Preparing for an Ayahuasca Retreat: What to Know Before You Go

Written By Momentum Group

When the call to sit with Ayahuasca arrives, it often comes softly at first—a whisper in the heart, a dream, a longing for something deeper. For many, this call arises from pain, frustration, or transition. For others, it’s a desire to reconnect with purpose, clarity, or spirituality.

The ceremony begins long before you sit with Ayahuasca. Your preparation shapes your experience. It sets the tone for how deeply you can receive, release, and reconnect with yourself.

Here are the practices I recommend to help you prepare—physically, emotionally, and spiritually—for your Ayahuasca retreat.

 

Clear Your Schedule—Internally & Externally

In the weeks leading up to your retreat, begin to slow down. Say “no” more often. Protect your energy. Reduce unnecessary stimulation—especially from social media, news, and digital devices. This helps create space for the subtle messages that may begin arriving in dreams, emotions, or sensations.

The less noise you have, the more clearly you can hear your own inner voice.

Begin the Ayahuasca Dieta

I encourage individuals to begin an intentional dieta at least 14 days before their first Ayahuasca ceremony. This typically includes:

  • Eating clean, whole foods (organic if possible)

  • Avoiding pork, red meat, dairy, and fried foods

  • Decreasing caffeine and refined sugar

  • Minimizing salt and heavy spices

  • Reducing or abstaining from sexual activity (including masturbation)

  • Eliminating alcohol and recreational drugs

This isn’t about purity—it’s about creating clarity in your body and mind, so the medicine can meet you with less interference. Approach it as an act of respect and reciprocity, not rigidity.

Follow Your Tailored Medical Protocol

Your safety is of paramount importance. Before your retreat, you should be asked to complete a detailed intake form reviewed by the center’s medical and facilitation teams. Based on your responses, they may provide specific guidance around pausing certain medications, supplements, or health protocols.

Please follow these recommendations carefully and reach out to the retreat center if anything feels unclear. The intention is never restriction, but safety. Some substances may physically or energetically interact with Ayahuasca. Eliminating these substances at the proper time in advance of your retreat helps to ensure your Ayahuasca experience will be the very best possible.

Set an Intention (But Hold It Gently)

What is your heart asking for? What are you ready to see, feel, or change?

Setting an intention is like planting a seed. It helps orient the experience—but Ayahuasca often has its own wisdom. Ayahuasca may show you something completely unexpected that serves your deeper need.

Write your intention in a journal, say it aloud, or whisper it to the wind. Then let go.

Start a Daily Practice of Stillness or Breath

If you’re new to meditation, start with just 5–10 minutes a day. Sit with your breath. Feel your body. Let your emotions rise without needing to fix or judge them. If you prefer support in this, try a simple guided meditation video to get started.

Ayahuasca brings you into intimate contact with your inner world. Cultivating this relationship beforehand creates familiarity and resilience when you meet yourself more deeply in ceremony.

Avoid Heavy Conversations or Emotional Overload

You don’t need to figure everything out before you arrive to your retreat. In fact, trying to “solve” your problems before the retreat can work against the surrender the medicine asks of us. If we could’ve figured it out on our own from where we are, we would’ve already done so.

Give yourself permission to arrive with open questions, loose ends, and uncertainty. Ayahuasca meets us where we are in the present moment without the expectation of perfection.

Bring Comfortable, Meaningful Items

Pack clothes that feel soft, loose, and familiar. Avoid perfumes, restrictive fabrics, zippers, and lots of snaps/buttons. You may also wish to bring:

  • A journal and pen

  • Layers of clothes

  • A small sacred item (crystal, photo, totem)

  • An open heart

The retreat center should provide everything else you need—what’s most important is that you feel held, because you are.

Trust the Call and Your Courage to Answer It

If you’re reading this, you’ve already begun. Your journey is already underway.

You don’t need to be fearless. You just need to be willing.

Momentum Group