About this Retreat
Shiram Ucucuy is a carrier of ancestral medicine. She has been working with native rituals and power plants for 10 years. She is a conductor of temazcals and a co-founder of the group Mujeres de Luna.
Along her path, she has worked with the feminine energy and the obsidian mirror. She accompanies the work of some of the Andean and Amazonian elders.
This retreat is led by Paulina, an Ecuadorian medicine woman dedicated to supporting others in their healing journey. She has worked with plant medicine for more than 15 years, including ayahuasca, San Pedro (Huachuma), peyote and mushrooms.
She was adopted by the original peoples of Shuar nationality (indigenous tribe in the Amazon); their elders gave her the blessing to continue her calling as a healer. She has also shared with and learned from the Shipibo in Peru and the Piaroa in Venezuela. She is an advocate for feminine collectives, an artist, and investigator of ancestral songs and chants.
Paulina hosts regular women’s retreats in Ecuador and Mexico where ancestral rituals and medicines are used to facilitate deep personal work and transformation. She is the Founder of an international women’s collective, Mujeres de Luna, and is also a trained Gestalt therapist, specialized in accompaning processes in a holistic and integral way.
Finally, she is a leader of the Sacred Fire of Itzachilatlan, a sun dancer, vision quester, and healer of the Chakana altar, Andean table, and Heart of the Carnation altar from the Andean elders.
During these retreats, Paulina shares with those that wish to experience the heart-opening power of San Pedro and sacred rituals to enhance greater self-awareness and healing.
The San Pedro ceremony guide is usually accompanied by 1 or 2 ceremony assistants, depending on retreat group size.
Leonor is a 60-year-old Achuar elder and single mother of two, embodying the strength and resilience of a true warrior woman. Having faced life’s challenges on her own, she has carved out a path of wisdom through determination, forgiveness and grace. Her deep connection to the natural world and her people’s ancestral knowledge have shaped her into a healer and guide, offering her gifts to all who seek healing and transformation. A lifelong practitioner of traditional plant medicine, Leonor carries the songs of her ancestors and the sacred ways of her people into each ceremony she leads and in her intricate beadwork (she will be selling some of her pieces at the retreat!).
Leonor will be guiding a daytime ceremony, weaving her powerful, melodic icaros—healing songs—throughout the journey. Her recently released album, Cantos de Visión (Songs of Vision), is a reflection of her life’s work and spiritual connection, available for purchase online. In her ceremonies, Leonor brings both gentle nurturing and strength, creating a space where participants can heal and connect with their own inner power. Her presence is a testament to the strength of the feminine, and her life’s journey as a single mother has made her a true example among woman.
Sandra Elena Pardo is a queer Peruvian and Dutch artist that expresses herself through music and clay. Sandra is a vision quester and has been following the plant medicine path for nearly a decade, giving her voice and musical talents as offerings to the Great Spirit.
Details of this retreat
Visit our website and youtube channel to see a video of this retreat: almahealingcenter.com / @almahealingcenter
Dear sister, in the space between thought and silence lies a profound medicine. We invite you to step away from the endless doing and striving, to discover what emerges when you soften into presence.
This is a call to connect with the primordial state of being that allows you to receive guidance and remember your true essence. It is not a program. It is a container, held by women who have done this work themselves.
Join us for our 7 Day Women's Healing Retreat in Ecuador, September 4-13, 2027, at Nuestra Tierra Aldea Creativa, an off-grid community in the Mindo cloudforest (52 hectares of primary and secondary cloud forest at 1,400 meters). There is no wifi, no cell signal and no urban noise. Just the forest, the river, and the space to hear yourself again.
The retreat includes two ayahuasca ceremonies (one daytime, one nighttime), an all-night Water Dance vigil on September 12th, two temazcal (sweatlodge) ceremonies, rapé circles, and a Gestalt integration workshop with Paulina Quilla Pakari, certified Gestalt therapist and founder of Mujeres de Luna. The container is held together with Achuar Grandmother Leonor Suárez, Shiram Ucucuy, and Sandra, whose live music accompanies every ceremony.
Price: $1,500 per person, all-inclusive, shared accommodation. Pay in full and save $200 (total $1,300). Group of self-identifying women only, maximum 15 spaces.
This annual retreat is only held once a year. If it's calling to you, reach out now.
This retreat is for you if you want to:
Quiet the mind and awaken your heart's intelligence
Heal from trauma and return to inner peace and self-love
Work with sacred plant medicines in an authentic ceremonial context
Surrender to transformation guided by experienced women healers
Connect with a sisterhood that lasts long after you leave Ecuador
What you will leave with:
Profound clarity and a renewed sense of purpose
Emotional integration tools for lasting change
Ancestral connection and a deeper relationship with the spiritual realm
A strong sisterhood and a supportive community
Our approach: ayahuasca is a serious medicine with real contraindications. We screen every participant and sometimes decline people. No prior ayahuasca experience is needed. Please read our safety and screening page and diet guidelines at almahealingcenter.com before registering.
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