Arkana Spiritual Center : Sacred Valley Ayahuasca Retreat Peru — Attraction in Urubamba

The Center One of my fellow travelers, who just came from the Arkana Amazon location, described Arkana Sacred Valley as "the Beverly Hills of ayahuasca experiences". The room and bed were both really comfortable. Hot showers were always appreciated. Meals were really clean, in keeping with the diet needed for the medicine. Hammocks on the grounds were nice to relax in during downtime. Plenty of shade to lounge around in or use to socialize. The facilitators and everybody who worked at the retreat showed a lot of care and love and patience during my stay. You're surrounded by mountains on every side, with the Urabamba River rushing past, giving you some nice white noise to fall asleep to. Everything is very green and living and beautiful.

The retreat If you've never taken ayahuasca before, you might be skeptical of the use of the word 'medicine'. This was my first time too, and I felt the same, up until the first ceremony, which was absolutely joyous. I've never felt such gratitude and joy in my entire life. You consciously feel the pain and sickness leaving you when you purge. Memories of events and people I hadn't thought of for years, decades even, rose to the surface and I was healed. It gave me the desire to reach out to loved ones and old friends who helped mold me. It gave me the tools and instructions to cure myself. The shamans and their songs were POWERFUL. The ceremonies lasted five to six hours, and there was so much music. Beautiful.

The sapo ceremony isn't built into the cost of the retreat but it was easily the highlight of the entire week for me. It was the first time I ever experienced ego death. And real death. I experienced timelessness, boundlessness, eternity. It was the most perspective-shifting, most spiritual and emotional experience of my life. It made me completely ok with my father's death. Truly ecstatic. If you want to experience god (I was a lifelong atheist before this week), this is how you do it.

The san pedro day is a beautiful way to round out the experience. There is easy conversation with your fellow tribe members, who by now are trusted friends. You make art. You play music. You enjoy yourself.

The group experience of the sweat lodge didn't involve any substance, but was really powerful. Makes you power through discomfort and accept what's happening around you without judgment. You have to shift into a higher gear.

Concluson This was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The preparation including the diet was challenging for somebody like me. The week at the resort was sometimes exhausting and terrifying. I spent a week at the retreat, and when I came back to work, people were telling me that I was glowing. That the light which had left my eyes after my dad's passing had come back. I saw my therapist twice after I came back to make sure I wasn't making a rash decision, and then I said "We're done here." My mourning period for my dad ended. My anxiety has left me; it's like a different person entirely came back from Peru. I'm taking much better care of myself; I'm continuing with the diet and I've lost around 15 pounds so far with more in sight. My relationships with friends, family and coworkers are improving. I'm convincing my family one by one that they should go to Arkana to share the experience with me because I believe in the process so thoroughly. I feel GOOD, in a way that I haven't for a long time. I got my mojo back. I will definitely be returning. I spent hours staring in awe, slack-jawed, drooling at the beauty of creation and everything that I have to be thankful. This was the best thing I've ever...

Kia ora my name is TeAriki from Aotearoa NZ, My people are Ngati Kahungunu - Ngai Tuhoe and Te Rarawa. I recently visited Arkana Spiritual Centre in the Amazon and OMG the experience was nothing short of amazing, powerful, enlightening, spiritually inspiring, cultural and transforming. I believe I was the first Maori to ever do a retreat at this venue (my claim to fame lol) and being Maori (Indigenous to NZ) we share a lot of cultural values and rituals similar to the Shipibo Tribes the Kaitiaki (Guardians) of the plant medicines of the Amazon especially ayahuasca. The day we arrived at the Center we were greeted by the tangata whenua (people of the land) the local Libertad people with dance,music, smiles, smoke, love, kindness, protection and care -we have a similar welcoming ritual in our cultural called a powhiri where we welcome our visitors with songs, speeches, prayers, haka, and food. When we were welcomed immediately all my fears disappeared and i felt myself being drawn into their world of love, healing,spirituality and acceptance. I knew from that day I belong here. When Maori host their guests its our tradition to shower them with gifts of hospitality - feeding them , giving them a place to sleep, supporting them during their stay - well Arkana hospitality was out of this world in fact you do it better than us Maori, the food was next level (our chef was a local from the village he is so gifted) the security, the facilitators, the beds, our rooms our toilets and showers the cleaners and grounds men the guides thank you all so much for making us feel at home ans looking after us I love you all. The facilities are world class - tidy clean. eco friendly solar power eco toilets, chemical free pool, absolutely perfect venue surrounded by Papauanuku (mother earth) Ranginui (Skyfather) Tane Mahuta (Jungle) and all the animals that live there. I was at one with all this I had to pinch myself every day saying I am in the most beautiful place on earth. The Shipibo Shaman are the carriers of this sacred knowledge of the plant medicines. Wisdom and knowledge that has been past down to them over thousands of years from their ancestors. All of them make major sacrifices to be a shaman - fasting, diet, abstinence, dying to the ego, silence, prayer. They take their roles very seriously so when they led us each night in the ceremonies I knew my life was in good hands because they have been where we are and they have experienced the healing power of mother ayahuasca. With such depth, spiritual insight, discernment and care they led us with icaros and more icaros sometimes chanting in amazing spell bounding unity all with different tones and vibration and intensity it was a true spiritual awakening. The shaman are so attuned to the spiritual realm they know when to chant and when to be silent they listen to the spirit of the medicine who is guiding them and all of us through the night and that happened every night - as a Maori I've been in lots of spiritual meetings but the ones I experienced there in Arkana were at a whole new level. The facilitators and staff also play a significant role in making our experience there so positive and healing. All of the staff are just like us all from different walks of life refined by their own trials but have experienced the healing powers of the plant medicines and this refining & healing shows in their love for us their gentle sensitivity and selfless care their sacrifice and dedication. I felt so warm and welcomed and safe with them their smiles, their open hearts was so healing and beautiful I love you...

I spent two weeks at Arkana in the Sacred Valley, and it was nothing short of an amazing experience. Everything from the food, rooms, showers, maestros, facilitators, setting, location, schedule, and the medicines were all perfect. The maestros were extremely powerful and professional. They have dedicated their lives to working with the medicines, and have sacrificed a lot, doing many years of intense diets, to learn from the plants, and share their wisdom to hold ceremonies, and heal people from all over the world who come here. They care so much about helping people. I couldn’t imagine going through these strong medicine experiences without a guide of their caliber. Their songs and icaros in ceremony are magical. The food was way beyond my expectations. It is like gourmet food from a fancy restaurant. It follows all guidelines to adhere to the ayahuasca diet, but is bursting with flavor and incredibly fresh. Much of it is grown on site in the garden. You can tell the chef puts so much love into every dish. He was a chef at a fancy restaurant in Lima before coming to Arkana. The setting of the retreat is very serene and peaceful. It is right on the Urubamba River, and is a beautiful garden setting. Hummingbirds are flying all around the beautiful flowers. The rooms are very comfortable, and have amazing showers. They also have a nice gym overlooking the river. The facilitators are also top notch. They were so helpful every step along the way. Luke, Theo, Bob, Tunde, and Cinzia were all so great. They helped talk me through difficult times, and gave me advice along the way. They shared their experiences with me, and really helped encourage me to trust the medicine and the process. They did a wonderful job at helping me with every need I had during the ceremonies, and outside of the ceremonies. They play beautiful music during ceremony as well. They were always there to talk and help. They care very much about helping others, as many of them were originally guests at Arkana themselves. I can’t speak highly enough about them! They say the power of Arkana lies in the schedule. I found the way that each week is scheduled to be very beneficial for the way the different medicines work together. Two back to back Ayahuasca ceremonies, then a day off. Then, the Sapo ceremony, followed by another Ayahuasca ceremony, really allows you to go deep. Then, finishing off the week with a San Pedro on Friday is amazing! It is such a good way to bring everything together with such a beautiful, heart opening medicine. It really helped ground me, after intense Sapo and Ayahuasca experiences. It really connects you to nature, yourself and the group. Last of all, the medicines at Arkana are very powerful. They are known to have strong medicine with a high level of purity. No watered down medicine here! They work with you to figure out the right dose for each person. You can up your dose or lower it, depending on how you feel, always with the guidance of the Maestros and the facilitators. Rest assured, these medicines work, and will take you where you need to go. I will definitely go back to Arkana again in the future. I have been to other Ayahuasca centers that were also good, but Arkana is where I will be going back. I have so much trust in this place. Lots of intense, amazing healing is done here. It is a great place to go through whatever the medicine might put you through, and be so well taken care of along the way. You will come out of it with life lasting benefits! Thank you...