HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN AYAHUASCA RETREAT
Preparing for an ayahuasca retreat goes far beyond packing a suitcase. It’s an emotional, mental, and physical journey that starts weeks in advance. This guide helps you connect deeply with yourself before arriving, ensuring you meet the medicine with clarity, openness, and respect.
When you ask yourself how to prepare for an ayahuasca retreat, remember that the process is much more than a checklist. It is a journey of body, mind, and spirit
WHY AN AYAHUASCA DIET PREPARATION IS IMPORTANT
Preparing for an ayahuasca retreat isn’t just about packing your bag or booking your flight — it’s a journey that starts long before you arrive in the jungle. For many, this preparation marks the beginning of a much deeper inner shift. Whether you're joining us at Madre Selva in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon or somewhere else entirely, your readiness can shape your entire experience.
Start by reflecting on your intention. Ask yourself: Why am I feeling called to work with ayahuasca? This isn't always an easy question, and that’s okay. Your reasons might be clear, or they might come into focus over time. Some people come seeking clarity after trauma or loss, others long for a deeper connection with themselves, or with nature, or with something greater. There’s no right answer — only your truth.
We also encourage you to speak with someone you trust: a facilitator, a therapist, or someone who's journeyed before. They can help you explore your motivations and emotional readiness. And remember, feeling nervous is normal. Ayahuasca has a way of bringing us face to face with ourselves — and that can be both beautiful and intimidating.
At Madre Selva, we welcome you just as you are. We’ll walk alongside you through every step — preparation, ceremony, and integration — so you never have to feel alone in this process.
Next, let’s talk about what you’ll need to avoid before coming to ceremony — not as a restriction, but as a respectful offering to the plants themselves.
PRACTICAL STEPS: HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN AYAHUASCA RETREAT ON A PHYSICAL LEVEL
SETTING A CLEAR INTENTION BEFORE YOUR JOURNEY
The inner work starts long before the first cup. In the weeks before your retreat, take space to slow down and listen inward. Reduce screen time, especially social media and news.
Avoid overstimulating content like violent films, video games, or endless scrolling. These may seem harmless, but they agitate the nervous system and keep you disconnected.
Instead, make space for quiet: walks in nature, journaling, meditation, breathwork. You don’t need to “fix” anything — just observe. Ask yourself: Why am I called to do this? What am I hoping to understand or release? There’s no wrong answer.
Emotional preparation also means softening expectations. Let go of the idea that one ceremony will “solve” everything. Instead, approach the journey as a process — one that unfolds in layers. Ayahuasca is not a quick fix, but a wise teacher that meets you where you are.
Let this be a time of gentleness and honesty. You don’t have to be perfectly ready. You just have to be willing.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN AYAHUASCA RETREAT PHYSICALLY
3 WEEKS BEFORE THE RETREAT
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Foods: Pork, blue cheese, aged cheeses, fermented products, pickled or smoked foods, fried foods
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Intoxicants: Mind-altering substances and psychotropics (e.g. cannabis, MDMA, 2CB, 2CI, and all synthetic drugs)
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Medications: Anti-depressant and/or blood pressure medications (please notify us if you’ve been on any of these in the past 40 days), 5-HTP, tryptophan, St. John's Wort
2 WEEKS BEFORE THE RETREAT
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Foods: Alcohol, soy and soy products, overly ripe bananas, iced drinks
1 WEEK BEFORE THE RETREAT
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Foods: Dairy, red meat, peanuts, hot chilis, very spicy food
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Supplements: Nutritional and/or herbal supplements (unless cleared during your intake call)
3 DAYS BEFORE THE RETREAT
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Foods: Citrus, papaya, caffeine, salt, sugar
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Other: Sex (for energy preservation)
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Note on Caffeine: Decaf coffee is okay, but full abstinence from both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee for the 3 days prior to the workshop is recommended.
SEXUALITY AND ENERGY
No Sex or Self-Pleasure: Refrain from sex or self-pleasure to preserve your energy for the inward journey and to avoid external energies influencing your self-discovery.
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL PREPARATION
Media and Technology: Avoid violent or overly politicized news and media consumption (TV, internet, video games, social media, etc.). We recommend taking a break from social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) and the news for at least one week prior to your workshop to prepare mentally.
HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS
Eligibility: Individuals with severe mental or physical conditions, as well as pregnant women, cannot participate in this retreat due to potential risks. Other healing methods may be more suitable at a later time.
Contact the facilitator if you have questions or concerns regarding your eligibility.
MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL PREPARATION BEFORE YOUR AYAHUASCA JOURNEY
Preparing your mind is just as vital as preparing your body. Ayahuasca isn’t only a physical experience; it opens emotional and psychological doors, and the more mentally clear you are going in, the more insight and healing you’re likely to receive. The weeks leading up to your retreat offer a chance to gently shift your inner world.
Start by simplifying your mental input. Reduce exposure to intense, disturbing, or overstimulating content—this includes violent movies, distressing news, addictive social media scrolling, and high-adrenaline video games. These forms of media can clutter the mind and agitate the nervous system, making it harder to connect with yourself once the medicine is working. Instead, you might find it grounding to spend more time in nature, journal your intentions, or read books that support self-reflection and emotional awareness.
Ayahuasca often brings to light emotions you may have tucked away or avoided. Creating space to gently reflect on past experiences, fears, or areas of growth can help you welcome whatever arises during ceremony. Begin to hold yourself with compassion and curiosity. There’s no need to be perfect—just willing and open.
If you already have a meditation or mindfulness practice, deepen it in the weeks before you travel. If not, even ten minutes a day of quiet breathing or body scans can prepare your system for what’s to come. Consider setting clear but flexible intentions: What are you hoping to understand or release? What would healing look like for you?
This isn’t about going in with expectations, but rather about cultivating an open, stable foundation to receive whatever the journey offers.
HEALTH CONSIDERATIONS AND MEDICAL SAFETY
Safety is sacred. Ayahuasca is not suitable for everyone. Those with severe mental health conditions (like schizophrenia), heart conditions, or who are pregnant should not participate. Some medications—especially antidepressants or MAOIs—can cause dangerous interactions with the medicine. Full transparency during your intake is vital. Not to exclude you, but to protect you.
If you're unsure, contact the retreat facilitator or medical screener well in advance. It’s not uncommon to delay participation to allow your body and mind to be in a more prepared state. Your long-term wellbeing always comes first.
WHAT TO EXPECT THE FIRST TIME YOU DRINK AYAHUASCA
The ayahuasca dieta is not just a formality — it's a vital part of your physical and energetic preparation. Skipping or loosely following the recommended diet can have real consequences, both physically and spiritually. From a medical perspective, certain foods and substances (like fermented products, aged cheeses, or antidepressants) can cause dangerous interactions with the MAO-inhibiting components of ayahuasca. But beyond the physical risks, neglecting the dieta often reflects an inner resistance to letting go of control or distraction — which can show up during the ceremony itself.
Many participants who skip the diet report more intense purging, agitation, or emotional blocks during the journey. Others feel they miss out on the deeper connection with the plants because their body was too preoccupied with processing what shouldn’t have been there. The dieta is about creating spaciousness — clearing not just your liver, but your mind and emotional field, so you can meet the medicine in a grounded, open-hearted way.
Choosing to honor the dieta is a way of saying yes to the process — fully, humbly, and without shortcuts. It’s a sign to the plants that you’re ready to show up with intention.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T DIET BEFORE AYAHUASCA?
The dieta is more than a list of do’s and don’ts — it is a way of bowing to the medicine before you even arrive. When you set these boundaries, you are saying to the plants: I am listening. I am ready.
Skipping the dieta can create turbulence in your body and mind. Certain foods and substances may cause real physical discomfort, but just as important is the subtle layer: without this preparation, your system may feel heavier, more distracted, less open. Many people who ignore the diet describe stronger purging or difficulty surrendering in ceremony.
The dieta is an offering. By clearing space in your body, you clear space in your heart. It is a quiet act of devotion that prepares the path for deeper connection.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU'RE READY FOR AYAHUASCA?
There is no perfect checklist, no final proof that you are ready. Readiness often shows up as a quiet inner call — a pull toward healing, clarity, or something greater than what you can touch in daily life.
You don’t need to be fearless. Nervousness and doubt are natural companions on this path. What matters is willingness: the courage to meet yourself honestly, even if the journey feels uncertain.
If you feel that sense of being drawn — curious, humbled, perhaps even a little afraid — that may be the clearest sign of all. Ayahuasca doesn’t ask for perfection. Only sincerity.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR AYAHUASCA TO WEAR OFF?
The effects of ayahuasca usually move through the body for four to six hours, though inside the ceremony, time can feel very different. Some moments stretch endlessly, while others dissolve like mist.
When the visions fade, the medicine often continues to whisper in subtler ways. In the hours and days after ceremony, you may feel tender, quiet, or filled with new insight. This is why integration is so vital — because the true work of ayahuasca unfolds not only in visions, but in how those visions take root in your life.
SEXUAL ENERGY AND SPIRITUAL FOCUS
In the days before ceremony, you are invited to conserve your sexual energy. This is not about rules or shame, but about honoring the sacredness of what is to come. Sexual energy is life force itself — powerful, creative, magnetic.
When you hold this energy within, you arrive in ceremony more focused and clear. It is like carrying a full vessel into the fire of transformation. Without distraction, your attention rests more fully on your relationship with the plants, and the medicine can meet you in a deeper way.
THE IMPORTANCE OF INTEGRATION: AFTER YOUR JOURNEY
Ceremony is not the end of the journey — it is the beginning. What happens afterward, in the quiet days of integration, is just as sacred as what happens in the maloka.
Take space for rest. Write down what you saw and felt, even if it makes little sense at first. Share with those you trust, or sit in silence with the echoes of your experience. Integration is the art of weaving the threads of ceremony into the fabric of your daily life.
This is how ayahuasca continues to work long after the cup is empty — in your choices, your relationships, your way of being in the world.
STAYING GROUNDED WHILE STAYING OPEN
Ayahuasca can open vast inner landscapes, but its teachings are not meant to pull you away from life. The deepest journeys bring you back — to your body, to the earth, to the simple truth of being human.
Spiritual growth is not about escaping. It is about showing up more fully: eating with care, walking with presence, listening more deeply, loving more freely. The medicine teaches us not to drift away from reality, but to root more deeply into it.
FINAL CHECKLIST: PREPARING FOR YOUR RETREAT
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Begin your dieta at least three weeks before ceremony
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Speak with facilitators about any medical questions
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Hold a clear and gentle intention
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Step back from screens, news, and overstimulation
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Preserve your sexual energy in the days before ceremony
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Pack loose clothing, a journal, and an open heart
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Remember: preparation is part of the journey itself
Each of these steps is part of how to prepare for an ayahuasca retreat with openness and respect. The way you walk toward the medicine shapes how the medicine will meet you.
Ready to take the next step?
Discover more about our upcoming retreats at Madre Selva in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon — a safe, intimate space where the medicine meets you in truth. Learn more or apply here →
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