Find Authentic Retreats in San Jos Province Costa Rica

"We are super grateful to Peter and Gabriel for this beautiful experience in Costa Rica. Peter prepared us carefully and Gabriel was super gentle and intuitive with us. The setting is special too, very quiet and gorgeous place. We totally recommend and would definitely come again! "

"Wow. Wow. Such an incredibly beautiful experience. Highly recommend! A chance bus meeting and 9 month later, my interior landscape is so different it feels like another lifetime. Neten's wise insights, incredible patience and clear boundaries helped me see the intricate patterns and loops of my psyche, even through sometimes great resistance. Her clear guidance helped me stabilize a new way of being - and not just for a weekend or a few weeks in the post retreat glow - I am present to life at the drugstore, in traffic, and even in pain. I can say without a doubt, she is one of those few people I've met where there is my life before her and something much much richer after. I am at the start of a new existence and I can't wait to see where it takes me. Thank you!"

"My week with Neten was a life-changing experience. After years of talk therapy, I was looking for a different approach and chose to spend 6 days with Neten in a Psilocybin & Therapy retreat. I looked forward to the magic of Psilocybin mushrooms unlocking doors for me but found instead that the greatest awakening came from Neten's skill as a deeply intuitive therapist. Her insights were invaluable and I was able to absorb them thanks to the plant medicine taken over three days. Now I'm home and the journey continues in ways that would not have been possible without Neten's assistance. I'm even eating better after enjoying her delicious meals!"

"I loved my days spent with Neten and all the work that I did with her. I added the emotional release and heart opening cacao workshop to my retreat and found it extremely beneficial. I had many eye opening experiences throughout the retreat and have been able to integrate into my daily life. Neten’s space is beautiful as well as her energy. The food was delicious and the area was so beautiful."

"I am so very grateful to have shared the time with Neten. She helped me usher in a new way of life. Thank you for all the knowledge shared, positive energy felt and alternative ways of thought expressed. I am very excited to continue my journey into self. I feel like I am the woman that I've longed to be for so very long, I just couldn't find my way to her. I am so glad spirit led me there. Thank you for sharing your gifts Neten, you inspire me and others to do the same. Thank you for helping this little girl from Chicago feel like the capable, tender, powerful woman that I have rediscovered within me. With love "

"This was the most incredible experience I have ever had in my life. Gabrielle is an incredible healer. He is incredibly caring and you can literally feel his calming energy throughout the process. His partner Peter is equally kind on top of being a concierge of sorts spiritually and literally for Costa Rica. Peter helped me so much. The time I spent with him before and after the ceremonies was as helpful as the ceremonies themselves. I can't recommend this highly enough. In my humble option I would suggest having a clear purpose or goal in mind to maximize benefits. These medicines work on a subconscious level and as we know our subconscious will lead us in whatever direction it's programmed for whether good or bad. I went with the intention of healing trauma to be able to move forward and escape my negative cycles that had haunted me. When I left Costa Rica I had renewed hope, but no conscious thought of how things would get better. I met my Spirit Guide while I was there, it was incredible. I had one of those footsteps in the sand moments which completely blew my mind and made me feel so protected, self assured and confident. Once I got home my road was made completely clear to me in a way I can only credit a higher power. A path was presented to me with all obstacles clear in a way that can be accurately described as "all the stars aligning". I'm in a place now that I have wanted to be for so long but had no idea of how I would get here. I credit the medicine and these two kind souls, but I wouldn't dare guarantee results for anyone else because you have to be ready and have clear purpose for your destination. Otherwise it could just be a trip. And no doubt the most incredible trip you've ever been on because these medicines are no doubt some of the most amazing on earth. Good luck friends "

"Exceptional. Marvelous. Even though I didn’t know the majority of the megapode facilitators before the retreat, I felt almost immediately at home with them. They proved an enormous resource throughout the retreat. Their teamwork was a remarkable model for me going forward as well. I felt supported, held, and given space to grow in my own way. Magnificent! The experience of being TOGETHER was even more mind-blowing than I’d expected. I already knew that this was an extraordinary group of people — but I had no idea of the extent to which that was true until we were physically together in one place. The openness, attentiveness, attunement, intelligence. and gentleness of the staff was extraordinary. On how the Immersion informed one’s personal practice: “I feel an even greater draw than usual to slow down, spend time in nature, and give myself space to breathe. The conversations I had with both fellow participants and staff will be influencing my personal practice and my outlook on life for a long while. The experiences of the retreat went very deep indeed. Everyone was super-helpful, respectful, and friendly. Couldn’t ask for better."

"This journey is very personal and Gabriel and Peter are very gentle, kind, and powerful humans, with a great passion and respect for their practice. This is not something to go into lightly so be very ready and they will support your journey. You can know you are working with highly skilled and evolved people who truly want to see others flourish beyond their current limitations (physical, emotional, spiritual) I love that these two are the real deal who respect the medicine and its powerful attributes, yet carry no pretense. If that calls to you then take the leap! You have nothing to lose (but old patterns, beliefs, and roadblocks) and a world of possibilities to gain! "

"I followed my heart to go and work with Neten and I was transformed. Immediately I felt at peace and supported. The environment is lovely, natural and beautiful just like Neten. I could tell I was in good hands and that I could grow and learn about myself safely. I highly recommend that if your heart, your spirit, your mind brings you to Neten, follow and trust it. You will not be disappointed. I am forever grateful for my time there and for your help, Neten. Peace and blessings to you and all that you do!"

"Incredible experience! I was guided through Rapé, Sananga, Changa, and Bufo ceremonies with immense love and care. I always felt safe and it allowed me to fully surrender to the experience, and I am so grateful for it. Gabriel puts so much love and energy into the medicines. It truly was a special place and transformative experience! "

"I would emphasise how the different lenses all worked to inform each other and therefore made the overall offering richer. I would also talk about how Synthesis has consistently promoted the value of "walking the walk", so not just lip-service, but the actual lived embodied commitment to our own wholeness; only then can we be taken seriously to facilitate someone else's journey towards wholeness."

"When choosing a retreat to participate in, I would choose Gabriels over and over! He was warm, welcoming, and very communicative from the beginning. I had an initial phone call with the host, Peter, and immediately felt at ease with my choice. Once I arrived in CR, there were many times throughout my stay when Peter helped me feel comfortable and supported. My time in CR with these two was life changing and I hope that everyone gets to experience the beauty they hold and share with soul searchers. I will definitely be back and I can't give them a good enough review! "

"It’s difficult to know quite where to start in describing how these days exceeded all my expectations. I have never been looked after as well on all levels. Like staying with your favourite grandmother with benefits. From the minute we arrived, I left welcomed, safe, held. The walk from taxi to room - guided and handed over between Synthesis staff.. I learnt so much about myself, to witness how to hold space in the most gentle and exquisite way, about the real meaning of communitas that has affected me at a cellular level and will stay with me forever. To experience such love and kinship - such understanding. I left forever changed. Forever grateful. Quite an exceptional group of people who clearly had incredible passion for the work. Staff almost floated at times. The way they held space, cared with lightness and compassion for those journeying and afterwards. The acts of kindness. For each and everyone of you. Thank you - including the amazing chefs and people who did our laundry."

"This retreat honestly changed my life. Neten was such a kind, caring, and beautiful person. She was so intuitive and knowledgeable about so many different things. I have tried therapy, medication, and hypnotism; nothing worked... but a few days in the gorgeous Costa Rican jungle with Neten changed the way I'm able to see and approach things. She was so respectful of my feelings/emotions and I felt like I had her love and support from the moment I stepped into her home. My favorite part was our waterfall adventure. I would highly HIGHLY recommend attending this retreat if your souls need a good cleanse and reboot. Thank you Neten for everything."

"This training provided diverse and thorough lessons with excellent facilitators. The four lenses were beautifully blended within each track, one supporting the other. The amount of information seemed too much at time, yet it all worked, especially when there was enough time for pod meetings. The faculty is brilliant! The support (again, Courtney is the bomb) team were so helpful, especially with details around practicum and Immersion. And I cannot say enough about the learning mentors and the capacity they had to hold each pod member with such respect and care. I know more about myself as a practitioner because we all, as a larger cohort, supported each other and will continue to support each other through Immersion in The Netherlands. Thank you Synthesis. This was an amazing Journey - like the ceremony: it showed me what I needed and connected me with myself and others."

"I had a calling to visit Costa Rica for about 6 months. As soon as I came across Neten's spiritual retreat, I knew I wanted to come here. Away from the rest of society, Neten taught me how to go within myself and find my true authentic self. I came to Costa Rica suffering from depression and anxiety without any motivation for life. Even though I had been exceeding in my career and external life, my internal self was dying. Through working with Neten, learning about my inner child and learning how to shift my focus to myself, my soul had been rebirth. The valuable methods and techniques she taught me, I took home with me and use them in my daily life now. I miss you Neten and I’m sure we will meet again."

"How do we create a more beautiful world for our children? How do we restore the sacred that has been lost from our lives? How do we live lives of compassionate, loving kindness, grounded in our bodies, in traditions but also in all the precious knowledge that science offers? How do we live our lives as fully expressed individuals, while also being vital contributors to the societal networks? I went in to the psychedelic training with all these questions- and not only was I taught precious lessons but most importantly, I was SHOWN. That a more beautiful world IS possible, that the sacred CAN be restored. That we can have difficult, challenging experiences, and still be held in calm, loving, kindness. What the people at Synthesis have created is the most profound, exquisitely beautiful experience of my life, that has opened up hope and unlimited possibilities for me and my family."

"Wow. That's what I've been saying to myself since returning home. The Immersion was beyond anything I could have imagined, and my feelings are exclusive from the actual journeys themselves. The impeccability of each team member, the way they all held the same nurturing space for us, and the way they made each of us feel safety in the unknown was like a beautiful rhythm. I feel like I learned so much from watching them. It was like watching a beautiful dance. The care that was put into this immersion so we could each have such a beautiful experience moves me to tears. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. <3 I'm finding hard to put into words the way these beautiful souls held space for us. Almost immediately, a safe space was established, which allowed all of us to open up to a truly vulnerable state prior to our ceremonies. There was no favoritism, and I don't feel anyone felt neglected in any way. I know I didn't. We all had the same opportunities to be heard and to be supported. I don't know what the other pods were like, but I felt truly held by mine. I LOVED the nature walks (both facilitated and on my own). The venue was such a lovely place to explore. I especially loved the "Integration through Nature'' sessions after our large journey. When we were asked to bring back a piece of nature to the group, I found myself taking in and really 'seeing' nature from a different lens. I saw the living, breathing organism that nature is. I 'saw' the mycelium as the lifeblood feeding the forest. I saw the leaves on the trees as solar panels. I saw the dead, decay, and fungi themselves as the lymphatic system, carrying away the old to make room for the new. Always re-birthing. Always continuing on. Such a metaphor. As much time as I've spent in nature in my life, I was surprised that I now see it in such a different light. My relationship with Mother Earth is forever changed. I loved the opportunities to work with members of the other two pods that were with us. I loved the role-playing we did with each other, and the way it sparked conversation. Whoa. Who knew that the 'witnessing' would end up being a peak experience for me? Unbelievable. What an absolute honor and privilege to be able to see this unfold. I took my journal with me on the day I was a witness, thinking I'd have plenty of time to jot down some thoughts or insights. I never once opened my journal. I was just GLUED to this beautiful experience. As I watched my fellow classmates have their own experiences, I feel like I saw each of them in another light. A divine light. It was almost as if I had the privilege of watching someone leave this world through the death process, only to then watch them again re-birth themselves. Just like a miracle."

"Your thought, planning and care that went into the holding space for every individual and creation of communitas was very evident. It created a beautiful container making it easy to safely sink into authenticity. It feels clear that this is a deeply shared value and the Synthesis team that I interacted with seek to live into this themselves. I feel incredibly fortunate to be within the first Synthesis trainee cohort. Your heart and hard work has come thru in so many beautiful ways. I appreciate the level of care you put into the true development of ethical practitioners not just in factually educating professionals. I anticipated this as a pivot point professionally. What I didn’t anticipate is how this has been a pivot point in my relationship with my self. So much gratitude. I feel like the container created, on a smaller scale, is what I will be striving for. The facilitators’ presence in equanimity and gentle loving supportive check in thru ceremony feels like my practitioner model to follow"

"After getting back from a four night retreat with Neten its hard for me to put into words just how much this wonderful human means to me. Neten taught me so many lessons and has given me real direction and insights on how to move forward with my life in the best possible way. For anyone that maybe struggling out there in life just know you are loved and doing a retreat with Neten will honestly be one of the very best gifts you could ever give yourself. Dive in, trust yourselves and go for it. You wont be disappointed! Thank you so much Neten! Love to you all! "

"I feel very blessed for having discovered Neten and taking the leap of faith to go work with her. She expertly and deftly challenged me to see things about my life in a new light, guiding me on the path to overcoming self-deception, self-doubt, and limiting beliefs. And, thanks to her guidance and steadying presence, I felt calm, at peace, and clear in my intention entering the plant medicine portion of the proceedings. She facilitated a beautiful ceremony, where I felt totally safe in the hands of her well trained care. The post-ceremony integration session the next day was also crucial, helping me contextualize what I had learned the night before and what further things there were to work on upon returning to my regular life. I will be forever grateful for the time working with her, having rediscovered a joy and hope for life that, in some darker moments, I thought might have been lost for good. I booked my time with Neten on a gut feeling and it ended up being one of the best decisions of my life. If your gut is similarly nagging at you to do the same, I cannot recommend it enough and suggest you follow through. You owe it to you! "

"The attention to detail was truly exquisite. Everything from being personally escorted to our rooms that first day, the fresh flowers, candles, teas, music selections, comfortable mats, etc... to the wonderful energy of each of the facilitators. It was a sublime experience. The Synthesis Psychedelic Practitioner Training program was an excellent experience - beyond my expectations. The material offered was comprehensive, and the relationships formed in our pod group will continue after the program. Definitely worth the time and financial investment!"

"I spent a few days with Neten and felt at home since I got there, like if we knew each other from before. Speaking to her and getting coached was really easy to me and that's not usually the the case, personally. I opened up to her and was able to accomplish some of my intentions right there, which is wonderful. She listened to me with an open heart and asked the right questions which made me rethink some situations in my life. Much needed! I felt at peace, everything was flowing and I will be forever grateful for the moments we shared there. Waking up in the morning with the sound of nature was a big plus, what a great view! I totally recommend Neten shall you need some help or adjustments in your life. I assure you you're in beautiful hands. With love, "

"I feel immense gratitude to have been called to meet Neten and experience her four-day retreat. The focus, unwavering presence and fierce compassion and love she gave coupled with the warm, comfortable container that is her home supported me in traveling deep, past my thinking mind, and into the frequency that is my essence and inner wisdom. As an outcome of this soul nourishing time, I was able to find clarity on my self-development journey and come out with actionable next steps for integration and growth. This was my first experience with plant-based medicine – throughout the entire experience, I felt supported and was given the opportunity to ask any and all questions before the ceremonies. In our one-on-one sessions, Neten’s ability to see you for who you are and help uncover root patterns allowed me to speak from my authentic self and re-emerge with new insights and a remembering of my self-knowing. Being immersed in the Costa Rican jungle added to the magic and awe. Her home has a calming energy, and on our down time, I went on my own meditative walks, read and spent time by the pool to enjoy the slowing down and meaningful rest. This was a profound life moment, and I’m so happy I said yes to it."

"What could I possibly say that would give this four-day experience with Neten justice? I don't want to pretend my life has changed overnight, or that I've somehow attained perfect clarity into the rest of my life, but the depth from which I can see myself has changed in a way that feels unforgettable. Neten's authenticity, patience, care and pure loving fierceness really helped me cut to the core of what has often felt like an intractable obstacle in my life - my own refusal to look myself in the eye. My refusal to listen to the quiet voice just begging for some patience. I'm so grateful to Neten for holding space for so much that I needed to process in a challenging period of transition and for embodying the fierce loving patience and kindness I needed. I can hardly wait to see what these recognitions will spark in the coming months (though I'm practicing being more patient with myself, thankfully)."

"The beautiful food, the location and privacy which is the center of her heart and her home, the sunshine, nature and quiet environment, the knowledge and unconditional support made me feel safe and held. I loved every minute of this retreat and the unseen powers of Ayahuasca have shifted significantly my perception. Thank you, I am deeply grateful. "

"Definitely words do not fully express the peace and blessings I have already received from my ceremonies with Neten. Her guiding light and energy through Mother Ayahuasca have brought me healing and peace that continue to manifest as I start on a new path. The experience has been a great gift and I am forever grateful for it. "

"This has been the most beautiful and meaningful experience of my life. When I came in I was in this state of anxiety and restlessness trying to clamp on to finding answers in life about my purpose, direction and about myself. Throughout the experience I learned to let go of expecting, I learned how to connect with my feelings, how to listen to my heart and I now have an overall better understanding of who I am. The attention, the kindness, the love, the energy shared by Neten is just exceptional. I would recommend anyone that is in someway feeling a calling for Ayahuasca to go to Neten."

"Neten is a beautiful human, with an air of peace and lightness that is truly relaxing. Her way of inquiring and gently flowing through conversations and thought trains lead to construction conclusions and personal realizations. Her presence alone reminds you that peace and happiness is derived from within, and that finding your center is more and act of non-doing, more than anything else. Truly blessed to have met and shared with Neten."

"It was an interesting quest to find the right person to partake on this journey of discovery. I'm so happy that Neten was the person whom the universe sent to me. She was a breath of knowledge and was there every step of the way. She is a person that I will remember for the rest of my days, since she made such an impact on the rest of my days. I will definitely seek out her spiritual guidance in the future. The retreat is held in what can be described as a breath taking landscape. The sounds of the jungle come to life 24 hours a day. Birds singing, other beautiful creatures making sounds to remind us of nature. "