Confluence Retreats

I came to the retreat hoping to experience feelings of awe in my life and to resolve some personal relationship issues . I left feeling more emotionally connected to and inspired by other people and nature with more awareness of my body and more understanding my personal boundaries and role.

As I now try to comprehend the changed political climate, I keep going by recalling my feelings of hope and oneness that I experienced at the retreat. My fellow journeyers convinced me that men can support and respect women. We had some real dog lovers in the group. My journeys were not what I expected. I spent too much time on my first journey trying to put it into words. On my second journey I relaxed and enjoyed. I thought I would struggle with people from my past but I had only pleasant experiences and felt happy. I saw the air around me filled with sparkling shards of light and I could feel intentional and harmony watching a flock of birds circling in the sky.

The ongoing one on one support offered by the team was amazing. They were always alert to our needs and concerns. We connected before and after each journey and had plenty of time to share and think.

I came to Confluence Retreats after experiencing some incredibly difficult events in my life that unveiled a host of old traumas, destructive thought loops and unproductive patterns. I was ready for an experience that could help me advance the work I was doing in therapy, let go of some of these past experiences and patterns, and find ways to let joy and love into my life.

From the first moment I spoke to Myles until I finished the retreat (and even in the subsequent post-retreat support work), I felt safe, supported and cared for. He and the team at Confluence Retreats are exceptional facilitators and even more exceptional human beings. I learned so much from them, and their seemingly unending well of patience, support and presence for those who attend the retreats was inspiring.

The retreat experience itself was magical. The natural setting was peaceful and allowed for deep contemplation and reflection. The structure of the retreat allowed me to set clear intentions before each journey, and the support that was provided to process my experiences was invaluable. I am convinced that a single journey alone would not have yielded as deep of an experience as I had at Confluence. The entire structure was all so incredibly well thought out and intentional.

My experience with Myles and the team at Confluence Retreats has helped me show up as a more present, loving partner and father. I am experiencing joy and gratitude in a way that I never have before, and I feel a love and acceptance for who I am as a person that I have never felt.

I struggle to find the words to convey how much I valued this experience. But, I can absolutely say that the investment of money and time I made in this experience was one of the best investments of my life, and it all culminated in a truly life changing experience.

I was intrigued with taking a psilocybin journey. It seemed I was in a rut and needed a reset. I meditate daily and that has helped me be my authentic self. It’s a slow steady process to get to that state with meditation. With psilocybin the process was intensified and shortened. In the past my meditation experience was filled with rumination. Now after psilocybin ruminating has decreased drastically. Similar to a 2 day meditation retreat in which the second day allows you to go deeper internally, the second session of psilocybin presented an opportunity to go deeper and experience those troubling emotions, ideas and feelings that occur during meditation. A reconciliation with those feelings occurred and I am less circumspect when interacting with others. My guard is down and I open up more easily. I faced some of the judgements I had of others and was able to reconcile and heal the hurt that those judgements caused. The psilocybin journey fits with my growth mindset. It has provided the fuel to help me grow.

Confluence filled my requirements for a positive set and setting for my first psychedelic experience.
Meeting Myles via Zoom months before I would travel to Oregon was very helpful. Over those months it became clear to me that a group experience afforded much more than a second psychedelic opportunity. Three Zoom sessions with the group before meeting in person allayed any fears that the setting would not meet my expectations. I knew that my first journey would be among friends with a leader I could trust.

Contemplating a psychedelic journey can be daunting, possibly overwhelming. Being with others who are seeking greater depth in their lives was helpful for me, encouraged me to be vulnerable, allowed me to dig deeply into my struggles with old self destructive habits.

I am very grateful for the efforts of Myles and his team, to permit a voyage of self-discovery. As profound as my time was at Confluence, the subtle shift in my perception of myself remains with me. I compare Confluence to the best experiences I have had at Esalen. The quality of food and accommodations rival that storied place, the camaraderie exceeding the joyful experiences I have had at Esalen.

I was interested in the retreat experience to help find some clarity in my life on making a decision that felt like an important crossroads in life. I had experiences with psilocybin in my youth that were quite transformative to my life’s vision, but was very interested in the benefits of the facilitated approach. Even before arriving at the retreat Confluence made us feel safe, supported & understood. It felt like really having a great partner to dive into the deep end with! This continued throughout the retreat experience & this support from the facilitators, paired with the value of having a group to share with throughout the experience, breathwork sessions, & downtime in a magical setting in the forest & mountains was such a wonderful combination. The organizers of the retreat really put a lot of thought & care into structuring the program which made such a huge difference in the overall experience! Ultimately, the experience really helped me to get to the core of the issue I was facing, helping me bring some clarity to disparate & sometimes contradictory feelings, and draw some interesting connections across areas I didn’t even realize were interrelated. The journalling exercises & conversations with the facilitators between & after sessions really helped me to make sense of my experiences in a way that might not have been so clear on my own or without the time, space & support the longer retreat provided. After the retreat, I have already started taking steps in real life to put into practice some of my realizations & feel much more empowered & confident in my ability to do so! For anyone considering this type of experience I could not recommend Confluence more highly!