The worlds of biohacking and plant medicine may seem very different at first glance.
Biohackers often focus on data, optimization, wearables, supplements, sleep scores, and performance metrics. Ayahuasca, on the other hand, is rooted in ancient indigenous traditions, spirituality, ceremony, and personal transformation.
Yet according to Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, the two worlds have far more in common than most people realize.
In a conversation with biohacker and podcast host Tony Wrighton, Sam shared why many health-conscious individuals eventually become interested in ayahuasca, how the medicine helped him overcome depression, and why some of the most important forms of optimization cannot be measured by a smartwatch.
From Engineering to Plant Medicine
Sam’s path into ayahuasca was anything but predictable.
Before moving to Colombia, he worked as a marine mechanical engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry. Financially, life looked successful. He earned a strong income, owned property, and had many of the achievements people spend years chasing.
Yet despite the success, he felt deeply unhappy.
Eventually, he left his career and began traveling. During that journey, he repeatedly encountered stories about ayahuasca.
At first, curiosity brought him toward the medicine.
Later, something deeper emerged.
As he began working with ayahuasca, he noticed improvements in his depression, his sense of purpose, and his overall relationship with life.
Those experiences eventually led him to create LaWayra, one of Colombia’s most highly reviewed ayahuasca retreats.
Why Biohackers Are Drawn to Ayahuasca
Many biohackers spend years trying to improve physical health.
They optimize sleep.
They track heart rate variability.
They experiment with supplements.
They improve diet and exercise.
All of these practices can create meaningful improvements.
But Sam believes that many people eventually discover another layer beneath physical health: emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
You can have excellent biomarkers and still feel disconnected, anxious, depressed, or directionless.
Ayahuasca often attracts people who have already optimized many external factors but still feel something important is missing.
The Missing Piece: Meaning
One of the recurring themes in Sam’s work is that many people arrive at retreats after realizing that achievement alone does not create fulfillment.
Career success.
Money.
Status.
Material possessions.
None of these automatically create purpose.
This realization is surprisingly common among entrepreneurs, executives, and high performers.
They achieve goals that were supposed to make them happy, only to discover that happiness remains elusive.
According to Sam, ayahuasca often helps people explore questions that cannot be answered through productivity systems or performance metrics alone.
Why Set and Setting Matter
One of the biggest misconceptions about ayahuasca is that the medicine itself is all that matters.
Sam strongly disagrees.
He emphasizes three essential elements:
Set, setting, and skill.
Set refers to mindset, intentions, and emotional preparation.
Setting refers to the environment, facilitators, ceremony space, and overall feeling of safety.
Skill refers to learning how to work with the medicine over time.
Just as meditation becomes easier with practice, navigating ayahuasca also becomes easier with experience.
This is one reason why structured retreats often produce better outcomes than casual or unprepared use.
The Fear of Letting Go
Many people interested in ayahuasca share the same concern.
They’re afraid.
Not necessarily afraid of the medicine itself, but afraid of losing control.
For high-achieving individuals, control often becomes part of their identity.
They solve problems.
They make decisions.
They manage outcomes.
Ayahuasca asks for something very different.
It asks for surrender.
According to Sam, much of the challenge comes from allowing the experience to unfold rather than trying to direct it.
The more a person resists, the more difficult the journey often becomes.
Difficult Trips vs. Bad Trips
One distinction Sam frequently makes is between a difficult experience and a bad experience.
A difficult ceremony may involve grief, fear, old memories, trauma, or emotional pain.
Yet those challenging moments are often where the deepest healing occurs.
A truly bad experience usually arises when someone fights the process instead of working with it.
The medicine attempts to bring something forward, while the person tries to push it away.
That internal conflict creates suffering.
Learning to trust the process dramatically reduces the likelihood of these situations.
What Makes Ayahuasca Different from Mushrooms?
Although Sam appreciates psilocybin mushrooms and believes they have tremendous value, he sees one major difference between mushrooms and ayahuasca.
Purging.
Ayahuasca often creates a powerful sense of release through vomiting, crying, shaking, sweating, or other forms of emotional and physical expression.
For many participants, this release feels like a tangible removal of emotional weight.
With mushrooms, people may process difficult material, but the sensation of expelling it physically is often absent.
This is one reason many experienced ayahuasca drinkers describe purging as one of the most healing parts of the ceremony.
Ancient Medicine in a Modern World
One reason Sam prefers traditional plant medicines is their long history.
Ayahuasca, San Pedro, psilocybin mushrooms, and other indigenous medicines have been used for centuries or even millennia.
That historical continuity provides a unique form of confidence.
Countless generations have worked with these medicines before modern science began studying them.
For Sam, this does not replace scientific investigation.
Instead, it complements it.
Ancient wisdom and modern research can work together.
What Biohackers Might Learn
One of the more interesting insights from the conversation is that biohacking itself can sometimes become another form of control.
Tracking every metric.
Optimizing every variable.
Monitoring every biological signal.
These practices can be useful, but they can also create stress.
At one point, Sam stopped using his Oura Ring because he realized that worrying about sleep metrics was negatively affecting his sleep.
The lesson was simple:
optimization is valuable, but balance matters more.
A Different Kind of Upgrade
Biohackers often seek better energy, improved cognition, enhanced recovery, and greater resilience.
Ayahuasca offers a different type of upgrade.
Instead of optimizing performance, it often focuses on healing what is underneath the performance.
Old traumas.
Unresolved emotions.
Limiting beliefs.
Patterns of self-sabotage.
Relationship wounds.
These are not problems that can always be solved with supplements or technology.
More Than a Tool
Despite his enthusiasm, Sam is careful not to portray ayahuasca as a miracle solution.
It is not something to consume constantly.
It is not a shortcut.
And it is certainly not a replacement for doing the work afterward.
Instead, he sees it as one powerful tool among many.
A tool that can help people reconnect with themselves, gain perspective, and accelerate healing when used responsibly.
For biohackers, entrepreneurs, and health enthusiasts alike, that may be one of the most valuable upgrades available—not because it improves performance, but because it helps clarify what performance is ultimately for.
Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ER2s9i2P3ICrEpSZlgJIx
