The Retreat Is Not a Single Night.
It Is a Journey.
Meaningful change does not come from ceremony alone. It emerges through preparation, experience, and integration over time. At MahaDevi, all three are held with equal care.
How We Think About This Work
We do not view ayahuasca as a magical cure or a one-time experience. Transformation emerges through the relationship between three things: how you arrive, what happens in ceremony, and what you do with it afterward.
We hold all three. The retreat itself is the center, but the weeks before and the month after are where most of the real work takes place.
Most people who come to MahaDevi spend six to eight weeks in this journey in total. We are present throughout.
"We view the retreat not as a single event, but as a journey that unfolds across several weeks."
Before You Arrive: Preparation
Once you are accepted into a retreat, preparation begins. Not with a checklist, but with a conversation. We get to know you before you arrive. Your history, your intention, what you are hoping for, and what you are carrying. That understanding shapes how we hold you during the retreat.
Our preparation approach is fluid. Some people need more support, some need less. We meet you where you are.
The Ayahuasca Framework
Covers preparation in depth: the reasoning behind every guideline, how to assess your readiness, and what separates a safe retreat from an unsafe one.
What You Stop, When You Stop, and Why
The preparation guidelines exist for two reasons: to protect your physical safety given the pharmacology of the brew, and to help you arrive with the internal space the medicine needs to work.
What you stop consuming, and when, is specific. We provide clear, tiered guidance with the reason behind every restriction. The guidelines cover food, substances, sexual energy, media, and mental habits in the weeks before ceremony.
Most of what circulates as preparation advice is either incomplete or overly restrictive. Our guidelines are honest about which rules are pharmacologically critical and which are about arriving in the best possible state.
When You Arrive: The Pre-Ceremony Protocol
Preparation does not end when you land. The days between arrival and the first ceremony are part of the journey.
A group session covering what to expect from ceremony, etiquette, the ceremonial space, and how we hold the nights together. Questions answered. Concerns surfaced before anything begins.
Before the first ayahuasca ceremony, we hold a rapeh ceremony. Rapeh is a sacred tobacco preparation used to settle what arrived with you on the journey, clear accumulated noise, and bring you into alignment with the ceremonial space.
For selected participants, we hold a Dragon Blood or Kambo purge ceremony the morning before the first evening ceremony. This is a selective process, not every participant takes part. It ensures the body arrives to the first night as clear as possible.
A light breathwork session a few hours before the first ceremony bridges the ordinary state and the ceremonial one. It opens the breath, loosens the body, and creates a natural transition.
During the Retreat
The ceremonies are led by Taita Miguel Mavisoy, a Camsá healer from Putumayo with twelve generations of unbroken lineage.
Throughout each ceremony, the facilitation team is present. Between ceremonies, there are group sharing circles, one-on-one conversations with facilitators, grounding practices, and time in nature.
The retreat is designed as a container, not a sequence of events. What happens between the nights matters as much as the nights themselves.
Meet the Full TeamAfter You Leave: Integration
The ceremony opens something. Integration is the sustained work of understanding what opened and allowing it to become real change in how you live. We do not believe that insights automatically translate into change. Integration requires engagement, honesty, and patience. Meaningful change takes time.
Our 30-Day Integration Protocol
Every participant enters a 30-day structured integration period after their last ceremony. It is built around four calls, with seven to ten days between each.
Within the first day or two after you leave, we check in personally to confirm you arrived home safely and are doing well.
One week after the last ceremony. Everyone checks in. What is emerging gets named. You are not alone in what you are carrying.
By this point you have had time to begin sitting with the experience. This is where we work with what is specifically yours: the insights, the difficult material, the questions that have not resolved.
An active integration practice, not a conversation. We revisit the journey together through the body, work with what is still in motion, and recalibrate from a more grounded place.
We close the formal 30-day window together. What has changed. What has settled. What is still in motion.
Emergency one-on-one support is available throughout all 30 days. If we do not hear from a participant during a scheduled check-in, we contact their emergency contact directly. A clinical psychologist and psychiatrist with plant medicine backgrounds are available when needed.
How You Integrate Is Personal
People integrate experiences in different ways. As part of our integration work, we use integration archetypes to help participants understand their natural style and engage with practices that genuinely serve them.
The Explorer
Meaning through insightJournaling, nature, creative expression.
The Doer
Change through actionBehavioral goals, somatic practices, accountability.
The Rational
Understands through frameworksResearch, structured reflection, clinical frameworks.
The Apprentice
Grows through relationshipOne-on-one sessions, mentorship, community.
The Initiate
Moves through ritualCeremony, prayer, lineage connection.
A Note on Over-Preparation
The most common challenge we see in preparation is not under-preparation. It is over-preparation and attachment to a specific outcome.
Ayahuasca will take you where you need to go, not necessarily where you planned. Setting a clear intention is right. Demanding a specific result from the medicine is a different thing, and it becomes a block.
Our guidance is simple: eat well, sleep well, and stop putting genuinely harmful things into your system. Keep an open line of communication with your facilitator. The rest will unfold in the ceremony.
Do not spend hours reading forum reports about other people's experiences. False expectations are the most common preparation failure mode. Use the resources we provide. They were built for this.
Your Role in the Journey
We bring everything we have to this work. The lineage, the facilitation, the preparation resources, the integration structure. What we cannot do is the work for you.
Integration requires engagement, honesty, and patience. Participants are encouraged to continue self-reflection and integration practices after the formal 30-day period ends, allow insights to unfold naturally rather than rushing to conclusions, and seek ongoing professional support if the work calls for it.
Meaningful change takes time. What the medicine showed you does not expire. You have as long as you need.
Common Questions
- How long is the preparation before an ayahuasca retreat at MahaDevi?
- Preparation begins as soon as you are accepted and typically spans 14 to 30 days before arrival. This includes dietary and lifestyle guidelines, a group preparation call, educational resources, and a personal preparation call with your facilitator.
- What diet is required before an ayahuasca ceremony?
- Dietary preparation covers food, substances, sexual energy, and mental habits in the weeks before ceremony. Some restrictions are pharmacologically critical given the MAO inhibition in the brew. Others are about arriving in the best internal state. MahaDevi provides tiered guidance with the reasoning behind every restriction, so you understand what you are doing and why.
- What integration support does MahaDevi provide after the retreat?
- Every participant enters a structured 30-day integration period after their last ceremony. It begins with a personal arrival check-in within the first day or two to confirm you are home safely. One week after the last ceremony there is a group reconnection call, followed by a one-on-one call, a group breathwork session, and a final group reunion call. Emergency one-on-one support is available throughout. A clinical psychologist and psychiatrist with plant medicine backgrounds are available when needed.
- What happens between arrival and the first ayahuasca ceremony?
- The days between arrival and the first ceremony include a group orientation session, a rapeh ceremony to clear and settle what arrived with you on the journey, an optional purge ceremony for selected participants, and a breathwork session in the hours before the first night.
- Is there support if I struggle during integration after my retreat?
- Yes. Emergency one-on-one calls are available throughout the 30-day integration period. If we do not hear from a participant during a scheduled check-in, we contact their emergency contact directly. A clinical psychologist and psychiatrist with plant medicine backgrounds are available when needed.
- Do I need to follow a strict spiritual practice to prepare?
- No. The essential preparation is practical: eat well, sleep well, and stop consuming substances that are genuinely harmful given the pharmacology of the brew. Setting a clear intention is encouraged. Demanding a specific result from the medicine is a different matter and can become a block. MahaDevi provides honest, specific guidance and the Ayahuasca Framework video course covers the full reasoning.
Begin With a Conversation
Every retreat at MahaDevi begins with a discovery call. It is where we meet each other, understand what you are bringing, and determine together whether this is the right fit and the right time. There is no pressure in that conversation. There is only honesty on both sides.
Medical Disclaimer: The information on this page is educational and does not constitute medical or legal advice. MahaDevi requires full medical screening of all participants prior to acceptance. Dietary and preparation guidelines are provided directly to accepted participants. If you take medication or manage a health condition, consult your healthcare provider before attending ceremony.
About the Author
Yasha Shah is the founder of MahaDevi Ayahuasca, a retreat center in Colombia. He has been working with ayahuasca since 2017, with experience across hundreds of ceremonies as both a participant and retreat organizer. Trained within the Shipibo and Camsá traditions, his work bridges indigenous wisdom, harm-reduction principles, and practical integration for modern seekers. Yasha writes about ayahuasca, plant medicine, and psychedelics, covering integration, preparation, and harm reduction to help readers make informed and responsible decisions.