Transform Your Life with Ancient Wisdom and Modern Healing
A retreat offers a profound sanctuary where you can disconnect from daily demands and recharge your spiritual essence. In this sacred space, you step away from distractions and immerse yourself in deep reflection, allowing for authentic reconnection with what truly matters. Surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals, you engage in transformative practices like guided meditations, plant medicine ceremonies, and group discussions, all designed to help you align with your heart’s true song.
This experience goes beyond a break from routine; it provides an opportunity for personal growth and spiritual renewal. With support and space for healing, you gain clarity on your life’s purpose, heal from past wounds, and cultivate inner peace. Upon returning to daily life, you are equipped with renewed vitality, enhanced clarity, and a deeper connection to your true self, ready to face life with a fresh perspective and enduring purpose.
Led by Taita Carlos and Eli Rechtschaffen at Putumayo, Colombia
Led by Eli Rechtschaffen and the nature within team
Led by Taita Carlos and Eli Rechtschaffen at Putumayo, Colombia
Eli Rechtschaffen, Rick William, John Freddy Cepeda, Sathyanarayani
at Blue Spirit Costa Rica
Our retreats are grounded in safety, care, and experience. We are supported by a highly skilled team, with our teachers bringing over 30 years of wisdom, our retreat leader offering 15 years of dedicated service, and the entire team trained to hold space for deep healing work.
At the heart of our retreats is Ambiwaska medicine, making its proper preparation a sacred priority. With deep intention, we carefully oversee every step—from selecting where the medicine is harvested to how it is prepared and the prayers infused into its cooking. We also ensure that the plants are harvested sustainably, honoring a right relationship with Mother Nature.
Finally, you will arrive at the serene retreat setting of Blue Spirit, where nourishing meals, a longevity center, ocean views, and wellness treatments await you. This peaceful sanctuary allows you to fully rest, renew, and immerse yourself in the journey of transformation.
Our retreats prioritize safety and care. Unlike some medicine retreats, ours are supported by a highly experienced team.
The Taitas bring 30 years of experience, the retreat leader has 15 years, and the entire team is well-trained in handling deep healing work. We ensure quality at every level.
For instance, we carefully monitor the origin and preparation of the medicine, including where the plants are harvested, who prepares them, and the prayers infused into the sacred brew.
The Blue Spirit retreat center provides an impeccably maintained space, offering amenities such as nourishing food, a longevity center, ocean views, massages, and beautiful surroundings.
All of this creates a safe haven for us to rest and focus on our healing journey. The retreat leader Eli is skilled in various self-practice modalities, including meditation, breathwork, and internal family systems.
These practices are integrated with the ceremonies to create an environment that is safe and joyous. Please feel free to reach out if you have any doubts or concerns.
If you were preparing for heart surgery, you would want to ensure that the procedure is performed by the best specialists available. Going to drink plant medicine is like going for a spiritual surgery where we are healing old karmic wounds, clearing energy stagnation in your subtle body, and coming back to wholeness. Who knows if this will be your only time drinking the medicine or if you will come to drink again.
Either way our spiritual growth is the most important thing we can invest in our whole lives. A well-nurtured spiritual path can bring balance and harmony to all other aspects of your life.
At our retreats, we recognize that each individual comes from different backgrounds and requires a unique set of tools to find peace. We integrate a wide range of modalities from various traditions, ensuring you have the most supportive tools to leave empowered and continue your journey toward true freedom.
With The Nature Within team, you can expect excellence and dedicated support. We look forward to supporting you on this transformative journey.
There are many traditions that serve Ayahuasca, each with its own unique approach to ceremonies.
Our ceremonies blend the Inga and Siona traditions. Our teachers are direct descendants of the Inga people but were raised in a Siona community, bringing together these two influences.
The Inga people are renowned botanists with extensive knowledge of jungle flora and remedies for physical, mental, and spiritual ailments.
The Siona tribe, on the other hand, has a profound understanding of the elements used in Yage ceremonies, such as chondur, wyra, ortiga, cuyangillas, and other allies, which enhance the healing process.
Our ceremonies are structured with great care.
Upon arrival, you will be welcomed into the ceremonial space and given time to settle.
The atmosphere is imbued with the vibration of prayer. One of the team members will then provide a detailed introduction, offering practical and spiritual tips to support your journey.
This includes the importance of breathwork to calm the nervous system, guidance on prayer, ways to connect with the Yage, and an overview of the evening’s flow.
Before the ceremony begins, the Taita leading the ceremony will offer ancestral words and pray over the medicine with the team.
The journey starts around 9 p.m. and continues until sunrise. Throughout the night, each participant will receive healing directly from the Taita and the team.
Live musicians will play, and there will be space to dance. A fire will be present, allowing for moments of connection with nature.
In the morning, there will be time for questions and sharing, followed by a talk from the Taita on ancestral wisdom, and a shared breakfast.
We recommend resting during the day. Our lineage often holds two consecutive nights of ceremonies for deeper healing.
The first night may bring up emotions, pains, or traumas as the medicine cleanses the system.
]The second night typically offers a lighter, more open experience, allowing for deeper connection and insights.
We all carry various blocks within ourselves, which can stem from genetic lines, excessive thinking, karmic influences, societal pressures, and daily life experiences. These blocks manifest as stagnation in our subtle body, the energy field that connects our consciousness with our physical being.
Ambiwaska engages with us in a profound way by initiating a dialogue with our heart. As the medicine begins its work, it prompts an inner investigation, uncovering old memories or unresolved situations.
This process helps bring to light what has been hidden within our hearts. As the journey unfolds, it becomes a sweet experience of rediscovery. We reconnect with parts of ourselves that may have felt abandoned or neglected.
These aspects are like inner child parts seeking love and attention. By engaging with these parts and understanding their needs, we embark on a healing journey. As we integrate these aspects and achieve inner wholeness, we naturally experience a more harmonious relationship with life.
We cannot make any guarantees. In the end it takes a certain desire and openness from each participant to walk through the door and step into a better life. However, we can guarantee that you will feel loved and supported by a community who will walk you towards the door. We do have many participants that have resolved all sorts of traumas, physical illness and other ailments.
The medicine is a very powerful ally who can support us in this healing process. Sometimes we may leave a retreat with a trauma completely resolved or other times we may leave with new found strength to continue our healing journey.
The most important thing is to ask your heart. Inside all of us, there is a calling to live with more love and to uncover our innate freedom. It is our journey to find what tools can support us in this inner discovery and to find a community in that exact search so we can remind each other when we inevitably fall off the path.
If you have never tried the medicine before and something is drawing you towards it then it’s worth a try. Ultimately, it may not be a path you continue to follow, but it could also bring a beautiful shift in your life. If there is hesitancy around joining, know you can go at your own pace.
For example, if you prefer to start with a small amount, you can share this with us during your consultation, and we will work with you accordingly. The elders say this is a path of patience so that we can find an appropriate rhythm.
The most important thing is to listen to your heart and see if you feel called to work with plant medicine. This is just one of many paths, all of which lead to the same destination: existential liberation.
Each of us is unique—we carry different lineages, face different blocks, and require different tools to support our awakening. Plant medicines are particularly powerful in their ability to assist in our healing journey.
If you feel this call, it’s likely your spirit is signaling that this may be helpful for your next steps in awakening. You are also free to try the medicine and see if it resonates with you. If it doesn’t, there are many other paths to explore. However, it’s essential to experience plant medicine within an authentic lineage, where you’ll be held safely and receive proper support.
Do you have any questions or concerns about joining a retreat? Schedule a free discovery call and let’s explore the possibilities together.
