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

Ayahuasca Evolución Interior (Medicinas Ancestrales y Psicoterapia): An In-Depth Review for Ayahuasca Workshops in Central Mexico

Ayahuasca Evolución Interior, which now trades as Medicinas Ancestrales y Psicoterapia, is a family business led by Mainrad Cortés and Verenice “Vere” Cedillo that runs overnight ayahuasca and rapé “meditation” workshops in rented venues in Cuernavaca, Mexico City, Puebla, Toluca and other cities of central Mexico. It is not a residential retreat: each workshop runs from 9 p.m. to about 1 p.m. the next day, guests bring their own blankets, and the only meal is a light breakfast. In 2021 and 2022 a workshop cost MXN 2,000 (about $100), with groups of up to 20 in Cuernavaca and 40 in Mexico City, and optional bufo, kambo and yopo were advertised. Mainrad’s credentials as a “clinical psychotherapist” appear on the old site but have been dropped from the current one, and none could be verified. No medical staff or screening is described, the only medication rule is to stop prescription drugs three days before, and old event pages claim ayahuasca helps hepatitis C, herpes and ADHD. DMT is a controlled substance in Mexico. We found no incidents.

🎯 At a Glance

• Locations: No fixed center. Workshops rotate among rented venues in Cuernavaca, Mexico City (one listed eight blocks from Metro Pantitlán), Puebla, Toluca, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Jilotepec and Tlaxcala, according to its current website. Venue addresses are not published.
• Approach: “Meditación con Plantas Maestras,” formerly “Meditación con Ayahuasca y Rapé”: one overnight ayahuasca ceremony with rapé, recorded and live music, and “psychotherapeutic integration,” framed by Inga-Kamëntsá and Siberian shamanic teachers and transpersonal psychotherapy.
• Suitable For: Mexican residents looking for an inexpensive overnight ceremony in the city who are comfortable in large groups and will handle their own medical screening.
• Costs: MXN 2,000 per workshop in 2021 and 2022, with a MXN 700 deposit paid in cash at an OXXO store to a personal bank card, according to copies of its event listings. No 2026 price or refund policy is published.
• Overall Assessment: A long-running, low-cost family operation with a psychotherapeutic framing, offset by groups of up to 40 with no medical staff, no screening questionnaire, an unsafe three-day rule for stopping prescription medication, bufo, kambo and yopo offered in the past, shifting and unverified credentials, unsupported health claims and controlled substances under Mexican law. Directory evaluation: C-.

💬 What Guests Are Saying

The positive picture. We found no independent reviews. Our earlier profile said guests described liberating ceremonies and compassionate support, including one who released grief, drawing on testimonials on the operator’s website; those testimonials do not appear on its current site and remain unverified.

The negative feedback. None found, because no independent reviews exist.

Who is writing the reviews. No one, independently. The operator’s own count of workshops held varies from “more than 150” to “more than 257” across its pages; the “357 sessions” figure in our earlier profile has no source. If you have attended, we encourage you to share your experience through our submission form.

🚩 Incident Report

We searched review platforms and Spanish and English-language news for reports involving Ayahuasca Evolución Interior, Medicinas Ancestrales y Psicoterapia, Mainrad Cortés, Verenice Cedillo, Shasní Cortés, Itzel G. Cedillo and their named teachers.

• Deaths and serious injuries: None found.
• Sexual misconduct: No allegations found.
• Theft and fraud: No complaints against the operator found. Its own event pages warned that fake pages impersonating it were asking for deposits, and told people to confirm with Vere by phone.
• Legal action: No arrests, raids or lawsuits found.

Our earlier profile also found no theft, sexual misconduct, crime, arrests or police involvement, including in an August 2025 update.

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident with this operator, please report it confidentially.

🔍 Critical Notes

Mexico’s legal picture. DMT is listed in Article 245, section I, of Mexico’s General Health Law among substances with little or no therapeutic value and potential for misuse, alongside psilocybin and mescaline, according to the law’s text. Ayahuasca itself is not named, but since 2022 Indigenous healers have been arrested at Mexico City’s airport for carrying it; one Uitoto taita spent about two years in prison before his case was dismissed, as Proceso reported. We found no raids on ceremonies in Puebla, Morelos or Mexico City.

Credentials. The operator’s older site described Mainrad Cortés as a clinical psychotherapist specializing in addictions (UAEM), founder and former director of Clínica Satori A.C. and director of a mindfulness institute in Cuernavaca; the current site calls him a “specialist in accompaniment and personal development.” Clínica Satori exists but does not mention him, and we found no record of any professional license. The current site says its work is educational and cultural and does not replace medical, psychological or psychiatric care.

Health claims. A 2021 event listing claimed ayahuasca helps with addictions, depression, ADHD, hepatitis C, herpes and PTSD. These claims have no medical support.

Corrections to our earlier profile. Workshops are overnight sessions in urban rented venues, not retreats with lodging and vegetarian meals in a “tranquil mountain retreat.” Prices were about MXN 2,000, not $500 to $1,500, and the $699 on our earlier listing has no source. The current website is medicinasancestralesypsicoterapia.com, and the operator has Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok accounts. We found no source for health and intention consultations, an exclusion of SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs and antipsychotics, a one-week diet, 24/7 support or the claim that about 55% of users face temporary anxiety; those remain unverified, and the diet the operator publishes lasts two days.

🆘 Screening & Mental Health Risks

The operator’s 2021 and 2022 listings required participants to be 18 or older, advised against attending while pregnant, and told them to avoid drugs and alcohol for two days and prescription medicines, antibiotics, injections or pills for “at least three days” before. A three-day pause is far shorter than the washout periods recommended for SSRIs and other psychiatric drugs, and stopping prescribed medication without a doctor can itself be dangerous. No questionnaire or interview is described, no medical staff are named and no emergency protocol is published; venues are in cities, but their addresses are not disclosed. ICEERS notes that ayahuasca’s MAOI component makes it dangerous with SSRIs and other serotonergic drugs and that it is contraindicated for people prone to psychosis. The operator promises emotional and psychological follow-up before, during and after the workshop. Never stop a psychiatric medication to qualify for a ceremony without your prescriber’s guidance.

🧪 Brew Substance

The operator describes its brew as Banisteriopsis caapi or Banisteriopsis inebrians with chacruna, the leaf that supplies DMT, as Erowid explains. In 2021 and 2022 it also advertised optional sessions of bufo (5-MeO-DMT from toad secretion), kambo and yopo, a snuff containing DMT-family compounds; these do not appear on its 2026 pages.

📍 Location, Setting & Style

• Setting: Rented halls and houses in central Mexican cities, reachable by public transport.
• Rooms: None; participants spend the night in the ceremony space with their own blankets and sleeping bags.
• Style: A family-led blend of Inga-Kamëntsá-inspired ceremony, transpersonal psychotherapy and meditation, for groups of 20 to 40.

Practical guidance: Bring blankets, a sleeping bag and a pillow. Water, tea and a light breakfast are provided.

Should You Book?

Only with care. Before paying, ask how many people will attend, who is trained to handle a medical or psychiatric emergency, which hospital is nearest to the venue, and whether bufo, kambo or yopo will be offered, and do not stop any prescribed medication without your doctor. Read our guide to verifying retreat facilitators.

The Team & Story

Mainrad Cortés and Verenice Cedillo say they apprenticed with Taita Juan Pedro Males Jamioy of the Inga-Kamëntsá reserve in Colombia, and Mainrad and their daughter Shasní with Adriana Monroy, a teacher of Siberian shamanism. Verenice describes herself as a specialist in transpersonal accompaniment for addictions, trained through a Spanish transpersonal school. Their daughters Shasní Cortés and Itzel G. Cedillo appear as “medicine women” on the older site but not the current one. The operator’s blog dates to at least December 2017. We did not independently verify anyone’s training.

Prep & Integration Tips

Before you go: Discuss any medication with your prescriber well in advance, and disclose every condition to the organizers. After you return: Arrange support from a qualified therapist. Our guide on how to research ayahuasca incidents can help you check any operator.

Pros & Cons

Book Your Ceremony

Workshops are scheduled in Cuernavaca, Puebla, Mexico City, Toluca, Cuautitlán Izcalli and Jilotepec from late October to late December 2026, booked by WhatsApp. Before paying anything, confirm the price, the venue, the group size and the emergency arrangements in writing. 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.