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New Year
Plant Medicine Retreat
January 25th - February 2nd, 2025
Sierra Nevada, Colombia
The New Year Plant Medicine Retreat is an opportunity for the spiritual seeker to answer the call to enter relationship with the sacred medicines of Cacao, Ayahuasca (Yagé), and Kambo. This journey will be held in the heart of the world, the magnificent Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern Colombia- A place Botanic Body Yoga has journeyed many times.
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A journey supported by well trained and experienced Medicine Guides and space holders, and woven together with the support of ancient healing arts and modalities to empower you in receiving and integrating the maximum benefit from your experience. Our goal is to welcome you into one of the safest, most healing lands we know, lovingly guide you every step of the way, and support you in integrating your medicine journey in a way that will cultivate lasting transformation in your life.
-~ Retreat Schedule -~
* All meals, lodging, workshops and ceremonies included*
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Day 1: Arrival + Grounding In
• Opening Cacao Ceremony
• Introductions, sharing, and space to rest
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Day 2: Energy Cleansing & Preparation
• Focus on clearing stagnant energies from the mind and body with gentle modalities such as Somatic Movement, Kundalini, Qi Gong, Pranayama
• Intention Setting
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Day 3: Kambo Ceremony
** The actual experience working with Kambo only lasts 20-45 minutes on average, so outside of your medicine ceremony, you will have space to rest, be held in nature, and integrate
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Day 4: Integration + Sharing
• Gentle practices to support the processing and integration of your Kambo experience, including Kundalini, Qi Gong, Gratitude Meditation, Somatic Rewiring
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Day 5: Preparation + Yagé Ceremony
• During the day integration practices and modalities will be offered, Yagé Ceremony will take place at night
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Day 6: Integration - Yin Yoga, Somatic Rewiring
• A gentle and restful day with integration offerings and modalities to support your energetic processing and recovery
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Day 7: Yagé Ceremony
• A restful day with sharing circle and gentle meditative modalities to support you in preparing for your final ceremony
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Day 8: Integration - Yin Yoga, Somatic Rewiring
• A deeply restorative day of rest, space, and gentle Yin yoga practice alongside an integration and rewiring meditation to anchor your revelations and experiences deep into your being
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Day 9: Integration + Closing Cacao Ceremony
• One final heart opening ceremony journey with cacao to bring closure, anchor the new energies into your being, and share blissfully revitalizing connections with our tribe before heading back into the real journey of our lives
-~ The Investment -~
This experience is offered at a considerably affordable price of $1,800 - Including all meals, accomodation, offerings and ceremonies.
**Not included: Flight and transportation *though, we are happy to support you with necessary information and trustworthy contacts to get you there
**To enroll: Contact us at botanicbodyoga@gmail.com to schedule an interview process to ensure that this experience is of the highest benefit for you
-~ About the Medicine -~
Yagé - Ayahuasca
Yagé, also known as Ayahuasca, is a traditional Amazonian brew made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and other plants, including the Psychotria viridis leaf. It has been used for centuries by indigenous peoples in the Amazon for spiritual and healing purposes. The brew contains psychoactive compounds, primarily dimethyltryptamine (DMT), which can induce altered states of consciousness, visions, and deep introspective experiences.
Yagé ceremonies are held during the night, and often include a period of purging, both physically and emotionally. You may experience purging in the form of vomiting, or crying, which are forms of cleansing for the physical and emotional bodies. Many people seek out yagé for its potential therapeutic benefits, including healing trauma, gaining insights into personal issues, and fostering a sense of connection with nature and the spiritual world.
Cacao - Sacred Heart Opener
What is Cacao you may ask? Cacao is a superfood, heart opener, and an entheogen known as the “Food of the Gods” by the Mayan people for millennia. To be clear, Cacao is not* a psychedelic, however it does help us to connect with our higher selves through an ever-more open heart and mind, and thus can* sometimes lead to an "out of this world" experience as we go "beyond ourselves..."
The community becomes the shaman and we learn from new insights of one another and the reflections of aspects of ourselves that are ready to be seen. With this, our “higher-self” leads the way, creating a space where new awareness can be gained and healing can occur.
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Cacao ceremonies will be offered to open and close this retreat.
Kambo - Nature's Vaccine
Kambo is known as "nature's vaccine" and is one of the most powerful antibiotics and anesthetics in the entire world. It is one of the strongest ways to strengthen and revitalize our immune system.
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Kambo is the name of the waxy secretion of a tree frog found in the Amazon rainforest, which has been used by indigenous cultures to heal and strengthen the body, mind and spirit. Furthermore, Kambo has been used by the natives to gain strength, build immunity, cure illnesses, and to ward off low self-esteem, mental, physical and spiritual weakness.
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The indigenous tribes say the primary reason to receive Kambo is to remove "Panema" which is the thick cloud of haziness- or energy of pain, confusion, unprocessed emotion and karma that accumulates and lives in the energy field of a person. Kambo is said to remove 'Panema' and restore a natural state of harmony and highest physical, emotional and spiritual potential, reconnecting one to true self. According to the tribes, when nothing is going right in your life, it is the right moment to take Kambo.
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For more information on the way that Kambo is administered, and what to expect during your experience, please contact us at botanicbodyoga@gmail.com
-~ About Your Guides -~
Meet Your Yagé Guide:
Jhon Gallego
A message (translated) directly from Jhon:
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Hello friends!
I am Jhon Gallego, a connoisseur of traditional medicine and sacred plants. For about 15 years I have been sharing the sacred medicine of yagé.
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I was instructed by masters of the Siona lineage and I have shared with different cultures of my country such as the Siona, Cofan, Inga, Kogui and Aruhaca indigenous cultures, with which I have strengthened my experience and enriched my spiritual knowledge.
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My way of practicing medicine is focused on working with patients in the recognition of the cause and effect that our own actions generate in order to guide patients to physically, mentally and spiritually unblock their conditions through sacred medicines.
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In service,
Jhon Gallego
Meet Your Healing Guide:
Krysten Rodriguez
Krysten Rodriguez is a mindful movement guide, and wayshower of both ancient, and new age healing arts and modalities of several different lineages. Her teachings include traditional yogic practices, Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Nidra and Kundalini yoga, Qi Gong, and Somatic emotional healing therapies. Krysten is an Inner Alignment coach, and the founder of Botanic Body Yoga- A heart-based healing movement birthed from her own personal healing journey, which was catalyzed by her desire to seek healthier ways of enhancing mental health, and overall quality of life. Her life path and passion are devoted to helping others restore and strengthen the blissful nature of their soul, bringing people together in sacred spaces, and carrying the message that we all have the power to heal from within.
Meet Your Kambo Guide:
Mat Chandler
Mat Chandler is based in Guatemala and stewards the Las Manos project of land and cacao project, as well as being the visionary for Holy Wow Cacao, a land-made and hand-crafted ceremonial cacao that circulates the world. This journey with carrying the medicine of Cacao began soon after founding Aurora Healing Arts Center in Gainesville, Florida in 2015, and then continuing on to move to Guatemala in 2019 to work with Cacao and the Mayan people directly from the ground up. Mat is a Kambô medicine carrier, kundalini yoga teacher, musician and sound healer, BioDynamic Cranial Touch practitioner, Thai massage yogi, life coach, ecstatic dance DJ and space holder, carpenter, and much more. He is grateful to guide this journey for you.
About the Retreat Center:
Poema: A Place to Write Your Own Story​​
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"We are a family owned and operated retreat center in the heart of the world. Located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern Colombia, we are immersed in lush jungle and wildlife. From ocean views to snow peak mountains, our farm is nestled in one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. Our mission has always been to create a space for people to bathe in nature, hear their own heart, and do the inner work our souls are calling for. Based in regenerative agriculture and the principles of permaculture, we are honored to work in harmony with the land and serve our guests with the highest quality local foods direct from our farm and region. Come to teach, come to be taught, and come to discover the unique poetry blooming inside of you."
From the open walled cabanas you'll see breathtaking views of mountains stretching to the Caribbean sea, backed by the sounds of nature in its most untouched and unfiltered state. There is truly is no place in the world like this sacred mountain sanctuary, which is why Botanic Body Yoga has been returning to host retreat here annually for 4 years.
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We couldn't think of a better place to share this sacred healing journey with you.
We are honored to offer this sacred Medicine Journey to you. Please contact us at botanicbodyoga@gmail.com with all questions and inquiries on enrollment.