“What science cannot explain is the psychic effect of this ‘mother of all plants,’ the sense of the numinous and the spiritual world it reportedly opens up. Those who drink say that each ayahuasca journey is unique. They say that the spirit of the vine comes alive, it guides and teaches, and on the other side nothing is ever the same.”
Heart Sanctuary-Ayahuasca Retreat Center in the Sacred Valley of Peru
My own personal path with expanded states work began on a trip I took to Peru in early 2017 when I went to the Sacred Valley and tasted ayahuasca for the first time. This turned out to be the most impactful experience of my life.
For those of you who don’t know, Ayahuasca is a plant brew made from two plants found in the Amazon rainforest, Psychotriaviridis (Common name, Chacruna) and Banisteriopsiscaapi (Common name, Ayahuasca vine). The combination of these two plants brewed for a score of hours leads to incredible expanded states of consciousness. This brew has served as a source of incredible healing for thousands of years.
The retreat center I went to was led by a wonderful healer, Gaia Selina, who had created a sacred space that was a particularly good fit with what I needed at the time. Since then, I have visited Peru every year and made friends with many people in the Valley, including one of the lead facilitators at the same center, Aleyda Cardenas.
Unfortunately, the retreat center I knew and loved closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When things reopened, Selina, Aleyda and myself connected with a desire to open a new center, taking the best parts of the previous retreat center and making several improvements.
We came up with the mission of Heart Sanctuary in August 2021 and our first retreat is slated to take place in February, 2022.
