What is an Ayahuasca Course?

Ayahuasca courses are in depth training programs in the Shipibo healing tradition of plant spirit medicine known as curanderismo.  By learning the core principles of the tradition, students can build a strong foundation to practice for the many years it takes to become a true maestro.

An Incredible Honor

Ayahuasca Training Courses at the Ayahuasca Foundation help people who feel called to the healing path of ayahuasca find their way by offering authentic educational opportunities in a style that resonates with western learning models.  By presenting the Shipibo teachings as written texts and audio recordings, as well as lectures and workshops, the complex tradition can be understood more fully as it is experienced through powerful plant dietas and personal explorations of profound ceremonies and treatment processes.  Of course, spending one or two months in the jungle is not a lot of time, but it is enough to make significant progress in understanding the key principles of the indigenous paradigm and the Shipibo healing tradition.  It will take a lot of practice and continued diets to further develop those principles, but by having a strong foundation in the optimal methods of practice, that development and progress will be heightened and accelerated.

During the courses, participants attend ayahuasca ceremonies, do powerful plant dietas, and receive a variety of traditional plant remedies. They attend important lectures, participate in workshops, contribute in discussions and share in conversations.  There is also a great deal of learning that happens directly from their experiences with the plant medicines.  Ultimately, the courses are led by the spirits of the plants, assisted by Shipibo curanderos and their apprentices.

Healing Treatments

Much more than just ayahuasca training, the courses also teach basic catagories of plant remedies, including plant baths, vapor baths, smoke baths, inhalants, purgatives, poultices, and other remedies. The ayahuasca tradition is much more than the ceremonies, but a great deal of time and attention is also given to the central aspect of ayahuasca and ceremony procedures.  There is a lot of emphasis on the healing songs, the icaros, and a lot of focus on the plant dietas, which form the heart of the Shipibo training.

Courses are led by indigenous curanderos from the Shipibo tribe. The curanderos are brothers who learned from their father and grandfather, so the roots of the tradition employed is the same. Both curanderos still have their personal style and manner, and each program is also unique and catered to the individual groups and people that attend.

Plant Dietas

Course participants can do two powerful dietas during a course. Dietas are what make students into curanderos and work to deepen the connections thay have with plant spirits.  Doing good dietas results in having profound relationships with specific plant spirits. Courses provide the optimal teachings and explanations to fully understand the dieta and how to maximize their effect.   Each plant spirit has its own way of being, its own nature, and its own gifts.  One of the most special dietas offered on courses is with the bio-luminescent tree Noya Rao.  This tree forms the heart of the unique and rare familial lineage of the Shipibo curanderos who lead the courses.  Dieting Noya Rao is truly an honor and contributes tremendously to the depth of insight and ability that can be achieved during a course and beyond.

Dietas are close personal relationships with plant spirits. While the effects of treatment is often profound, it is the educational aspects of the course, and especially the plant dietas, that serve to continue the healing and further the development of healing potential and ability for each student.  Having strong dietas allows students to maintain their connection to plant spirits, and increase their connection to new plants through a more highly developed intuition.

Course Facilities

Two separate locations are used for the two course offerings at the Ayahuasca Foundation.  Both locations are in remote areas of the Amazon rainforest but the accommodations are distinct between the two centers.   They are both beautiful areas with amazing energy.

The Riosbo Ayahuasca Research Center features very comfortable accommodations, with private rooms, private bathrooms, hot and cold water, personal fans, a shared balcony overlooking a river, hammock deck, as well as massage, yoga, consultation and activities rooms. This is the location of the 4 week Healing Empowerment Course, which takes a maximum of 12 participants.  This place is a paradise, with swimming in the river a daily routine, as well as hiking in the pristine jungle of the national reserve where the center is located.

The Inkan Kena Plant Medicine School offers truly authentic accommodations, with private rooms, each with a private bathroom, and a rustic energy that resembles a small Shipibo community in the jungle. This is the location of the 8 week Ayahuasca Initiation Course, which takes a maximum of 16 participants.  While this location does not offers the same level of comfort, it does offer the most profound experience of studying in the most authentic way, surrounded by powerful medicinal plants, including several Noya Rao trees that are located just a short walk from the community.  Being able to connect with those trees, as well as the other master plants that are dieted during the course, make the school a truly unique and special place.

Date	Program	Spaces Left
January 19 - February 15, 2025	Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850	2
July 13 - August 9, 2025	Four Week Ayahuasca Healing Empowerment Course – $5850	5

Date	Program	Spaces Left
January 12 - March 8, 2025	Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850	2
April 6 - May 31, 2025	Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850	3
July 6 - August 30, 2025	Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850	7
October 5 - November 29, 2025	Eight Week Initiation Course – $6850	9

Ayahuasca Course Reviews

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