Ayahuasca is often surrounded by mystery. Some people know it through headlines, documentaries, or famous athletes who have spoken publicly about their experiences. Others are simply curious about whether this traditional Amazonian medicine could help them find greater clarity, healing, or purpose.

For Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, the answer isn’t found in dramatic visions alone. Instead, he believes ayahuasca is ultimately about reconnection—to yourself, to nature, to community, and to a deeper understanding of life.

More Than a Psychedelic Experience

Although ayahuasca contains naturally occurring psychoactive compounds, Sam emphasizes that reducing it to “just another psychedelic” misses the bigger picture. Indigenous cultures have worked with this medicine for thousands of years within carefully developed ceremonial traditions.

Unlike recreational substances, ayahuasca is approached as a medicine. The ceremony itself includes preparation, intention, music, experienced guidance, and a safe environment that supports emotional and psychological healing.

While some participants experience vivid visions, many others report emotional breakthroughs, physical releases, forgotten memories resurfacing, or profound conversations with themselves. Every journey is unique.

Healing Begins with Connection

At LaWayra, the retreat philosophy centers around three words: Connect. Heal. Grow.

According to Sam, healing begins with connection. Modern life often leaves people disconnected from their emotions, relationships, nature, and even their own bodies. An ayahuasca retreat creates space to rebuild those connections before expecting lasting transformation.

Interestingly, participants don’t begin drinking ayahuasca immediately upon arrival. The first day is dedicated entirely to preparation. Guests get to know one another, attend educational workshops, discuss intentions, and learn how to navigate challenging emotions that may arise during ceremonies.

This preparation helps create trust within the group and allows participants to enter the experience feeling supported rather than overwhelmed.

There Are No “Bad Trips”

One of Sam’s most refreshing perspectives is his rejection of the phrase “bad trip.”

Instead, he distinguishes between productive and unproductive experiences. Difficult emotions are not considered failures—they are often exactly what the medicine is trying to bring into awareness.

Problems arise when people resist what surfaces instead of allowing themselves to process it.

For this reason, set and setting remain essential. A safe ceremonial environment, experienced facilitators, and proper preparation can make the difference between simply enduring a difficult experience and genuinely healing through it.

Why Community Matters

Many people expect ayahuasca healing to be an entirely personal process. In reality, one of the most transformative aspects of a retreat is often the community itself.

During group sharing circles, participants openly discuss experiences, fears, childhood memories, and personal struggles. As social masks disappear, genuine human connection begins to emerge.

Sam jokes that the easiest way to make friends as an adult is to attend an ayahuasca retreat.

Many guests stay in touch long after returning home, continuing to support one another through integration and life changes. In a world where loneliness has become increasingly common, simply being surrounded by people who understand your journey can become an important part of healing.

Colombia’s Hidden Tradition

While Peru is often considered the world’s ayahuasca destination, Colombia has equally deep indigenous traditions surrounding the medicine, where it is commonly known as yagé.

According to Sam, Colombia’s difficult international reputation during previous decades unintentionally protected many of these traditions from becoming overly commercialized. Today, ceremonies remain closely connected to indigenous lineages, and experienced taitas (traditional healers) continue to preserve generations of knowledge.

Colombia itself has also changed dramatically. Visitors who arrive expecting outdated stereotypes often discover a country filled with breathtaking landscapes, welcoming communities, vibrant culture, and rich spiritual traditions.

Preparation Goes Beyond Diet

Physical preparation before an ayahuasca retreat is important. Participants are typically asked to avoid alcohol, recreational drugs, certain medications, and highly processed foods before arriving.

Mental preparation, however, is equally valuable.

Journaling, reflecting on intentions, having honest conversations with loved ones, and approaching the experience with openness all help create a more meaningful journey. Rather than expecting ayahuasca to “fix” everything, participants are encouraged to view it as a tool that works best when combined with personal responsibility and integration afterward.

A Journey That Continues After the Ceremony

For Sam, the ceremony itself is only the beginning.

The real transformation happens in the weeks and months afterward as people apply the lessons they’ve learned to everyday life. Better relationships, healthier habits, greater emotional awareness, and renewed purpose often emerge gradually rather than overnight.

Ayahuasca is not a shortcut to enlightenment. Instead, it can become a catalyst that helps people begin living more consciously.

For those who feel genuinely called to explore this path, the goal isn’t simply to have an extraordinary experience. It’s to return home carrying lasting changes that continue shaping everyday life long after the ceremony has ended.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4zrjyFqiv0lDTyzjkU6IkD

For many people, the path toward ayahuasca begins with curiosity. For Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, it also began with a quiet sense that something was missing.

Originally from Latvia, Sam trained as an engineer and built a financially successful career in the offshore oil and gas industry. From the outside, his life appeared complete. He earned well, traveled, had a relationship, and enjoyed the comforts that are often presented as signs of success. Internally, however, he felt emotionally disconnected and increasingly dissatisfied.

Ayahuasca was not an obvious next step. Sam had grown up with a strong fear of drugs and initially rejected the idea completely. Yet the subject kept returning through conversations, books, podcasts, and unexpected encounters. Eventually, curiosity combined with the realization that his current way of living was not making him happy.

His first ceremony did not simply produce a dramatic experience. It gradually changed the direction of his life. Sam describes it as a small shift in course that became increasingly significant over time. Years later, the former engineer was living in Colombia, running an ayahuasca retreat, hosting a podcast, and helping others explore the same medicine he had once refused to consider.

Psychedelics Open the Door, but Integration Creates Change

One of the central lessons from his journey is that psychedelics are not a complete solution by themselves. Sam compares them to dynamite used to create a tunnel through a mountain. The explosion can break through deeply buried material, but the rubble still needs to be cleared. Therapy, meditation, yoga, time in nature, and honest personal reflection are the tools that turn an intense experience into lasting progress.

Without integration, repeated ceremonies may create confusion rather than transformation. A person can continually uncover new emotions, memories, and insights without making practical changes in daily life. Sam experienced this personally when he began attending ceremonies too frequently. During one difficult experience, he felt as though the medicine was asking why he had returned before completing the work already shown to him.

Over time, he learned to see ayahuasca as one tool within a larger personal healing system. Different situations may require different forms of support. Sometimes that may include a ceremony, while other moments may call for therapy, rest, meditation, or a change in lifestyle. Maturity involves moving beyond the belief that one method can solve every problem.

The Importance of Tradition and Setting

Sam also emphasizes the importance of setting, tradition, and the people leading the ceremony. Although modern psychedelic therapy is increasingly associated with clinical environments, he believes traditional knowledge should not be removed from the process. Indigenous practitioners may carry generations of experience in preparing the medicine, organizing ceremonies, supporting participants, and navigating difficult moments.

This is one reason he became passionate about Colombia as an ayahuasca destination. While Peru is more widely associated with ayahuasca tourism, Colombia has its own deeply rooted traditions, where the medicine is often called yagé. The main distinction may involve the specific plants used in the brew, but Sam argues that the quality of the shaman, the preparation, and the ceremonial environment matter more than terminology.

Ideally, the medicine is grown, harvested, prepared, and served within a trusted lineage. This continuity can help preserve both the practical knowledge and the spiritual framework surrounding the experience.

Building a Retreat Around Purpose

LaWayra itself developed gradually rather than beginning as a calculated business plan. Sam originally wanted a place where he could drink medicine with friends. The project expanded through word of mouth and repeated demand.

Running a retreat eventually required managing accommodation, food, staff, musicians, ceremonies, guest support, and ongoing education. Although financial sustainability is necessary, Sam believes the medicine and the desire to help people must come before profit.

His story demonstrates how purpose may emerge from an unexpected direction. Ayahuasca did not give him a finished plan for his future. Instead, it helped him reconnect with his emotions, question the life he had built, and become more open to possibilities he could not previously imagine.

For those who feel drawn toward ayahuasca, the message is not to rush blindly into an experience. Careful screening, proper preparation, qualified support, and realistic expectations all matter. The ceremony may open a doorway, but the deeper journey begins with what a person chooses to do after walking through it.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/02lwPffw7i8mzF5Bd1Y7iX