• Return to the body's natural time: the 13-moon rhythm and realign through practices, ritual, and meditation, including sacred geometry practices, ritual nature walks, and 3 plant medicine ceremonies.
  
  

• Meditation & medicine share the same root word; both pointing toward practices that help us remember our innate capacity to heal and return to balance. In this transformational retreat with Ayllu Medicina, you will explore how meditation and plant medicine work together to quiet the mind, open the heart, and deepen your awareness - combined with aligning with natural time.

• Learn and practice meditation techniques that support you throughout the plant medicine ceremonies, during integration, and as tools you carry with you when you return to the ceremony of daily life. Connect with the 13-moon calendar and how to live by your body's natural rhythm.

• Sit with the sacred plant medicines of Ayawaska and San Pedro in ceremonies (San Pedro ceremony in nature during the day), guided by our experienced medicine guides, and supported by facilitators. Additional purification and support are offered through sweat lodges, daily yoga, breathwork, and nourishing, intentional meals. The entire week is medicine, supporting the cleansing of mind, body, and energy.
  
  

• Take a sacred pause on the beautiful coast of Ecuador to reconnect with your true nature and release what no longer serves you. Within this container, you will find community, receive ancient wisdom, and remember your relationship with the Earth and the elements

Are you feeling the call to slow down and reconnect with yourself? Join Ayllu Medicina on the coast of Ecuador for our Return to Natural Time: Meditation and Plant Medicine Retreat in November 2026, where we bring together complementary pathways, meditation and medicine, to support deep inner alignment, along with the 13- moon calendar, to connect with natural rhythm.

We believe life itself is a ceremony, meant to be lived with presence, peace, love, dignity, and joy. At times, we must pause and receive the tools that help us return to the heart. Ayllu Medicina’s transformational plant medicine retreats are designed to hold this intentional pause with care and integrity.

This November retreat focuses on supporting you in accessing the deep, inner peace that already resides within you. Through guided meditation practices, rituals, practices, and ceremonies, you are invited to deepen your relationship with your inner world and walk forward with greater clarity, presence, and trust.

Whether you already have an established meditation practice, know about the 13-moon calendar or not, and/or have experience sitting with plant medicines, or you are completely new, this retreat is held in a way that meets you where you are. Our experienced guides and team offer preparation, ongoing support, and integration, creating a supportive space for beginners and experienced practitioners alike to explore, learn, and deepen their relationship with these healing modalities.

Purifying the body, mind, and spirit creates the inner clarity and stillness needed to access a deeper meditative state and align with the heart. For this reason, a variety of ceremonial practices are woven into our plant medicine retreats in Ecuador. Each ceremony is guided by experienced medicine guides and held with deep respect for the ancestral traditions from which these practices originate.

Plant Medicine Ceremonies 

Sit in two Ayawaska ceremonies and a San Pedro ceremony. Ayawaska is often compared to a wise Grandmother, and like an onion, she can help you find your center and let go of what no longer serves you. 

Grandfather San Pedro is the masculine energy, helping you find alignment and open your heart once more, ready to take flight. You can learn more about these medicines on our Ayllu Medicina blog.  We like to share this as a daytime walk in nature, weather permitting.

We will provide preparation support, and we hold circles during our plant medicine retreats to discuss any questions you may have in advance. After our plant medicine ceremonies, we also have sharing circles, so you can share any pearls from your ceremony experience. Some of our participants have sat in ceremonies previously, whereas, for others, it is their first time meeting with the plant medicines. 

Sweat Lodges 

There will also be multiple sweat lodges (temazcales) throughout the plant medicine retreat week. Enter the womb of Mother Earth to integrate, purify, and experience rebirth. 

Our volcanic grandmother stones are heated in the fire and are placed in the womb, the sweat lodge. Different incenses are placed on the stones before the door closes, and the heat begins to rise as water is poured over the stones. We share prayers and songs to guide each round. 

We also share a 5th sweat lodge round called the moon round, which is for women - only. If someone is on their moon time they enter for this round.

Meditation will help you honor the sacred pause of a plant medicine retreat and access a deep state of inner peace during your life. We believe meditation is one of the best medicines we can receive in this lifetime, which is why our November retreat focuses on this practice. 

We will be holding daily meditation workshops so you can learn different techniques for becoming the observer, able to stay centered with the ebbs and flows of life. You will have the opportunity to practice these meditation techniques all week, including during our plant medicine ceremonies, where meditation can be an invaluable tool.

There will also be other workshops to connect to ancient wisdom and remember the ancient wisdom inside you. Workshops include womb technology and song circles to connect to your voice and inner rhythms.  

Your plant medicine experience and healing process will be guided by Aime and Hwaneetah. Their purpose is to share medicine, prayers, music, and intention for healing with whoever is called to share in this journey. These two healers are well-known in the region for their music, resonant prayers, and heart-opening medicine. 

Aime and Hwaneetah speak fluent English, Spanish, and French and have been working with medicine for over 20 years, along with other healing modalities. Aime is a Medicine Man of the Sacred Fire of Itzachilatlan, a medicine family based in the Ecuadorian Andes. 

Hwaneetah also runs sweats lodges, is a sun dancer, and canupa carrier. You can watch her talk on ancient womb technology on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X9LkyK4bHw

The Ayllu Medicina team will be supporting you throughout your retreat week; you can learn more about our medicine guides and facilitators on our website under 'team'. We also have a great local kitchen team who will be providing nutritious food throughout the week. 

Our experienced yoga teacher, Vanessa, will be leading the daily yoga classes.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We will also be providing orientation support, and there are options for integration sessions post-retreat. You can also choose from other add-ons, such as a moon session with Hwaneetah.

How do we support the local community?

Sometimes we are asked how we support the community here in Ecuador! Ecuador is home for all of us, some of the ways we share with the communities here are:

• Working with our local kitchen team!

• Taking part in community events such as for the water and community sweat lodges

• We are connected with a family in the Amazon who harvests the Ayawaska we prepare, along with other artisans and organisations with products such as Guayuasa, that are sustainably working with this plant.

• Contact us to learn more!

Ayllu Medicina is based on the coast of Ecuador, in Manglaralto, situated near the world-famous surf capital of Montañita and the peaceful haven of Ayampe. 

Immerse yourself in nature in our retreat space. It is magical during ceremonies to hear the sounds of all the nature around, from the birds singing to the waves crashing. 

You can easily access the beach, which is a ten-minute walk from the accommodation. The accommodation has everything you need to be comfortable, feel at peace, and retreat inwards during your stay, including a swimming pool with ocean views, one of the best spots to enjoy Ecuador's sunsets! 

Rooms include air conditioning, large comfortable double beds,  wi-fi, and hot water.  

Read: Accommodation and Flight Recommendations

• We recommend flying in at least one day before retreat to allow time to settle. We can recommend some accommodations nearby.

• If you need to fly in on the Saturday we start retreat, schedule your flight to arrive by 10am to allow time to get to the retreat center.

• We can help arrange transport with our trusted taxi drivers or we provide public transport information. Taxis cost around 90$. We will be in touch re. all logistics once you sign up.

• For departure, we finish retreat at around 3pm on Saturday. We have a community sweat lodge this evening, starting around 5pm. We recommend flying out the next day, or late this evening. Of course, if you can stay longer, this is also great!

• Usually there is the option to stay an extra night at our retreat center post-retreat for an additional charge, with sufficient notice.

• Airport: Guayaquil is the most convenient, which is 2.5-3.5 hours away.

• Do you plan to stay for longer? We are happy to offer recommendations for where to stay and where to visit pre or post-retreat!

Do you know about the 13- moon calendar? This was the original calendar , and one that brings alignment with your body's natural rhythm.

Hwaneetah will be sharing more about natural time and how to connect with this rhythm, through two natural ritual walks, sacred geometry alignment practices, and workshops to help find alignment. This is a unique opportunity to learn more about this rhythm.

• Arrive at our retreat space and settle into your accommodation. 
  

• Enjoy a welcome detox lunch and meet the rest of the group.

• Logistics and intro meeting- this is when we share the official retreat schedule.

• Set your intentions and open the retreat week with our opening fire ceremony.

• Opening sweat lodge to purify (temazcal)
  

• Dinner

The schedule is subject to change. The first day of retreat, you will receive a retreat-specific agenda. We can guarantee there will be time to integrate, rest, and find some quiet time between activities. The whole week is medicine, and we ask that you engage in the schedule we propose.

- Breakfast 

- Yoga, breathwork, & meditation

- Workshop

- Guided Cold Plunge

- Lunch

- Intro to ceremony circle

- Rest time

- Yoga Nidra

- Dinner

- Rest

- Ayawaska ceremony (beginning around 10pm)

- Morning sweat lodge

- Breakfast

- Rest & Restore

- Lunch

- Restorative evening yoga

- Dinner

- Breakfast

- Energizing yoga, breathwork, meditation

- Detox snack

- Ceremony Sharing Circle & Power Animals talk

- Lunch

- Art and meditation time

- Rest & Restore

- Ayawaska ceremony 

- Sunrise Sweat Lodge

- Breakfast

- Rest & Restore

- Lunch

- Rest & Restore

- Meditation workshop

- Restorative yoga

- Dinner 

- Breakfast

- Yoga, breathwork, meditation

- Sharing Circle/ Intro to ceremony circle

- Cold Plunge

- Lunch

- Art time

- Meditation workshop

-Dinner

- Rest

- San Pedro night ceremony OR meditation workshop, dinner, rest- day ceremony of San Pedro tomorrow. Depending on scheduling and weather.

- Ocean offering & beach time 

- Breakfast

- Songs around the fire & rest

- Goodbye Celebration Lunch 

- Rest time

- Dinner 

OR Day ceremony of San Pedro & celebration dinner

- Breakfast

- Yoga, breathwork, meditation

- Meditation workshop

- Closing fire ceremony to close the week and say farewell

- Lunch

- Check-out (2-3pm)

- Optional afternoon sweat lodge 

The adventure continues...