Flight Of The Guacamayo

Ancestral Shamanic Medicine Retreat with Ayahuasca

Led by Taita Juanito & Eli Rechtschaffen - May 18 to 25, 2024 at Blue Spirit, Costa Rica

Join us for a transformational week of deep healing!

 

The fundamental intention of our retreat is to support the awakening of consciousness on the earth. The ancestors that walked on this planet before us knew how to live in harmony with all of life. This ancestral memory still lives within each one of us and it is our time to awaken to this inner calling. We give thanks to the Great Spirit, Mother Nature and our Ancestors for this opportunity to remember a way of living in beauty.

On our retreats we weave together many different healing modalities creating a safe nest for you to take rest. In this container we can let go of old belief systems, emotional burdens and anything else that prevents us from living fully. In this week-long journey, we offer ancestral Ayahuasca ceremonies which are the main pillar of healing. Around these ceremonies we offer preparation and integration activities to bring balance and clarity.

As well there is time for non-doing, relaxation and space to embrace the healing energy of Costa Rica and Blue Spirit. Our center is located just a few minutes away from the Pacific Ocean and here you will find wonderful excursions, a longevity center, massages, healthy meals daily and much more. If you have been looking for a retreat to recharge your batteries and give you a fresh start in life then look no further. You will feel completely held by our highly experienced team and the safe container we create.

Ancestral Yagé Retreat:

  • Two Sacred Ayahuasca Ceremonies

  • Private Consultations with Taita Juanito

  • Personal Healing Sessions

  • Ancient Plant Wisdom Talks

  • Plant Technology Regeneration Baths

  • Meditation and Yoga Classes

  • Transformational Breathwork Sessions

  • Nature Prayers and Offerings

  • Origin Sound Healing Journey

  • Delicious healthy meals daily

  • Walking distance to the beach

  • Longevity center

Retreat Leaders

  • Taita Juanito

    Medicine-man, Taita and Botanist.

    Taita Juan Chindoy is a medicine man, healer, and botanist with was born in the Condagua indigenous reservation in the Putumayo jungle of Colombia. Taita Juan was born in the Inga community, where he learned their traditional botanical remedies.

    Later he began his study of plant medicines with the elders of the Siona tribe. Taita Juan was recognized at a young age as a wisdom carrier of his tribes. Since then, he has dedicated his life to serving mankind and delivering the teachings of his ancestors in their purest form. He guides us on a journey in which we can return to our essence and see that all is spirit.

  • Eli Rechtschaffen

    Medicine-man, Shaman and Guide

    Eli was born in upstate New York and since a young age he has felt a strong connection with the spirits of nature. In his journey he found that the paths of meditation and shamanism have provided him the most supportive awakening tools.

    Eli is a long-time practitioner of meditation where he has studied in many lineages and spent intensive time in retreats and in silence. He also has frequented the Amazon jungle and there he studied the medical plant medicines through the tutelage of the Ingano tribe. Eli is the founder of The Nature Within and leads medicine retreats in Costa Rica with the Taita Chindoy family. His life intention is to bring these sacred healing tools to all beings in order to support the collective awakening.

Meet the Team

  • Carolina Chavarria

    Retreat Co-Director & healer

  • Michelle Matthews

    Yoga teacher & medicine-woman

  • Sathya Riveros

    Breathwork teacher & healer

Testimonials

Where will the retreat take place?

 

In beautiful Costa Rica

Costa Rica is at the forefront of environmental stewardship in Central America. It is committed to a major initiative to decrease its ecological footprint and become a leader in the “green” movement, as the effects of global warming are becoming more pronounced and the environmental status around the world is worsening daily. The government has placed global warming at the top of its national agenda and has already implemented an extremely successful forestation plan. Costa Rica has initiated a program to become by 2021, the first carbon neutral developing country on Earth – and has already made significant progress in lowering its overall CO2 emissions.

At Blue Spirit Retreat Center

It provides an extraordinary setting to all who are dedicated to spiritual transformation, personal development, and environmental sustainability. Perched on a hilltop that overlooks the Pacific Ocean and a three-mile long white sand beach that is protected as a turtle refuge – Blue Spirit offers an extraordinarily beautiful and natural setting on one of Costa Rica’s renowned beaches, supporting your retreats, workshops, and trainings to be a deeply nurturing and unforgettable experience.

Your stay at Blue Spirit offers you a comfortable and elegant accommodation of your choice, delicious gourmet vegetarian cuisine, a salt-water infinity pool, koi pond, café, gift shop, spa and longevity services, outdoor excursions, and complimentary wireless service.

Your safety is our priority.

It is mandatory to read our Safety Guidelines prior to booking.

For our sisters joining..

Please take note that, in this tradition, women who are pregnant or on their menstrual cycle do not participate in the ceremonies. If you have your cycle during the retreat and can’t partake in the plant medicine ceremonies. In our retreats, we always have a moon ceremony for you. To learn more about our traditions and connection with the sacred time of bleeding visit here and for any questions write us at retreats@thenaturewithinus.com

FAQs

  • The most important thing is to ask your heart. Inside of all of us there is a calling to live with more love and to uncover our innate freedom. It is our journey to find what tools can support us in this inner discovery. As well to find a community that is in that same search so we can remind each other when we inevitably fall of the path.

    If you have never tried the medicine before and there is something drawing you towards it then it’s worth a try. In the end it may not be a path you continue to follow but it could also bring a big shift in our lives. If there is hesitancy around joining also know that you can go at your own pace. As an example, if you feel you would prefer to start with a little bit of medicine then you can share this with us during you consultation with Taita and we will work accordingly. Taita himself always explains that this is a path of patience and so each of us can find a rhythm that feels appropriate.

  • There are many different traditions which serve Ayahuasca. Each one has their own uniqueness in how their ceremonies are held. Our ceremonies are held through the union of the Inga and Siona traditions. Our teachers are direct descendants of the Inga people but they were brought up in a Siona community and thus we have these two influences.

    The Inga people are botanists and so they have vast knowledge of the jungle fauna and how to make remedies for all sorts of ailment’s whether they are physical, mental or spiritual. Whereas the Siona tribe have a strong understanding in the use of different elements in the Yage ceremonies such as the chondur, wyra, ortiga, cuyangillas and other allies which bring the ceremony together for more healing.

    Through this union we have structured our ceremonies in a very particular way. Upon arrival in the ceremonial space, we are all welcomed in and given time to settle. As we enter, we can already feel the vibration of prayer. In some time, one of the team members gives an introduction to the night which goes into full depth of what we should and shouldn’t do. These are practical and spiritual tips to support your journey. We share about the importance of using your breath as a way to calm the nervous system, tips on prayer and ways to connect with the Yage, what is the flow of the evening, and many other pointers.

    Always before the night starts the Taita, who is leading the ceremony will offer some ancestral words and then he will pray on the medicine with some of the team. The journey itself will start around 9pm and goes until the sun comes out in the morning. During the night every participant will receive a healing directly with the Taita and team. We also have live musicians playing and there is space to dance. In our ceremonies there is a fire present and this is area where we can go outside and connect with nature. In the morning time there is space for questions and sharing’s. The Taita will also have a morning ancestral wisdom talk and then we all go for breakfast together.

    In the day we recommend everyone to rest as much as possible. In this lineage we have two ceremonies back-to-back nights because we find this is the way we get the deepest healing. The first night is often more bitter and the second is sweeter so in this way we find balance. In the first night we often have emotions, pains or traumas that surface and the medicine is cleaning this out of our system. In the second night we are lighter and more open to connect with the medicine and we can uncover insights for our life.

  • We all have different blocks inside of ourselves. These could be carried from our genetic lines, excessive thinking, karmic winds, societal influence and our daily life. These blocks show up and they create stagnation in our subtle body. The energy field which connects our consciousness with our body.

    Ayahuasca works in a very beautiful way with us as she starts a dialogue with our heart. There is an investigation that starts to happen from the side of the Ayahuasca and in the same way there is an investigation that is happening within ourselves. In time we may find ourselves there with an old memory from childhood, or with a situation happening in our lives now that we haven’t really been able to confront. In this way the medicine helps us to bring to light what is already in our heart.

    Then the journey becomes sweet because we have rediscovered a part of ourself and now we can work on becoming friends. These areas of ourselves that are uncomfortable are small child parts that feel they have been abandoned and are really just looking for love. So, we start to talk with these parts and see what is it that they need. This is the journey of healing as we come into wholeness within ourselves, we then in a natural way live in that wholeness with life.

  • Our retreats are very safe. However, this is not always the case with all medicine retreats. At our retreats we have a highly experienced team who is supporting you during the whole week. The Taita’s have 30 years of experience, the retreat leader has 15 years of experience and the entire team is well trained. We recognize that it is deep healing work that is happening on our retreats and as a result we need to be held appropriately.

    We ensure quality at all levels. As an example, we know where the medicine comes from, who cooks it, how they have prepared it, where they harvested the plants from and most importantly what prayers are going into this sacred brew we will be drinking. You will also see that the Blue Spirit retreat centers is an impeccably held space which gives us a sort of cushion to rest on. The food, longevity center, ocean, massages, and just beautiful spaces all around.

    The retreat leader Eli is very experienced in many different modalities of self-practice such as meditation, breath work and internal family systems. These practices are woven together around the ceremonies to create an environment that is safe and joyous. Feel free to always reach out if you have any doubts or concerns.

  • If you were to go to receive heart surgery you would want to make sure that you were getting this procedure from the best. Going to drink medicine is like going for a spiritual surgery where we go to heal old karmic wounds from the past, to clean out energy stagnation in our subtle body and to come back to wholeness.

    Who knows if this will be your only time drinking the medicine or if you will come to drink again. Either way our spiritual growth is the most important thing we can invest in our whole lives. If our spiritual path is full then everything else in life comes into balance as result of this ground.

    In our retreats we realize that all of us are from different backgrounds and need a different tool set to bring us back to peace. In these retreats we weave together a wide spectrum of modalities from different traditions so that you can find the most supportive tools to go home empowered and ready to continue the path of true freedom.

    With our team at The Nature Within you can expect excellency and we hope to be able to support you in this journey sometime soon.

Pricing and Accommodation

Here you will find a variety of different room options that accommodate single and shared occupancy. Please keep in mind the prices in display are the room prices. An additional program fee of $1,500 per person will be added to the rates below.

If there is not an available room that suites you please write us at retreats@thenaturewithinus.com as we often have cancellations or alternative options

It is required to read our Safety Guidelines as well as our cancellation policy below prior to booking.

If you have any questions visit our FAQ page and if you can’t find what your looking for write us at retreats@thenaturewithinus.com

Cancellation and refund policy

The Nature Within reserves the right to cancel a program at any time. If The Nature Within cancels a program, you will receive a full refund. A refund, minus 3% stripe fee of your room cost and a $200 processing fee, will be offered for cancellations made on or before the close of business, 45 days before each program. No refund or credit will be offered for cancellations made with less than 45 days notice; if you do not show up; or if you leave a program early.

We highly recommend that you purchase travel insurance, which insures you against unforeseen sickness, injury, job loss, inclement weather, and more.

Our Medicine Family

It takes a family to bring life back into love. With our collective prayers, connections and meditation we can plant seeds for the future that are worth reaping. We thank you and hope to sit with you soon.

May all beings be happy and free.