Intertwining Medicines

29/06/2025

We recently welcomed this wonderful human back to our non beginner retreat, and here’s what he has to share about this unique container that we created last year with the intermediate ayahuasca journeyers in mind.

Our non beginner retreats are not simply just for repeat guests… this is a purposeful container we curated as an intermediate space for those interested in connecting deeper with ayahuasca, growing within the Shipibo lineage, with a focus on the next steps toward the plant dieta path.

Everyone who has ever attended retreats at the large, corporate ayahuasca centers that wants to continue deepening the infinite wisdom and work with ayahuasca (along with other plants in the ceremonies) will eventually recognize that the large centers do not actually support the continued evolution for what comes next.

Seeing this “gap” between where people often start their journey with ayahuasca vs. where they will need to go to grow becomes obvious as one recognizes that large centers are no longer the appropriate space for them. This is where Intertwining Medicines fills that gap.

Our non beginner retreats begin the preparation process into the incredible, ineffable, disciplined path of plant diets… a different kind of journey in a significantly smaller group that is consciously guided by a very seasoned team- a team with many years of plant diets under their belts. We say this often, but plant diets take us into places that ayahuasca alone cannot reach.

We open the door for you; you walk through it when you’re ready. 🍃

12/06/2025

We are here in the Amazon rainforest having come full circle in many ways as we are about to begin a month of cave diving in the spirit world with ayahuasca in the masterful Shipibo lineage. A non beginner retreat first for those who are at an intermediate level with Shipibo medicine and have a piqued interest in the dieta path, followed by Intertwining Medicines first Shipibo plant dieta offering.

While the wonders of the Amazon always arouse the senses with the beautiful symphony of insects and birds, the rich and soothing palette of greens, the smell of wet plants, and the delight of super oxygenated air for your lungs… perhaps equally as important is how being in this environment always whispers poetry into our hearts that speaks directly to the soul.

We have one more round of Amazon retreats this year in October with only two spaces remaining. If healing with plants in the most incredible rainforest on earth is beckoning you, we are ready to receive you.

Pictured here is Bobinsana, la sirenita de la Amazona, the mermaid of the Amazon. We took this image whilst on a walk today where it grows massively and naturally along the river.

Bobinsana works physically on the body to help strengthen joints and is excellent for rheumatoid arthritis. Energetically this plant brings song, softness, magic, and so much more. Bobinsana is on our upcoming curriculum for our returning guests who are ready to level up their commitment to the path in the sacred space of sama (dieta in Shipibo).

Here in the Amazon, the roots of ayahuasca and South American curanderismo, we are surrounded by medicine in Pachamama’s original apothecary.

29/05/2025

Being wrapped in the soft vocals of Maestra Orfelinda feels like being wrapped in a warm blanket by a loving grandmother.

Here is our angelic Shipiba curandera singing a gorgeous icaro about Shihuahuaco, a huge and powerful tree of the Amazon rainforest often praised with similar reverence as the Tree of Life in other cultures. 🌳 This tree is dieted for strength and protection.

As she is singing, she is pointing the life of the design (or “kene” in Shipibo) that takes form with her words and voice. This is essentially what is taking place during a ceremony with her icaros or healing songs- she is creating a protective force field while weaving geometry through the entire maloka.

Orfelinda is returning to Sacred Valley to guide our women’s retreat from August 24-31. This is a retreat featuring an all female team- created by women for women.

Invisible forces of another kind are birthed when women gather in the company of one another. 🌹 This is a retreat where women can take off the armor they might feel whilst in the presence of mixed groups. All ages, all shapes, all sizes, all ethnicities, all backgrounds- we join together in sisterhood and medicine magick. 🌿✨🦋

27/05/2025

It’s common for people who are beginning their healing journey with ayahuasca to fantasize about their friends, family, partner, etc joining them for ceremonies or a full retreat immersion.

It’s a beautiful gift that we would feel inclined to want to share all the wonderful benefits plant medicine has to offer and hope to see the same healing in our communities. However it’s very important to allow people to come to ayahuasca on their own and in their own timing (if that is even supposed to happen to all).

The best way to lead in your community if you wish for others to connect with ayahuasca is to be a shining example by focusing on your own journey with patience and kindness. Focusing on your own process keeps your energy stable and grounded rather than externalizing it with projecting your desires on to others. When we are grounded, we will have more to offer the world around us because not operating from a place of chaos.

People notice when you’re brighter and more joyful, when you speak and move differently. It’s easy to spot when something within has changed for the better. Upon being asked what shifted, then sharing about ayahuasca becomes relevant because there’s an invitation, curiosity, and an openness.

May this be a helpful reminder that coercion, pressure, persuasion, or ultimatums are not compassionate avenues but rather subconscious attempts to control another which doesn’t serve anyone in the long run when it comes to healing.

Walking the walk has far more reach and impact than words alone, and ayahuasca will always nudge us toward the path of embodied leadership. 🌿

17/05/2025

🌷 August 24-31, 2025 🌷

We are welcoming back Maestra Orfelinda again this year as our wise and gentle Shipiba curandera. Orfelinda travels to us from the Ucayali region of Peruvian Amazon to guide us on a plant supported healing journey created by women, just for women.

There is a great need for trauma sensitive containers held by an all female team for women who may not feel entirely comfortable in mixed groups settings.

We hear you, dear ladies, and this is one is for you. All ages, all sizes, all colors, all shapes, all backgrounds- this is a compassionate space with our hearts paving the way. 🩷

A unique magic takes place when women come together with intentionality, and that beautiful energy is amplified when we shed old skin together. 🌹🐍🌿🙏🏼

Payment plans are available to anyone who needs one.

If the plants are whispering it’s time, we are ready to receive you. 🪽

08/05/2025

We have fun here. 🌿

Yes, ayahuasca can be fun if we give ourselves permission to blast into the full spectrum of feeling. Have fun and get a little playful even when it’s heavy. Especially when it’s heavy. There’s a time and place for all of it.

Sprinkle laughter into the psychic surgery because that also plants seeds. What’s worth calling in if it doesn’t bring joy in every cell and smiling eyes?

A farewell to our most recent guests who journeyed together into the heart of grief, pain, fear, laughter, bliss, love and everything inbetween. ✨ I’ve certainly never experienced a retreat quite like this one, and for that I bow in deep gratitude for the AWEsomeness of how these things play out better than my feeble human brain could plan for. I commend the bravery it takes for every person turning toward those internal spaces that most people don’t have the guts to confront.

I say this often, but I freakin love ayahuasca, the Shipibo lineage, shamanic healing arts, all of it. 🌱 It never gets old to say it just as it never gets old to participate in it. It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

In service, devotion, and collective happy tears. Intertwining Medicines 🫶🏼

06/05/2025

01/05/2025

The dreamiest centerpiece of any maloka… 🐾

We are officially half way through our retreat here in Sacred Valley, Peru, and we are feeling this space in much deeper ways every time. Our hearts have been blasted open in a short 72 hours with our dear group (and perhaps the most giggles and laughter we have ever shared in an ayahuasca immersion).

While still honoring the intense processes and energetic surgery our guests undergo with this all-encompassing plant medicine, it’s equally as powerful to be able to share smiles and laughter together. Laughter shifts our state of consciousness and elevates us from dense mental realms.

From laughter and endless cuddles with to cosmic swims with Shipibo led ceremonies, we can enter the temporary dark together knowing it’s a worthwhile sacrifice to invoke long term healing and light. 🌞🌿