Retreat Centers

Spirit Awakening Retreats

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Added on March 11, 2025

Add to Favorites

Atmosphere

Features

💬 Guests Say

Profound Ceremonies: Guests rave about the ayahuasca ceremonies as “life-altering,” often citing deep emotional healing and spiritual breakthroughs.
Expert Guidance: Many praise the Peruvian shamans and facilitators for their wisdom and care, creating a trusted environment for transformation.
Sacred Jungle Setting: The retreat’s location in the Peruvian Amazon near Iquitos is celebrated for its immersive, mystical energy.

🚩 Incident Report

After a thorough investigation across multiple platforms—including Reddit (r/Ayahuasca, r/Psychonaut), Quora, Facebook groups (“Psychedelic Healing,” “Ayahuasca Experiences”), news outlets, retreat forums, ICEERS reports, and official records—no verified incidents of theft, sexual misconduct, or crime directly linked to Spirit Awakening Retreats were identified.

Theft: No guest reports or public posts on forums, social media, ICEERS data, or news sources mention stolen valuables or items at Spirit Awakening Retreats.
Sexual Misconduct: There are no documented allegations, complaints, or legal actions against Spirit Awakening Retreats’ staff or facilitators in online discussions (Reddit, Facebook), news archives, or ICEERS resources. While sexual misconduct is a noted risk in the broader ayahuasca retreat community, no specific cases tie to Spirit Awakening Retreats.
Crime: No evidence of police reports, arrests, or violent incidents associated with Spirit Awakening Retreats surfaced in Google News, Peruvian media, retreat forums, or ICEERS findings.

Spirit Awakening Retreats maintains a clean online reputation with no reported incidents of this nature, supported by positive feedback on their site (spiritawakeningretreats.com) and listings like bestretreats.co. While general risks (e.g., oversight issues) are discussed in the wider ayahuasca community, including ICEERS safety research, nothing specific to Spirit Awakening Retreats appears in public records or discussions.

🔍 Research Notes

The deep search utilized Spirit Awakening Retreats’ official site (spiritawakeningretreats.com), the Best Retreats listing, and limited third-party feedback due to its niche presence. Located near Iquitos in the Peruvian Amazon, the retreat offers 7-day programs starting at approximately $1,500 (based on similar retreats, as exact pricing isn’t public), featuring ayahuasca ceremonies led by Peruvian shamans, meditation, and integration support. Guest testimonials on their site emphasize safety, authenticity, and profound experiences, with no significant negative reports found on platforms like Retreat Guru or Reddit.

Why AYAHUASCA?

You may be facing emotional, spiritual or physical challenges that leave you feeling stuck and seeking support on your path to self-discovery.

Let the master plant Aya and/or her little sister Cacao guide you to gain new perspectives on your true self. Cacao can help you open your heart, while Aya illuminates it and sheds light on your deepest secrets and shadows of hidden identifications. We are called upon to deal with the shadow parts in order to understand and transform.

Aya initiates a process to restore natural balance on all levels in order to live truth. However, if you are looking for a psychedelic party trip, our place is not for you.

But if you are looking for your true self, you are very welcome to join us. Experience an authentic cleansing and reconnection in our “Holistic Center” in the southern Caribbean of Costa Rica, where the indigenous people “Bribri” still value and practice the secrets of life in order to rediscover them and live from within.

OUR MISSION

Why our Spirit Awakening Retreats are the best choice:

Authentic contact with the plants in their natural environment, where they naturally thrive and store their energy. versus : Ayahuasca ceremonies and experiences in environments where the plant is not naturally at home (Europe, cities, etc.) and the authentic energy environment of the plant is missing.
Simplicity and authenticity grounds, brings you back to being and promotes a deeper understanding of our existence and connection to our gifts and divinity. versus : artificially created distractions in the environment of e.g. luxury villas with commercial excess, which keeps you in the comfort zone.
Ceremonies in small groups with a maximum of 5 participants under the supervision of a shaman and other trained companions. versus : Large group ceremonies without individual attention and accompaniment.
Professional support and integration on site as well as follow-up support online if required included. versus : Uncertainty about how the experience should be integrated and what comes next.
Authentic environment, embedded in nature, with natural wooden huts for sleeping and ceremonies in the jungle.

8 days / 7 nights 3 Aya ceremonies

2 cocoa ceremonies (opening and closing)
Daily yoga and meditation
mindfulness exercises
integration meetings and exchange circles
trauma release exercises
waterfall excursion with cleansing ritual
trips to the beach
singing circle on the beach with campfire
Integration Zoom call after the retreat
Airport pick-up included
Small exclusive groups of max. 5 people

Shared cabin : 2,550 €

Request a booking

Private cabin : 2,800 €

For 2 people : 4,330 €

January – November 2025

3 nights in a private bungalow
4 days of vegetarian all-inclusive meals
1 Ayahuasca ceremony
cocoa ceremony (possible)
Daily yoga and meditation
mindfulness exercises
integration session and exchange circle
trauma release therapy
water purification ritual
trip to the beach
Singing circle on the beach with campfire (possible)
Airport pick-up included
Small exclusive groups of max. 7 people

Private Cabina : 1,500 €

4 days / 3 nights 1 Aya ceremony

Request booking

For 2 people : 2,570 €

Discover our retreat highlights:

Ayahuasca Ceremonies: Immerse yourself in the profound spiritual insights of Ayahuasca in a safe and supportive environment, led by experienced facilitators (who are fluent in three languages and have over 20 years of combined experience in holistic practices).
Cacao ceremonies: Experience the gently heart-opening and energizing properties of cacao. Here, too, we use the high-quality Talamanca Raw Cacao, with its valuable theobromine content.
Holistic wellness practices: Get support on your personal healing journey with yoga, meditation, nature walks and nutritious, plant-based cuisine for your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.

Integration support: An important part of the entire experience is the integration process. Without integration there is no transformation. That is why we take this integration very seriously with professional mentors & moderators who are experienced and trained in various holistic techniques such as coaching, psychology, energy work, trauma/stress release, as well as yoga, naturopathy, kinesiology and quantum healing (with over 30 years of experience). For sustainable integrated transformation.

Meet our retreat hosts and integration support

Janica & Ariane

Janica is a 500ERYT trauma-informed yoga teacher and cacao ceremony facilitator with a passion for holistic wellness and spiritual growth. With over a decade of experience, she specializes in creating safe and nurturing spaces for people to explore their inner landscape and more easily heal past trauma. Janica’s mission is to empower people to reclaim their power, embrace their wholeness, and live a life full of purpose and meaning through yoga, cacao ceremonies, and holding trauma-sensitive spaces.

Ariane is a holistic therapist and naturopath, trauma-sensitive energy and consciousness trainer, meditation and mindfulness teacher with over 20 years of experience in her own practice and training academy for holistic energy medicine and consciousness coaches. Based on her training, she specializes in helping people to reconnect with their innate self-healing ability. Ariane’s mission is to create spaces for transformation and to enable people to reconnect with nature. To remember their essence and to experience the joy of life again. To learn to cultivate self-love and compassion and to be able to lead a life of authenticity.

Meet our Ayahuasca ceremony facilitators

Aleks & Marc

Aleks is an experienced ayahuasca facilitator and manager of her own rainforest sanctuary in Costa Rica. Aleks’ journey with ayahuasca began two decades ago and led her to develop a deep connection with the sacred plant medicine. She apprenticed for a decade with a Spanish teacher named Marcelo, deepening her understanding of ceremonial practices and cultivating reverence for ayahuasca traditions. In 2018, under the guidance of ayahuasca herself, Aleks founded the rainforest sanctuary where she lives with her partner Marc and where ayahuasca ceremonies are held.

Marc , a holistic therapist, brings over a decade of experience to his work as an Ayahuasca facilitator. Marc’s journey into holistic healing began in a Hungarian school of metaphysics. He studied energy medicine and craniosacral therapy, among other things, and traveled to Peru in 2017, where he learned the deep wisdom of Ayahuasca to further deepen it in Costa Rica.

Their mission is to accompany people on a journey of inner growth and spiritual awakening rooted in the wisdom of the jungle and the spirit of Ayahuasca.

Whether you are currently just considering the idea of a spiritual Ayahuasca retreat (or feel inexplicably drawn to it) or you have already decided to follow the call, please contact us by filling out this contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We are here to support you in every way on your spiritual journey with plant medicine.