Vine of the Soul @ Espacio Khungi

It is a traditional Amazonian plant-medicine tea, prepared and served the way it has been for generations, and received in prayerful ceremony. Out of respect for the traditions that carry it — and the discretion this work deserves — we keep its common name off the page. If you know, you know; and if you don't, we'll gladly speak plainly on your call with us.

In our gatherings it is served by our Shipibo-trained medicine woman, inside a container built from fifteen years on the medicine path.

Many of our guests are meeting the medicine for the first time. That's part of why our process begins with a conversation rather than a checkout page — it exists to answer this question honestly, in both directions. First-timers consistently tell us the preparation, the small circle, and the depth of the team made all the difference. And if we don't believe this retreat will serve you, we'll tell you so and help you find what will.

Yes — preparation is half the work, and the tradition takes it seriously. In the weeks before the retreat we ask you to simplify: no alcohol or recreational substances, and a gradual step back from red meat, fermented and aged foods, fried food, and excess salt, sugar, and spice. In the final days the diet becomes simpler still, and we encourage quieting the other appetites too — media, stress, and stimulation.

You won't have to figure any of this out alone. Our complete preparation guide — intention, diet, daily practice, and the weeks after — is yours to download below, and the team walks with you through the weeks leading up to your arrival.

It depends on the medication — and this is the one place where complete honesty is a matter of safety, not preference. Some medications interact dangerously with the medicine, including SSRIs and other antidepressants, MAOIs, lithium, tramadol, and certain psychiatric and blood-pressure medications. Every guest completes a thorough medical intake reviewed by a medical doctor before being confirmed.

Please never adjust or stop a prescription on your own. If a change is appropriate, it happens slowly, with our guidance and your prescriber's. And if your medications or health mean this work isn't safe for you, we will lovingly decline — that answer is also care.

Every ceremony is different, and no honest facilitator promises a particular experience. Most journeys last four to six hours and move in waves — visual imagery, memories, deep emotion, insight, and physical sensation. Some passages are blissful; some are challenging, and a challenge met inside a safe container is very often where the healing lives. Ceremony is carried by traditional song and music, and the full team is present with you from the first cup to the last.

Dosing is consensual, always: how much, whether to receive a second serving — nothing is ever pushed on you.

You might — and it's welcome if you do. In this tradition the purge is not a side effect; it is understood as release. It can look like tears, yawning, trembling, sweating, laughter, or vomiting, and it often arrives with a sense of something old finally leaving. The space is prepared for it, the team tends to it discreetly, and no one thinks twice. Plenty of guests purge very little, or not at all — both are perfectly fine.

No. Everything at Khungi is an invitation. You may sit in ceremony without drinking, or step back from any part of the retreat that doesn't feel right in the moment. The container itself — the temazcal, cacao ceremony, breathwork, the land, the tribe — carries real medicine of its own.

A circle of fifteen at most. Every guest passes through the same doorway you do — a personal conversation and a doctor-reviewed medical intake — so you'll be sitting with people who were welcomed with the same care. Ages and backgrounds vary widely, most guests arrive on their own, and confidentiality is a shared agreement: what happens in ceremony belongs to the circle. People consistently arrive as strangers and leave as family.

Our core ceremonial team is five — the medicine woman, two psychotherapists, a ceremony guide, and a ceremony musician — supported by bodyworkers and house staff. With a full circle of fifteen guests, that is one team member for every three guests, and in ceremony the entire team is present in the room with you.

Tell us everything, and we'll answer honestly. Certain histories — psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and some seizure and neurological conditions — are firm contraindications for this medicine, without exception. Many others simply need a real conversation: our team includes psychotherapists, the intake is reviewed by a medical doctor, and the work is trauma-informed from screening through integration. If this path isn't right for you, we'll say so plainly and point you toward support that is.

Integration is where ceremony becomes a changed life, so it's built into the retreat rather than bolted on. Each ceremony is followed by a morning integration circle; after you leave there's a one-month group reunion call, free access to our online integration course, and an open door to the Sacred Counsel community. Guests who want to land more slowly can add the two-day integration homestay with Luke and Alexa at La Fuente.

Warm layers — highland nights are cool — comfortable clothes for ceremony, a journal, a water bottle, and whatever small objects belong on your altar. A full packing list comes with registration, and the cabins are en suite with king beds, so you can pack lighter than you think. The retreat is held in both English and Spanish.