
Light towel + change of clothes for after Temazcal
Swimsuit
Comfortable clothes for the day
Journal
Any personal medicines you need (inhaler etc.)
Please avoid alcohol and recreational substances before coming.
Who This Day Is For
Locals and friends who feel curious about Libélula
People wanting a grounded introduction to the land & traditions
Those looking for community, prayer, cleansing, and connection
Anyone needing a reset without it being a full retreat experience
We look forward to hosting you! :)
Schedule
Each day of our retreat structure is different but typically you will experience;
Rising with a morning ritual of yoga, movement, breathwork & heart connection
Morning activities which may be ceremonial or workshop based
Spa treatments
Rest & integration
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Evening or daytime ceremonies depending on the retreat schedule
Rising with a morning ritual of yoga, movement, breathwork & heart connection
Morning activities which may be ceremonial or workshop based
Spa treatments
Rest & integration
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Evening or daytime ceremonies depending on the retreat schedule
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
Libélula Retreat Center, Libélula Healing Center, Esperanza, Esperanza, Turrubares, CR, 11605
Directions
*The Above Map Is Not Accurate!*
We are a 45 minute drive into the mountains from the seaside town of Jaco. If you head for Bijagual there are two routes - the route near the Tarcoles bridge is well paved whereas the Jaco road just outside Jaco is quicker but you will need a 4x4 vehicle.
Once in Bijagual if you take a left from the Tarcoles road or go forward from the Jaco road past the shops & ferretaria we are a further 4 miles along the mountain range just outside Esperanza. Don't head for Macaw lodge - we are the other left turning.
Please contact Jesse on +447376124981 if you need further guidance.
From Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO), Costa Rica's main airport hub Libélula is just a 2 1/2 hour shuttle trip to either the center or Playa Hermosa
If we are collecting you from Playa Hermosa the journey is 45 - 60 mins up the mountain to the village of Bijagual.
From there the center is 4 miles further into the mountain range near the small village of Esperanza.
We are a 45 minute drive into the mountains from the seaside town of Jaco. If you head for Bijagual there are two routes - the route near the Tarcoles bridge is well paved whereas the Jaco road just outside Jaco is quicker but you will need a 4x4 vehicle.
Once in Bijagual if you take a left from the Tarcoles road or go forward from the Jaco road past the shops & ferretaria we are a further 4 miles along the mountain range just outside Esperanza. Don't head for Macaw lodge - we are the other left turning.
Please contact Jesse on +447376124981 if you need further guidance.
From Juan Santamaria Airport (SJO), Costa Rica's main airport hub Libélula is just a 2 1/2 hour shuttle trip to either the center or Playa Hermosa
If we are collecting you from Playa Hermosa the journey is 45 - 60 mins up the mountain to the village of Bijagual.
From there the center is 4 miles further into the mountain range near the small village of Esperanza.
Accommodation
You will be staying in our luxury - meets - rustic accommodation with elevated balconies opening onto the jungle below. Because of our mountain elevation daytime temperature are the perfect without the heat of the coast whilst the evenings are a beautiful temperature for resting without the need for A/C. All of our lodgings & retreat facilities are built with all natural materials sourced sustainably from Costa Rica & Nicaragua & built by our local team of builders
Experience Investment
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
Yoga Shala, lodgings, maloca, pool, guest hub & cuisine area
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Our cuisine is organic, gluten free is vegan/vegetarian based and is grown in our gardens on the land as much as is possible prepared with love by our dedicated chefs.
What's Included
- Indigenous Huni Kuin facilitated ceremonies
- Live music
- Meals
- Retreats & accommodation ranging from 8 - 10 days
- Pre & post integration calls
- All programmed activities included
- Shuttle from Playa Hermosa
- We can provide shuttle from the airport at an additional cost
What's Not Included
- Additional activity bolt ons such as kambo & spa treatments
- Airfare
- Shuttle from airport to Playa Hermosa
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