How To Prepare
After you’ve been approved to attend a ceremony, there are a few key areas that you will need to focus on before arriving to ensure you have the best possible experience.
Preparing
Your Body
Your body is the vessel through which ayahuasca works. A clean, simple diet clears toxins, balances the nervous system, and heightens sensitivity to the medicine. By avoiding heavy foods, alcohol, and stimulants, you create the physical clarity needed for the plant to move through you with ease and strength.
Speak with your doctor before applying for an ayahuasca retreat if you are taking any medications or have specific mental or physical needs that may interfere with your experience.
Which foods should I avoid?
Before attending Spirit Vine, we ask guests to follow an ayahuasca-friendly diet to support safety, clarity, and receptivity. This generally means avoiding alcohol, recreational drugs, pork, red meat, fried or heavily processed foods, excess sugar, chocolate, caffeine, and fermented or aged foods. We view this diet not as a restriction, but as a way to gently prepare your body and nervous system for the work ahead.
What about my medications?
Your safety is essential to us. Certain medications, especially antidepressants, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and other drugs that interact with MAOIs, are not compatible with ayahuasca. We require full disclosure of all medications and supplements during the application process so we can assess safety on an individual basis. Please do not stop or change any prescribed medication without guidance from your healthcare provider and our team.
3 months before the retreat
This is a good time to begin setting intentions and observing your habits. We encourage reducing alcohol, recreational substances, and highly stimulating media, while beginning to eat more consciously. Journaling, meditation, or therapy can help you start listening to what your body and inner world are asking for as you prepare for the retreat.
2 months before the retreat
Around this time, we recommend continuing to simplify your diet and lifestyle. You may begin phasing out foods and substances that will need to be avoided closer to the retreat. Many participants find it helpful to reflect on emotional patterns, relationships, or life themes they feel ready to explore more deeply.
3 weeks before the retreat
Three weeks before arrival, we ask guests to be more intentional with diet, rest, and emotional care. This often includes fully avoiding alcohol and recreational drugs, eating lighter meals, and prioritizing sleep and nervous system regulation. This period helps your body adjust and prepares you for a smoother ceremonial experience.
1-3 weeks before the retreat
During the final weeks, we encourage simplicity and gentleness. Eat clean, nourishing foods, limit stimulants, and reduce stress where possible. This is a powerful time to listen inward, clarify intentions, and allow space for emotions or memories that may begin to surface as part of the preparation process.
During the retreat
While at Spirit Vine, meals are designed to be supportive of the medicine and the work you are doing. We ask guests to refrain from outside substances and to stay present with the retreat container. This is a time for rest, reflection, ceremony, integration, and honoring the process as it unfolds. We will ask you to hand in certain items upon arrival and you will not receive these items back until the last day of the retreat.
After the retreat
After returning home, we recommend continuing the diet and lifestyle guidelines for at least a short period to support integration. Gentle routines, reflection, creative expression, and grounding practices can help you stabilize insights and emotions. Integration is ongoing, and how you care for yourself after the retreat is just as important as the ceremonies themselves.
Preparing
Your Mind
Ayahuasca responds to the state of your mind. Practices like journaling, meditation, and setting intentions invite focus and openness. Releasing rigid expectations reduces resistance, while cultivating curiosity and trust allows the ceremony to reveal what you most need to see, rather than what you think you want.
“Ayahuasca will show you what you need to see, not what you want to see.”
What if I have PTSD or CPTSD?
We understand that many people come to this work carrying trauma. Having PTSD or CPTSD does not automatically mean ayahuasca is unsafe, but it does require careful consideration. During the application process, we ask detailed questions so we can understand your history and assess whether Spirit Vine is an appropriate and supportive environment for you at this time. Ayahuasca can bring emotions and memories to the surface, so preparation, pacing, and integration are essential.
What if I’ve never been to therapy?
You do not need prior therapy experience to attend Spirit Vine. Many people begin their healing journey here. That said, ayahuasca can open deep internal material, and having tools for emotional awareness and self-regulation can be helpful. Our workshops and integration support are designed to meet people where they are, while encouraging continued support and self-care after the retreat.
Is there a risk of psychosis?
Yes, there is a known risk for individuals with a personal or family history of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder. For this reason, we carefully screen all applicants and may advise against participation if there are red flags related to psychosis. Your safety and long-term wellbeing are always more important than attending a retreat.
What is the effect on the brain?
Ayahuasca affects brain chemistry by temporarily altering perception, emotional processing, and neural connectivity. Research suggests it may reduce activity in habitual thought patterns while increasing emotional awareness and introspection. These effects can support insight and healing, but they also mean the experience can feel intense and unfamiliar, which is why preparation and integration are essential.
What if I have a panic attack?
Strong emotional or physical sensations can sometimes arise during ceremony. Our facilitators are present throughout to provide grounding, reassurance, and support if panic or fear comes up. We encourage participants to work with their breath, body awareness, and trust in the process. You are never expected to handle difficult moments alone.
Why limit my content consumption?
Limiting news, social media, and emotionally charged content helps calm the nervous system and reduce mental noise before ceremony. This creates more internal space to listen inward and allows the experience to unfold without excess external influence. Think of it as gently quieting the mind so deeper awareness can emerge.
How do I integrate the experience?
Integration is about turning insight into embodied change. We support this through sharing circles, workshops, reflection, and grounding practices during the retreat. Afterward, integration may include journaling, therapy, creative expression, time in nature, or lifestyle changes. Healing continues long after the ceremony ends, and we encourage ongoing support.
Why do I need an intention?
An intention helps orient your experience without controlling it. Rather than a goal or expectation, it acts as a gentle compass that gives your psyche and nervous system direction. An intention can be as simple as a question, a quality you wish to cultivate, or an openness to learning. It helps you return to clarity when things feel intense or confusing.
Do I need a religion for Ayahuasca?
No. You do not need to follow any religion to participate at Spirit Vine. Ayahuasca comes from Indigenous ceremonial traditions, which we respect deeply, but our retreats are not religious services. We do not ask you to adopt beliefs, deities, or doctrines. People from many backgrounds — religious, spiritual, agnostic, or secular — participate in this work in ways that feel authentic to them.
Does it fit with my faith or belief?
Many guests find that ayahuasca does not conflict with their faith, but rather deepens their relationship to values such as compassion, humility, forgiveness, and self-awareness. We encourage you to reflect on your own beliefs and discern whether this work aligns with them. We honor personal sovereignty and do not position ayahuasca as a replacement for any spiritual or religious path.
What if I’m not spiritual at all?
That’s okay. You do not need to identify as spiritual to attend Spirit Vine. Some people approach ayahuasca through a psychological, emotional, or personal growth lens rather than a spiritual one. The experience often works with the nervous system, emotions, and subconscious regardless of belief, and we support participants in interpreting their experience in a way that feels grounded and meaningful to them.
Why are gratitude and reverence key?
Gratitude and reverence help create a respectful relationship with the medicine, the land, and the process itself. Approaching ayahuasca with humility rather than entitlement supports safety, clarity, and integration. These attitudes also honor the cultures and ecosystems that have preserved this medicine for generations.
How can I honor these traditions?
You can honor these traditions by approaching the retreat with respect, listening carefully, following guidance, and avoiding appropriation or sensationalism. Simple acts — such as mindful preparation, sincere intention, and responsible integration — help acknowledge the lineage of this work without needing to adopt cultural practices that are not your own.
Why see ayahuasca as a teacher?
We view ayahuasca as a teacher because it often reveals patterns, truths, and inner dynamics that are already present within you. Rather than “fixing” you, it can help illuminate what is asking to be seen, felt, or integrated. This perspective encourages curiosity, patience, and responsibility for your own healing.
How do I prepare my spirit simply?
Preparation does not need to be elaborate. Simple practices such as quiet reflection, journaling, reducing distractions, spending time in nature, and setting a gentle intention are often enough. Preparing your spirit is less about ritual and more about creating space to listen inward.
What role do forest and healers play?
The forest and the people who steward this land are an essential part of the container at Spirit Vine. Being held by nature can help regulate the nervous system and deepen connection. Our facilitators and healers help maintain safety, structure, and care throughout the process, supporting both the ceremonial and integration aspects of the retreat.
Preparing
Your Spirit
The ceremony is a sacred encounter. Approaching with humility, gratitude, and reverence for the traditions that hold this medicine prepares your spirit to receive. Honoring the forest, the healers, and the vine itself opens the doorway for deeper connection—reminding you that ayahuasca is a teacher, not just an experience. You do not need to follow any particular religion to benefit from this path; the medicine meets you where you are. Its wisdom integrates with all faiths and spiritual perspectives, supporting each person’s unique connection to the divine.
Retreat Meals
Each meal is prepared with fresh, local ingredients (many from our own gardens!) During the retreat you will be provided with an abundance of healthy vegan foods that nourish your body and help you process ayahuasca. We employ local chefs who create a variety of beautiful, delicious, and nutritious foods for you to enjoy.
Rules & Guidelines
Go over the expectations we have of each of our participants during their stay at Spirit Vine Retreat Center.
Dieta Guide
Get a detailed look at what to avoid before your ceremony as you prepare your body, mind, and spirit.
Travel Guide
We’ll work with each participant to arrange for a taxi service to and from the airport and nearby town.
Ready For Your Journey?
We expect every participant to follow our rules & guidelines while at the retreat and to have adhered to our guidelines for the dieta before arriving. We only admit applicants who show true dedication to the process, contributing to a safe and secure environment.
Sustainability at Spirit Vine
The Spirit Vine Center was founded by Silvia Polivoy with the intention to help people, nature, and animals. This intention was ignited in her first
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Honoring The Roots of the Medicine
We recognize ayahuasca as a gift from the forest and its guardians, understanding that the vine itself is a living teacher.
At Spirit Vine, we honor and respect the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon who have been practicing this tradition for centuries. Our ceremonies are guided in partnership with trained Shipibo healers, who carry songs (icaros), prayers, and practices into each brew.
At Spirit Vine, we honor and respect the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon who have been practicing this tradition for centuries. Our ceremonies are guided in partnership with trained Shipibo healers, who carry songs (icaros), prayers, and practices into each brew.
