Amplify! A GBTQ+ Sacred Plant Journey

Name: Amplify! A GBTQ+ Sacred Plant Journey
Start: 2025-03-23
End: 2025-03-29
Location: Jungle Gayborhood
Rating: 5

5.0017 reviews

San José Province, Tinamaste, Costa Rica

March 23 - 29, 2025

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Donovan

Paulo

Donovan McGrath

Donovan is the founder of Amplified Yoga, for which he travels the world sharing his positive vision. His motivation is to encourage you to Amplify the greatest parts of yourself, using ancient yogic technology, presented in a modern & accessible way. In 1996, at the age of 20, he took his first yoga class in New York City. Struck by the clarity, vitality and peace he felt, this ignited a lifelong passion. He immediately completed his first teacher training at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center, started meditating and began teaching.

Since then, he has trained and become certified in the traditions of Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Anusara, and Kundalini. He utilized all of these teachings and his years of experience to create the Amplified method which is fun, cathartic and quick in its ability to transform a person instantly. Since Amplified yoga’s recent inception Donovan has collaborated with some of the biggest names in the wellness industry including Wanderlust, Equinox, Daybreaker, Unplug meditation and Mindvalley to name a few.

Whether at a concert venue, festival, cooperate or private event Donovans wisdom, authenticity and positivity gives him the ability to take anybody on a soulful yogic journey that is extraordinary.

Paulo Rebello

Paulo was born in the Brazilian Amazon, went to College in France and England, and immigrated to the US to pursue his Master’s in Counseling. During graduate school, he was introduced to the main models, ideas, and concepts that led him to pursue training in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy. He has been trained in the MAPS protocol to work with MDMA and in the Mazatec tradition to work with psilocybin mushrooms. He is a Mindfulness, Integral Psychotherapy, Somatic Resourcing, Somatic Attachment Therapy, and Parts Work practitioner. He likes to offer the Enneagram of Personality as a map to support his clients in a non-judgmental perception of themselves.

Details of this retreat

We invite you to join a community of queer adventurers for a 6-day experience of wellness in the glorious Diamante Valley of Costa Rica. This experience will allow us to dive into deeper understandings of ourselves, cultivating our authentic essence and amplifying this in our life!

Our experienced facilitator, Paolo, will guide us through 2 sacred plant ceremonies as we access deeper parts of ourselves. Through the tool of the Enneagram, also led by Paolo, we will explore our personality type, our individual qualities and how we best operate in the world. With daily transformative embodiment practices, including Amplified Yoga, led by Donovan McGrath, we will harness and cultivate this exploration of our personal power to create positive change in our lives.

Hosted in the Jungle Gayborhood, enjoy staying in our exquisite hand crafted bamboo cabins in the rainforest of Costa Rica, as you spend your days immersed in the spectacular natural wonderland of our property, with several kilometers of forest trails leading to pristine natural waterfalls, rock pools and rivers. Surrounded by the abundance of nature and supported by queer community, this retreat is open to male identifying gender expressions, and all levels of practice and experience with yoga, meditation, and sacred plant ceremonies.

In addition to the scheduled elements of the retreat, we will have plenty of time to relax and savor the exquisite natural settings, and process our learnings, and grow from the supportive community we will create.

To create a safe environment conducive to healing and community development, we will ask all participants to adhere to these agreements throughout the week. While we will explore topics of sexuality, we will ask participants to refrain from sex during the retreat. This helps to create a safe environment, and encourages deep connections without the motivation of sex, which past participants recognize as a very refreshing change for queer men.

Getting Here

Jungle Gayborhood, San José Province, Tinamaste, Costa Rica

Accommodation

Shared 4 Bed Jungle Cabin

A beautiful bamboo cabin with four comfortable individual bunk beds. You will be have one bed to yourself and you will be staying with up to three other guests who will sleep in the other beds. All cabins are equipped with elegant lighting, cooling fans, multiple outlets, comfortable beds and linens, and are fully enclosed in mosquito mesh netting. All cabins share a beautiful bamboo bathhouse with hot water.

Private King Cabin

A beautiful private bamboo cabin with a king-size bed. All cabins are equipped with elegant lighting, cooling fans, multiple outlets, comfortable beds and linens, and are fully enclosed in mosquito mesh netting. All cabins share a beautiful bamboo bathhouse with hot water.

Shared Twin Jungle Cabin

A beautiful bamboo cabin with two comfortable twin-size beds. You will be have one bed to yourself and you will be staying with another guest who will sleep in the other twin bed. All cabins are equipped with elegant lighting, cooling fans, multiple outlets, comfortable beds and linens, and are fully enclosed in mosquito mesh netting. All cabins share a beautiful bamboo bathhouse with hot water.

Private Deluxe Cabin

A beautiful private bamboo cabin with a king-size bed, en suite sink, and gorgeous jungle views. All cabins are equipped with elegant lighting, cooling fans, multiple outlets, comfortable beds and linens, and are fully enclosed in mosquito mesh netting. All cabins share a beautiful bamboo bathhouse with hot water.

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

Meals

Menu Types

Vegan

Vegetarian

Pescetarian

Ayurvedic

Includes Meat

Organic

Gluten Free

Dairy Free

Nut Free

Customer Reviews

5.00 out of 5.0 average rating

Roy • Feb 19, 2025

5.0

Verified

Gorgeous and fabulous!

We loved our time at the Jungle Gayborhood. The retreat center is beautifully designed and comfortably nested on the edge of the jungle, close enough to feel nurtured by its vibrancy and just out of it enough to see it and have plenty of fresh air and vistas. Staff was kind, supportive and helped bring out physical healing and pleasure. Programming was light on our particular weekend but it was perfect for us: trekking, spiritual journeys, yoga, social gatherings and fun (optional) games. And they have the best mattresses so you will sleep like a baby!

David • Feb 14, 2025

5.0

Verified

Awesome retreat in the Costa Rican jungle

This excursion was planned in less than a week, but sure glad we took a chance. It’s like glamping in the jungle with three home-cooked meals a day. We stayed a week, and what a relaxing week it was. Several waterfalls were within a short hike from camp. Being naked is optional. Yoga is every morning. Some nights are movie nights, some nights are sound bath nights. Some nights are fire performer and campfire nights. Although we didn’t go on a retreat week, it was still fun and invigorating. We even got the chance to try ayahuasca, kambo, and rapé one evening, but wasn’t prepared for this unique opportunity. Thanks to Shelby and Jose, Ryan, Eric, Jesse, Mauricio, Brandee, Chef Eric, and Marconi for a great week! We’ll be back.

Savion • Feb 01, 2025

5.0

Verified

JungleFag

Wow! What an experience!
Firstly, the gayborhood is absolutely amazing. It's evident there's been time, effort, and planning involved to make it what it is. It had everything I needed to make my stay comfortable and at home. Special shout-outs to the chefs, cleaning team, and gayborhood staff. It's clear that it's a space individuals WANT to be at and spend their time.

The retreat was beautiful. It was an opportunity to release, to be free, and love continuously (sometimes literally!). I've never been to a retreat that was considered party AND retreat and I was a little unprepared mentally and emotionally I discovered. In talking with the staff and learning more, I realized I needed to take more intentional time for me to do more of the work I wanted to personally. That said, the description was on, I just didn't think broad and liberal enough.

Notes for the future. There were times it felt like things were mandatory, or highly encouraged to attend, yet optional. Of course you can't make anyone do anything they don't want to, but in the schedule I do think there should be an asterisk for events that are highly encouraged to attend. For example, the cabaret. What a powerful closing to the retreat. It introduced us to another part of someone we may not have gotten to see. It showed the bravery and confidence that maybe someone channeled just that weekend. And it symbolized a great level of community and support, which I think the gayborhood prides itself on.

I plan to come back next year. And as I continue to talk to participants and continue these relationships, they too want to come back and bring a friend. Thank you for this opportunity and place of love. Looking forward to more with you.

Cole • Jan 22, 2025

5.0

Verified

Lifechanging

I cannot begin to describe how transformative this past weekend was for me. I went in with intention, many of which changed when I got there. Within the first 15 hours of being there I felt relaxed, centered, and excited for everything else that was to come.

Immediately after arriving, Ryan and Brandee welcomed me with big hugs. Ryan encouraged me to be fully myself, try new things, and explore every part of myself. Shelby and his staff have put love into every detail of the Jungle Gayborhood, and through each session you can feel their effort shine through.

The Jungle gayborhood will make you feel everything you need to and more. If you're at all on the fence about booking an experience here, do yourself a favor and take the leap. I cannot wait to return.

Tyler • Jan 21, 2025

5.0

Verified

Blissed out in the jungle

5 days sleeping in an extremely comfortable bed surrounded by amazing wildlife and pristine jungle. Delicious home cooked meals 3 times a day, swimming naked in waterfalls, group yoga and sound baths.
shedded so many tears of joy could not be more happy with my experience

Amplify! A GBTQ+ Sacred Plant Journey

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Donovan McGrath

Paulo Rebello

Details of this retreat

Getting Here