Reflections & Experiences

I let a couple weeks pass after the retreat to write my review. Ready?? Let’s go!

Why Spirit Vine.

I didn’t find this center online. I have a friend who’s been to this center twice before and she spoke highly about it. When I found out that Silvia who created this sacred healing environment is a psychologist right away I knew that Spirit Vine is a place for me.

I have had many ayahuasca ceremonies in the past 6 years with various tribes in different countries where I was just given the medicine without a lot of explanations and integration techniques.

The approach Silvia uses in her center is different and it was more productive for me.

There were workshops at the center that gave me tools to work with during the ceremonies. So Before each ceremony I was prepared.

I loved the shadow workshop very much which helped me to identify one of the faces of my dark side and work through it.

Ti0 did a great workshop on energy where he gave us tools on how to elevate our consciousness and be a better version of ourselves. We even watched movies there 🙂

The center is located not too far from a beautiful coastal town of Itacaré in the Atlantic forest. The land is stunning. There is a pond that I enjoyed every day, many beautiful plants, birds, monkeys. It’s a true paradise.

There’s an actual chef Thiago (obrigada from the bottom of my heart) who creates art with food. We literally ate art every single day there.

The accommodations were lovely and sparkly clean. I stayed in dorms with two more guests and it was perfect.

There was yoga and massages available which helped me to connect better with my body.

We took a few trips to the stunning beaches in the area and a waterfall.

Everyone who works at the center is super friendly and attentive.

We were a group of 15 and it was perfect. Not too many people, not too little. We all have become one big family by the end of the retreat.

I came out of this experience with a bunch of friends and a lot of knowledge. I have struggled all my life with the lack of self-love. At the retreat I was finally able to understand how to love and accept myself unconditionally. I felt very supported and loved by everyone there which definitely enhanced my experience and helped me to heal. Now I’m going through an integration process using all the tools I received during my retreat.

What I want to say is even if you don’t want to drink the medicine you can still come and enjoy the healing energy in the retreat. It’s much more than ayahuasca.

I’ll definitely be back to do more work.

Thank you Silvia and Ti0 and everyone who served us and helped us on our healing journey in Spirit Vine. I feel abundance of gratitude 🙏

So blessed to have met you.

Warm hugs, until next time.

Com amor, Svetlana

Second time here. It only got better. It was the most important and life- transforming week of my life. The group was larger this time but the bonding was perhaps even stronger. You’ve probably read the stories about the power of ayahuasca. It’s even more powerful than you can imagine. And this is absolutely the place to experience it. With the love and safety of the very special retreat that Silvia has created here, and the wisdom and knowledge that Ti0 willingly shares, this is the most spectacular place in the universe to learn and discover and heal and grow. Thank you again Silvia and Ti0. See you again soon.

There are people who give from their air of happiness so that others can breath. ( Silvia/ Ti0 🥰)

In this Paradise space, created by Silvia i discovered that is not just a retreat for me, it is blessing place where the journey of transformation and healing begins to the inner child/ shadows, where I stepped with a open soul for the third time this year, feeling at home with them, very peaceful, loving, safe place and harmonious people.

Silvia and Ti0 are blessed with the ability to feel and manage different emotional states of people, to actively listen from the state of presence, where they gently support you in the space of exploration, being able so easily figure out that you are in the best hands.

With them i learned how to calm my thoughts by opening my mind and heart, how to heal my subconscious pain, how to observe and purify all that is not for my higher good, how to have a deep soul connection, haw to enjoy life with every breath in a different world.

I left with my feet on the ground and the peace of nature in my soul, with a new vision to live, to feel, to love. Now having clarity to be able to make decision from the heart space, and i’m grateful to Silvia, Ti0 and the whole team witch ensured my mind-body-soul balance.

Throught organic food prepared with great joi by dedicated chefs i discovered how important nutricion is for the health of the body, for peace and well being of the mind and soul.

The nature of this magical space is so alive and embraces you with the scent of flowers and the deep silence in which the sounds of living creatured accompany you… I was delighted.

I m grateful and i thank the Divinity for guiding me to reach this blessed place created by these beautiful souls in witch i discovered what it is like to be me… I, the real one.

The truly wise teacher does not invite you to enter the house of his wisdom, but rather guides you to the threshold of your mind = Silvia/Ti0 thank you and i already miss you and look forward to seeing you again 🙏💞🙏

The whole experience at the retreat was extraordinary. The organization was flawless and the people taking care of everything(mainly Silvia and Ti0) are very caring and paying attention to all the details.

The location itself and the food were amazing, the acommodations were very good.

It was the third time for me there and for sure was not the last one 🙂

I was able each time to go deeper into my inner self and discover things that I can apply in real life afterwards.

Is definitely a place worth trying at least once for people seeking to rediscover or reinvent themselves. The small city Itacare which is nearby is also a good place to chill down and enjoy the beauty of Brazil.

For sure a five star experience

Let’s start off by stating that I’m a 30-year-old pain in the ass French woman, leading operations for a 8-billion-dollar company, control-freak who never took any drug in her life. You got it, I’m the rational, never satisfied type. That being said, I had heard several times that Ayahuasca was a life-changing experience that you could summarize by “10 years of therapy in 10 days”. Really? Solving my daddy’s issues in a week? You bet I had to check this out. And guess what, I’ll spoil the end of this review, saying that these 10 days with Silvia and Tio can change your life is a huge euphemism, it’s been (from far) the most incredible thing I’ve experienced in my whole life. And I’ll tell you why.

Firstly, the place is amazing, lost in the jungle, with beautiful bungalows and a lagoon you’ll love to go swimming into during your self-reflection quality time. The whole set up to put you in the best conditions to reach deep consciousness is without any failure: the vegan sugar and salt-free food is so creative that you almost forget the taste of a really good medium rare entrecote, the yoga classes taught by the lovely Andreia and the deep massages are absolutely what you need to make your body understand that it’s time to genuinely take care of yourself.

Then, to take care of your mind you’ll have the two most impressive experts I’ve met in my life, who truly know what they are talking about:

Silvia, she’s far from the well-known “I’m-gonna-teach-you-life-patriarcal-Guru” that you might encounter in some Ayahuasca retreats, she’s a brilliant psychologist with an amazing track record, she understands everything in a glimpse and help you the whole time to better structure your thoughts, your fears and your ambitions. Just having the privilege to have a one-hour therapy session with her would be worth the investment of the whole retreat!

Tio, on his side, is your guardian angel, anywhere, anytime. He’s been my rock during all the ceremonies, there’s not been any moment I did not feel safe since he’s watching you, guiding you, helping you going through the most challenging breakthroughs.

Overall, what you’ll get with Silvia and Tio is the absolute perfection in terms of feeling safe while getting the maieutic help you need to work on any trauma you had, understand what’s holding you back from being truly happy, and be assertive about what you need and want in your life. The anxiety I had at first about the ceremonies and my fear of the bad trips I could experience quickly vanished into a titanium work on myself that I could have never done without them.

I’ve been that impressed with everything I’ve managed to understand and deeply heal, – because yes, at the end of the day, everything is about healing – that it’s very clear to me that I’ll come back to this place whenever I’ll be at a crossroad in my life, to help me bring it to the next level.

I can’t be more grateful about everything that happened there, I’ve never been that happy in my life (and it was not an easy road) and trust me, this place is, without any doubt whatsoever, the sanctuary you need to go about what is gonna be the most inspiring experience of your life.

We came to Spirit vine with my brothers and my mum and it was an amazing bonding experience for all of us. Silvia and Tio are marvelous guides through this mentally challenging experience. They have great observation skills and can offer wonderful insights into human psychology. For me, having a non stop support from a wise and experienced psychotherapist like Silvia was the key to have a good experience. I’ve got so many insights about myself, my patterns of behavior and my relationships. I also had mind-blowing visions that were out of this world.

We loved yoga with Andrea, the massages, artistic and tasteful food, beyond beautiful jungle, cozy bungalows, and all the lovely participants. I will be back and bring all my friends 🙂

Does the Spirit Vine Ayahuasca Retreat Center deserve the consistently high 5 star and excellent reviews?

I have been on 5 Spirit Vine retreats, and I would say: No! They deserve higher!! This is my first review of the center.

After a lot of research, I chose this place – I was not disappointed. If you are looking for a major shift in your life and want to put yourself in safe hands, Spirit Vine is the place for you. My initial fears about taking ayahuasca dissipated very quickly, due to the care, the safety and the wonderful atmosphere.

In my opinion, the reviews accurately reflect what I have experienced here. However, the reviews may have not mentioned the following:

Quality of the Ayahuasca

Great care is taken to ensure the high quality of each ayahuasca brew, lovingly prepared using their own home-grown Ayahuasca vine and chacruna plants. They tailor the dose you take to your individual needs – something not always done at other centers.

Application Selection

Silvia´s care also extends to her consideration of your application, and she does not accept an application if she considers that this is not the right place or time for you. She does not accept all applications, and this is in your interest as a potential participant. Numbers are purposely kept low to maintain 1) quality of personal attention and care 2) safety. So the setting, circumstances and atmosphere are intentionally created to ensure the optimum conditions for the best possible experience.

Experience and Expertise

She has been organizing and facilitating retreats since 1997 (as at 2021, that is 24 years), and she has vast experience of how to maximise the best conditions for the participant. Silvia also has extensive experience and knowledge of the use of ayahuasca, as a method of expanding consciousness and spiritual awakening and unfolding. She leads the ceremonies, and expertly supports participants when requested both in the ceremony room and outside. Ti0, her very experienced assistant, also uses his incredibly intuitive senses and interpersonal skills to provide a high degree of individual support when requested. Working together, Silvia and Ti0 are a great team!

Workshops and Activities

Silvia´s and Ti0´s workshops and activities are carefully designed to help you prepare for and integrate your ayahuasca experience. During these retreats, I have really appreciated the depth of Silvia´s workshops on Childhood Regression, Unveiling the Shadow and Spirit Releasement, and Ti0´s two newer workshops about personal energy growth/maintenance and moving beyond the limited self. These workshops help you create your specific intention for each ceremony.

Prepare as well as you can

If you decide to apply, I would highly recommend that you follow all the prior preparation guidance (all on the website), and guidance at the retreat itself – it is comprehensive for a reason: to ensure you have the best possible experience and outcome. I cannot emphasize this enough: the better your preparation, the more you will increase your benefits from the retreat.

Personal Transformation

Last, but not least, you will leave with a sense that something incredible has happened – you might not be sure what exactly – but most probably you will need to make changes in your life to ensure that your shifts are profound, sustainable and long-lasting.

A Worthwhile Investment

My ayahuasca experience at this retreat center has been the single most significant event in my life, in terms of positive personal growth and life change, and I have spent MANY years in psychotherapy as a client. Go ahead, and invest in yourself. Chances are that you will not only be benefiting yourself, your relationships, your work, your health…but maybe you will be making the world a much better place.

It’s been 10 days since the last ayahuasca ceremony at Spirit Vine.

I hope Silvia and Ti0 will find time to read this feedback. Plus, a good chance for me to shortly summarise this tremendous, life-changing experience.

The first workshop with Silvia (not even a ceremony) revealed to me that my emotions control me, not the other way around. I also learned how to use creativity and imagination in healing childhood trauma. The following ceremony taught me about forgiveness, more important, self-forgiveness.

The second workshop on shadows (held by Silvia) showed me how little consciousness I usually bring into communicating with others. The followed ceremony gave me insights into true, unconditional love and compassion. It seems to also heal my relationships with ageing and death.

The third workshop about energies (held by Ti0) helped me to establish boundaries when interacting with others. The following ceremony showed how the same experience can be interpreted differently by different people and even the same person but at different times. It also showed the importance of having clear intentions, being assertive, and pointed to my self-sabotaging negative thinking and behaviour.

During the fourth workshop (thanks Ti0) about personality and essence, I was happy to learn that there is something beyond the exploration of our sets of behaviours and cognition; that we, humans, are capable of finding pure essence. Though during the following ceremony I was not given much information on this topic, I believe, when I overcome the need to go through my personality journeys, the answers will come.

During the fifth ceremony, I was able to connect with nature. I learned how to appreciate the existence of every living being and enjoy the initial simplicity of my own existence – the raindrops on my skin, the soft grass under my feet, the gentle wind blowing through my hair, the ability to feel, hear, and see the beauty and the great diversity of nature.

My intention for this review is to express my gratitude to Silvia and Ti0. I also hope that my experience will help others to make a decision when having to choose among dozens of ayahuasca retreats available these days.

Many thanks,

Mariia, Russia

P.S. the food and the accommodation were beyond any expectations.

Thanks to all staff members for their hard work, cooperation, and friendly environment that made our experience so easy and joyful.

As a couple soon to be married, all possible expectations we could ever have before entering Spirit Vine were exceeded:

TiO with his utterly precise but still playful ambience. Silvia in harmony with everything and everyone. The radiance of wisdom, compassion and understanding from both of them made it easy to just rest back and trust the process.

Looking back to who we were before entering Spirit Vine, both as individuals, and as a couple, there is so much that changed in us:

old patterns of negative behaviours were broken; fears that have been overcome; a giant leap towards true love that is not inflicted by meaningless arguments in daily life. This experience helped us to discover the way in how to consciously continue exploring the journey called life. Life as it is. Not infected by the set of rules we have been taught to live and believe in.

Five stars is not enough. Keep doing what you are doing!

/Kristoffer

I found this place completely by accident, and I could not be more pleased by this hidden gem in the jungle. The food, though adhering to the strict ayahuasca dietary guidelines, is absolutely delicious and so healing. The ceremonies themselves are in a safe, well-curated environment. Finally, the aya healing process is integrated with workshops and activities which allow the participant to go even deeper than with aya alone. The jungle setting is calming and inspiring. A perfect place to reflect, go deep and evolve.