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In Partnership with New Life Rising
Imagine standing on the precipice of transformation, able to step into the unknown with a gaggle of people that had been, only a day in the past, full strangers. Yet, as you collect in a circle, the shared expertise of ceremony creates an inexplicable bond.
You end up in a secure house guided by the experience of seasoned ayahuasqueros who’ve devoted their lives to serving to others heal and develop. The universe opens earlier than you, and inside it, you start to see the potential for a lifetime of concord, steadiness, and success.
This profound connection to nature and the universe is on the coronary heart of New Life Rising in Costa Rica. As the oldest working ayahuasca retreat within the nation, New Life affords the chance for profound private transformation.
Here, within the lush embrace of the tropical forest, you might be invited to rediscover your roots. Find a way of belonging. And reconnect with the pure world by means of the knowledge of plant drugs.
The New Life Ayahuasca Retreat Experience
At New Life, the journey begins lengthy earlier than members arrive. Matthew Mormello and Jeanae White, the founders and guiding ayahuasqueros, personally converse with every visitor to make sure they’re a superb match for the retreat. This dialog features a medical screening, thus making certain the security and wellbeing of each participant. From the second friends arrive, they’re welcomed right into a nurturing surroundings designed to help their journey.
The ayahuasca retreat itself blends conventional practices with fashionable comforts. With teams of not more than 12 members, the expertise is intimate and deeply private. Guests keep in cozy forest cabins—crafted utilizing wooden harvested from the property—the place the sounds of howler monkeys and the colourful colors of macaws create a harmonious backdrop.
I’ll be perpetually grateful for what Matt and Jeanae gave me. During my first retreat a number of years in the past as a solo traveller, I went in hoping to heal my childhood trauma. What I acquired was not solely therapeutic from that but in addition a model new outlook on life. I discovered a brand new method to have interaction in life and the right way to turn out to be a greater mom, spouse, and good friend.
When my husband noticed my change, he determined he needed to offer it a strive as effectively, so we went again collectively final 12 months. The therapeutic I noticed come from my husband nonetheless brings me to tears. His story is one which I cherish and I can’t clarify the gratitude I really feel in the direction of Matt and Jeanae for that. Our lives are perpetually higher due to this place.
– Karli Smith
Throughout the week, friends take part in three ayahuasca ceremonies within the maloca (ceremony home), every a journey into the depths of the self. The ceremonies—carried out in darkness and silence within the Peruvian Mestizo custom—are guided by Matt and Jeanae, who sing Icaros and play a wide range of devices all through.
Matt and Jeanae will not be simply facilitators. They are deeply related to the follow of ayahuasca, dedicating time yearly to proceed coaching within the Peruvian Amazon. They have the abilities and data wanted to navigate the complicated energies of ceremony and to carry a secure, supportive house for his or her friends.
Their dedication to conventional practices is clear in each facet of the ayahuasca retreat, from the music that guides the ceremonies to the respectful manner they strategy every visitor’s journey. As they information members by means of the drugs, they create an area the place deep therapeutic can happen.
A Story of Passion & Heart
The story of New Life Rising is one in all ardour and transformation. Matt and Jeanae met in Costa Rica in 2014. Both had been there to deal with drug dependancy utilizing plant drugs, particularly iboga. This expertise sparked a deep curiosity in plant drugs, main them to their first ayahuasca ceremony. The profound impression of that have set them on a path of therapeutic and studying, main them to coach beneath Ron Wheelock, the “Gringo Shaman” of the Amazon.
In 2015, they based New Life in a 10-bedroom home on 20 acres of Costa Rican jungle. Their purpose was to share the transformative energy of ayahuasca with others. Then, in 2021, they moved to a brand new location, increasing their choices however conserving the intimate, family-like ambiance that defines them. The identical workers has been with them by means of the years, a testomony to the close-knit group they’ve constructed.
When I got here to my first ayahuasca retreat, I used to be in awe of their dedication and dedication to not solely serving to others but in addition to their very own private journeys with plant drugs. I had by no means been to Costa Rica earlier than, and I fell in love with the nice and cozy climate and tropical vibe. Because of New Life’s day journeys, I’ve been to a waterfall within the jungle and one of the crucial stunning seashores I’ve been to but.
They say that ayahuasca will not be for everybody, however it’s positively for me. My experiences in ceremony have utterly modified my notion and restored a way of confidence that I by no means knew existed. I’m tremendous grateful that I discovered Matt and Jeanae and that I adopted my intuition to embark upon a journey with ayahuasca. The drugs and their steerage have actually modified my life and helped me study to like who I’m.
– Laura E. Ritchie
The retreat has a excessive price of repeat friends. Some return to deepen their experiences; others to seek out readability throughout occasions of change. Bill Smith, a visitor of New Life in December 2023, described his expertise as life-changing. He praised Matt and Jeanae for his or her heat and dedication.
“New Life Rising changed my life in ways that can only be described as a labour of love from two caring souls that have such a passion for helping people,” he mentioned. “They made me feel like family, and that’s exactly how I left there—like family and on a road toward true healing.”
What to Expect on an Ayahuasca Retreat
The each day rhythm at New Life is deliberately unstructured, permitting members to discover their journeys at their very own tempo. Mornings start with a nourishing breakfast, adopted by mild yoga periods that assist to organize the physique and thoughts for the day forward. Guests have time to relaxation, mirror, and discover the gorgeous property, with its tranquil pool, cool-water jacuzzi, and considerable wildlife.
Ayahuasca ceremonies begin at 6 p.m. and final about 4 hours. Afterward, friends collect round a hearth. They often sit in quiet reflection, processing their experiences collectively. The following day, a seashore journey helps to rejuvenate after the night time’s ceremony, with a sharing circle after lunch the place the group can come collectively to combine and talk about their experiences.
This natural, simple circulate of actions creates an area the place friends can join with themselves and one another, fostering a way of group that always extends past the retreat. In the phrases of Jeanae, “Ayahuasca is a lot to go through, and we feel like layering on activities just to seem like one retreat is ‘a better deal’ than another isn’t the answer. To us, Ayahuasca is enough.”
The meals at New Life is wholesome and clear. The meals are primarily vegan, excluding eggs at breakfast, ready with contemporary, regionally sourced vegetables and fruit. While the weight-reduction plan will not be strict, friends are inspired to keep away from purple meat, dairy, and processed meals within the days main as much as the retreat. This ensures they’re in the perfect state for his or her ayahuasca journey.
On ceremony days, members quick for six hours earlier than consuming ayahuasca, a follow that helps to forestall absorption points and enhances the expertise.
Embracing Your Personal Journey
Ayahuasca will not be for the faint of coronary heart. It is a robust, usually difficult expertise that requires braveness, openness, and a willingness to confront the deepest elements of oneself. But for many who are prepared, New Life Rising affords a secure, supportive surroundings the place profound therapeutic and transformation can happen.
My husband and I had been drawn to New Life Ayahuasca for 2 causes: Matthew and Jeanae’s excellent status and their small, intimate retreats. They are deeply obsessed with their work and take it very severely. This excessive degree of dedication is clear in each facet of the expertise they create and facilitate for his or her retreat attendees.
New Life’s ceremonies are held in a secure house that respects and honours conventional indigenous Ayahuasca practices. This connection to the roots and historical past of Ayahuasca provides a profound depth to the ceremonial expertise. The facility itself is gorgeous, providing personal, comfy lodging and easy accessibility to nature. And the scrumptious vegan meals served are so good that even my husband, a staunch carnivore, devoured and loved them.
– Starla West
At New Life, much less actually is extra. It is a spot the place you possibly can strip away the distractions of the surface world, reconnect with nature, and rediscover the knowledge that lies inside. So, whether or not you search therapeutic, readability, or a deeper connection to the universe, New Life Rising affords a path to transformation that’s as profound as it’s stunning.
Your Turn: Upcoming Retreat Dates
New Life Rising’s ayahuasca retreat expertise contains conventional therapeutic ceremonies, group sharing circles, Hatha yoga periods, therapeutic therapeutic massage, nutritious meals, seashore journeys, airport transfers and rather more.
Their intention is to create a secure and supported surroundings that nurtures trustworthy self-reflection, private therapeutic, and internal development. They consider that the mix of Ayahuasca, together with these further holistic therapies, can facilitate deeply transformative experiences.
December 11 – 17, 2024
January 13-17, 2025
January 27-31, 2025
February 12-18, 2025
March 19-25, 2025
April 23-29, 2025