Getty | Photo Illustration: Keila Gonzalez I am cold, cranky, and covered in leaves. It’s nearing 10 p.m. on a Friday in November, and I’m lying outside on the ground in a flimsy sleeping bag. Around me, people are wailing and throwing up into mini plastic trash cans. One woman dances in front of the fire and beats a hand drum. They’re feeling the effects of ayahuasca, a potent, plant-based psychedelic tea.
But despite me having drank two cups of the foul-tasting, muddy brew, I feel nothing.
I’m impatient for it to kick in. I’d come to the three-day, all-women’s ayahuasca retreat expecting nothing less than total transformation.
I’d wanted to attend an ayahuasca ceremony since I first heard of plant medicine and its benefits on an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast . Friends who’d tried the hallucinogenic concoction sang its praises, using words like "life-changing" and "indescribable." A-listers like Miley Cyrus , Will Smith , and Aaron Rodgers have spoken openly about their ayahuasca trips, bringing the once-fringe psychedelic into the mainstream.
Ayahuasca retreats are becoming easier to find in the U.S., even though the plant’s legality remains a gray area. After diligently googling some version of "ayahuasca retreat Texas" every few months for years, I finally stumbled onto one in Austin, 20 minutes from where I lived.
Here’s what to know about the practice and my experience. Experts Featured in This Article
Phillia Kim Downs is a New York City-based shamanic healer, reiki master, sound healer, and somatic mind-body integrative coach.
James Giordano , PhD, is the chief of the neuroethics studies program and professor of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center.
Llewellyn E. van Zyl , PhD, is a professor of positive psychology at Optentia Research Programme. Cali Estes , PhD, is a drug and alcohol counselor and cognitive behavioral therapist. What Is Ayahuasca? While ayahuasca comes in and out of popular interest, the psychoactive brew has been used for spiritual and medicinal purposes by indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin since at least 900 B.C.E . "Traditionally, ayahuasca has been used to facilitate deep spiritual […]
I Went on a 3-Day Ayahuasca Retreat Expecting Transformation — Here’s What I Got Instead
