Alma Healing Center

Alma Healing Center is a women-led ayahuasca retreat centre in Ecuador, working in English and Spanish. Most retreats take place in the Mindo cloud forest, three hours from Quito, and single overnight ceremonies are held in Tumbaco or Pintag, near the capital.

Approach

Paulina, who leads the ceremonies, is a medicine woman from Ecuador with more than 25 years of plant medicine work. She received the blessing of Shuar elders, studied with Piaroa teachers in Venezuela and Shipibo medicine keepers in Peru, and is certified in Gestalt therapy. Her partner Sandra founded the centre; she does not serve the medicine but plays music, translates and handles preparation and integration support. Paulina’s sister sometimes leads instead. The four-day retreat has two ayahuasca ceremonies, one by day and one by night. Other formats include a seven-day women’s retreat, San Pedro hikes in the Andes, a six-day private retreat and a vision quest.

Who it is for

The centre calls itself LGBTQ+ affirming and open to anyone who passes its health screening. It normally does not accept people with a strong current addiction.

Practical details

The Mindo site is an off-grid property inside a 130-hectare private reserve at 1,400 metres, reached by a 20-minute forest walk. The four-day retreat costs $700 shared or $1,000 in a private room, an overnight ceremony $200, the women’s retreat $1,500 and the private retreat $3,000. Prices include lodging, meals and transport from the Quito area. A 50% deposit holds a place.

Care and safety

Every participant fills in a health questionnaire before being accepted, with a call with Paulina for complex medical or medication histories. SSRIs and MAOIs must be avoided, and the centre says it has turned people away when the timing was wrong. The ayahuasca is brewed by the team from ingredients sourced through Indigenous contacts in the Amazon.