Our Retreat

Information about our Retreat

Our Location

Our Location

Our weekend retreats always take place on Friday from 18.00 to Sunday at about 16.00 in a beautiful, big, free-standing house, about 15 minutes by car from the Cologne-Bonn airport, and the same distance from the ICE train station Siegburg/Bonn.
From the Siegburg/Bonn station there is a bus (L 512 + 513), which needs 15 min. nearly right to the house (15 min. walk).
For those coming by car, there are plenty of parking spaces available in front of the house and in the long entrance to the house.
The house has a very spacious garden which invites you to linger and spend time in – and during warm weather, if you wish, to camp in and hold open-air ceremonies, and it is surrounded by fields and woods where we will go together on Saturday morning as an important part of our preparation (naturally, only for those who wish to). Inside the house we have two large adjoining rooms divided by large double doors, which offer enough room for 20 people to lie down comfortably for the ceremonies. One of the rooms serves as the less expensive sleeping accommodation for the night.
Further rooms with five or six beds, as well as a double room are also available as sleeping accommodation for the night. A large dining room has space for 24 people at a 8.50m x 2.00m large, massive wooden table for our communal, organic/vegan meals. There is also a tearoom with comfy armchairs and sofas to relax in, to talk to people, or to read and/or dream. There are 4 toilets, 2 bathrooms, and a room with 2 separate showers spread over the 3 floors of the house.

Arrival by train or car:

From the Siegburg/Bonn station there is a bus (L 512 + 513), which needs 20 min. nearly right to the house (3 min. walk).

For those coming by car there is lots of space for car parking in front of the house or in the long garden drive.

Put the following adress in your Navi and here you will find us (located near Bonn): Viehtrift 1, 53757 Sankt Augustin.

Sketch / directions to our location:

Our Catering

Our Catering

Our meals are, without exception, organic/vegan, that is vegetarian wholefoods from the local organic shop. They are not only nourishment for the spirit and soul, but for the body too, carefully prepared by our team member, Gabriela, our healer, who is also an enthusiastic cook, and is assisted by our AYA cook, Andreas. On Friday, we will have a communal warm dinner, before offering our delicious cocoa (at about 21.00) for our first sacred plant ceremony.
On Saturday morning, between 10.00 and 11.30, there will be breakfast: a tasty and digestible porridge (cooked in oat/almond milk) with apple sauce and other fruits. In the afternoon (about 14.00) there is a warm midday meal (vegetable casserole); from then on for about six hours, until the beginning of the Ayahuasca ceremony on Saturday evening (21.00) no further nourishment should be taken.
On Sunday morning, between 10.30 and 12.00, there is breakfast, again with porridge and fruit, before we come together at about 12.00, to share our experiences from the weekend with each other, once again in the Ceremony Room.

Our Sharing

Our Sharing

On Sunday at about 12.00, we will come together for the closing event and high point of this retreat weekend, held in the Ceremony Room, in order to share with the other participants the experiences we had.
Many Ayahuasca shamans and experts, as we are, say that this communal sharing is maybe the most important part of the weekend. Everyone and each one are mirrors of the other, and every experience is always a part of one’s self. Through sharing, we undergo, in the most impressive way, something of the truth, that we are all ONE, even if everybody has undergone and expressed quite different individual experiences.
Sharing, an English term, is the first and decisive step of using, nurturing and integrating our experiences and knowledge gained, later in our everyday lives.
This is namely the deep meaningfulness of our retreat – the way we want to understand and experience it. You contribute AFTER the ceremony by taking some of this spirituality into our daily lives and are thus able to live more fulfilled, joyful and relaxed, even – and precisely – when we are challenged by life’s adversities.
“After the ecstasy comes the laundry”; the wonderful Buddhist teacher, Jack Kornfeld, called it, in other words everyday life. It will be established whether we can gain some lessons from our retreat, the sacred healing plant, the transformative music and our communal togetherness and deep reaching celebration of mindfulness and joy

The Timetable

The Timetable

Arrival time on Friday is between 17:00 and 18.00 h. (If you are unable to arrive until later, you are also very welcome.)
After the initial greeting, getting familiar with the layout of the house, moving into your room or sleeping space, we start with a communal meditation and get together. Here, you will get acquainted with the other participants by introducing yourself, and, if you wish, telling each other what intentions and motivation you have for this retreat.
From 20.00 h, you will all go to the larger Ceremony Room to celebrate the first cocoa night together, and there will be some small surprises, ending at about 23.00 h. After that we all get a warm soup for night dinner. (Everyone is free to go to bed earlier, if they wish.)
On Saturday, breakfast is ready from 9.00 to 11.00 h (porridge with applesauce and fruit).
From 11.00 to 12.30 h, you can go into the forest, enjoy nature, the energy of the trees, collecting herbs and gathering energy for the evening.
From 12.30 to 14.00 h there will be an exercise in the garden.

From 14.30 to 15.00 h a warm meal is served, a vitamin-rich organic/vegan vegetable casserole, the last physical nourishment before the Ayahuasca ceremony. From 15:30 to 16:30 there is a group meditation and also Rapé is served. 16.30 to 19.30 h, everyone can go to their rooms, sleeping spaces, the tearoom, or the garden to recover and reflect, or retire for a nap, in order to replenish your energy for the evening, before we all go to the Ceremony Room at 20.00 h.
From 20.00 to 21.00 h, EVERY question on the subject of Ayahuasca can be asked, which we will answer in detail, as best and as conscientiously as possible.
At 21.00 h, we will begin the ceremony and drink the sacred plant.
At about 2.00 h, early in the morning – although this depends on the situation and energy reserves at the time – we will close the ceremony and get a good night’s sleep.
On Sunday, between 9.00 and 11.00 h, there is a nourishing porridge with applesauce and fruit once more.
At 12.00 h, we will come together in the Ceremony Room for the important Sharing.
At about 15.00/16.00 h – for as long as the Ssharing continues – after a final communal meditation and Sound Journey, we say our farewells.

Precautionary Measures

Precautionary Measures

To experience Ayahuasca as intensive, effective and sustainably as possible, there are a few things to pay attention to and bear in mind. For one thing, these precautions have very practical reasons for your health, for another, it is the meaning and respect you owe to the sacred plant.
Apart from some mandatory medical provisions to comply with, which we list further on in a special section, our understanding is that responsibility comes first. Each and every participant is responsible for themselves, for their actions, behaviour and obligations. In this regard, here are 10 recommendations, which after many years of experience with Ayahuasca, we are happy to pass on to you.

1.) Caffeine and theine should not be imbibed, ideally, 3 days before the retreat. Also, cannabis and mushroom consumption should be avoided preferably 7 days before taking Ayahuasca, in order not to weaken the effect.

2.) The healthier your food before an Ayahuasca retreat, the better the plant’s effect can unfold in your body. That is why we recommend a vegan, plant-based, wholefood diet – preferably after the retreat too, of course – for the sake of your body, your spirit, your soul, the animals and nature. Meat, cheese and milk should be avoided for a few days before the retreat, ideally, too much sugar as well, and other sweet things. Dates and Agave syrup are tasty, sweet alternatives. Avoid garlic 3 days before beginning, because it inhibits Pinolin which is produced in the pineal glands, and which we wish to activate with the help of Peganum harmala. We heartily recommend herbs of any sort (dandelion, nettle, St. John’s wort, wild garlic, clover, yarrow etc.) which increase energy, and have a detoxifying and immune strengthening effect.

3.) Sugary soda drinks such as Cola etc., should be avoided a few days before, instead drink good quality mineral water.

4.) Try to get out into nature a few times before the Ayahuasca retreat and be conscious of your surroundings with all your senses. As the shamans say – and we can confirm this – Ayahuasca begins its effect days, some say weeks, before the Ayahuasca retreat, if one seeks out a connection to nature and internalises it.

5.) Outdoor exercise is healthy and an ideal preparation for body and spirit. Any kind of sport or dancing to your favourite music are great physical and energetic preparations.

6.) One of the most powerful tools to practice for physical and spiritual calm is meditation; sitting and breathing in silence, our inner selves become quiet, let go and are released. We recommend any form of meditation as a wonderful preparation for Ayahuasca, whatever kind suits you. Later also, during the period after the retreat, it internalises your knowledge and experiences.

7.) Regular, healthy sleep is always beneficial especially before a retreat when often more intensive and dynamic dreams begin due to the processing of a building up of resistance and fear.

8.) We also recommend cutting down as far as possible consummation of all kinds of media, in particular too much negative news which is burdensome to your psyche and sets negative vibrations off in you. Try to be aware of positive information in order to be in a good, (neutral) basic mood to receive and imbibe the holy Ayahuasca plant

9.) It could be very positive to think of a certain intention for when you enter the retreat. What do you want to change in your life, what dream do you wish to come true, what negative and deep-seated fears do you want to process?? With this inner preparation, you will feel more confident when taking part in the ceremony and trust that Ayahuasca will lead you to your intention.

10.) In traditional shamanistic cultures, the sweat lodge is similar to the sauna in ours nowadays, to detox and build up your immune system, as well as encouraging quiet and inner contemplation – an optimal preparation for the Ayahuasca ritual.