Traditional Ayahuasca Retreats in the Ecuadorian Amazon
Learning and Experience in Traditional Shamanism: Ayahuasca Retreats at Our Center in Ecuador
Initiation into Shuar shamanism through multiple Ayahuasca and Tobacco ceremonies, as well as more advanced practices such as the Waterfall Ceremony, Tunakaramamu, and Natemamu — all held deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
High-quality seminars guided by Master Arutam Ruymán, along with an experienced team and our Shuar family, fully committed to supporting and accompanying each step of the path.
Ruymán and Rosa during the teachings
Our Center in the Jungle: “Cumbres de Arutam”
Arutam Ruymán and Jordi Red Toucan´s traditional healing and teaching center in the jungle, “Cumbres de Arutam”, aims to perpetuate the culture of Shamanism at the very heart of its origin: the Amazon. Under the leadership of the great brother Tucán Rojo, the center is committed to the protection and conservation of the environment following the way of traditional and ecological life. We strive to keep alive the enchantment of the forest, taking care of the growth of medicines, and leading the real and deep way for future generations.
Shamanism is an art that has been increasingly absent and more deprived of its roots. Confusion and manipulation has dented this art and it will disappear if the legacy of its truth is not continued on our earth and in our hearts.
In the center we are committed to caring for traditional knowledge and integration with the environment. Therefore, retreats are carried out in the primary natural reserve of Sangay (Ecuador), where the center extends over hundreds of hectares in the heart of the jungle, surrounded by rivers and waterfalls.
In these retreats, we aim to unite man to the Spirit through coexistence with the uncorrupted nature that our grandparents knew. The sacred knowledge of Shamanism is taught through the transmission, teaching, and guidance of Arutam Ruymán, the experience of the older brothers, the richness of the ancient’s simple and humble way of life, as well as the ancient medicines of the jungle and power plants.
Conoce mas sobre Cumbres de Arutam: el lugar donde se desarrollan nuestro proyecto y los retiros.
Retreat duration
The duration of the retreats can be extensive, especially with regard to learning, serious practices involving strong medicines, transmissions of power (Tsentsak) and initiation rituals. The practice in the jungle, in its waterfalls and other places is an extensive journey, which requires spending the night, fasting, preparation, sincere devotion, deep understanding and the approval of Ruymán. It is a long and thorough job for experienced practitioners, for around 21 days.
The center is fully prepared to receive those who are interested in initiation, or those who want to explore advanced and traditional forms of shamanic practice. Through a prior interview, we offer the public three forms of retreat:
Preparing for the Natemamu Ceremony
7 and 14-Day Retreats
The most recommended way for people looking for a basic knowledge of initiation. It consists of three or four ceremonies with Natem (Ayahuasca) each week. It also involves, at least once, the initiation to the Andean cactus of San Pedro.
There are also constant teachings, meditations and disciplined practices that involves, as well, the use of Amazonian Tobacco. Each ceremony usually has a ritualistic duration of about eight hours -the time of the trance’s procedure, depending on the capacity of each individual as well as their personal effort-, almost until the afternoon of the following day.
Focused on the teachings, immersed in the jungle, walking the path under the auspices of Arutam Ruymán, the guests spend almost all their time of the retreat in a trance state, learning to take care of the sacred touch of Life. For this reason, this is not only a center that offers a simple retreat for tourists with accommodation, food, new social relations or a new cool experience. You must be interested in walking on a deep ancestral path, where you will learn to live and feel like the ancient natives of the Amazon, under the careful guidance of a true Shaman. For this reason, before making a decision on how to participate, you should at least read the blog on this page, pay special attention to the films on the channels, and be duly informed about the commitment and seriousness implicit in this form of traditional practice.
River at “Cumbres de Arutam”
21-Day Advanced Retreats
Preparing for the Natemamu Ceremony
Following the initial two weeks retreat, the more experienced and resilient students will join us for a third week where we will give our utmost effort. The public will be initiated into the traditional Waterfall ceremony (Tuna Karamamu), where the participants walk the path that leads to the learning of dreaming, as they drink “Tsaank” (Tobacco) and spend the night next to the waterfalls in the jungle.
After receiving the Tuna’s purification, students will return home to begin the most advanced and ancient ritual in Shuar tradition, Natemamu. This challenging yet rewarding practice offers western practitioners a profound connection with the jungle and the spirit.
The public will be initiated into the traditional Waterfall ceremony (Tuna Karamamu), where the participants walk the path that leads to the learning of dreaming, as they drink “Tsaank” (Tobacco) and spend the night next to the waterfalls in the jungle. After receiving the Tuna’s purification, students will return home to begin the most advanced and ancient ritual in Shuar tradition, Natemamu. This challenging yet rewarding practice offers western practitioners a profound connection with the jungle and the spirit.
We will finish this journey with at least two or three more sessions of Natem (Ayahuasca). It goes without saying that the depth of the trance and understanding of the Union with Life is all the more remarkable now, following the practices we have embraced.
The whole retreat will be guided by Master Arutam Ruyman, and with the presence of our beloved elder and grandmother, Rosa Jimpikit, who will be sharing with us lots of wisdom and oral tales about the shuar culture and tradition.
Although Shamanism is a gradual path of learning and all inner knowledge comes in due time, as we get closer to Arutam; there will be workshops and programs open to the public so that different areas of knowledge of this art can be made known, and so that this experience can be opened to the world.
Participants and acommodation
Places – a maximum of 20 invited participants – must be reserved immediately after the interview, by means of a bank transfer of a part of the total amount. Those who wish to continue attending for a second week after the first one, will be notified in advance in case that possibility is compromised by high demand.
The basic price includes shared accommodation in our traditional ceremonial house, and we offer private huts and rooms for an extra fee. In the center we have spaces with viewpoints to the mountains and the jungle, for meditation and spiritual practice. Special care will be taken when locating the participants, so that everyone feels comfortable. The bath is in nature, we bathe in the jungle.
The diet is also included. It is carefully optimized to obtain the best possible performance during work. At times it becomes very traditional and very rigorous, but at other times it will be more generous and more ordinary. Review diet and other related information in the blog section for this purpose.
In case of special requirements such as: transportation to and from the airport, special diets, illnesses, medication, etc. Let us know.
Retreats
DURATION
– One week
– Two weeks
– Three weeks (Advanced)
FOOD & ACCOMMODATION
The ceremonies are held in a house with dormitories and showers in the beautiful countryside. Breakfast is served on both days and lunch prior to the second ceremonies.
GROUP SIZE
Limited to 20 participants
PRICE
The price covers the ceremony costs, including meals, supplies, and accommodation. For more details, please contact us or check the link provided.
NEXT RETREATS IN ECUADOR
Contact the Organizer
If you’re interested, please send us a message. If we haven’t met yet, it’s important to have a conversation before accessing such a profound experience in the rainforest. Each person arrives as a visitor and guest, beginning their first processes alongside Ruymán. Later on, if possible, we may move forward into more committed practices.
You can find all the information about the retreats and our facilities at cumbresdearutam.com.
You can also consult our frequently asked questions about the application process, daily life, guidelines, and more.
📍Cumbres de Arutam – Sangay National Park, Palora, Morona Santiago, Ecuador
Frequently Asked Questions
Ayahuasca retreats in Ecuador represent a profound opportunity for inner connection, spiritual healing, and direct contact with Amazonian ancestral wisdom. Guided by experienced facilitators and in natural settings of great beauty and energy, these retreats offer a safe space for personal transformation.
We know that this experience can generate many doubts and emotions. Therefore, the following frequently asked questions have been designed to help you better understand how retreats develop, what you can expect and how to prepare to live this medicine from respect, awareness and openness of heart.
What measures are taken to ensure safety during ayahuasca practice at a jungle retreat?
On a traditional multi-day retreat in the Amazon rainforest, safety isn’t just a precaution – it’s an essential foundation. Each process is carried out under the direct guidance of maestro Ruymán, with decades of experience, and with the permanent accompaniment of an attentive and prepared team.
Before starting, an individual assessment is conducted to understand the physical, emotional, and spiritual state of each participant, and specific guidance is given for preparation. The natural environment, away from the noise of the world, is carefully arranged to protect the silence, attention and containment necessary during the ceremonies.
Throughout the retreat, a constant and respectful presence is maintained, watching over each person and the entire group, in a deep, demanding and deeply traditional framework of work.
What preparation is recommended before participating in an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon?
Participating in a long retreat in the Amazon rainforest requires careful and thorough preparation. It is recommended to start several weeks before with a diet that cleanses the body and makes it more receptive, eliminating heavy substances, stimulants and foods that block energy.
It is also important to take care of sexual energy, reduce exposure to intense stimuli and encourage introspection. This preparation is not a simple requirement, but a way to align with the work to be done.
Our retreats in the jungle are demanding, both for the intensity of the process and for the number of ceremonies, so arriving with discipline and internal disposition is essential. All this care must also be maintained at least two weeks after the retreat, to allow what has been experienced to settle, and the energy and clarity achieved can be integrated into daily life.
What kind of emotional support is provided during an ayahuasca retreat in the jungle?
Not everyone who is under medical or psychological treatment can participate in an ayahuasca retreat in the jungle. There are medications that can lead to dangerous interactions with the plant, and certain emotional or mental states that require careful evaluation before moving forward.
This retreat is especially demanding, both physically and psychologically. Therefore, it is essential to share this information clearly before starting the process. In our retreats, this evaluation is carried out responsibly, taking into account the intensity of the work and the jungle environment in which it takes place.
Everything is in place to make the experience safe and transformative, but only when the person is truly prepared to take it on.
What kind of transformation can be experienced during an extended retreat in the jungle?
An extended retreat in the Amazon rainforest offers a unique opportunity for deep transformation. By being immersed in nature for several days, away from the noise of the world, an interior space opens up where memories, understandings and states that in everyday life usually remain hidden can surface.
The constant contact with the jungle – the song of the jungle, the rain, the fire – and the silence of being without nets or distractions, allows something more essential to awaken within us. But that same time also takes us further inwards, to territories that are not always luminous.
In a long retreat there is space to touch the pain, to cross the shadow and hold it with courage. And it is precisely there where the process becomes most transformative: when we give everything, when we do not avoid the difficult, when we remain. Ayahuasca cleanses, reveals and aligns.
And in this context, it allows what emerges not only to be understanding, but a more alive, clear and true way of inhabiting oneself.
How do you integrate what you experienced after an extensive retreat in the jungle?
An extended retreat in the jungle does not end when the ceremonies are over. On the contrary: everything we have experienced needs to be settled with awareness and care. In these retreats, due to their duration and depth, very deep layers of the being are opened, and intense moments are experienced, both of healing and of confrontation with oneself. That is precisely why the integration process is so important.
When returning to daily life, it is essential to maintain an attentive attitude, avoid stimuli that disperse, take care of food, rest and the environment. But above all, to integrate means to put into practice what was understood, to apply it in the way of living, of speaking, of acting. This type of retreat leaves very deep traces, and only when what has been experienced is transformed into action, choice and coherence, the work is truly completed.
What is the value of receiving the teaching of shamanism directly from its roots in the jungle?
The path of shamanism cannot be improvised. It is a learning that only makes sense when it is sustained by an ancestral lineage, by the accumulated experience of generations that have opened the relationship with the spiritual world in the jungle, from practice and truth.
Learning from that root is not just a matter of respect, but a necessity to sustain any true retreat. A lineage is not a closed structure: it is a living current that is transmitted from master to disciple, in the silence of the jungle, in the listening of the body, in medicine shared with purpose.
In a prolonged ayahuasca retreat, far from the everyday, a different way of inhabiting the world is awakened, a clearer way of recognizing oneself. To follow a lineage is to trust in what has already been tested, in what stands the test of time because it is rooted in experience.
It is to assume a responsibility: to take care of that legacy, to receive it with gratitude and to offer it with truth. In a world full of shortcuts and confusing paths, those who truly seek transformation choose a retreat guided by a living tradition. Because only there, in the jungle, in direct contact with the wise, can the deep memory of the spirit flourish.
How is the role of the Uwishin in an ayahuasca retreat approached within the Shuar tradition?
In the Shuar tradition, spiritual guidance is not improvised. The Uwishin is the one who has been prepared for years to sustain a process that touches the most delicate of the human being. His function goes far beyond leading a rite: he is the custodian of a force that must be treated with deep respect.
In an extended retreat in the jungle, where the environment awakens ancient memories and the work becomes more demanding, their presence is even more necessary. The Uwishin doesn’t just sing: it transmits. Their prayers, received from grandparents, open invisible paths and allow medicine to act with clarity and direction.
Arutam Ruymán, formed directly by the elders, embodies this role with fidelity and dedication. In each ceremony, his knowledge of the human soul, his sensitivity and his spiritual strength allow him to go through even the most complex moments, without losing his way. Without such a guide, the journey can be disorienting. With it, it becomes sacred.
How is ayahuasca recognized as a master plant within a spiritual retreat?
In the Amazonian tradition, ayahuasca – known among the Shuar as Atem – is not simply seen as a visionary plant, but as an authentic spiritual teacher. He is honored as a spirit with intelligence and power of his own, capable of revealing, healing and profoundly transforming the human being when taken with respect and within a traditional framework.
During an extended retreat in the jungle, Natem becomes an indispensable ally. It acts as a mirror: it brings to light conditioning, destructive patterns, unexpressed suffering, and emotions that were hidden. It doesn’t soften what it shows, and that rawness is part of its power.
But he does not limit himself to pointing out: he reorganizes, cleanses, awakens the essential, and he does it from within, where no words could reach. In such a retreat, where each day is part of a continuous process, the jungle acts as an unfiltered mirror. At every step, medicine deepens: it’s not just about what it shows, but about what moves and dismantles.
Without external interference, and under the guidance of a truly realized master, the master plant can act with precision and without distraction, leading the practitioner to a radical reconnection with his essence.
What is the spiritual function of tobacco as a sacred plant in retreats with a shamanic approach?
In a traditional ayahuasca ceremony, tobacco is not a help or a support: it is the culminating moment. It is the plant that seals the process, the one that allows true spiritual realization to be achieved.
Its use is deeply rooted in Amazonian cultures, and among the Shuar, it is considered the blood of Arutam, the Great Spirit. She is taken at the beginning of the ceremony as a gateway, but it is at the end that she reveals her deeper role. After having gone through visions, cleansings, and states of openness, tobacco takes consciousness to its highest point: it unites everything that has been experienced, crowns it.
It is then that the experience is completed and fully recognized. Without this moment, the work remains unfinished. That’s why, in an authentic ceremony, tobacco is not optional or decorative. It is a master plant that supports, guides and concludes. Through it, the Uwishin delivers the last prayer, the final act that unites the participant with the whole. It is not a symbolic closure: it is the consummation of the encounter with the Spirit.
Is this ayahuasca retreat a passing experience or an authentic transformation process?
An ayahuasca retreat in the Ecuadorian jungle is not, by any means, a recreational experience. This is not a space for entertainment, nor for those who seek strong emotions without assuming the consequences.
It is a profound experience, designed for those who wish to transform their lives from the roots, accompanied by a teacher with true experience and spiritual commitment. During the retreat, the master plant does not entertain or soothe superficially: it reveals. It brings to light what was hidden, breaks the masks, confronts fears, and allows us to rediscover the most essential.
All this happens in a powerful natural environment, within a guided and prolonged spiritual work, where every night and every silence has a meaning. And when difficult moments come – which always come – the sincerity of the one who came to look for is evident.
The one who resists looking at what hurts him, what he avoids or what he does not want to let go, ends up generating tension for himself and for others. On the other hand, those who give themselves with humility find in that same crossing the true portal to healing, and return from retirement with something true, alive and lasting in their hearts.
Does an ayahuasca ceremony represent a superficial experience or a true path of inner transformation?
An ayahuasca ceremony is not, in any way, a recreational experience. Those who come seeking new sensations or a form of escape are moving away from the true purpose of this path.
This sacred plant, used for generations by native peoples of the jungle, demands respect, commitment, and the guidance of a teacher who can hold the ceremonial space with experience. Ayahuasca does not come to distract—it comes to reveal the truth.
It brings to light what we hide, confronts our defense mechanisms, strips us bare from within, and returns us to the heart. Only in a well-guided ceremony, held with tradition and dedication, can this process unfold safely and deeply. And it is in the most difficult moments that the true intention of the seeker is revealed.
Those who come out of curiosity or the desire to experiment will encounter what they avoid—and will probably resist. That resistance creates confusion, not only within oneself but also for others. On the other hand, those who surrender with humility discover, in that same breaking point, a door to true transformation.