Interest in ayahuasca has expanded rapidly in recent years as more people search for natural approaches to emotional healing, personal growth, and spiritual exploration. While Peru is often considered the birthplace of ayahuasca tourism, Colombia has quietly preserved one of the world’s richest and most authentic ayahuasca traditions.

According to Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, the country’s later emergence as a retreat destination may actually be one of its greatest strengths. Rather than becoming heavily commercialized, many indigenous traditions have remained closely connected to the communities that have protected them for generations.

More Than a Psychedelic Brew

Ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian plant medicine prepared by combining two plants into a ceremonial brew. Indigenous communities have worked with this medicine for thousands of years, not as recreation, but as a tool for healing, guidance, and spiritual development.

Today, scientific researchers continue studying ayahuasca for its potential effects on depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and emotional processing. At the same time, indigenous traditions emphasize that the medicine cannot be separated from the ceremonial practices that surround it.

For Sam, these two perspectives are complementary rather than contradictory.

Modern science helps explain how ayahuasca affects the brain, while traditional knowledge teaches people how to safely navigate the experience itself.

Why Colombia Offers a Unique Experience

Many people automatically associate ayahuasca with Peru, but Colombia has equally deep indigenous roots surrounding the medicine, often known locally as yagé.

Because Colombia attracted fewer international visitors during previous decades, many indigenous communities were able to preserve their ceremonial traditions without the same level of commercialization seen elsewhere.

Sam believes this creates a more authentic experience where indigenous taitas continue growing, preparing, and serving the medicine according to traditions passed down through multiple generations.

Choosing a retreat that works directly with indigenous healers also helps support the communities responsible for preserving this knowledge.

Healing Goes Beyond the Ceremony

One of the biggest misconceptions about ayahuasca is that drinking the medicine alone creates lasting change.

In reality, the ceremony is only one part of the healing process.

At LaWayra, guests spend time preparing before their first ceremony through educational workshops, intention setting, and group discussions. This allows participants to understand what they may experience and helps create a supportive environment before the medicine begins its work.

After each ceremony, participants gather for integration circles where they reflect on their experiences and begin translating personal insights into practical changes they can apply in everyday life.

Without integration, even profound experiences can gradually lose their impact.

A Safe Environment Makes a Difference

Safety is one of the most important factors when choosing an ayahuasca retreat.

Sam encourages people to research any retreat carefully before booking. Experienced indigenous practitioners, proper medical screening, trained facilitators, structured preparation, and post-ceremony integration all contribute to a responsible experience.

The ceremonies themselves take place in a calm ceremonial setting where participants remain supported throughout the night by experienced facilitators and traditional medicine music.

Rather than focusing on dramatic psychedelic experiences, the emphasis remains on creating an environment where healing can unfold safely.

Every Experience Is Different

No two ayahuasca ceremonies are exactly alike.

Some participants experience vivid symbolic visions, while others spend the ceremony processing emotions, revisiting memories, or simply sitting with a deep sense of peace. Physical releases such as crying or purging are also considered a normal part of the healing process within traditional ceremonies.

Sam often reminds guests that ayahuasca rarely gives people what they expect.

Instead, it tends to reveal what they most need to understand at that particular stage of life.

Approaching the experience with openness rather than fixed expectations often leads to the greatest personal insights.

Bridging Science and Spirituality

One reason ayahuasca continues attracting global attention is its ability to bring together two worlds that are often viewed as separate.

Scientific research increasingly supports its therapeutic potential, while countless participants describe experiences that feel deeply meaningful on a spiritual level.

Rather than forcing one explanation over the other, Sam believes both perspectives can coexist.

Whether someone approaches ayahuasca through psychology, neuroscience, personal healing, or spiritual curiosity, the common thread remains transformation through self-discovery.

A Journey That Continues at Home

Although ceremonies may last only a few hours, the real work begins afterward.

Participants often return home with greater emotional clarity, stronger relationships, renewed creativity, or a clearer sense of purpose. These changes rarely happen overnight. Instead, they develop gradually as people apply the lessons they received during their retreat.

For Sam, ayahuasca isn’t about escaping reality or chasing extraordinary experiences.

It’s about learning how to live everyday life with greater awareness, compassion, and intention.

When combined with proper preparation, experienced guidance, and thoughtful integration, ayahuasca becomes far more than a ceremony—it becomes the beginning of an ongoing journey toward lasting personal growth.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7bdAI4u2HSVY97jiuggwAn

Personal growth often begins with asking uncomfortable questions. Why do we repeat unhealthy patterns? Why do external achievements sometimes fail to bring lasting happiness? And how can we become more grounded, authentic, and emotionally resilient?

These questions formed the foundation of a conversation between Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, and coach Sebastian Hernandez. Together, they explored how ayahuasca, self-awareness, and intentional personal development can help men cultivate greater emotional maturity and healthier relationships—not only with others, but with themselves.

Strength Isn’t About Suppressing Emotions

Traditional ideas of masculinity often encourage men to appear strong by hiding vulnerability. While resilience is valuable, suppressing emotions can create long-term problems that affect relationships, mental health, and overall well-being.

Sam explains that one of his personal goals has been learning to become a more grounded and stable presence. Rather than being constantly pulled in different directions by impulses, stress, or external pressures, he has focused on developing greater self-control and emotional awareness.

This isn’t about becoming emotionless. It’s about learning to respond intentionally instead of reacting automatically.

Personal Growth Requires Practice

One of the recurring themes throughout the discussion is the difference between knowledge and experience.

Reading books, listening to podcasts, or attending workshops can provide valuable information, but real transformation comes through consistent practice.

Just as someone cannot learn to surf without entering the water, emotional growth also requires stepping outside of familiar patterns. Meditation, breathwork, mindfulness, and honest self-reflection become skills that improve through repetition rather than theory alone.

For Sam, ayahuasca opened the door to these possibilities. The ongoing work happens afterward through daily choices and continued personal development.

Ayahuasca as a Tool for Integration

Many people think of ayahuasca primarily as a ceremony. Sam views it differently.

He describes the medicine as creating a temporary state of openness where people become more receptive to understanding themselves. During this period, participants often gain new perspectives on their emotions, relationships, habits, and beliefs.

The ceremony itself is only the beginning.

Integration is what allows those insights to become lasting changes in everyday life. Practices such as meditation, conscious breathing, movement, journaling, and honest conversations help people continue processing what they experienced long after returning home.

Without integration, even profound insights may gradually fade back into old habits.

Building Authentic Confidence

Confidence is frequently misunderstood as dominance or fearlessness.

Instead, authentic confidence grows from self-acceptance.

As people become more honest about their values, boundaries, and intentions, they often stop seeking constant validation from others. This creates healthier relationships because decisions become guided by authenticity rather than insecurity.

According to Sam, personal growth involves becoming comfortable with who you are while remaining open to continued learning and improvement.

This mindset allows people to build stronger relationships based on honesty rather than performance.

Healing Is a Lifelong Journey

One refreshing aspect of Sam’s perspective is his willingness to remain a student.

Despite years of working with ayahuasca and helping guests through transformational experiences, he openly acknowledges that he is still learning. Rather than presenting himself as someone who has all the answers, he continues exploring new practices that support emotional development and personal balance.

This attitude reflects an important truth about healing.

There is rarely a final destination where all challenges disappear. Growth is an ongoing process of becoming more aware, making better choices, and gradually creating a more fulfilling life.

Community Makes Growth Easier

Personal transformation often feels overwhelming when attempted alone.

One reason retreats can be so impactful is the opportunity to connect with others who are asking similar questions. Honest conversations, shared experiences, and supportive environments help reduce the isolation many people experience while navigating personal change.

Whether someone is working through emotional struggles, searching for purpose, or simply wanting to become a more grounded version of themselves, community provides encouragement that is difficult to recreate in everyday life.

Living with Greater Intention

Ultimately, the discussion is not simply about masculinity or ayahuasca.

It’s about learning to live more intentionally.

Ayahuasca may offer powerful moments of clarity, but lasting transformation comes from the willingness to apply those lessons in daily life. Every decision becomes an opportunity to practice greater presence, honesty, compassion, and responsibility.

For Sam, that journey continues every day.

Rather than striving for perfection, he focuses on becoming a little more conscious, a little more balanced, and a little more aligned with the values he hopes to embody.

In the end, that may be one of the most valuable lessons ayahuasca has to offer: real strength isn’t found in controlling the world around us, but in learning to understand ourselves.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6kgNIUzcD9ZhKS4LFsDvhz

Many people discover ayahuasca while searching for answers. Some are looking for relief from anxiety or depression, while others simply feel disconnected from the life they’ve built. For Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, the journey began after years working as a marine mechanical engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry—a career that provided financial success but left him feeling emotionally unfulfilled.

Today, Sam oversees one of South America’s highest-rated ayahuasca retreats, welcoming hundreds of guests each year. His story demonstrates that healing isn’t always about escaping your past. Sometimes it’s about finding a new way to use the skills you’ve already developed.

Success Without Fulfillment

Working offshore offered many of the things society tells us to pursue. The pay was excellent, the career was respected, and the opportunities seemed endless.

Yet despite achieving financial stability, Sam found himself struggling with depression and a lack of purpose.

Looking back, he believes the demanding nature of offshore work often disconnects people from their emotions. Long rotations, high-pressure environments, and extended time away from family can leave little room for self-reflection. While many workers become exceptionally resilient, they may also lose touch with the deeper questions that give life meaning.

Ayahuasca didn’t immediately solve those problems, but it helped him recognize them.

Finding a New Direction

After his first experiences with the medicine, Sam began feeling drawn toward a completely different path.

Rather than receiving a detailed roadmap, he describes the process as a series of meaningful opportunities that appeared at the right time. One experience led to another, eventually bringing him into contact with indigenous healers in the Colombian Amazon and introducing him to the traditions surrounding ayahuasca.

What began as helping organize small ceremonies on a countryside property slowly evolved into a full retreat center.

Today, LaWayra welcomes guests from around the world, offering guided ceremonies in a setting that combines traditional indigenous practices with modern comfort and professional support.

Healing Is an Active Process

One message runs consistently throughout Sam’s philosophy: ayahuasca does not do the work for you.

Instead, it reveals what needs attention.

He often describes the medicine as giving people homework. The ceremony can provide powerful insights, emotional breakthroughs, and temporary relief from long-standing struggles, but lasting transformation depends on the choices participants make afterward.

Whether someone is working through depression, unhealthy habits, relationship challenges, or simply searching for greater meaning, integration remains essential. Reflection, lifestyle changes, therapy, and continued personal growth are what transform a meaningful ceremony into long-term change.

Leadership Begins with Self-Awareness

One of the more thought-provoking ideas discussed during the conversation is the role ayahuasca could play in leadership.

Sam believes many people pursue positions of power while carrying unresolved emotional wounds. Rather than seeing leadership purely as authority, he argues that genuine leaders should first understand themselves.

His broader point isn’t about politics—it’s about self-awareness.

When people become more conscious of their own fears, insecurities, and motivations, they often develop greater empathy for others. Many participants describe leaving ceremonies with a stronger sense of connection, compassion, and responsibility toward the people around them.

Whether or not someone agrees with that perspective, it highlights a growing interest in emotional intelligence as an important quality for leadership.

Science and Spirituality Don’t Have to Compete

One reason Sam’s approach resonates with newcomers is his balanced perspective.

Although he acknowledges the spiritual dimension many people experience during ceremonies, he avoids claiming to have all the answers.

Instead, he views ayahuasca through multiple lenses.

Modern research continues exploring its effects on neuroplasticity, emotional processing, and mental health. At the same time, many participants report experiences that feel deeply meaningful or spiritual in ways science cannot yet fully explain.

Rather than forcing one explanation over another, Sam believes both perspectives can coexist.

A Different Kind of Engineering

Perhaps the most interesting connection between Sam’s former and current careers is that he still sees himself as an engineer.

As a marine engineer, he repaired machines and kept complex systems functioning properly.

Today, he helps create an environment where people can begin repairing aspects of themselves.

The work may look very different, but the mindset remains surprisingly similar: identify problems, understand systems, and help restore balance.

The Journey Continues

Despite helping hundreds of guests every year, Sam doesn’t describe himself as someone who has reached the finish line.

Running a retreat, raising a family, producing a podcast, and supporting a growing team brings its own challenges. Like everyone else, he continues learning, adapting, and searching for balance.

Perhaps that’s one of the most valuable lessons ayahuasca offers.

Healing isn’t about becoming perfect. It’s about becoming more aware, more intentional, and more connected with the life you’re already living.

For many people, that shift alone can become the beginning of lasting transformation.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/59ylILeSe758BDwyHDYCQt