PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL IBOGA RETREAT AT IBOGA WELLNESS

Our psycho-spiritual program is an 8-day, all inclusive iboga retreat which has been designed to nurture spiritual growth and self-discovery through the ceremonial, sacred use of Iboga in a traditional way. Iboga Wellness walks the beautiful path of the Bwiti while making sure people from the Western world get the most out of the experience.

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Orientation/Welcoming Ceremony – getting comfortable at our center.

Iboga Wellness Center program days image

Iboga Fire Ceremony focused on detoxification of the body and mind.

Iboga Wellness Center program days image

Introspective time for processing the information from the ceremony.

Iboga Wellness Center program days image

Offsite activity (see below) & Spiritual Shower Ceremony.

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Iboga Fire Ceremony focused on spiritual discovery.

Iboga Wellness Center program days image

Introspective time for processing the information from the ceremony.

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Offsite activity. Closing talk & sharing

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Breakfast, Hugs & Goodbyes.

8 DAY IBOGA RETREAT SCHEDULE

DAY ONE Welcome Ceremony

A day for guests to meet each other, connect with providers, settle in and make themselves comfortable. At dark, we gather around the fire and share. Our providers speak about their own experiences with Iboga, the history of the plant and the Bwiti, wisdom about how to get the most out of the experience, and discuss the session schedule and general retreat information.

DAY TWO First Iboga Ceremony

Early in the day, providers have a private, one-on-one chat with each guest to discuss life intentions and questions for the medicine. A late lunch is served, after which guests fast for the remainder of the day. At dark, there is a group Iboga Fire Ceremony, where traditional Bwiti music is played and wisdom teachings are imparted.

Guests take the medicine, which is administered as both Iboga Root Bark and its Total Alkaloid (TA) extraction. It is important to have both forms of the medicine available. Some people have a higher tolerance and it can get difficult to get enough root bark powder in them to send them deep and get what they need. Therefore we have the TA on hand so everyone has the opportunity to get what they came for.

We talk about Life and other important teachings that come from the Bwiti tradition. This tradition is actually the study of Life itself. After about an hour or so, Iboga is given to each person who is participating in the ceremony. For most people, it takes about an hour until they begin to ‘feel the medicine’. Once someone is feeling the Iboga, they are escorted to a mattress in the ceremony area where they will spend the rest of the night.

Our staff is present throughout the ceremony to help people with their needs, some water to drink, more iboga if needed, help getting to and from the nearby bathroom, purging (vomiting), or offering direction as needed. We create a very safe environment for you so you can focus on your experience.

When the time is right, we will begin the process of guiding you into yourself. This process has been used by the Bwiti for many generations. By guiding you, you can get the answers to any questions you may have about your life. You may be able to see and converse with your own spirit (your soul / higher self). Many people are able to ‘travel’ spiritually throughout the world. It is also possible to make contact with deceased family and friends using this process. During this guided journey we will also ‘open’ your third eye (spiritual vision) using special herbs and barks prepared by the Pygmies.

The remainder of the night is spent journeying in the ceremony area, until sunrise, when guests are taken back to their respective rooms.

DAY THREE Discovery Day

This day is all about introspection, insight, release, and acceptance. Commonly, so much happens during the active Iboga journey itself (day two), that many of the insights and processing of that journey are realized on Discovery Day. As the intensity of the medicine settles, Iboga’s gifts are presented. It is common to experience intuitive messages and deep personal knowingness in the stillness of day three — so it is extremely important to preserve that repose by staying off of phones, computers and other electronic devices. By removing distractions, we keep ourselves open to receiving messages. Devices and distractions block Iboga from continuing its work.

DAY FOUR Offsite Excursion & Spiritual Shower

By this day, guests are feeling more grounded in their bodies, the mind is quieter, and the body is lighter. Lessons are still coming, but guests feel ready to venture outside of the retreat grounds to witness the teachings. This day is necessary. Some retreats do 4 or 5 night retreats with 2 ceremonies. If you would be ready for another ceremony one day after recovering then you may not have been given a sufficient dose of medicine.

Day four is an important time to reconnect with nature. Iboga leaves us open and sensitive to the energies around us. This is the time to allow nature to fill the spaces that are opened up. And the purest form of intelligent wisdom and true resonance can only come from the Earth.

The day is spent outdoors, at one of our favorite beach spots or at the hot springs. Guests are able to connect to the profoundly healing energy of plants, trees — and most importantly, the ocean, the ultimate cleanser of what does not serve us.

Following the beach or hot springs, guests are given a Spiritual Shower, which is held in traditional Bwiti ceremony. Because Iboga has dislodged deeply stuck emotions, beliefs, traumas and patterns, the purpose of the Spiritual Shower is to fully release those things. In the space created by their absence, guests can invite their deepest dreams and wishes into being. The spiritual shower is done at a local river.

Each person must bring a change of clothes to this ceremony (which they must be comfortable leaving behind). The physical shedding of old clothing is symbolic of the spiritual shedding of old patterns and traumas.

The Spiritual Shower is an ancient African ceremony. We work with plants and nature’s water spirits to call in positive, self-serving patterns and release negative, self-sabotaging patterns. The depths to which we can release negativity in this ceremony are limitless — we are even able to access and shed negativity from our ancestral lineage. It is all able to be washed away, cleansed and renewed.

DAY FIVE Onsite Activities & Second Iboga Ceremony

ceremony under palapaDuring the day, guests have the option to schedule in-house massages. Wonderful massage therapists come to the center and perform a full body massages for our guests. Many guests have said it was the best massage of their life..

Group integration circle before lunch.  Light nature walks later in the afternoon.

In the evening, we hold our second Iboga ceremony. Around the fire, as we begin to take the medicine, guests are invited (but not required) to share about their first ceremony. The things that were cleared out during the first journey will not need to be addressed again; the second Iboga ceremony allows us to move even deeper inward.

The iboga experience will be different in some way each time we have the medicine. Guests should be trust the medicine to do its job. We just have to know what we want from the experience.

DAY SIX Discovery Day

What transpires on the second Discovery Day is much like the first; Iboga’s wisdom and teachings reveal themselves as its ceremonial energy begins to quiet. We spend time without distractions, exploring the peace and truth of our own spirits’ stillness.

DAY SEVEN Offsite Excursion & Closing Talk

Our day is spent soaking up the healing sunlight and cleansing ocean energy at another beach along the coast.

In the evening, we gather as a group and enjoy the benefits the medicine. Wisdom about taking our new found gifts and taking the lessons we have learned to create the life we want. By this point everyone is realizing the gifts of the medicine and what they have released from the experience. 2 deep full dose experiences with the medicine is profound and for many it is enough iboga to last them a lifetime.

DAY EIGHT Departure Day

Breakfast and lunch are served at the center while guests wait to be taken to the airport to board their departing flights or on to the next destination in Costa Rica.

Everything offered during our 8-day retreats is optional; if guests do not feel comfortable participating in certain scheduled activities, they may opt out. It’s all about empowered choice, and the choice to partake is always up to the individual.

Other activities

Working with Iboga is incredibly powerful and amazing things will happen, but it’s also important for your wellness to have some activities that make it easier to relax and enjoy yourself. We have various activities that we offer to give you a little break.

on-site activities: bird & and animal watching, plenty of space for yoga, hiking trails and walks to the river that runs behind the Iboga Wellness property.

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