Question 1

Will Ayahuasca help me? Is it safe?

SoltaraAdmin · Accepted Answer

Ayahuasca can be a powerful tool for healing and for spiritual and emotional growth. In simple terms, it can feel like a very clear mirror that shows you what is really going on inside you. With the right mindset and a safe, well-run setting, it may help you see the roots of fear, trauma, and other emotional pain that shows up in your life. From a place of compassion, it can help you understand your inner patterns and support you in letting go of habits that no longer serve you. That said, it’s important to have enough time, a supportive environment, and skilled healers and facilitators who can help you work with whatever comes up and fully trust the process.

With proper screening, preparation, a safe “container” (the overall structure and support of the retreat), and good integration afterward, serious negative psychological effects are rare. However, some medical conditions do not mix safely with Ayahuasca, including (but not limited to) schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and psychosis. Some medications are also not compatible and should be discussed with your doctor. You should only consider a retreat if it is safe for you, and only change or taper medications under medical guidance.

Beyond medical issues, an Ayahuasca experience can become unsafe if the healers are inexperienced, if the brew includes added plants that may react poorly, if the retreat lacks strong support and safety practices, or if someone takes multiple different plant medicines close together (“medicine stacking”), which can overwhelm the system and leave someone feeling ungrounded.

At Soltara, your safety, well-being, and healing are our top priorities. Our goal is to help each person get the most from their experience in a careful, supportive way.

We work only with highly experienced Indigenous Shipibo healers from the Peruvian Amazon. We are connected to respected family lineages with generations of training and decades of hands-on experience. This helps ensure they can hold ceremony safely and effectively. Our facilitation team also has decades of experience and has supported thousands of guests.

Our Ayahuasca brew uses only the two main ingredients – Ayahuasca vine and chacruna leaf – and is sourced in a sustainable, regenerative way from trusted providers in Costa Rica. We also focus specifically on working with Ayahuasca, without other plant or psychoactive medicines, because we believe it’s important to give this tradition and medicine the space to do its best work.

In addition to our on-site team of skilled healers and facilitators, we consult qualified professionals during screening and preparation. Our medical intake process is thorough and includes a detailed questionnaire during registration to help reduce risk from adverse interactions, as well as a 1:1 intake call and any required follow-up. We also have on-site staff trained in first aid, a local doctor on call, health checks before and after the program, 24/7 facilitation support, and a fully stocked medical kit onsite. Finally, we include a 1:1 preparation call with a member of our preparation team for each guest as part of the retreat. Our safety protocols are designed so you can make the most of your retreat and feel supported – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

We take integration just as seriously. A powerful experience and an initial “clearing” can be an important start, but it is usually only the first step in a longer, often lifelong process. For healing to last, we believe people need tools and support to bring what they learned into daily life. We also aim to provide longer-term support so the changes can stick. Much of our team has worked at other retreat centers, and we saw how much most people needed ongoing connection and guidance after returning home. You can read more about our integration program here and our safety protocols here.

Question 2

What about purging? Does everybody purge?

SoltaraAdmin · Accepted Answer

Ayahuasca can involve purging, including vomiting or diarrhea. If you need help getting to the bathroom, our facilitators are available and will show you an easy way to signal them.

It’s also important to know that “purging” can mean many things. For some people it may look like crying, yawning, sweating, shaking, or laughing. Our facilitators are trained to respond to many situations, and we aim to care for you quickly, calmly, and kindly if anything challenging happens physically. As we like to say, “everything is normal on Ayahuasca.” Whatever happens is okay, and there is nothing to be ashamed of.

Question 3

What if I have never done psychedelics before?

SoltaraAdmin · Accepted Answer

Many Soltara guests have little or no experience with psychoactive medicines and still find deep healing with Ayahuasca. In fact, having less experience can sometimes help, because it may be easier to enter ceremony without strong expectations—something that can greatly affect the experience.

Working with Ayahuasca is often a process. If you are planning to work with the medicine—especially for the first time—we recommend giving yourself enough time for multiple ceremonies in a safe and supportive setting. It can take time to build trust and a relationship with the medicine so deeper work can unfold. Sometimes one ceremony can open the process, but may not be enough to gain meaningful benefit and then “close” what has been opened in an energetic sense. This is one reason our minimum retreat stay is five nights. We have found that at least three ceremonies, along with integration support during and after the retreat, can support a deep level of healing.

We have more information about Ayahuasca on our website. Here are some helpful starting points:

About Ayahuasca
Preparing for your Ayahuasca experience
Integration of the Ayahuasca experience

Question 4

What if I am menstruating during my retreat?

SoltaraAdmin · Accepted Answer

This won't prevent you from participating in ceremony. While some traditions do indeed indicate that women on their period should not participate in ceremony, our healer's recommendation is that you simply tell one of our facilitators if you are on it, to relay to the healer, for them to be aware of that energy release happening during ceremony.

Our healers have decades of experience working with medicine and navigating the energetics of the ceremony space. We have been working with Shipibo healers for several years and have never had any issues as it relates to creating a safe space for those who are on their cycles.

Question 5

What are Soltara’s dietary recommendations to prepare for my retreat?

SoltaraAdmin · Accepted Answer

After you register, you will receive an information packet with our preparation and dietary guidelines. Beyond the specific foods we recommend avoiding, it helps to see the diet less as a “restriction” and more as a way to support your body so the medicine can work well.

In general, a clean diet that emphasizes whole foods (and limits things like excess salt, sugar, very spicy foods, red meat, pork, alcohol, recreational drugs and substances, excessive dairy, and heavily processed foods) can make it easier for the medicine to work with you.

Learn more here about best practices for a dieta before drinking Ayahuasca.

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About ayahuasca

Will Ayahuasca help me? Is it safe?

What about purging? Does everybody purge?

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What if I have never done psychedelics before?

What are Soltara’s dietary recommendations to prepare for my retreat?

Personal Health

What if I am menstruating during my retreat?

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