Before participating in the Takiwasi process, my personal situation was very unpleasant. I was burned out, depressed, unhappy, and stuck in patterns of people-pleasing. I lived in fantasies, struggled with self-harm, obsession, irrational thoughts, codependency, fear, and constant nervousness. I had been an alcoholic and drug user for over 20 years, with a porn addiction, workaholism, and smoking habits.

At Takiwasi I have participated in two dietas, in 2019 and 2026. The dietas have been deeply beneficial for me. I can feel, almost in real time, how my traumas and unresolved conflicts try to surface and leave my body and mind. I lose the desire for my addictions. I feel calmer and stronger. The sense of ease in my body and mind gives me space to integrate wisdom from books, from therapy, and from people around me. It allows me to see things from a different perspective. One of the greatest changes, which came spontaneously, is that I completely lost my workaholism.

Master plant dietas represent one of the most important—if not the most important—stages of my life.

I found myself in a difficult situation at the family level, where I could not find a way to resolve structural problems of coexistence. I had the feeling of having failed in creating a pillar in my life and experienced difficulty projecting myself professionally.

Doing a retreat at Takiwasi was a very positive experience. Ten years ago, I had experiences with Amazonian medicine, but the level of support, care and professionalism I experienced at Takiwasi has nothing to do with what I had experienced before.

Emotionally and mentally, I feel calmer, with greater acceptance of things as they are. Within this acceptance, changes began to emerge after the first months that allow me to live a more peaceful life, without the mental neurosis of constantly searching for change.

The process helped me discover aspects of my life that I did not know about—actions that were harming my environment and that, as a consequence, generated a kind of karma lived in ignorance. It helped me become aware of my activities and those of my family lineage in order to find ways to change direction and begin undertaking acts of repair.

Takiwasi marks a before and an after in my life, with a new perspective to move forward. I feel that there are still more layers of the onion to discover, but one could say that many layers have already been opened, and within this new paradigm I am moving forward little by little. I would like to have more experiences at Takiwasi after progressing with the tasks that the dieta left me.

I took part in the September 2025 diet. For a very long time, I searched to understand the reason for the sense of unease that overwhelmed and affected me. Thanks to the plants, the retreat in the Amazon rainforest, the kindness, professionalism, attentive listening (special thanks to Fabienne), and the safe environment provided by the Takiwasi team, I was finally able to find answers. This diet allowed me to heal deeply buried wounds and to move forward calmly in my professional and personal life.

I am writing these lines 10 weeks after the diet, at a moment when the diet has taken effect—that is to say, I am more lucid, less confused; the diet has clearly cleaned the “radars” and “windows” that allow me to appreciate the world around me.

Ten weeks after the end of the diet, here are the changes:

On a physical level: I stopped my “social agricultural alcoholism,” which consisted of drinking alcohol every day, sometimes in excessive amounts, considering it normal. I no longer have tendinitis in my left arm; it disappeared as if by magic, even though it used to make my life miserable (constant pain).

On a psychological level: I feel a sense of discernment. There are choices to make, and I am able to take action to move forward. I find the courage to name what is not right, in order to stop and change it.

On a spiritual level: I feel legitimate on Earth and welcomed in the human community. This brings a great deal of peace. I experienced a communion at the beginning of the ayahuasca session; after the burden on my back was removed, I was able to lift my head—the Virgin and Christ were there, waiting for me!

The work at Takiwasi is very precise and safe. This allows for discovery in complete trust. This rigor, which may seem excessive at first, is actually necessary and useful in order to explore unknown inner territories.

I decided to participate in the diet of May 2024 and it was a unique, enriching experience, for which I am very grateful to the entire Takiwasi team for the care and patience they had with me. I didn't know how much the psychological interviews would help me, but I do feel that they helped me a lot to dispel doubts, fears and to finally be able to move forward in certain things in which I needed a little push, the diet helped me a lot.

During the diet I felt very safe, it was a time to find myself, to open my mind and heart, it started out very hard, this helped to take things with patience and understand that everything is a process, and I repeat that the psychological follow-up was important to understand what was happening with my thoughts, dreams and visions, it was super important, and now many months after being in that little hut, on that mountain, in that jungle, finally those seeds are bearing fruit. I asked for more conviction in my decisions and now that is what is happening in my life. My career has grown enormously and my personal life has also improved a lot thanks to the chuchuwasi, tobacco, ushpa washa, rosa sisa, mucura and all the plants and little trees, butterflies, ants, mosquitoes and monkeys, who were there with me taking care of me and cleaning me; they are now part of me.

When I decided to go to Takiwasi, part of my goal was to “turn the page” on very painful situations in my life.

I had already worked on these issues a lot in therapy, which helped me immensely, but there was still something that kept blocking me. I went to the Center with the intention of being grateful for all the inner work I had done over the years, but also to leave it behind, to “live a new chapter: move toward the future and let go of the past.”

However, the plants had another plan for me: the entire journey was about the past—reviewing, healing, cleansing. Both the ceremony and the retreat were among the most beautiful, loving, and kind experiences I’ve ever had, through which I was able to approach what had happened to me in a different way.

Although I still believe I have many challenges ahead and big issues to resolve in my life (professionally and in relationships), I feel that this journey allowed me to release and heal a lot of pain, to understand and value myself much more. Above all, that pain I carried has become light—it no longer weighs on me.

The therapeutic processes at Takiwasi have been very strong and deep for me. They have allowed me to address unfinished emotional/psychological issues in my life, from my past, helping me to free myself from toxic patterns, both emotional and spiritual, that did not allow me to continue with clarity my vocation, as well as my personal relationships. The processes carried out at Takiwasi have worked on different levels: from the physical, through the emotional, to the spiritual. All in a coherent way, and allowing me to understand how these three levels are very intertwined, and affect each other reciprocally.

All this has allowed both my personal and professional life to be greatly enriched, because I have found not only answers to my questions and healing to my wounds, but also constant guidance and accompaniment from Takiwasi, with a charity and an openness to help that I have not found elsewhere.

In my life, there is undoubtedly a before and after Takiwasi. I am so grateful to the plants for their teachings and care and to the Takiwasi team for their professionalism, kindness and the protective framework they offer before-during-and after the retreat. I feel privileged to have been able to benefit from their good care and to have been able to work with these magnificent plants. A big thank you.

There comes the idea of dedicating time to myself, to reflect and to understand why I keep having emotional blocks, wrong attitudes, feelings such as anxiety, anger, rage, fighting, pressure... ultimately, I wanted to understand, to be able to forgive myself, forgive others and continue living in a positive and conscious way and not fall into the same mistakes.

Now I can say with absolute certainty and firmness that it’s the best experience I’ve ever had with myself, to know myself, to understand, to become aware, to connect, to respect, to value what I have, to dedicate more time to my things, not to pressure or demand so much of me, to breathe, to value, to communicate, to observe, to listen, to meditate, to be silent...

I received a great life lesson, I feel unblocked, clean, hopeful, changed by the deep work done and the fact of having remembered childhood events and even making sense of family blocks with people I’ve hardly seen and known.

I’m writing to thank you with all my heart for the intense and beautiful work that we did with you in the dieta. For me it was an experience beyond what I can express with words, a night so intense, so painful, but at the same time so magical and liberating... Really a trip to "Les Tréfonds" to discover the human soul ... Thank you for the hard work, love and all the care you gave us... Now that I'm back, I try to put everything I've learned into practice in order to be able to return to work in the future, having done the homework.

After my experience at Takiwasi a lot of things happened. I realized that after participation my health really improved. I suffer less allergies, less food intolerance, less joint and arthritic pain. Also, my relationship with my husband improved, we can be more supportive to each other.

Since the last dieta I’ve been feeling good in general, specifically at the physical level, the headaches and stomachaches I had before have now disappeared. Emotionally, the feeling of anxiety decreased considerably, which has allowed me to do my daily activities enjoying them, instead of thinking about finishing them soon and being worried about the result. This has allowed me to be enchanted by the energy that our daughter brought to our lives. The dieta connected me with the anger I had and that now is gone, I feel calmer and at peace than before.

The experience there was absolutely wonderful and at the same time the hardest I had ever lived, because the "cosmic mother ayahuasca" in one of the sessions took me to my psychic limit, confronting me with my deepest fears. I could even solve the death of my brother who passed away a few years ago and who still appeared in my dreams. I surely needed help to face all these situations and there was Jacques Mabit and his team of psychologists with large experience.

The process of purge, ceremony (ayahuasca) and dieta of Ajo sacha with Bobinzana somehow answered my questions as well as marked a new direction, much clearer and more solid, in my work. I could summarize the learning of the dieta as a profound process of re-contacting and strengthening my spiritual roots, from an unexpected and surprising rediscovery of my Christian roots, to reviewing my own faith and confidence in the biological world, love, breathing, and the univocal law that straightens and shines a spotlight on growth and maturation from the physiological to the spiritual. The return from the dieta marked a hard but very pleasant work, to realize all that vision in my job and daily life.

Thanks to you, to the dieta, to the plants I came out of my spiritual lethargy and I woke up. I continue purging and dieting and, dieta after dieta, I discover the power of this work. I changed my energy, my job... and my life that was not going so bad, now goes even better! My soul awakened since my stay in Takiwasi and continues its journey in joy and happiness to live every day renewed.

This experience is a huge step in my spiritual journey. There is clearly a "before" and an "after". It is not comparable to any conventional or alternative therapeutic practice that I have covered in almost every sector in thirty years. It is an initiatory practice as long as we accept the thankless work of diving deep into the soul.

During the work on myself, I realized that we have all the information than we need inside us, and one way to access it, is with Ayahuasca. I did my research and, in this way, I found Takiwasi and I chose to continue the work here, during a Retreat/Diet. The major factor in my decision was the combination of western psychotherapy and the ancient practice of the indigenous curanderos. The set and settings give me safety, and the dedication of all Takiwasi people provide me with the confidence that I’m in the right place to make this important step towards me.

Also, during the activities, more confirmations came in form of emotions and feelings. For the first time in my life I experienced so much gratitude regarding Life, and something more, the closest word I could use is love, but this was more. Physically I feel that I have more energy, not to mention that I lost some weight. I’m more focused in my daily work. Relationships with my closest friends, family and my wife show more compassion, gratitude, and their feedback is a great proof that this experience was, and is, a great step towards my real self.

The experiences lived have changed the way I look at my professional and private life. My relationship with my family has improved. I was able to resolve old conflicts by better understanding the mechanisms of their creation. I started to invest more in the relationship with my family, allowing me to find the love I have always sought. On a professional level I learned a lot about the spiritual dimension of a disease, my role as a doctor and the unconscious processes of the doctor-patient relationship.

I can state with absolute certainty that my experience in Takiwasi has changed my life. I arrived at the center for a one-week diet with the aim of resolving a trauma that had been wearing me out for 10 years. Each time I was moving away more and more from my family, friends and society. As time passed by, I got involved in a vicious circle that I could not leave even with the help of therapists, I was lost. For me it was the chronicle of an announced death.

In September 2012, I participated in the famous diet where I could, thanks to the help of Takiwasi's entire therapeutic process, find the root of the problem and come to the conclusion of what had actually originated it.

Four months later and in France, where I currently live, I met my partner with whom I have been together seven years and with whom I expect my first child. In addition, six months later I was able to accomplish my long-awaited project: opening my Physiotherapy/Osteopathy clinic and my Wing Chun Kung Fu school.

Without Takiwasi's help it would have been impossible to have taken the step and done all this. I can only say, THANK YOU, to all the people who took care of me, for their excellent work, involvement and treatment. I will never forget the time spent in Takiwasi.

I feel different, I cannot explain it. It's something very subtle, like an additional force to me, but that I do not feel it is alien. It manifests in several ways. I like it, I feel it helps me to be centered, to return to a kind of silence where I can perceive myself more. This affects my daily life almost all the time, I think that for good, it is as if I were more present.

This experience represents something very precious for my life. It has given me a powerful impulse to make changes, I feel different, I obey myself more, I don't let others influence me. I take care of myself and love myself more. I feel that I have started a path to be a new woman. The fact of not consuming alcohol or drugs anymore already makes me very proud. It was also an experience that took me out of the comfort zone and encouraged me to do always different things.

On the third day of the diet, the plant showed me, in an extremely vivid way, memories of my childhood, with the consequent teaching of how these memories were affecting my present life. During the last day the plant made me understand what I had to change in my behavior. More than understanding, the plant transformed me; that is, I not only understood that such a change was necessary, but I knew that I wanted and could do it. These teachings amazed me, because in years of psychotherapeutic work I never achieved such realizations or transformations, and so quickly.

After many years of drinking multiple times over a weekend with self-proclaimed 'shamans' or up to 7 times in 2 weeks at other retreat centers I was convinced I knew the potential of Ayahuasca. That's until I went to Takiwasi. The Experience and Healing that I received from that one Dieta, Ceremony, Plant bath and the two purges (one preliminary and one during) profoundly exceeded all those previous times.

Even though I had some beautiful experiences I'd trade it all for the grace and grit the Dieta gives you.

Like many people who felt the call to drink this medicine my main focus was primarily on the Ayahuasca brew and the visionary states but I didn't take into account just how special the other Jungle plants are for revealing subconscious trauma, strengthening our will power, cultivating knowledge, removing blockages cultivated over our lives from substances, diet, lifestyle and our personal relationships and even the ancestral/soul healing that can occur with deeper work.

This experience was for me the deepest I have ever lived, I was able to delve into myself to depths I had never reached before despite many experiences: Vipassana, prolonged fasting, holotropic breathing, trance states, dervish dances...

In retrospect, I am convinced that the feeling of security due to the specific Takiwasi protocol (psychological support, framework, protection, benevolence, professionalism, experience, supervision) is a decisive element of this exploration. I never would have gone so deep into myself if I hadn't felt so safe. So, I allowed myself to fully explore and accept my vulnerability.

The delicacy with which the plants have accompanied me has also been a very important vector. It's as if they wanted to remind me that this sweetness was vital to me and that I had the right (and even the duty) to offer me a sweet relationship on a daily basis, instead of violating myself into hyperactivity.

Plants are essential for my balance and I experienced it once again. Their generosity was very touching; the day before I left, I felt great sadness and nostalgia at the thought of leaving the forest.

I have deep respect and admiration for the honesty, affection, humility and dedication to service of the people who make up Takiwasi, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is motivated enough to embark on this type of process. For me, the experience has marked a before and after, above all because it has given me much-needed hope, realizing that this medicine has worked for me, where so many others have not (or yes, but in a quite more limited way). Takiwasi has opened a door, and it is very clear to me that I must continue the work with the plants, in due time.

A revolution has occurred, for me and for my husband: we have lived an incredible experience, separately and together, our life is in deliverance...

What an emotion to go to this place, initially for our sons... We had long looked “outside” for solutions to personal and family problems. Personally, I experienced a “luminous inside” transforming the outside and our sons, who were “the problem”, became our masters…

It is the most powerful experience I have ever had in my life: the framework is clearly specified as soon as the documents are received, the ritual is clear and constructed, the sacred is everywhere. I was overwhelmed by this ritual, an extraordinary safeguard, allowing me to lean on, let go and trust. Even today, I perceive it as a transmission and also a pedagogy. It stayed in my skin and changes my relationship to things, to people, to patients, to my job as a therapist.

Coming from a long troubled time in my life, I found at Takiwasi much more of what I was looking for.

At my arrival I was mistrustful, then gradually I integrated and understood the philosophy of the place and gave myself the maximum chance to allow the process to succeed. Very observant at first, I approached the Ayahuasca ceremony with less and less apprehension. I felt like I was where I needed to be. That everything was perfect, that everything was in the right place and that everything happened at the right time and in the best conditions.

My session was very revealing, I had many visions, on several occasions I felt possessed by the plant, in general I felt a force taking hold of me against which it was useless to fight. So I decided to surrender to it, to let myself go, to accept. At times I even accepted death because the feeling of surrender was much too strong, then regularly one of the healers came to "bring me back" to life. A great feeling of love characterized the session, love towards my loved ones, love towards life and nature. For my part, I tried to face it with dignity and authenticity and what I got in return is based on the same fundamentals.

The Ayahuasca session revealed a number of things, but the most surprising and intense part of my experience lays in the days of retreat in the jungle. A notion of inner growth by deprivation has settled in me. By this I mean that we have always been brought up to think that it is in abundance that we find happiness, but the jungle gently taught me that it is rather the opposite. And for that I never cease to give thanks. The days in the jungle completed the work of Ayahuasca. I learned to forgive and above all I learned to let go of the things of the past.

I arrived at Takiwasi full of anger, I left full of love, and almost two months later, I consider that the anger that has long inhabited my mind and my body, is no longer part of me.

If I was to sum up my experience in one sentence I would say that the plants activated nuclear power within me and now I have become a force of nature. I have come to Takiwasi with determination, clear set of goals and asked assertively for guidance from the plant spirits and what I was given way surpassed all my expectations.

Prior to starting my work with Amazonian medicines in 2021, I have done huge amount of personal exploration work. But there were still major parts missing and my encounter with Ayahuasca and San Pedro brought clarity and provided the comprehensive answers to all my existential questions that tormented me since I was 13.

I came to Takiwasi thanks for recommendation from another retreat I attended in Spain. I did my research and I felt that its approach was the most authentic one, so I signed up right away. I was looking for a serious/pragmatic yet scientific and grounded approach to work with this medicine and I found it at Takiwasi.

Results: I have tons of energy with all my fears and doubts completely removed. Nothing is holding me back in life any more. Physically I feel 20 years younger. I lost weight and it stays the same. People notice my change, sometime they even stare. For the first time in my life people actually listen to what I have to say. I grew up emotionally during 3 weeks in Tarapoto. My family also noticed my huge change and say that it is amazing. But the most important thing is that I am finally at peace with myself and with my past.

I am a psychologist, a teacher and a life coach, I help people achieve wholeness, harmony in all aspects of their life. The plants have given me clear instructions as to how to become more effective in my work. I started implementing this knowledge into my practice, and what an amazing change. I have many happy clients that say my insights are simple yet life-changing. I feel all the limits have been removed to what I can now achieve. I know this is now possible because I achieve this harmony and peace with myself. Every day is exciting and I see opportunities everywhere.