u/zachlail

This is my review of Anahata Ayahuasca located in sacred Valley Peru. I should have left this review much earlier, but it was not on my radar. Now I feel compelled as I hope it will help others.

I had been on my healing journey for about a decade, always chasing what I thought was a destination, a finish line. I thought if I just did enough yoga, enough meditation, enough talk therapy, I would eventually become “enlightened”. I imagined all my troubles, disappearing, and living life of bliss and ease perfectly aligned with my surroundings. But no matter how much work I did, no matter how many layers of the onion I would peel back, there was still more, this underlying dis-ease waiting to drag me back down again.

In the fall of 2024, a very violent storm, hurricane Helene, hit my home in western North Carolina. The chaos from this, ignited in me a deep depression that I did not think I would pull out of. I was desperate for relief, and realized I needed to go really deep to work through some stuff. I had worked with mushrooms before, and had done some guided MDMA sessions so I was familiar with the healing transformative power of plant medicines.

I had a very vivid dream that November of being served a tea from an indigenous shaman, and he said to me very clearly the words “welcome home“. The next day I awoke knowing it was time for a pilgrimage to work with Mama Ayahuasca. I started to research where I could go to work with the medicine. I knew I wanted to go to the origins of the medicine in South America, either Colombia or Peru, so I started to reach out to different retreat centers. A lot of of them were very flashy with marketing and had very fancy pictures and videos, and several of them continued to reach out with pushy salesman type tactics trying to get me to book a retreat with them.

In my research, I discovered there are two main areas in Peru that seemed to really honor the traditions of the medicine and the Shipibo lineage, of course, in the Amazonian jungle, and then I discovered this area of the Andean mountains affectionately referred to as the Sacred Valley. I am a mountain boy through and through, born and raised high in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina, the oldest mountains in the world. I knew right away that the Sacred Valley was where I was meant to go for this life-changing pilgrimage.

I’m not sure exactly how I stumbled upon Anahata retreat center, other than an exhaustive internet search, looking at every place I could find in that area. Their website was not flashy, but I distinctly remember watching a video with Mike and Sami Love talking about their work and their lives there. It felt like they were speaking directly to my soul warmly and gently calling me. I cried as I knew right away this was the place for me. I booked the first available retreat and flew to Peru on New Year’s Day 2025.

Traveling alone , my first time in South America, to work with psychedelics carried with it some anxiety and I was a little nervous rolling up to the center that first day. I’ll never forget that moment and the feeling of overwhelming peace and calm that I felt from Sami and Mike. All my fear melted away with that first warm embrace and genuine love that I felt from them both. Then Mike looked me deep in the eyes, felt like he was peering deep into my soul and said to me “welcome home” the same thing the shaman in my dream had said months earlier! I melted and instantly felt the most alignment I had ever felt in my life. I was home.

The next profound synchronicity came when Sami was giving us a tour of the center. I had been a devotee of Neem Karoli Baba and Hanuman Ji, the Hindu deity of service and devotion for about a year at that point. Imagine my surprise when during the tour Sami shows us this beautiful sacred meditation space with a giant painting and murti of Hanuman! Just another sign from God that I was in fact, home.

The center is modestly beautiful nestled in the base of the majestic mountains, with amazing wildlife, trees and flowers. Mike, Sami, their beautiful children and pets all live right there on the property so it really does feel like integrating with their family. It’s not luxury, that’s not my vibe anyway, but is extremely nice and comfortable with plenty of places for solitude and lounging. Amazing common spaces to chill with others and share meals which are delicious and freshly prepared by the lovely local chef. My room was very clean, comfortable and private. All of the buildings are beautiful traditional Peruvian style.

As far as the ceremonies themselves, I really have nothing to compare them to as it was my first experience with Ayahuasca. I can tell you they checked all of my boxes. They felt safe, secure, protected and deeply traditional. Our Shipibo Maestro held an amazing energry, his icaros were beautiful and profoundly healing. He was attentive to my needs and really helped when I was moving through some difficult times. Mike and the other facilitators were extremely professional kind and patient. They carried themselves very professionally and genuinely. The ceremonies were filled with such beautiful live music, and they always seemed to offer the right medicine song or mantra at the perfect time. It was never overwhelming. The ceremony space is magical and is perhaps one of the most holy places I have ever spent time in. Without doubt they were the most profound moments of my life and the medicine gave me exactly what I needed.

I could go on and on about how wonderful my 10 days at Anahata were, but I feel I have rambled enough. I can sum it all up by saying that if you are considering visiting Mike and Sami, you have already found your place, I knew it was the perfect place for me right away, and I was not wrong. Trust your intuition, spirit has already made the choice for you, pull the trigger and go. It will change your life. I’ve spent every day dreaming about my return as soon as I am able, I now truly consider it my home. Blessings and love to you all my dear family.

If you’d like to know more, feel free to contact me I’m happy to talk with anyone.