7-Day Sacred Medicine Retreat
Awakening To Your True Essence: The Journey Within
Remembrance - Integration - Soul Sovereignty
January 16-23 2026
Join us for a transformative 7-day retreat in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, where you'll work with the sacred medicine of Ayahuasca and Kambo in a safe, supportive setting. Through guided ceremonies, integration workshops, breathwork, cold therapy and time in nature, you’ll gain tools to carry the insights from ceremony into your everyday life- creating lasting change, reconnecting with your purpose, and experiencing a deeper sense of wholeness.
Awakening To Your True Essence:
The Journey Within
January 16-23 2026
In our current era, our minds and bodies are often disconnected from the essence of spirit. We frequently hear about the integration of the mind, body, and spirit, yet the true understanding of 'spirit' remains elusive. The spirit cannot be seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelled. It dwells in the realm of abstract concepts such as infinity or the universe- ideas often too vast for the human mind to fully grasp.
This 7-day retreat invites you to delve into the depths of self and to reacquaint yourself with your essence as a spiritual being. It will challenge you to explore your spiritual identity.
This journey of soulful (self) discovery is not easy; it's fraught with challenges and requires resilience. But it's a journey that brings us closer to the universal source to which we are all intrinsically linked.
Embarking on this path is an opportunity to confront the broken parts, past traumas and outdated beliefs that impede our connection with our soul. Only by addressing these can we start the process of remembering our true selves.
We will share various tools and practices, each carefully chosen to facilitate this deep dive into self-awareness and integrate the medicine. These practices are more than just exercises; they are gateways to unveiling the layers that mask our true selves.
The goal of these 7 days is not merely self-discovery; it is self-transformation. It's about shedding the layers that no longer serve us and stepping into a space of authenticity and truth. By the end of this retreat, the aim is for each of us to emerge with a clearer understanding of who we are and a renewed sense of how to live authentically in our everyday lives.
You are not merely the name given at birth, the body you’ve come to identify with, nor the thoughts floating in your head. For many, this retreat will be an entirely new experience of self.
Are you ready to embrace this challenge?
Are you prepared to confront your fears head-on?
If this opportunity resonates with you deeply, if your response is a resounding “Hell yes,” then embark on this journey to cultivate a life of awareness and rediscover the essence of who you truly are.
About the Medicines Served In Sacred Ceremony
The Amazon Rainforest Vaccine
Kambo
Kambo is a powerful ancestral treatment used by indigenous tribes of the Amazon rainforest. It is renowned for it's ability to strengthen the immune system, detoxify the body and provide mental clarity. Unlike visionary medicines, Kambo does not induce hallucinations but instead facilitates a deep physical and spiritual purification process.
BENEFITS OF KAMBO:
Acts as one of the most potent natural antivirals, antibiotics, and antifungals, significantly impacting the immune, lymphatic, and nervous systems.
Strengthens the immune system, improving the body's defenses and helping prevent future illnesses.
Deeply cleanses the liver and digestive tract, eliminating accumulated toxins and heavy metals.
Supports emotional and mental well-being by removing energetic blockages and negative habits.
Purifies the aura and realigns the chakras, enhancing mental clarity and emotional balance.
HOW IT’S APPLIED: Kambo is derived from the secretion of the Amazonian tree frog Phyllomedusa bicolor. The venom is applied to small superficial burns on the skin in a controlled manner. Temporary effects may include heat sensations, palpitations, sweating, nausea, and occasional vomiting, which are all part of the detoxification process. A session typically lasts between 10 to 30 minutes and requires both preparation and post-care.
A Journey into the Heart
of Spirit and Healing
Grandmother Ayahuasca
Ayahuasca is a sacred brew traditionally made from two plants: the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the leaves of Psychotria viridis. Its use is deeply rooted in the cosmology and healing practices of Amazonian peoples such as the Shipibo, Asháninka, and Kofan. From a scientific perspective, this preparation works through the interaction of MAO inhibitors in the vine and DMT found in the leaves, enabling a visionary experience that has been studied by neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and anthropologists. Research shows Ayahuasca can promote neuroplasticity, reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and addiction, and generate a long- lasting sense of spiritual connection.
BENEFITS OF AYAHUASCA:
Emotional release and cleansing
Mental clarity and expanded awareness
Reconnection with personal purpose
Spiritual and energetic healing
Connection to nature and ancestral wisdom
About The Integration Work
The Inner Flight
Breathwork
Breathwork is another pivotal tool we will utilize to forge a deeper connection with our inner selves. This practice has been an integral part of ceremonial traditions across all continents for millennia. Significantly, it's the first action we take upon entering this world and the last before we depart. We will be integrating the medicine work with this powerful tool and teaching you how to lean on this sacred medicine upon returning home.
In the days and weeks that follow, the real work begins— making meaning, finding grounding, and weaving insights into the fabric of your daily life.
Breathwork offers a powerful bridge between realms.
With every conscious breath, you anchor the soul back into the body, releasing what no longer serves and calling back the parts of yourself scattered by time, trauma, or transformation.
BREATHWORK HELPS YOU TO:
Digest the experience emotionally and energetically
Ground your nervous system and bring safety to the body
Access altered states gently, deepening your connection to Spirit
Move stuck energy that plant medicine may have stirred
Remember what’s true, long after the visions fade
Discover The Strength Within
Ice Baths
This practice is not just about physical endurance; it's a method to strengthen willpower and resilience, to prepare you for your return home from the retreat.
While the retreat can offer a sanctuary, the real work begins when you return home. It doesn’t matter how much medicine to take or the number of ceremonies to go to, only courage, willpower and resilience will help you to take the actions to change you life. You will learn how to lean on this powerful tool to support you in your process.
BENEFITS OF COLD THERAPY:
Acts as a pattern disrupter, helping you to the willpower to change behaviors.
Regulates the nervous system, calming anxiety and emotional overwhelm
Builds inner resilience, teaching you to stay present in discomfort
Reinforces insights through embodied experience rather than just mental reflection
Creates space between trigger and response, increasing emotional mastery
Purifies and energizes the body, supporting physical detox and mental clarity
Jungle Medicine
Immersion in Nature
You’ll be held by the healing rhythm of nature in an isolated retreat space in the jungle in the Riviera Maya. Here, the jungle becomes a co-facilitator in your integration process: the call of birds, the rustle of leaves, all reminding you that you are a part of something ancient and alive.
Nearby, one of the few untouched and preserved beaches along the coast offers another layer of medicine.
Mother Earth’s Womb
The Temazcalli
The Temazcalli is a pre-Columbian ancestral healing therapy, utilizing intense heat and medicinal steam to promote physical and spiritual purification.
Songs, prayers, and water infused with herbal essences form part of a profound cosmology within this ancient healing practice, inherited from the great civilizations of Abya Yala— what is now known as the American continent.
These sacred rituals are more than remedies; they are echoes of ancestral wisdom, weaving together the voices of the earth, the spirits of the plants, and the whispers of the wind. Each chant carries the vibration of healing, each prayer a bridge between the visible and the unseen, and each drop of blessed water a conduit for renewal. Through this communion with nature, the soul finds balance, the body regains its strength, and the heart remembers its ancient song—a song of unity, harmony, and deep reverence for life itself.
LODGING
Where We’ll Stay
DESCRIPTION OF THE LOCATION Nestled deep in the lush Mayan jungle near Chemuyil (just a short drive from Tulum), Casa Arkaana is a retreat space that was designed for medicinal ceremonies.
A generous communal kitchen, lounge, and chill‑out space flow onto a wide deck with comfy seating, offering sweeping views of the jungle canopy – perfect for morning meditations, group sharing, or relaxing between sessions.
SLEEPING ARRANGMENTS The retreat center has an assortment of rooms with 2 twin beds or 1 king bed. The standard price gives you a twin bed in a shared room. You can book a private room that will have 1 king bed. The space has shared bathrooms. If you are a couple or want to have a private room, let us know upon booking.
FOOD There will be a plenty of nutritious food as needed with the intention of nourishing and supporting the participants during their journey. While there will be plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, it also includes chicken and eggs for those who need more grounding foods.
An assortment of shared and private rooms available
Itinerary*
FRIDAY, JAN 16: Arrival through out the day ; Evening meal together
SATURDAY, JAN 17: Opening Circle & Intention Setting ; Breathwork & Ice Bath Sessions ; Free Time ; Preparation Workshop
SUNDAY, JAN 18: Kambo Ceremony in the Morning ; Rest & Integration Work ; Night Ayahuasca Ceremony
MONDAY, JAN 19: Sharing Circle ; Sound Bath & Breathwork ; Rest & Free-Time ; Night Ayahuasca Ceremony
TUESDAY, JAN 20: Sharing Circle ; Breathwork ; Beach Excursion ; Night Ayahuasca Ceremony
WEDNESDAY, JAN 21: Silent Nature Hike ; Temazcalli ; Closing Ceremony
THURSDAY, JAN 22: Cenote Excursion ; Closing Integration Workshop ; Celebration Group Dinner
FRIDAY, JAN 23: Free Time ; Check Out
*Exact Itinerary Subject to Change
JULIO KINTU
I introduce myself to you as a living being on the path of remembrance, a traveler in search of my own humanity, blessed with consciousness and the sacred choice to walk the path my ancestors called The Good Life—Lekil Kuxlejal in Maya, Sumaj Kawsay in Quechua.
I did not seek out my teachers, yet life, in its infinite wisdom, placed them before me. I learned through lessons carved into flesh and spirit, through encounters that seemed woven by destiny itself.
I was born into a family whose ancestral roots had been severed by colonialism, yet the echoes of memory always find cracks through which to bloom.
My search began early—at fourteen, I felt the call of my blood, drawing me toward the medicine closest to my spirit. In the stories of my paternal lineage, I found guidance in my aunt, Zara Rodas, a shaman from the land of my grandparents, on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, in the heart of Chiapas. She was the one who reminded me where I came from, and in that reconnection, I ignited the flame of a journey with no return.
Through this path, I have been initiated into the sacred tradition of Mexica dance, a ceremony where the heartbeat of the drum aligns with the rhythm of the cosmos, reconnecting the body and spirit to the ancient pulse of the earth. I have also received the original wisdom of the Inca, guided by the Q’eros, the last guardians of the Andean lineage, who have kept alive the teachings of Pachamama, the Apus, and the sacred codes of reciprocity and harmony.
In my journey, I have also learned to prepare and guide the use of sacred natural medicines—the gifts of the earth and spirit. I have worked with mushrooms, San Pedro, Peyote, Bufo, Kambo, Ayahuasca, Rapé, and others, walking the delicate path of healing with deep respect for these ancestral remedies. Each medicine, a teacher. Each ceremony, a bridge between the seen and the unseen, guiding those who seek transformation, healing, and remembrance.
From the lands of the north to the edges of the south, from Mexico to Chile and Argentina, I walked through mountains and jungles, alongside sacred rivers and whispering winds, gathering the scattered fragments of my being. Along the way, I found the key to reconstructing myself, to healing my lineage, to remembering what time and silence had tried to erase. And so, the path I began for myself became a service to others—a fire kindled not only for my family but for all those who seek to remember.
CASS & JEREMIE PAULUS
Breathwork Guides & Retreat Host
We have been hosting others through transformational experiences long before we dove into the world of plant medicine.
From “holding space” during LSD-fueled parties, to organizing bus-loads of “ravers” on cross-country music festivals tours for 7 years running, our roots in transformation are unconventional—and a little irreverent and we have sat in every “set and setting” imaginable.
After our early years of wild psychedelic experimentation that evolved into excessive alcohol use, we made a life-altering decision: we sold everything we owned, bought a motorcycle, and set off through Latin America to, well… “figure it out.” That journey took us from Las Vegas to Medellín, around the world, and eventually to Bali, Indonesia.
Along the way, we went through the inevitable personal crises, attempting to outrun them through travel, only to be confronted by our addictions, past wounds, projections, and all the clever ways we tried to bypass the real work. It was a deep period of healing and self-discovery— one that nearly ended in divorce more than once. But it ultimately led to a deeper love for ourselves, for each other, and for the path we’re now on: contributing to a new way of being.
Since returning to the U.S. in 2020, we founded our community Inner Alchemy and have supported over 1,000 people through breathwork and ice bath sessions in Salt Lake City. Today, we live in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, with our two young children, and we’re honored to weave together our love of travel, sacred space-holding, plant medicine, and transformative healing into our upcoming retreats.
Pricing
Early Sign Up: $2500 / person (shared room with a person of the same gender)
After Oct 15th: $2900 / person
Put $800 down to reserve your place and the rest is due by November 30th.
If you would like to book a private room, let us know on the form and we will get back to you with pricing.
Learn More
HOW DO I SIGN UP: If this is your first time with Plant Medicine, we recommed that you Book an Inquiry Call to learn more and we’ll discuss if this retreat is right for you. Your inquiry will be held confidential.
After your initial call, signing up will involve a down payment of $500 and we will send you a payment link. Before joining, you will need to complete an intake form in which we will screen for any contraindications and evaluate your readiness to engage in the ceremonies.