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Atmosphere and feature ratings above are based on Best Retreats research (October 2026). They will be updated if Ascending Soul Retreats submits its own information.

Ascending Soul Retreats: An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Retreats in Tepoztlán, Mexico

Ascending Soul Retreats is a brand with a website, ascendingsoulretreats.com, but almost no independent footprint. Our earlier profile placed it in the Byron Bay hinterland of Australia; we found no evidence it has ever operated there. Instead, the founder it describes, a yoga and tantra teacher called Tapovan Tamas, runs Ascension Journeyz, a six-day ayahuasca retreat near Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico, with a Shuar healer from Ecuador, and Ascension Journeyz’s own blog promotes “Ascending Soul Retreats,” so the two are very likely the same operation. That Mexican retreat charged about $1,250 to $1,550 for two ayahuasca ceremonies, in groups of up to 18, and is well reviewed under the Ascension Journeyz name. The Ascending Soul brand itself has no reviews anywhere, no dated retreats and no named facilitators we could confirm, and the Ascension Journeyz site has been offline for maintenance through 2026, with its last listed retreat in December 2025. No medical staff, emergency protocol or refund policy is published, and one listing guarantees healing. We found no incidents. Our earlier profile needs correcting on its location, program and team.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: The only confirmed ceremony site is the Temachtiani eco-center in Valle de Atongo, Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico, near Tepozteco National Park, about an hour or two from Mexico City, according to the Ascension Journeyz Tripaneer listing; other listings give two different addresses. The Ascending Soul website has a page titled “Peru,” which may signal a planned program. We found no Australian venue, business registration or listing.
• Approach: Two all-night ayahuasca ceremonies led by a Shuar uwishin (healer), with rapé, temazcal, an ice bath, yoga, qi gong, pranayama breathwork, meditation, ecstatic dance, sound healing, hikes, inner-child and shadow work, integration circles and one-to-one mentoring. One listing also mentions locally grown psilocybin mushrooms.
• Suitable For: People drawn to a yoga- and tantra-led ayahuasca week near Mexico City who are willing to confirm directly whether, where and when the program runs. Not suited to anyone who needs medical cover, published refund terms or a brand with a track record.
• Costs: The six-day Ascension Journeyz retreat was listed at US$1,450 (down from US$1,550) for December 2025 on BookRetreats, $1,250 on Psychedelist and 1,250 to 1,750 on Third Wave, covering five nights in a private room, three vegetarian meals a day and the program. Airport pickup from Mexico City costs US$80. No Ascending Soul price is published.
• Overall Assessment: A probable second brand for a modestly priced, well-reviewed Mexican retreat with a Shuar healer and medication exclusions, offset by an unsupported Australian location in our earlier profile, no reviews or dates under its own name, no medical staff, emergency protocol or refund policy, healing guarantees, a keyword-stuffed web presence and an apparently dormant schedule. Directory evaluation: C.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

Ascending Soul Retreats has no reviews on any platform. The ratings below are for Ascension Journeyz, the Tepoztlán retreat run by the same founder.

The positive picture. Ascension Journeyz guests praise the natural setting, the food, clean rooms, a balanced schedule, inner-child work, the music and the facilitators, and several describe it as a safe space for first-timers. Our earlier profile cited testimonials on the Ascending Soul site and on thegoodindex.com.au praising transformation, art therapy workshops, scenery and intimacy; those testimonials remain unverified.

The negative feedback. No review below four stars was found. Reviewers note that ceremonies were “challenging for many of us on a physical and emotional level,” and one 2022 guest advised earplugs for roosters and dogs at night.

Who is writing the reviews. The operator promotes itself through many keyword-heavy blog posts across Blogspot, stck.me and about.me, with templated, AI-like copy. Its listings disagree on the address, team names and review counts, and one Tripaneer page carries text copied from a different operator. Splitting one operator across two brands also splits its reputation. If you have attended under either name, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and English and Spanish-language news for reports involving Ascending Soul Retreats, Ascension Journeyz, Tapovan Tamas, the Shuar healer Mano Uwishin and the other named team members.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found involving this operator. In the Byron Bay region, where our earlier profile placed the retreat, a man died at an ayahuasca ceremony near Kyogle in 2021, and the organizer was banned by the NSW health complaints commission in 2025 and charged with manslaughter in March 2026, according to ABC News; that case has no connection to Ascending Soul.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and crime: No reports found.
• Legal action: No police action or lawsuits found.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with Ascending Soul Retreats or Ascension Journeyz, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Australia is unsupported, and would be illegal. We found no Australian venue, business registration, listing or press for Ascending Soul Retreats. Running ayahuasca ceremonies there would be a serious crime: DMT is a Schedule 9 prohibited substance, and in New South Wales supplying it can carry long prison terms with no religious or therapeutic exemption, as a Sydney criminal law firm explains.

One operator, two brands. The founder biography our earlier profile gave “Tapovan,” of years in India with gurus and a mission of “inner bliss,” matches Tapovan Tamas’s Retreat Guru profile almost word for word, and the Ascension Journeyz blog has published a post titled “Ascending Soul Retreats: A Journey to Spiritual Awakening.” We list Ascension Journeyz separately; see our Ascension Journeyz profile.

Is it running? The Ascension Journeyz website has shown only a maintenance page in 2026, Tripaneer shows no availability, the founder’s Retreat Guru page lists no upcoming retreats, and the last dated retreat was December 8 to 13, 2025. We found no 2026 dates under either brand.

Mexico’s legal picture. Ayahuasca’s status in Mexico is ambiguous: DMT is restricted, but the brew itself is not internationally controlled. Since 2022, Indigenous healers have been arrested at Mexico City airport carrying ayahuasca, and one Colombian taita spent two years in prison before his case was ended, as Swissinfo reported. A Third Wave listing says this retreat’s ayahuasca is sourced from the Shuar in Ecuador, so it depends on that import route.

Corrections to our earlier profile. We found no source for a Byron Bay location, Australian airports or local transport, and the only confirmed retreats are in Tepoztlán, Mexico. The program is six days with two ayahuasca ceremonies, not four days, and prices were published at about $1,250 to $1,550. Rooms are private with en-suite bathrooms and meals are vegetarian, so room and menu details are available. Screening includes a consent form, medical assessment and medical history, and the pre-retreat diet lasts two weeks. We found no source for the facilitators “Geoff and Dan,” for art therapy or “Himalayan breathwork,” or for the brew recipe our earlier profile gave, which remain unverified.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

Ascension Journeyz listings require a consent form, medical assessment and medical history, and exclude people taking SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, neuropsychiatric medications or anticonvulsants; one listing tells guests to be off those “and other regular medications” for six to eight weeks, without advising that tapering be supervised by a prescriber. No doctor or nurse is named; the team lists a psychologist and integration therapist. No emergency protocol is published beyond “your safety is our number one priority,” and no nearest hospital is given. A Psychedelist listing says “we guarantee” results and lists depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD and chronic illness among conditions ayahuasca treats, claims with no medical support. Integration includes circles during the retreat and post-retreat support. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes combinations with SSRIs and other serotonergic medications contraindicated, and that ayahuasca is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a retreat without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

The operator says its ayahuasca is “sustainably sourced from the Shuar people in the Ecuadorian Amazon,” according to Third Wave; the recipe is not published. Traditional ayahuasca combines the Banisteriopsis caapi vine with a DMT-containing leaf, as Erowid explains. The six-day program has two all-night ceremonies, from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., plus rapé and temazcal; one listing also mentions psilocybin mushrooms.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: A forested eco-center in a conservation zone near the Tepozteco mountains, with mountain views, at Tepoztlán’s highland elevation.
• Rooms: Private, eco-built rooms or cabañas with en-suite bathrooms, described by reviewers as cozy and clean.
• Style: A Shuar-led ceremony inside a Western yoga, tantra and coaching program, with groups of 3 to 18.

Practical guidance: Fly into Mexico City; pickup costs US$80 per person. Follow the two-week pre-retreat diet, avoiding alcohol, caffeine, sugar, dairy and most meat.

Should You Book?

We would not book under the Ascending Soul name without first confirming who runs it, where it takes place and whether it is operating at all. If you are interested in the Tepoztlán program, compare our Ascension Journeyz profile, and get the dates, the venue, the refund terms, the medical arrangements and the emergency plan in writing. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Tapovan Tamas describes himself as a retreat leader and alignment coach with 12 years of teaching and 20 years of practicing yoga, breathwork and meditation, a “Tantrik initiate” who studied with masters in India, and co-founder of Ascension Journeyz and the Tryambaka Yoga School, which runs tantra teacher trainings near Tulum. His legal name and nationality are not published. Ceremonies are led by Mano Uwishin, described as a healer from a Shuar lineage in Ecuador with more than 20 years with plant medicine. The team has also included Le’ Jai’ La Troi, a medicine woman and Akashic Records coach, and a psychologist and integration therapist named on Third Wave as Carla Aspesberger. We did not independently verify anyone’s credentials.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Disclose every medication, and plan any change with your own doctor, never on the retreat’s timetable alone. After you return: Integration circles and post-retreat support are offered. Arrange support from a qualified therapist at home as well. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any center.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

No current Ascending Soul dates are published. The Ascension Journeyz program has been sold through BookRetreats, Tripaneer and Retreat Guru. Before paying anything, confirm in writing who the operator is, the venue address, the dates, the price, the refund terms, who provides medical cover and the emergency arrangements. Best Retreats does not take bookings; learn more about our mission.

Last reviewed October 2026.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Consult a qualified medical professional.