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What is an Ayahuasca Course?

Ayahuasca courses are in depth training programs in the Shipibo healing tradition of plant spirit medicine known as curanderismo.  By learning the core principles of the tradition, students can build a strong foundation to practice for the many years it takes to become a true maestro.

An Incredible Honor

ayahuasca foundation course students pray over a plant remedyAyahuasca Training Courses at the Ayahuasca Foundation help people who feel called to the healing path of ayahuasca find their way by offering authentic educational opportunities in a style that resonates with western learning models.  By presenting the Shipibo teachings as written texts and audio recordings, as well as lectures and workshops, the complex tradition can be understood more fully as it is experienced through powerful plant dietas and personal explorations of profound ceremonies and treatment processes.  Of course, spending one or two months in the jungle is not a lot of time, but it is enough to make significant progress in understanding the key principles of the indigenous paradigm and the Shipibo healing tradition.  It will take a lot of practice and continued diets to further develop those principles, but by having a strong foundation in the optimal methods of practice, that development and progress will be heightened and accelerated.

During the courses, participants attend ayahuasca ceremonies, do powerful plant dietas, and receive a variety of traditional plant remedies. They attend important lectures, participate in workshops, contribute in discussions and share in conversations.  There is also a great deal of learning that happens directly from their experiences with the plant medicines.  Ultimately, the courses are led by the spirits of the plants, assisted by Shipibo curanderos and their apprentices.

Healing Treatments

Much more than just ayahuasca training, the courses also teach basic catagories of plant remedies, including plant baths, vapor baths, smoke baths, inhalants, purgatives, poultices, and other remedies. The ayahuasca tradition is much more than the ceremonies, but a great deal of time and attention is also given to the central aspect of ayahuasca and ceremony procedures.  There is a lot of emphasis on the healing songs, the icaros, and a lot of focus on the plant dietas, which form the heart of the Shipibo training.

Courses are led by indigenous curanderos from the Shipibo tribe. The curanderos are brothers who learned from their father and grandfather, so the roots of the tradition employed is the same. Both curanderos still have their personal style and manner, and each program is also unique and catered to the individual groups and people that attend.

Plant Dietas

noya rao leaves at the Ayahuasca Foundation plant medicine school Inkan KenaCourse participants can do two powerful dietas during a course. Dietas are what make students into curanderos and work to deepen the connections thay have with plant spirits.  Doing good dietas results in having profound relationships with specific plant spirits. Courses provide the optimal teachings and explanations to fully understand the dieta and how to maximize their effect.   Each plant spirit has its own way of being, its own nature, and its own gifts.  One of the most special dietas offered on courses is with the bio-luminescent tree Noya Rao.  This tree forms the heart of the unique and rare familial lineage of the Shipibo curanderos who lead the courses.  Dieting Noya Rao is truly an honor and contributes tremendously to the depth of insight and ability that can be achieved during a course and beyond.

Dietas are close personal relationships with plant spirits. While the effects of treatment is often profound, it is the educational aspects of the course, and especially the plant dietas, that serve to continue the healing and further the development of healing potential and ability for each student.  Having strong dietas allows students to maintain their connection to plant spirits, and increase their connection to new plants through a more highly developed intuition.

Course Facilities

Two separate locations are used for the two course offerings at the Ayahuasca Foundation.  Both locations are in remote areas of the Amazon rainforest but the accommodations are distinct between the two centers.   They are both beautiful areas with amazing energy.

Ayahuasca Foundation Course locationsThe Riosbo Ayahuasca Research Center features very comfortable accommodations, with private rooms, private bathrooms, hot and cold water, personal fans, a shared balcony overlooking a river, hammock deck, as well as massage, yoga, consultation and activities rooms. This is the location of the 4 week Healing Empowerment Course, which takes a maximum of 12 participants.  This place is a paradise, with swimming in the river a daily routine, as well as hiking in the pristine jungle of the national reserve where the center is located.

The Inkan Kena Plant Medicine School offers truly authentic accommodations, with private rooms, each with a private bathroom, and a rustic energy that resembles a small Shipibo community in the jungle. This is the location of the 8 week Ayahuasca Initiation Course, which takes a maximum of 16 participants.  While this location does not offers the same level of comfort, it does offer the most profound experience of studying in the most authentic way, surrounded by powerful medicinal plants, including several Noya Rao trees that are located just a short walk from the community.  Being able to connect with those trees, as well as the other master plants that are dieted during the course, make the school a truly unique and special place.

Ayahuasca Retreat Programs at Ayahuasca Foundation

Ayahuasca Foundation four week ayahuasca healing empowerment course in Peru

FOUR WEEK HEALING EMPOWERMENT COURSE 

$5,850
Riosbo Research Center
11 Ayahuasca ceremonies
Bobinsana Dieta
24 Additional plant treatments
Meditation, yoga, massage
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REVIVE YOUR HEALING POWER:
Spend four weeks at the Riosbo Research Center and attend 11 ceremonies led by a Shipibo maestro.  Get the deepest personalized healing treatment program possible. Learn about the plant spirit healing tradition and diet the plant Bobinsana, to activate and enhance your own healing power. Additional integrative practices help to guide your own personal process to fully empower yourself as a healer.

Date Program Spaces Left
April 14 - May 11, 2024 Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850 0
October 13 - November 9, 2024 Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850 1
January 19 - February 15, 2025 Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850 4
July 13 - August 9, 2025 Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850 8
Ayahuasca Retreat Programs at Ayahuasca Foundation

Ayahuasca Foundation ceremony cup serving ayahuasca

EIGHT WEEK INITIATION COURSE 

$6,850
inkan Kena School
22 Ayahuasca ceremonies
Noya Rao and other Dieta
In depth Shipibo training
Comprehensive treatment
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TRUE SHAMANIC TRAINING:
Intended for people who want to study the authentic Shipibo tradition of healing with ayahuasca.  Students spend eight weeks with the maestro don Enrique at the Inkan Kena plant medicine school, attend up to 22 ceremonies and diet the sacred tree Noya Rao and other teacher plants in addition to learning icaros, ceremony techniques, and plant remedies. It’s a unique opportunity to study traditional curanderismo with an authentic indigenous maestro deep in the jungle.

Date Program Spaces Left
April 7 - June 1, 2024 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 2
July 7 - August 31, 2024 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 2
October 6 - November 30, 2024 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 2
January 12 - March 8, 2025 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 12
April 6 - May 31, 2025 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 14
July 6 - August 30, 2025 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 13
October 5 - November 29, 2025 Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850 13
Ayahuasca Retreat Programs at Ayahuasca Foundation

Ayahuasca Course Reviews

Comments from Previous Course Participants

Attended the 8 week initiation program that completed in September at Inkan Kena. Challenging in so many ways but incredibly rewarding. The content is well prepared and the additional lectures provided on subjects like epigenetics where also valuable. Don’t go expecting 5 start amenities and comforts, but go knowing that you can establish deep connections with the master plants that are invaluable. The facilitators where amazing. Don Enrique is extraordinary, the singing circles…. WOW. highly recommended.

- Dave

I spent four weeks at The Ayahuasca Foundation’s Riosbos Research Centre in March 2018. It was a wonderful experience with a supportive group and attentive leaders. The Shaman is very loving and accessible during one’s stay. He and the leaders evaluate each person individually and their treatment is tailored to their own needs. The plant medicines are skilfully and accurately prepared to address personal issues. Each ceremony is safely conducted with appropriate support and follow-up. For me, I found the “dieta” was quite profound. I often think about returning to focus on certain things and to address other issues at a deeper level. After completing the program, I felt so clear, healthy and more connected to spirit. The experience is still a big part of who I am.
I recommend this program to anyone looking for a life changing experience.

- Liz

Integral, holistic and incredibly caring <3 I honestly have a hard time composing an adequate description of the time I spent with the AF, but never did I imagine to be met the way that I did here. The care, the passion, the love, the dedication and the integrity with which the work is conducted at the Ayahusaca Foundation is incredibly inspiring and has left me a transformed being. I can highly – highly recommend it! This isn’t a place to go for the fireworks, this is a place for healing of the whole. I attended their 8-week initiation course and as long with a very thorough training on how to navigate the ceremonial space and an incredible amount of personal healing – we learned a great deal about how to empower ourselves and continue the work outside of ceremony. The knowledge and ability to continue the work and to properly integrate all the lessons is incredible valuable and I feel I left with a huge briefcase of well practiced tools and a big amount of homework. Between ceremonies we worked with different kinds of plant medicine, everything adding and balancing the time their. I can highly, highly recommend this organization! Thank you!

- Blomme