Plant Medicine for Recovery Retreat on Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Join us for a five-night retreat with plant medicine ceremonies on the shores of stunning Lake Atitlan, near the town of San Marcos La Laguna, in Guatemala! This retreat features yoga, meditation, breathwork, plant-based food, a cleansing sauna and plant bath, community, and two professionally-guided plant medicine ceremonies with ayahuasca.

Jan. 4-9, 2025 is currently full but please contact us to be added to the waitlist. Next available dates are January 4-9, 2026.

Bigger Life Adventures’ Guatemala retreat will take place under the powerful, beautiful volcanoes ringing the ancient waters of Lake Atitlan. Surrounded by Mayan villages and steep, green mountains, you’ll arrive at our intimate venue, Casa Floresta, by boat. Traveling there is a portal from the real world into retreat mode. During free time choose to hike a steep trail to the hippie paradise/Mayan town of San Marcos, or travel the couple kilometers by boat taxi or tuk tuk.

Our goal on this retreat is to combine safe, transformative Ayahuasca plant medicine ceremonies with trauma-informed yoga, sharing circles, wild swimming and nature immersion.

As this is a plant medicine ceremony-focused healing retreat, we encourage guests to spend free time relaxing and integrating by the lake, protecting our energy amongst the group. Ayahuasca can leave you a little vulnerable, so staying in Casa Floresta’s beautiful bubble can help you integrate the experiences more easily. If you have extra time to spend in Guatemala before or after the retreat, we can recommend activities, hikes, and accommodations in both San Marcos La Laguna and the colonial city of Antigua!

The retreat is hosted by Bigger Life Adventures with two ceremonies facilitated by The Forest Path and comfortable, spacious accommodations at Casa Floresta and Casa Colibri next door. Both private and shared rooms are serene, cozy, and beautifully-decorated. You’ll feel at peace and able to detach from the stress of day-to-day life.

The group size will be limited to 14-18 souls who are ready and open to a deep and cohesive group experience.

We searched patiently and extensively for the right venue and right medicine guides for this retreat. In 2023 we traveled to Guatemala and participated in a ceremony at Casa Floresta that was truly life changing. We can’t wait to show you all the extraordinary magic of this place! For more information on how to choose the right ayahuasca retreat and why we’re going to Casa Floresta you can read this post.

Dates: January 4-9, 2026 (Or join the waitlist for Jan. 4-9, 2025)

Location: Lake Atitlan, Guatemala near the small hippie/Mayan town of San Marcos La Laguna.

Ayahuasca for recovery

Who else can be helped by an Ayahuasca retreat?

Those growing and healing from depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD, childhood trauma, eating disorders, or desiring deeper connection with yourself and your ancestors. Ayahuasca can also help if you feel you stuck in a rut, need new inspiration, or just simply aren’t enjoying life to its fullest potential. That being said, we believe that plant medicine is not the best way for everyone to heal so we will strive to bring this to only the right people who are prepared.

Ayahuasca must be approached with respect and mindfulness. If you would like to join our retreat at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, please note that you MUST be sober from alcohol, drugs, antidepressants, and other plant-medicines for a certain time period before and during the retreat, even if being off of these things is not a part of your normal life. Importantly, this includes pharmaceutical SSRI medications that can have negative interactions with the Ayahuasca. This is very important as pharmaceutical/plant medicine interactions could be quite dangerous to your health.

All guests who sign up must complete a pre-interview with Carrie or Zach of Bigger Life Adventures. If we decide that this event is not right for you, we will refund your deposit or help you apply it to an event better for you. It is our responsibility to create a safe space for this retreat and we reserve the right to decide who should be there based on our past experiences and guidance from the experts at Forest Path. If we have not met in person previously, please either email us before paying your deposit to schedule an interview, or be prepared to schedule an interview after putting your deposit down.

Just like all of our retreats, this is a substance-free, recovery-supportive environment! Although you don’t have to be sober in real life to come on our retreat, you do need to be willing to take a break from any recreational substances throughout the entire retreat experience. We believe everyone is recovering from something, whether it’s addiction, stress, trauma, eating disorders, or just the disconnection of life in our busy, high-tech world. Bigger Life Adventures strives to create a safe and open space for vulnerability and openness about each and every healing journey. Our retreats don’t include formal recovery meetings, but our guests are always sharing and learning from each other as we all work to use the tools of yoga and community to become better and live bigger lives.