How Psychedelics Changed the Life of a Microsoft Vice President

Former Microsoft Vice President Ben Fathi on his first Ayahuasca ceremonies at Soltara, a sixteen-hour panic attack, and what letting go of control taught him.

Ayahuasca retreats operate openly in Costa Rica. Here is how the law reads, the Ministry of Health permit Soltara holds, and how we care for every guest.

Soltara Healing Center is the first Ayahuasca healing center, and the first international center, to partner with Thank You Life, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit removing financial barriers to psychedelic-assisted therapy. U.S. donors can now make tax-deductible gifts to the Soltara Scholarship Fund.

A story with Ayahuasca at its heart necessarily begins in the Amazon. For Soltara, in more ways than one, our seeds were first planted in the Peruvian Amazon River Basin.

Preparation for the Ayahuasca retreat starts weeks before the first ceremony, and food is one of the most important components of the whole process.

Why does what you eat matter for ceremony? 

There isn’t one right way to do this work. There are, however, some minimum standards worth holding any retreat to, if you are feeling the call to work with Ayahuasca plant medicine. These are the questions we’ve actively pursued answering well in our approach at Soltara.

In the native community of San Francisco on the Ucayali River, a group of Shipibo-Konibo women set out to build something they had never had — a shared space to make and sell their work. Soltara helped fund phase 1, in collaboration with Futuro Nativo.

In early 2025, severe flooding along the Ucayali River in Peru destroyed homes in Shipibo communities, including the homes of Maestros who lead ceremonies at Soltara. Together with homodea and the wider Soltara community, €32,786 was raised for emergency relief. Here is what happened, and where that support went.