PODCAST EPISODES

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.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ER2s9i2P3ICrEpSZlgJIx

For decades, Colombia has struggled with an international reputation shaped largely by one word: cocaine.

Despite its extraordinary biodiversity, indigenous traditions, and rich cultural heritage, many people still associate the country primarily with cartels, crime, and Pablo Escobar. Yet a growing movement is attempting to tell a different story—one centered on healing, spirituality, and one of the world’s most respected traditional plant medicines.

In a conversation on the Colombia Calling podcast, Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat, and filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern discussed a new documentary project that aims to explore the history of ayahuasca in Colombia, document a personal healing journey, and challenge the stereotypes that continue to define the country in the eyes of many outsiders.

A Different Side of Colombia

For many international visitors, Colombia is still viewed through the lens of popular television shows, crime documentaries, and decades of media coverage focused on violence.

The reality, however, is far more complex.

Colombia is home to some of the oldest surviving ayahuasca traditions in the world. Indigenous communities have worked with the medicine for generations, preserving knowledge that stretches back centuries and, according to some estimates, potentially much longer.

Yet many people who travel for ayahuasca never realize this.

Instead, they often associate ayahuasca with Peru, Costa Rica, or even retreat centers in North America and Europe.

One of the documentary’s goals is to highlight Colombia’s unique place within the history of plant medicine and show audiences a side of the country that remains largely unknown.

The Journey Begins with Healing

Sam Believ’s own story began long before LaWayra existed.

Years ago, he found himself struggling emotionally and searching for answers. Although he had built a successful career, something felt missing. His first experiences with ayahuasca helped him overcome depression and eventually led him toward a completely different path.

That path resulted in the creation of an ayahuasca retreat center, a podcast dedicated to plant medicine, and now a feature documentary exploring the cultural and healing dimensions of ayahuasca in Colombia.

For Sam, the project feels like a natural continuation of a journey that began with his own search for healing.

A Filmmaker’s Personal Transformation

What makes this documentary particularly unique is that it is not simply about ayahuasca.

It is also about filmmaker Sam Lipman-Stern’s personal journey.

Before becoming involved in the project, Lipman-Stern had spent years dealing with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. He had been prescribed antidepressants and remained on them for years.

As preparations for the documentary began, he made the difficult decision to work with medical professionals to discontinue the medication and prepare for his first ayahuasca retreat.

The documentary follows this process from beginning to end.

Rather than presenting ayahuasca as an abstract concept, viewers will experience the story through the eyes of someone approaching the medicine for the first time, carrying many of the same questions, fears, and doubts that most newcomers experience.

Exploring Indigenous Traditions

One of the central themes of the project is authenticity.

The filmmakers recently traveled through Colombia, visiting regions including Putumayo and San Agustín while meeting indigenous leaders, traditional healers, and communities connected to the medicine.

These experiences revealed the depth of Colombia’s spiritual traditions.

The documentary explores not only the ceremonies themselves but also the process of cultivating the plants, preparing the medicine, and preserving cultural knowledge across generations.

For many viewers, this may be their first introduction to the indigenous traditions that continue to keep these practices alive today.

More Than a Psychedelic Story

While psychedelics often receive attention because of their unusual effects, the filmmakers emphasize that the documentary is ultimately about healing.

Mental health challenges are becoming increasingly common around the world.

Many people feel disconnected, overwhelmed, anxious, or trapped in patterns that seem impossible to break.

Ayahuasca has attracted growing attention because some participants report significant improvements in depression, trauma, addiction, and overall wellbeing.

The documentary seeks to examine these possibilities while remaining grounded in real human experiences rather than sensationalism.

Instead of focusing on dramatic psychedelic visuals, the story centers on transformation, vulnerability, and recovery.

Rebranding Colombia

Perhaps the most ambitious goal of the project is helping change how Colombia is perceived internationally.

According to Sam Believ, Colombia deserves to be known for more than its difficult history.

The country possesses extraordinary natural beauty, deep spiritual traditions, welcoming communities, and a rich cultural identity that extends far beyond the stories most foreigners hear.

By highlighting indigenous wisdom, healing traditions, and positive personal transformations, the filmmakers hope to contribute to a broader and more balanced understanding of Colombia.

It is not about denying the country’s past.

It is about showing audiences that there is much more to the story.

Why This Story Matters Now

Interest in ayahuasca continues to grow worldwide.

At the same time, mental health concerns, burnout, loneliness, and depression remain widespread.

Many people are actively searching for approaches that help them reconnect with themselves and find greater meaning in their lives.

This documentary arrives at a moment when those conversations are becoming increasingly important.

Whether viewers are interested in plant medicine, indigenous cultures, mental health, or Colombia itself, the film promises to offer a rare perspective into a world that remains unfamiliar to many people.

Looking Ahead

The documentary is still in development, but its mission is already clear.

By combining personal transformation, cultural exploration, and a deeper look at Colombia’s indigenous heritage, the project aims to tell a story that goes far beyond ayahuasca itself.

It is a story about healing.

It is a story about identity.

And perhaps most importantly, it is a story about challenging old narratives and creating space for new ones.

For Sam Believ, that journey started with a single ayahuasca ceremony years ago.

Now, through film, he hopes to share that journey with the world.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4sj3YUlZAH1qlmWxqu9Lrl

Success does not always lead to happiness.

Many people spend years pursuing financial security, professional achievement, and material comfort, only to discover that something important is still missing. For Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia and host of the Ayahuasca Podcast, that realization became the starting point of a journey that would completely transform his life.

In a conversation on the Entrepreneurs in Recovery podcast, Sam shared how ayahuasca helped him overcome depression, discover a sense of purpose, and understand addiction in a completely different way.

When Success Isn’t Enough

Before entering the world of plant medicine, Sam worked as an engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry.

By conventional standards, he was successful.

The job paid extremely well. He had financial stability and many of the things people are taught to pursue. Yet despite those achievements, he felt deeply unhappy.

Looking back, he describes himself as rich but miserable.

The disconnect between external success and internal fulfillment became impossible to ignore.

Eventually, a series of life changes led him to Colombia, where he encountered ayahuasca for the first time.

At that point, he was neither spiritual nor religious. In fact, he approached everything with the mindset of an engineer—logical, analytical, and skeptical.

Yet something about the medicine spoke to him.

The Role of Synchronicity

One theme that appears repeatedly throughout Sam’s story is synchronicity.

Rather than carefully planning every step of his future, he found himself following a series of unexpected opportunities and meaningful coincidences.

Moving to Colombia.

Meeting his wife.

Discovering ayahuasca.

Opening a retreat center.

Each step seemed to emerge naturally from the previous one.

Over time, he began paying closer attention to these moments and viewing them as guidance rather than random events.

Instead of forcing life in a particular direction, he learned to recognize when life seemed to be inviting him somewhere new.

Ayahuasca and Depression

Sam credits ayahuasca with helping him overcome a long period of depression.

Importantly, he does not describe the process as magical or instantaneous.

The medicine did not simply erase his problems.

Instead, it gave him clarity.

It lifted the emotional fog enough for him to start taking meaningful action. It helped him identify the deeper issues contributing to his unhappiness and encouraged him to move toward a more authentic path.

According to Sam, this is how healing often works.

Ayahuasca opens a door, but people still have to walk through it.

The medicine provides insight, direction, and awareness, but real transformation comes from acting on those insights afterward.

Understanding Addiction Differently

As the conversation shifted toward addiction recovery, Sam offered a perspective that closely aligns with modern trauma-informed approaches.

Rather than viewing addiction as the primary problem, he sees it as a solution to an underlying problem.

Substances and compulsive behaviors often serve as coping mechanisms.

They help people manage emotional pain, trauma, stress, loneliness, or unresolved experiences that feel overwhelming.

In this sense, addiction becomes a survival strategy.

The goal is not to shame the behavior but to understand what purpose it is serving.

Once the underlying pain is addressed, the addiction frequently begins losing its power.

Ayahuasca as a Tool for Recovery

Over the years, Sam has witnessed many participants experience significant changes in their relationship with addictive behaviors.

Some arrive specifically seeking help for alcohol dependency, cannabis use, or other addictions.

Others come for entirely different reasons and later discover that their desire to drink, smoke, or engage in other compulsive behaviors has dramatically decreased.

Interestingly, these changes are often unexpected.

Participants do not necessarily arrive intending to quit.

Instead, they address deeper emotional issues, and the addiction naturally becomes less necessary.

This aligns with the idea that addiction is often a symptom rather than the root cause.

The Importance of Shadow Work

One concept Sam frequently discusses is shadow work.

In simple terms, the shadow consists of aspects of ourselves that we have rejected, suppressed, ignored, or hidden.

These can include painful memories, fears, insecurities, unresolved trauma, or personality traits we struggle to accept.

Ayahuasca has a remarkable ability to bring these hidden aspects into awareness.

This is not always comfortable.

Many ceremonies involve confronting difficult emotions, painful memories, or uncomfortable truths.

However, Sam believes these experiences are often where the deepest healing occurs.

When people stop avoiding their shadow and begin engaging with it consciously, genuine transformation becomes possible.

Why Integration Matters

A recurring theme throughout the conversation was the importance of integration.

Many people focus intensely on the ceremony itself while overlooking what happens afterward.

For Sam, integration is where the real work begins.

Insights gained during ceremony must be translated into action.

That may involve changing habits, improving relationships, pursuing therapy, developing healthier routines, or making major life decisions.

Without integration, even profound experiences can gradually fade.

With integration, however, those experiences can create lasting change.

To support this process, LaWayra provides integration journals, sharing circles, and ongoing guidance designed to help participants apply what they learn.

The Challenge of Running a Retreat

From the outside, owning an ayahuasca retreat may sound like a dream job.

The reality is far more complex.

Sam describes it as simultaneously running a hotel, a restaurant, and a mental health center.

Every retreat involves managing logistics, supporting participants, coordinating staff, working with traditional shamans, and holding space for people experiencing intense emotional processes.

Some participants arrive in crisis.

Others arrive carrying profound trauma.

The responsibility can be enormous.

Yet despite the challenges, Sam continues because of the fulfillment it provides.

Helping people heal offers a sense of purpose that financial success alone never could.

What Wealth Cannot Buy

One of the most striking observations from Sam’s years of retreat work is how many wealthy people arrive feeling deeply unfulfilled.

Many have achieved everything they once believed would make them happy.

They have money, status, successful careers, and material comfort.

Yet something still feels missing.

For some, ayahuasca helps reveal what that missing piece is.

Often, it is connection.

Connection to themselves.

Connection to others.

Connection to meaning and purpose.

Connection to something larger than individual achievement.

A Vision for the Future

Today, Sam’s mission extends beyond his retreat center.

He hopes to help more people understand ayahuasca and reduce the stigma surrounding plant medicine.

He also wants to help reshape the world’s perception of Colombia, highlighting its rich healing traditions rather than the stereotypes that have defined it for decades.

Perhaps most ambitiously, he dreams of creating an International Ayahuasca Day—a global celebration of healing, connection, and human unity.

Whether or not that vision becomes reality, the motivation behind it remains clear.

For Sam, the ultimate lesson of ayahuasca is simple.

Healing becomes possible when people stop running from themselves, face their pain honestly, and begin reconnecting with what truly matters.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6iNLCmilvsPmW5TOmp4VuV

Many people spend years searching for answers.

They try therapy, self-help books, meditation, career success, relationships, or financial achievement. Yet despite these efforts, they often feel disconnected from themselves and unsure why.

In a conversation on the Harder Than Life podcast, Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat and host of the Ayahuasca Podcast, shared his journey from engineer to retreat owner, explaining how ayahuasca helped him overcome depression, discover purpose, and create a life centered around healing others.

From Engineer to Ayahuasca Retreat Founder

Before ayahuasca became part of his life, Sam worked as an engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry.

From the outside, things looked successful. He had a respected career, financial stability, and many of the things society encourages people to pursue.

Yet internally, something was missing.

He describes feeling directionless and increasingly disconnected from any deeper sense of meaning.

At first, ayahuasca entered his life through curiosity. Friends repeatedly spoke about their experiences and personal transformations. Eventually, the topic appeared so frequently that he began feeling what many people describe as a “calling.”

Although skeptical and nervous, he decided to attend his first ceremony.

That experience would ultimately change the direction of his life.

What Is Ayahuasca?

For those unfamiliar with the medicine, ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian plant brew that has been used by indigenous communities for thousands of years.

The brew combines the Ayahuasca vine with a DMT-containing plant, creating a ceremonial medicine traditionally consumed under the guidance of an experienced shaman.

According to Sam, ayahuasca is best understood as a tool.

It is not a magical cure for every problem, nor is it something that automatically transforms a person’s life.

Instead, it provides access to deeper levels of self-awareness, allowing individuals to explore emotions, memories, patterns, and beliefs that may be affecting them unconsciously.

Why People Feel Called to Ayahuasca

One of the most common themes Sam observes is that people rarely stumble into ayahuasca randomly.

Instead, many experience a gradual sense of curiosity or repeated exposure to the topic.

A friend mentions it.

Then another.

A podcast appears.

A documentary shows up.

The conversation keeps returning.

Eventually, many people begin wondering whether there is something they need to explore.

For Sam, that curiosity eventually became impossible to ignore.

What began as an experiment later became one of the most important decisions of his life.

Healing Depression Through Purpose

When Sam returned to ayahuasca after experiencing depression, his intention shifted.

This time, he wasn’t looking for adventure or curiosity.

He was searching for answers.

Rather than simply providing temporary relief, he says the medicine helped him identify the deeper cause of his depression: a lack of purpose.

He realized that despite professional success, he had not found meaningful direction.

Ayahuasca did not magically remove all his problems.

Instead, it helped him recognize the path he wanted to follow.

That path eventually led to founding LaWayra, building a healing community, and dedicating his life to helping others navigate similar challenges.

The Connect, Heal, Grow Philosophy

At LaWayra, Sam’s philosophy is summarized in three simple words:

Connect. Heal. Grow.

The process begins with connection.

People reconnect with themselves, their emotions, their intentions, and often a deeper sense of meaning.

From that connection comes healing.

Participants frequently work through emotional wounds, trauma, anxiety, depression, addiction, or unresolved life challenges.

Growth follows naturally.

As individuals gain clarity and release old patterns, they often discover new possibilities for how they want to live.

For Sam, this progression reflects the natural journey many people experience through plant medicine work.

Addiction as a Symptom

A significant portion of the conversation focused on addiction and recovery.

Sam views addiction similarly to many trauma-informed therapists.

Rather than seeing addiction as the primary problem, he sees it as a coping mechanism.

People often turn to substances or behaviors because they are attempting to manage emotional pain.

If that pain remains unresolved, simply removing the addiction may not address the underlying issue.

Ayahuasca can help by bringing those deeper emotional wounds into awareness.

Once individuals understand and process the source of their suffering, addictive behaviors often begin losing their grip.

In some cases, participants report reducing or eliminating habits such as excessive drinking, substance use, or other compulsive behaviors after addressing deeper emotional causes.

Why People Fear the Experience

One of the biggest obstacles preventing people from exploring ayahuasca is fear.

Many worry about confronting painful memories, trauma, or uncomfortable truths.

Sam understands this concern.

However, he argues that avoiding these experiences often creates greater suffering over time.

When emotional wounds remain buried, they continue influencing thoughts, behaviors, relationships, and overall wellbeing.

Healing requires bringing those experiences into awareness.

While that process may feel uncomfortable temporarily, it often creates the opportunity for lasting change.

The goal is not to suffer.

The goal is to understand, process, and release what has been carried for years.

The Importance of Integration

Throughout the conversation, Sam repeatedly emphasized that the ceremony itself is only one part of the process.

The real transformation happens afterward.

Integration involves applying insights from the experience to everyday life.

This may include:

• Changing unhealthy habits
• Improving relationships
• Setting healthier boundaries
• Developing new routines
• Continuing therapy or coaching
• Following through on important realizations

Without integration, powerful experiences can fade into distant memories.

With integration, they can become catalysts for long-term personal growth.

Building a Healing Community

Beyond individual retreats, Sam’s vision extends much further.

He hopes to create a lasting community where people can continue supporting one another long after their ceremonies have ended.

Many participants form deep friendships during retreats.

Shared vulnerability, personal breakthroughs, and mutual support often create connections that continue well beyond the retreat experience.

For Sam, healing is not only about individual transformation.

It is also about creating environments where people can learn, grow, and support one another.

A Different Vision for Colombia

Another important part of Sam’s mission involves changing perceptions of Colombia.

For decades, international media often associated the country primarily with drug cartels and violence.

Sam hopes ayahuasca can help tell a different story.

Colombia possesses rich indigenous traditions, extraordinary biodiversity, and centuries of plant medicine knowledge.

As interest in ayahuasca grows worldwide, he believes Colombia has the opportunity to become known not for cocaine, but for healing.

Finding Your True Self

Perhaps the most powerful message from the conversation is that personal transformation rarely comes from acquiring more things.

Many people spend years chasing success, status, money, or external validation.

Yet fulfillment often remains elusive.

According to Sam, lasting change begins when people reconnect with themselves.

By facing what has been avoided, healing what has been wounded, and following a more authentic path, individuals can begin building lives that feel meaningful rather than merely successful.

For him, ayahuasca became the catalyst for that journey.

The medicine did not provide all the answers.

It simply helped him find the courage to start asking the right questions.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2tVaVmWMWEncLl1HAc0gQh

Ayahuasca has become one of the most talked-about plant medicines in the world. Once practiced almost exclusively by indigenous communities in the Amazon, it is now attracting people from all walks of life who are searching for healing, clarity, and personal growth. Despite its growing popularity, many questions remain. How does ayahuasca work? Is it safe? Is there scientific evidence behind it, or is it purely a spiritual experience?

In an interview on the Witness the World Podcast, Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, shared his personal journey from engineer to retreat founder while offering an honest perspective on both the scientific and spiritual aspects of ayahuasca.

From Engineering to Healing

Before discovering ayahuasca, Sam worked for nearly a decade as a marine engineer in the offshore oil and gas industry. The career provided financial security, but little fulfillment. Although he was earning an excellent income, he felt disconnected from his work and increasingly unhappy.

Eventually, he left both his career and long-term relationship to travel through South America. After settling in Colombia, the distractions of constant travel disappeared, and he found himself facing depression more intensely than ever before.

Remembering a positive ayahuasca experience he had during his travels, he decided to return to the medicine with a clear intention: healing.

Over the following year and a half, he says ayahuasca helped him gradually overcome his depression while also revealing a new sense of purpose. That journey eventually led him and his wife to establish LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat, where they now help hundreds of participants every year.

What Does Science Actually Know?

Although ayahuasca has gained increasing attention from researchers, Sam believes there is still much that science cannot fully explain.

The brew contains numerous active compounds, including DMT and naturally occurring MAO inhibitors, but reducing ayahuasca to a single molecule oversimplifies its complexity. While researchers continue studying how these compounds affect the brain, many of the long-term psychological changes reported by participants remain difficult to explain through current scientific understanding.

People often experience profound improvements that continue long after the active compounds have left the body.

Rather than claiming to have definitive answers, Sam believes it is more honest to acknowledge that ayahuasca remains only partially understood.

The Role of the Ego

One explanation that resonates with Sam involves the temporary dissolution of the ego.

He compares the process to stopping a heart during open-heart surgery.

The ego normally protects us by filtering our experiences and helping us navigate daily life. However, trauma, anxiety, and negative experiences can cause those protective mechanisms to become overactive.

During an ayahuasca ceremony, that protective layer temporarily softens.

This creates an opportunity to revisit old emotional patterns from a new perspective, allowing participants to rebuild healthier ways of relating to themselves and the world around them.

Whether this process is entirely neurological, spiritual, or a combination of both remains an open question.

Is Ayahuasca Safe?

Safety is one of the most important topics surrounding ayahuasca.

According to Sam, three factors determine whether an experience is likely to be safe.

First, the ceremony should be led by an experienced indigenous shaman or someone with extensive traditional training and lineage.

Second, the medicine itself should be pure.

Traditional ayahuasca consists of the ayahuasca vine and a DMT-containing plant. Some retreat centers add additional psychoactive ingredients to create stronger visual experiences, but Sam believes these mixtures can increase unnecessary risks while moving away from the traditional purpose of healing.

Third, participants should be supported by experienced facilitators who can provide physical and emotional assistance throughout the ceremony.

Equally important is medical screening. People taking antidepressants, those with certain psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or psychosis, and individuals with specific medical conditions may not be suitable candidates.

Every Ceremony Is Different

One lesson Sam has learned after many ceremonies is that no two experiences are ever the same.

Some ceremonies involve emotional healing.

Others focus on physical release through purging.

Some participants experience vivid visions, while others receive subtle emotional insights without dramatic visuals.

His own recent ceremony began with physical sensations and purging before transitioning into a peaceful state where he felt reassured about the direction of his life and the future of his retreat.

For him, the most valuable part of the experience was not the visions themselves but the lasting sense of clarity and confidence they created.

Physical Healing Beyond Mental Health

Although many people initially seek ayahuasca for depression, anxiety, or trauma, Sam has witnessed numerous participants report unexpected physical improvements as well.

Digestive disorders, chronic pain, autoimmune symptoms, psoriasis, and other long-standing conditions have reportedly improved following retreats.

He is careful not to present ayahuasca as a miracle cure.

Instead, he believes many physical symptoms are connected to unresolved emotional trauma or chronic stress. When those underlying issues begin healing, physical improvements sometimes follow naturally.

His own digestive problems disappeared after working with ayahuasca, despite never intending to address them directly.

Integration Is Where Healing Continues

Perhaps the most important message Sam shares is that ayahuasca is not a quick fix.

The ceremony opens a door, but lasting transformation depends on what happens afterward.

Participants are encouraged to reflect on the insights they receive, make meaningful lifestyle changes, and continue working on themselves through practices such as journaling, therapy, meditation, or coaching.

Ignoring those lessons often leads people back into the same patterns they hoped to escape.

Integration turns temporary insight into lasting change.

Choosing the Right Retreat

As ayahuasca grows in popularity, choosing the right retreat becomes increasingly important.

Sam encourages people to look beyond luxury accommodations or dramatic marketing.

Instead, they should focus on the quality of the facilitators, the experience of the shaman, the purity of the medicine, comprehensive preparation, post-retreat integration support, and genuine participant reviews.

Most importantly, he believes people should trust their intuition.

The retreat should feel like a place where they can safely surrender, heal, and grow.

More Than a Psychedelic Experience

Ayahuasca is often described as a psychedelic experience, but Sam believes that description misses the bigger picture.

For him, the medicine is ultimately about healing.

It helps people reconnect with themselves, process emotional wounds, discover purpose, and approach life with greater clarity.

Science continues to explore how ayahuasca works, while indigenous traditions have trusted it for generations.

Although many questions remain unanswered, Sam believes one thing is clear from the thousands of people he has met over the years: when approached responsibly, with proper preparation and guidance, ayahuasca has the potential to become a powerful catalyst for lasting personal transformation.

Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4dee815rsnfwam23ArFNEh

Ayahuasca has moved from an obscure Amazonian tradition into mainstream conversations about healing, spirituality, and personal transformation. As interest grows, so does the number of retreat centers and self-described shamans offering ceremonies around the world. This also makes it harder for newcomers to recognize what is authentic, safe, and responsibly facilitated.

In a conversation on the Ignite the Spark Within podcast, LaWayra founder Sam Believ discussed the differences between ayahuasca traditions, the warning signs people should notice when choosing a retreat, and how his own search for healing unexpectedly led him to build a retreat center in Colombia.

Ayahuasca and Yagé: Related Traditions

One common misunderstanding is that ayahuasca and Colombian yagé are completely different medicines. Both preparations use the ayahuasca vine together with a DMT-containing plant. The main botanical difference is usually the source of DMT. Peruvian traditions commonly use chacruna, while Colombian traditions often use chagropanga or chaliponga.

The ceremonies can also feel different because each indigenous lineage has its own music, rituals, and preparation methods. Colombian ceremonies often include a continuously burning fire, while some Peruvian traditions work in complete darkness. Neither approach is automatically superior. They are different expressions of traditions that developed across the Amazon before modern borders existed.

The Strongest Sign of Authenticity

For Sam, one of the clearest signs of authenticity is a direct connection between the ceremonial leader and the medicine being served. Ideally, the shaman or their family should grow, harvest, prepare, and serve their own ayahuasca.

When medicine passes through several unknown hands, participants may not know what it contains or how it was prepared. In established lineages, cultivation, cooking, ceremony, and healing are not separate businesses. They are parts of the same lifelong practice.

Why Experience and Lineage Matter

Another warning sign is a facilitator who claims ceremonial authority after only a short period of training. Sam compares a genuine healer to a surgeon for the soul. Even if outsiders do not fully understand the work, it requires years of observation, discipline, and responsibility.

Traditional healers may train for a decade or longer under parents, grandparents, or community elders. A short certificate cannot replace that depth of experience.

This does not mean every indigenous healer is automatically trustworthy or that no outsider can learn responsibly. It means participants should investigate how long the leader has trained, who taught them, and whether they are accountable to tradition.

Facilitation Is More Than Serving Medicine

A safe retreat also needs enough trained facilitators to support the group. Participants can become physically and emotionally vulnerable during ceremony, so the team must be able to notice distress, provide grounding, and prevent someone from being abandoned during an overwhelming process.

Preparation and integration are equally important. A responsible retreat should explain medication restrictions, dietary guidance, what may happen during ceremony, and how to navigate difficult moments. Afterward, participants need time to reflect, share, journal, and turn insights into practical changes.

A retreat that simply serves the medicine and sends people home is leaving out much of the work.

Pure Medicine and Realistic Expectations

Sam also warns against brews containing unnecessary psychoactive additives. Some providers add other plants because visitors expect dramatic visions and may judge the medicine as weak without an immediate spectacle.

Stronger is not always better. Overwhelming visions are not the same as healing, and added ingredients can introduce serious physical or psychological risks. Traditional ayahuasca prepared from the core plants is already powerful.

Participants should also question anyone promising guaranteed enlightenment, instant healing, or a completely pleasant experience. Ayahuasca can be beautiful, but it can also involve fear, purging, grief, difficult memories, and emotional confrontation.

From Directionlessness to Purpose

Sam’s own path began during a period of depression and uncertainty. After leaving a well-paid engineering career, traveling, and settling in Colombia, he found himself with freedom but no clear purpose. Ayahuasca initially offered relief, then gradually helped him recognize that his lack of direction was central to his unhappiness.

The retreat did not begin as a formal business plan. Unexpected opportunities brought ceremonies to the countryside property where he lived. After an early partnership failed, he realized he already had the equipment, relationships, and motivation needed to continue. What began as one ceremony per month gradually grew into LaWayra.

Respect Without Romanticizing

The central lesson is not that there is only one correct ayahuasca tradition. The Amazon contains many tribes, recipes, ceremonial styles, and ways of understanding the medicine.

What matters is respect, experience, transparency, and responsibility. An authentic retreat should know where its medicine comes from, work with properly trained ceremonial leaders, provide strong participant support, and treat integration as part of the healing process.

Ayahuasca may open a door, but the quality of the people holding that door matters enormously.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30vHR6MGLAoEa0ZbHcxHb6

Running an ayahuasca retreat is unlike operating an ordinary hospitality business. It combines accommodation, food service, transportation, ceremony management, emotional support, and land maintenance while serving guests who may arrive carrying depression, trauma, addiction, or disconnection.

In a conversation on The Innsiders podcast, LaWayra founder Sam Believ explained how an ayahuasca retreat functions behind the scenes, why group dynamics matter so much, and how his engineering background unexpectedly prepared him to build a healing center in rural Colombia.

A Hotel, Restaurant, Farm, and Healing Center

Sam describes the retreat as a hotel, restaurant, spiritual center, and mental health environment operating at the same time. The property also includes wellness facilities, gardens, and extensive grounds.

The team reflects that complexity. Kitchen staff prepare specialized meals, cleaning staff manage shared rooms and cabins, facilitators support ceremonies, musicians help guide the atmosphere, and an indigenous shaman oversees the medicine work. Volunteers, builders, and transportation providers add further layers.

Comfort matters, but conventional luxury is not the main goal. Guests are there primarily for healing, and every operational decision must support that purpose.

What a One-Week Retreat Looks Like

A typical week begins with transportation from Medellín to the retreat center. Participants spend their first day settling into the environment, meeting the team, and getting to know the group.

Before drinking ayahuasca, they attend workshops and sharing circles designed to reduce fear and explain how to navigate the experience. Participants need to trust the people and surroundings completely.

The week usually includes three nighttime ceremonies, a rest day, and a final daytime ceremony. Night ceremonies encourage inward focus, while the daytime experience allows participants to connect with the surrounding mountains, plants, and natural landscape.

Why the Group Becomes Part of the Medicine

Many guests initially worry about sleeping in shared rooms or attending ceremonies with strangers. Yet Sam repeatedly sees those same people leave saying the group was one of the most valuable parts of the retreat.

Participants share personal stories, hear others describe similar struggles, and begin recognizing themselves in one another. A group of strangers can become unusually close within a week because the environment encourages honesty and vulnerability.

Shared accommodation can strengthen this community. Conversations continue after workshops, around the fire, and before sleep.

The Challenge of Affordable Hospitality

LaWayra was intentionally designed to remain affordable. Shared dormitories make the experience accessible, while private cabins are available for guests wanting additional comfort.

Keeping prices low is difficult because a retreat still requires staff, food, transportation, maintenance, and ceremony support. The challenge is to remain sustainable without turning healing into a luxury.

The retreat must offer enough comfort for people to feel safe while avoiding costs that would push prices beyond reach.

Special Food and Preparation Requirements

Food service is particularly complicated because participants follow preparation guidelines before and during the retreat. Meals may need to avoid alcohol, excessive salt, dairy products, spicy ingredients, fermented foods, and certain other items.

Some medications and substances are far more serious concerns. Antidepressants and other psychoactive medications may interact dangerously with ayahuasca, while alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and other drugs can interfere with the process or create health risks.

Guests must be honest about what they are taking and follow preparation instructions. Staff cannot ignore private choices when they may affect ceremony safety.

Addiction and the Pain Beneath It

Many participants come specifically for addiction, while others discover that addictive behaviors weaken after addressing unrelated emotional pain.

Sam views addiction less as the original problem and more as a coping mechanism. People may use alcohol, drugs, work, food, or endless scrolling to escape difficult feelings.

During ceremony, those underlying emotions may become visible. When the pressure beneath the behavior is released, some participants find that they no longer crave the substance or distraction in the same way.

Hospitality Built Around Transformation

The emotional demands are significant. One group may leave feeling joyful and transformed, while another arrives carrying fear and exhaustion. The team must rebuild trust with each new group.

Despite the workload, Sam finds the project more fulfilling than his engineering career. The retreat provides local jobs and allows him to witness people change in a matter of days.

Ultimately, an ayahuasca retreat is not simply a hotel that serves plant medicine. It is a carefully managed environment where hospitality becomes part of the healing process. The meals, rooms, fire, music, staff, group, and natural setting all contribute to whether participants feel safe enough to confront what they have been carrying.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mGzWXL37FdaQpk5tDCch3

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

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

Interest in ayahuasca has grown rapidly over the past decade. Once known primarily within indigenous communities of the Amazon, this traditional plant medicine is now attracting people from around the world who are searching for healing, clarity, and a renewed sense of purpose.

For Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, that journey began after struggling with depression and feeling directionless despite having a successful engineering career. Today, after helping hundreds of guests each year, he believes the greatest benefit of ayahuasca isn’t the visions people often hear about—it’s the lasting transformation that can follow when the medicine is approached with respect and proper guidance.

A Medicine, Not Just an Experience

One of the biggest misconceptions about ayahuasca is that it’s simply a powerful psychedelic experience.

While vivid visions can certainly occur, Sam explains that the ceremony is first and foremost a healing process. Every participant has a unique experience. Some encounter symbolic imagery, while others spend most of the ceremony processing emotions, revisiting memories, or gaining unexpected insights into patterns that have shaped their lives.

Rather than chasing extraordinary experiences, the goal is to uncover the root causes of emotional struggles and begin addressing them in a safe, supportive environment.

Why Healing Takes Time

Ayahuasca is sometimes described as life-changing, but not because it instantly solves every problem.

Instead, it often reveals the work that still needs to be done.

Sam compares it to receiving homework. The ceremony may temporarily lift depression, anxiety, or emotional heaviness, giving people enough clarity and motivation to begin making meaningful changes. The lasting transformation comes afterward through personal responsibility, healthier habits, therapy, reflection, and continued growth.

Many participants discover that the medicine doesn’t give them the life they want—it shows them how to build it themselves.

Difficult Doesn’t Mean Bad

Stories about “bad trips” often discourage people from exploring ayahuasca. Sam offers a different perspective.

He believes difficult experiences can be among the most valuable. Strong emotions, challenging memories, or uncomfortable physical sensations often represent healing in progress rather than something going wrong.

Instead of classifying ceremonies as good or bad, he separates them into productive and unproductive experiences.

A difficult ceremony that leads to important insights can become deeply transformational. An unproductive experience usually occurs when someone resists what is emerging instead of allowing themselves to process it.

Proper preparation and experienced guidance significantly reduce the chances of overwhelming experiences while helping participants navigate whatever arises.

Creating the Right Environment

One reason traditional ceremonies remain important is the environment surrounding the medicine.

At LaWayra, guests spend their first full day preparing before drinking ayahuasca. Workshops, discussions, intention setting, and group sharing help participants feel grounded and supported before entering the ceremony.

The ceremonies themselves take place in a dedicated ceremonial space led by an experienced indigenous taita, accompanied by traditional music, fire, candles, and a team of facilitators.

This setting encourages trust, allowing people to focus inward rather than worrying about their surroundings.

Why Colombia Is Becoming a Destination

Although Peru is often considered the home of ayahuasca tourism, Colombia has equally rich indigenous traditions surrounding the medicine.

According to Sam, Colombia’s traditions remained more closely connected to their indigenous roots partly because the country attracted fewer international visitors during previous decades. Today, visitors are discovering both authentic ceremonial traditions and a country that differs greatly from outdated stereotypes.

Modern Colombia offers stunning mountain landscapes, welcoming communities, and easy access to traditional healing while remaining significantly more affordable than many other retreat destinations.

The Balance Between Science and Spirituality

One of the reasons Sam’s approach resonates with many newcomers is his willingness to acknowledge uncertainty.

He believes ayahuasca works on multiple levels simultaneously.

Scientific research suggests the medicine may promote neuroplasticity and emotional processing. Participants also frequently report physical release through purging, emotional healing, and experiences that feel deeply spiritual.

Rather than claiming to fully understand every aspect of the process, Sam sees ayahuasca as something that continues to challenge both science and personal belief systems.

For many guests, the exact mechanism matters less than the results they experience afterward.

More Than a Retreat

Ultimately, an ayahuasca retreat is not about escaping reality for a few days.

It’s about returning home with greater clarity, stronger self-awareness, healthier relationships, and a renewed sense of direction.

For some, the transformation is dramatic. For others, it unfolds gradually over weeks and months.

The ceremony may last only a few hours, but the insights it provides often continue shaping daily life long after the medicine has left the body.

When approached with preparation, respect, and qualified guidance, ayahuasca becomes far more than an unusual experience—it becomes the beginning of a deeper conversation with yourself.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5O4nUUhUjfikKztTFA8udj

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

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

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

Most people begin working on themselves because they want to feel happier, become more successful, or improve their relationships. But according to Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, genuine transformation often begins somewhere far less comfortable—during life’s most painful moments.

In a conversation about men’s personal development, Sam reflected on how emotional pain, loss, burnout, and uncertainty became some of his greatest teachers. Rather than seeing difficult experiences as obstacles to overcome, he now views them as opportunities for profound growth.

The Illusion of Having Everything Together

Like many men, Sam spent years believing he had few emotional problems.

He focused on external achievements—building a career, traveling, learning languages, and starting businesses. From the outside, life appeared successful, but internally many emotions remained buried beneath years of conditioning.

Growing up, vulnerability wasn’t encouraged. Instead, emotional control was often mistaken for emotional health.

Only after beginning his journey with ayahuasca did he realize that he hadn’t eliminated difficult emotions—he had simply disconnected from them.

As layers of emotional protection gradually dissolved, he found himself learning to identify feelings that had been hidden for decades.

Pain Can Become a Powerful Teacher

One of the central ideas throughout the discussion is that suffering itself is not the enemy.

Periods of heartbreak, burnout, uncertainty, or major life changes often expose parts of ourselves that remain hidden during comfortable times. While these experiences are deeply challenging, they also create opportunities to develop greater emotional awareness and resilience.

Sam describes this process as impossible to avoid.

Trying to distract yourself from pain through unhealthy coping mechanisms may provide temporary relief, but unresolved emotions eventually return. Lasting healing requires facing those emotions instead of running from them.

As uncomfortable as it may be, moving through pain often becomes the fastest path toward growth.

Healing Requires More Than One Tool

Although ayahuasca played a significant role in Sam’s journey, he emphasizes that no single practice provides all the answers.

Real healing often involves combining multiple approaches.

Meditation, therapy, physical exercise, healthy nutrition, breathwork, journaling, meaningful conversations, and supportive coaching all became part of his personal toolkit. Each practice contributed something different while reinforcing the others.

Rather than searching for one perfect solution, he encourages people to build a collection of healthy habits that support emotional well-being over the long term.

Insight Alone Isn’t Enough

One of the most important lessons discussed is the difference between insight and integration.

Powerful realizations can happen during therapy, meditation, or an ayahuasca ceremony. But unless those insights lead to real changes in daily life, very little actually transforms.

Understanding why a relationship failed, recognizing childhood patterns, or discovering limiting beliefs are valuable first steps. The real work begins afterward through difficult conversations, healthier boundaries, new habits, and consistent action.

Transformation happens not when we understand something intellectually, but when we begin living differently because of it.

Men Need Safe Spaces to Heal

Many men spend years believing they should handle everything alone.

As a result, emotions remain hidden until they eventually surface through anxiety, depression, burnout, addiction, or relationship difficulties.

Sam believes one of the greatest benefits of men’s work is creating environments where vulnerability becomes acceptable rather than something to avoid.

Being able to honestly share struggles with others who understand the journey often becomes an important step toward emotional healing.

Strength, in this context, isn’t about pretending everything is fine. It’s about having the courage to face difficult emotions without allowing them to define you.

One Step at a Time

When life becomes overwhelming, it’s easy to focus on everything that is going wrong.

Instead, Sam encourages people to narrow their attention to the next manageable step.

Healing rarely happens all at once. It develops gradually through small decisions repeated consistently over time.

Some days, simply getting out of bed, going for a walk, talking to someone you trust, or maintaining a healthy routine is enough.

Progress doesn’t require perfection—it requires persistence.

Finding Meaning in Difficult Times

Looking back, Sam believes many of life’s hardest experiences eventually revealed valuable lessons that would have been impossible to learn otherwise.

Rather than asking, “Why is this happening to me?” he increasingly asks, “What is this experience teaching me?”

That shift in perspective doesn’t remove pain, but it gives suffering a sense of purpose.

Every difficult chapter becomes an opportunity to develop greater compassion, resilience, and understanding—not only for yourself, but also for others facing similar struggles.

Growth Is a Lifelong Journey

Personal development isn’t about reaching a point where life becomes effortless.

Challenges continue to arise, relationships evolve, businesses face setbacks, and unexpected hardships appear. What changes is the way we respond.

Instead of resisting every difficulty, we gradually develop the capacity to move through uncertainty with greater confidence and self-awareness.

For Sam, healing isn’t about becoming someone entirely different.

It’s about slowly uncovering the person who has been there all along beneath years of fear, conditioning, and emotional protection. Every challenge, every setback, and every moment of vulnerability becomes another step toward living with greater authenticity, purpose, and connection.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0zGy7UicetGB6MYUY2x0qs?pi=pQYFYBdZRE6PK

Filmmaker and musician Metta Beshay approaches psychoactive plants from a citizen scientist perspective, with a strong interest in ethnobotany, history, culture, and how people actually use these plants.

After spending time with Shipibo communities in the Peruvian Amazon, Beshay joined Sam Believ on the Ayahuasca Podcast to discuss ayahuasca tourism, indigenous culture, icaros, jungle life, and the modern presentation of ancient traditions.

From YouTube Experiments to Ethnobotany

Beshay’s path into ethnobotany began through videos about unusual substances. After one video about legal highs attracted millions of views, he faced a choice: become known primarily for drug content or move toward the cultural and historical questions that had always interested him.

He chose ethnobotany. Inspired by explorers and researchers such as Richard Evans Schultes, he became fascinated by the relationships between plants and the cultures that have used them for generations. That interest eventually brought him to the Amazon.

Looking Beyond the “Gringo Experience”

One of Beshay’s strongest impressions was the difference between the image of indigenous Amazonian life presented to tourists and ordinary daily reality. He encountered people who might wear traditional clothing for visitors while also using smartphones and participating fully in the modern world.

Rather than seeing this as a contradiction, he became interested in how indigenous identity is packaged for tourism. He wanted to understand people as they actually lived rather than receive a staged version designed around foreign expectations.

He was equally fascinated by relationships between neighboring tribes. Different communities have their own stereotypes, rivalries, histories, and traditions. From the outside, Amazonian cultures can easily be treated as one category, but his experience revealed a far more complicated social landscape.

What Icaros Really Mean

As a musician, Beshay was particularly interested in icaros, the ceremonial songs associated with Shipibo ayahuasca traditions. At first, he assumed an icaro was simply a traditional song that could be learned like any other piece of music.

Over time, he came to understand it differently. In the tradition he encountered, an icaro could emerge in response to a particular person, ceremony, or experience. Different curanderos also had distinct musical approaches rather than following one universal scale or structure.

He was told that icaros can function as tools within the ceremonial worldview, helping guide someone away from difficult states or assisting with spiritual cleansing. Sam contrasted this with Colombian traditions, where icaros may appear at specific points in ceremony while guitars, flutes, and more structured medicine songs are used at other times.

Peruvian and Colombian Ayahuasca Traditions

The conversation also highlighted how misleading it can be to speak about a single “traditional ayahuasca ceremony.” Practices vary considerably between regions and indigenous groups.

In the Shipibo environment Beshay visited, plant diets and icaros were important elements. Sam described Colombian traditions as placing greater emphasis on purges, with different plants used for different purposes. The plants combined with the ayahuasca vine can also differ between Peru and Colombia.

Even the role of ayahuasca in everyday life may vary. Beshay described a family ceremony held before a young man traveled abroad for the first time. It was not presented as an intensive healing retreat, but as a meaningful family experience connected to an important life event.

The Jungle Without the Romantic Filter

The Amazon itself also challenged Beshay’s expectations. Popular culture often presents the jungle as a beautiful world of adventure and biodiversity. He found that description accurate—but incomplete.

Extreme rain, intense heat, insects, and especially mosquitoes can make daily life physically exhausting for someone who is not accustomed to the environment. Despite describing the jungle as uncomfortable and difficult, he remained fascinated by it and planned to return.

That contradiction captures much of his approach: appreciating the Amazon without romanticizing it.

Culture Cannot Be Learned in a Weekend

Perhaps the broader lesson from Beshay’s journey concerns cultural context. A visitor can learn plant names, participate in ceremonies, and study traditional practices, but that does not mean they fully understand the worldview surrounding them.

He compared it to moving into someone else’s hometown. Even after years, an outsider may understand only a fraction of the relationships, stories, assumptions, and cultural references that locals absorbed while growing up.

This becomes particularly important when outsiders quickly begin presenting themselves as shamans or authorities on Amazonian traditions. Both Beshay and Sam emphasized the depth of knowledge carried by people raised around these practices.

Ayahuasca tourism can create meaningful cultural exchange and bring economic opportunities to indigenous communities, but it can also encourage simplified or commercialized versions of traditions. Looking beyond the spectacle requires curiosity, humility, and a willingness to accept that the Amazon is far more complex than the experience packaged for visitors.

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Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5g1Ps0xzviAiqr0TMs4ca9?si=a22d6d1759b24ff8

Tim Morrison’s path into healing work began with a sudden physical collapse. Once an elite Muay Thai fighter and strength coach, he suffered serious neck injuries that ended his fighting career and left him with chronic nerve pain. The loss of identity was even harder, and Morrison entered a period of depression and uncertainty.

Eventually, that crisis led him to the Amazon, where he began working with ayahuasca. What followed was not instant healing, but a long process involving altered states, somatic work, breathwork, and more than a year of integration.

When Healing Opens Too Much at Once

After his first extended ayahuasca experience, Morrison returned home feeling deeply connected and transformed. Soon afterward, however, he entered what he describes as a shamanic awakening. He experienced powerful energy moving through his body, vivid dreams, altered states, voices, spiritual imagery, and periods where he questioned whether he was losing his mind.

Morrison emphasizes how destabilizing it was. He says it took around 18 months to integrate what had happened, with support from his mother helping him remain grounded.

His story highlights that transformation is not always comfortable and may require significant support afterward.

How Ayahuasca Led to Breathwork

During a later period in the jungle, Morrison entered a traditional plant dieta and asked how he could bring some of the benefits of the medicine back to people who might never drink ayahuasca.

During ceremony, he experienced a strong message to focus on the breath. He began experimenting with conscious connected breathing while still in the jungle, then continued practicing when he returned home. Over time, those experiments developed into the trauma-informed approach he now calls Spiritus Breathwork.

His method combines rhythmic breathing with somatic awareness, emotional processing, movement, sound, and nervous-system regulation. The goal is not simply to create an intense altered state, but to work within what a person can safely process.

Breathwork and Altered States

Morrison sees similarities between breathwork and psychedelic experiences without claiming they are identical. Conscious connected breathing can produce tingling, emotional release, unusual sensations, vivid imagery, or altered states.

But intensity is not automatically healing. Someone who constantly chases altered states may actually be avoiding their body or using spiritual experiences as another form of escape.

That is why Morrison emphasizes regulation and pacing. Breathwork can deepen an experience, but it can also help settle the nervous system.

Why the Body Matters in Trauma Healing

A central part of Morrison’s work is helping people increase their capacity to feel sensations without immediately becoming overwhelmed, dissociating, or falling into old survival reactions.

He describes this through the idea of a window of tolerance. When people remain within that window, they can experience difficult emotions while staying present. Outside it, they may move into anxiety, panic, shutdown, numbness, or defensive behavior.

Somatic work gradually expands that capacity. Rather than forcing catharsis, Morrison prefers helping people stay connected to the body as sensations arise. Forced emotional release can be harder to integrate afterward.

Healing Should Change Daily Life

One of the strongest themes in the conversation is that healing work should eventually produce changes outside the retreat, ceremony, or breathwork session.

Morrison became skeptical after seeing people repeatedly attend transformational workshops, release the same emotions, and return without changing their daily patterns. A person can become attached to the identity of always healing.

At some point, the focus has to shift from asking what else needs to be fixed to asking what kind of life should be created. That may involve relationships, work, health, creativity, boundaries, or simply responding differently when familiar triggers appear.

Integration Is Where Transformation Becomes Real

Both ayahuasca and breathwork can create moments where people feel open, connected, and completely different from their usual selves. The challenge begins when they return home to the same relationships, habits, environments, and stresses.

Integration means noticing when an old reaction begins and choosing something different. It also means allowing enough time between intense experiences for the nervous system to absorb what has happened.

Morrison’s journey from fighter to facilitator ultimately points to a simple idea: the experience itself is only part of healing. Whether the tool is ayahuasca, breathwork, meditation, or another practice, transformation becomes meaningful when insights are translated into the way a person actually lives.

Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1oL50OTL80DqoRATXbJ3Tj?si=1a8db3dd349d4077

A group of 12 combat sports athletes recently came together in the Colombian Andes for an unusual experiment: four ayahuasca ceremonies combined with scientific observation, brain mapping, and a shared focus on trauma and traumatic brain injury.

The group included MMA fighters, UFC veterans, bare-knuckle boxers, wrestlers, and jiu-jitsu competitors, many with championship-level careers. The retreat was organized with Athlete’s Journey Home, an organization working with combat sports athletes affected by the physical and psychological consequences of fighting.

From Fighters to a Vulnerable Community

One of the biggest surprises was the group dynamic. Bringing highly competitive fighters together might suggest an environment dominated by ego and aggression. Instead, participants described something very different.

Titles and achievements largely disappeared from the conversation. Fighters cried, shared painful experiences, supported one another, and openly admitted that they needed help. Several participants described the group as unusually cohesive because everyone understood what years of fighting can do to the body and mind.

That shared background became part of the retreat itself. Rather than competing against one another, the fighters were confronting injuries, addiction, PTSD, childhood trauma, relationship problems, and the difficult question of what comes after a life built around combat.

The Hidden Cost of Combat Sports

Former MMA champion Ian McCall and bare-knuckle champion Mark Irwin spoke about repeated concussions and the long-term consequences faced by fighters. McCall described experiencing hundreds of concussions over his lifetime, while Irwin said repeated head trauma ultimately pushed him toward research into psychedelic therapies.

Other participants shared similarly difficult histories. Bare-knuckle fighter Matthew Martin discussed childhood abuse and years of heroin and crack addiction before becoming sober. Clinton Faucher described a traumatic brain injury that once caused severe memory problems, including becoming disoriented while driving his daughter to school and needing reminders around his home.

Faith, a military veteran, firefighter, and fighter, described cumulative trauma and PTSD symptoms including panic attacks, hypervigilance, and anger. She said ayahuasca had not eliminated those symptoms but had made them more manageable.

What the Fighters Reported

The experiences varied considerably. Irwin, drinking ayahuasca for the first time, described feeling greater empathy and connection. McCall, who already had extensive psychedelic experience, found the Colombian ceremonies less focused on dramatic visions and more introspective, emotional, and physically purgative.

Other fighters reported feeling calmer, clearer, less reactive, or more capable of looking at painful experiences. These were personal reports rather than clinical conclusions, but a recurring theme was that the ceremonies created space to examine problems that had previously been hidden behind toughness, competition, or survival.

Measuring the Brain Before and After Ayahuasca

The retreat also included QEEG brain mapping before and after the ceremonies. Neuroscience researcher Luke Jensen discussed preliminary observations from the fighters as well as a larger collection of pre- and post-ayahuasca brain maps gathered at LaWayra.

Jensen described QEEG as a way of examining patterns of brainwave activity and identifying areas of dysregulation. In one fighter with significant head trauma, he reported that a pattern interpreted by the team as inflammation was substantially reduced after the week.

However, Jensen also emphasized that the broader dataset still needs to be properly analyzed. The observations are therefore preliminary and should not be treated as proof that ayahuasca can heal traumatic brain injury, PTSD, or other neurological conditions.

A Different Meaning of Strength

Perhaps the most striking part of the retreat had little to do with brain scans. Combat sports reward toughness, pain tolerance, aggression, and the ability to keep moving forward. Those same qualities can make it difficult for fighters to admit when they are struggling.

At the retreat, strength took a different form. World champions and experienced fighters openly discussed fear, addiction, grief, trauma, family problems, and uncertainty about the future. Participants repeatedly described the absence of ego as one of the most powerful aspects of the experience.

For athletes whose lives have been defined by fighting, the week suggested another possibility: sometimes the hardest fight is not against another person. It is learning how to face what remains after the crowd disappears, the career ends, and the fighter finally has space to look inward.

Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2esZp7zMLv7n2OFlB5xZIq?si=efbefe1638ce4520