Sinchi Runa · Testimonials
Going inward,
and finding what is real.
The words and testimonials of those who have lived healing, understanding and personal discovery at
Sinchi Runa.
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Centered, Grateful, Truth, Flow - 3 Months
Profound! Centering. Gratitude. Truth. Flowing. These are just some of the words that I can procure at this moment to express the deep gifts I was bestowed at Sinchi Runa.
This was my second process with Maestro Sanango. He is the real thing. Someone who truly cares about your wellbeing, your journey, your liberation, your healing, and a masterful guide to help you find your truth. His wisdom is multi dimensional and steeped in years and thousand of ceremonies. My first process was a 3 week dieta, in Peru, in 2017. It was transformative and shaped my life in such a positive way. So much that I did not feel the need to return until 2025. But, with life and being a seeker, I felt the deep pull to come back home to myself and learn more about the deeper truths of who I am and where I come from. To heal! There is only one person and place that I would 100% trust and allow myself to heal and seek. Sinchi Runa.
I was at the retreat center, in Spain, from April to July of 2025 with Maestro Sanango , A journey and process that will forever shape the rest of my life. This showed me the true foundations of what it means to be a soul in a body. A way to deeply love and trust myself and the Universe. To find the clearest way to connect to the Divine and the self. Self love, compassion, trust, forgiveness, and the real meaning of humility are just some of the gifts that I embody and cultivate still. To walk through life knowing I have these gifts in my cells and heart always. This is priceless!
I have worked with other teachers and healers with Ayahuasca. Nothing towards them, but there is a true way to prepare and allow the soul, mind, and body to release and be receptive to the work. To begin to see and feel the gifts that the plants and the Madre can provide. This is why I will only work with Sinchi Runa. They are so caring and thoughtful to your well being and still allow you to explore and find your own way. They honor the silence, the healing frequency of nature, how music helps you heal, diet, and a deep understanding of how the plants can show you a path, If there is proper preparation of the body/mind/heart to receive the gifts, then you have the opportunity to really get the most from your time and process. After working with Sinchi Runa, I never knew why others did not see the importance of preparing oneself to go through a journey of such depths.
Lastly, the importance of why I did a 3 + month process this time around. To show myself that I can make a profound change in my life. That I can alter my daily life and trust that I will land on my feet always. The 3 months gave me so much space to embody and release the gifts/wisdom that the plants gifted me. To tap back into reality and truth, which is nature. To forgive lifetimes and heal this life. To show me that I can walk through this life with love and devotion in my heart for self, humanity, Madre, and the Divine. That forgiveness is liberation. I highly suggest going for as long as you can. The more time, the deeper the gifts.
The staff and the facilities at Sinchi Runa are perfect for a journey. To me, they are family. I am forever grateful and humbled for my time with Maestro Sanango and everyone at Sinchi Runa. And so it is.
These 3 months fundamentally changed me
I spent three months at sinchiruna for a deep immersion retreat. During this time I participated in a total of five ayahuasca retreats and three master plant diets.
These three months fundamentally changed my life. I came there to heal from years of chronic physical pain and the after-effects of childhood trauma. Through the process, I was able to understand how my physical and emotional symptoms were connected and the work needed to let go of both. Healing could only take place when I understood my part of the responsibility and let go of defining myself as a victim of my circumstances.
Maestro Sanango and his team provided me with the utmost safety, love and compassion, without which I would not have been able to open up so deeply.
I won’t hide the fact that the process and the ceremonies can be tough. It’s not a camping trip. They confronted me with shadows that I didn’t want to see or feel. It was in moments like these that I was really grateful for the love and support of Sanango and his team.
I find it difficult to write anything about the plants themselves. Their power, their love is so much greater than I could describe and the way they heal is so profound that it is not easy to verbalize.
I’ve had some experience with ayahuasca and psilocybine before, but none reached the level of professionalism, depth and healing that I found at sinchiruna. Sanango’s wealth of experience, the immersion in nature, the food, the accommodation – everything is fine-tuned to support the healing and opening of the heart. And in the end, this was my most important realization: I don’t heal my body first and then open my heart. It is the opening of the heart, the feeling and the compassion that heals me and makes my life so much richer.
Beyond Conservative Psychotherapy
I came to Sinchi Runa after much soul searching involved in following a healing journey for most of my 51 years.
I had been diagnosed with CPTSD five years prior to coming to my retreat. This diagnosis came after recalling multiple experiences of sexual, physical and emotional abuses that had occurred in my earlier life.
The recollection of these events partially explained to me why I experienced so much emotional dis-regulation, pain and suffering throughout the course of my life.
However the understanding of how these events impacted me, still did not free me from the pain of them.
Having already followed a course of conservative psychotherapy as well as employing cognitive, energetic, somatic, and spiritual modalities, clearing generational trauma, consuming allopathic medications, supplementations, (all which served me in some way); I decided to answer the deep call to the plant medicines.
So I came to my retreat seeking freedom from my pain, peace and realization of my true self.
These intentions guided me in my quest and supported me through what I confronted on my journeying with the plants.
The divinity of the medicines revealed the way to remembering my true essential nature is in forgetting my pain.
In forgetting the pain of my story, my fear, my rage, my pride, my shame, my envy and my guilt; I can remember my true essential nature.
It’s not the same as denial, it’s the act of deliberately surrendering something I was attached to, in exchange for something else…..something better!
It was Maestro Sanango who guided me to the value of being willing to sacrifice my pain in exchange for the peace and freedom i was seeking, and I will be forever grateful for the insight and wisdom he shared with me.
Sinchi Runa is the real deal!
It’s not dogma, it’s not a religion or a sect; it’s a pathway to clear sight for the true seeker.
I experienced the Sinchi Runa family as ‘walking the talk’ and living in genuine service of the “Source”. Their compassion, support and ability to hold such a sacred space for the participants is a truly rare experience in this world.
I continue to follow the path the medicines showed me and am discovering greater and greater levels of freedom, peace, awe, hilarity and deep gratitude for this life and the divinity flowing through it.
May you be blessed on your journey too ✨
3 month Deep Immersion
I stayed at Sinchi Runa a year ago for a 10 day retreat, and more recently left after a 3 month deep immersion stay. I don’t know how to sum up all that was learned, understood, let go of, and more, in writing, for fear it being too long and putting you all to sleep!
I would say that since I grew out of being a baby, and could eat and drink by my self, my time at Sinchi Runa was the most vulnerable I’ve been. I’m very thankful to them that it was their care I was vulnerable. I could give so many examples of where I’m thankful that Sanango was ‘taking’ or ‘leading’ (I’m not exactly sure the word for it) the ceremony, but one that springs to mind was in an Ayahuasca ceremony, I was panicking! I asked for help, and Ananda and Sanango came to my aid and helped me process what I was going through. I recall many challenging Kambo ceremonies (In fact I think they all were) but two in particular, in hindsight, I feel blessed that it was Arjuna by my side. Arjuna was a great teacher to me, being in his presence, watching how he interacts with others, and hearing him speak in group sharing taught me a lot, in particular about my pride.
Initially, in my consultations with Sanango and Ananda, I was apprehensive to be open because I was cautious around Ananda, and this is nothing against Ananda, it was a reaction I am learning to step out of. I started to trust Ananda, I tried to leave no stone unturned in these consultations, because it became apparent that it was a privilege to have these two know me, all of me. That they were offering help if I was reaching out for it. I don’t want to portray Sanango as a mythical figure, a guru, or something along those lines, partly because I know he doesn’t want that, but it also doesn’t feel right to me. He is the wisest person I’ve come across. Every time I had the chance to speak to him I felt excited. Through my eyes He is brilliant. It seems to me He knows a lot about Love. I can’t fully express what it meant for me to have Sanango as my teacher, or ‘curandaro’. He is upholding or maintaining great teachings, or spirits, forces, at Sinchi Runa.
Ananda (tough act to follow) was a great teacher to me and I think he had a great understanding of my ‘process’ and what I was going through. I felt loved by Ananda and he too took great care in protecting my process. We also had a few good laughs. I would say the moments of social interaction with everyone at SinchiRuna were lovely.
The food was top notch, Fiona was cooking most of the time whilst I was there, and she is an amazing cook. I noticed how much care was taken in the cooking of the food, and the prep. My portion sizes were always to my desire, and I think I overate most of the time. Fiona was also significant in my journey, she’s great, and so comforting and caring, she made so much effort to protect and care for my ‘Process’. I’m not sure if this is her intention but she really made me feel at home.
I felt the crux of my work was in my ‘Diets’ or ‘Dietas’. Up to now these Dietas have been the most challenging chapters of my life, and without a doubt the most rewarding, if the reward is ‘spiritual growth’ or knowledge of the unconscious, in my case. In the Dietas I developed an understanding around deep questions such as: what is pride, what is humility, what is compassion, what is gratitude, in what conditions do these arise. An understanding of who I am, and why I behave the way I behave. What am I doing in the human experience, and so on, and I really could go on. The diets were the most significant periods of learning in my life, and it was hard earned, it was also a learning of how to come out of suffering, my understanding arose from my coming out of my suffering. And so these diets were a rollercoaster of suffering, enlightenment, more boredom than I knew I could handle. It was very draining, very emotional and very rewarding.
I do not know of any other facility with the depth of wisdom, knowledge, and care as Sinchi Runa, I don’t think places such as Sinchi Runa are easy to come by, and for me it feels it’s a privilege and a great stroke of luck to have come by Sinchi Runa.
YouTubeTraditional “Dieta”
I just returned from the 11-day Traditional Ayahuasca & Master Plant “Dieta” retreat with Peruvian Maestro Sanango, and I can honestly say it was one of the most profound and transformative experiences of my life.
This was my very first time working with sacred plant medicine, and also my first time taking Ayahuasca or any kind of psychedelic substance. I went in with an open heart but no real idea what to expect. The call to this retreat came suddenly—just two weeks before my vacation. I stumbled upon it on google, and somehow everything aligned. I knew deep within, this was meant for me, so I followed that inner guidance and said yes.
The experience itself was challenging, humbling, and deeply healing. The Ayahuasca ceremonies were truly out of this world—beyond anything I could describe in words. Each ceremony was a sacred, powerful, and beautiful journey into the heart of the divine. Even the physical purging (which I had some anxiety about before coming) felt meaningful and necessary, like a deep energetic and emotional cleanse.
What made this retreat more special was the atmosphere of compassion and support. The people I met—the facilitators and of course, Maestro Sanango himself, were all incredibly kind, grounded, and wise. There was a deep sense of safety and respect held throughout the entire retreat.
Working with the master plant Dieta was an intimate and sacred process. It helped me connect more deeply to the divine within me. I came in feeling somewhat lost and disconnected from my spiritual heart center—and through this work, I found my way back. It felt like a homecoming to the divine within me. I truly feel that my heart has opened. I feel more connected to spirit, more grounded in who I am, and more clear on the path ahead.
If you’re feeling called—even if you’re nervous or unsure—I encourage you to trust that inner voice. I did, and something inside me shifted—quietly but powerfully. I returned home with a softer heart, a clearer spirit, and a deep sense of realignment with life and the sacred source I had wandered from.
YouTube
Healing Chronic Pain & Phobia
My time at Sinchi Runa was beautiful and challenging. It was challenging both mentally and emotionally. I came to Sinchi Runa after having heard about it for years because my partner has been working with Sanango and fam for almost 10 years. I felt I had come to a point in my life where I was feeling quite stuck and needed to try something new. I wanted to work on my chronic pain from Fibromyalgia, my phobia of other people vomiting (emitophobia) and my anxiety.
I was able to develop a new relationship with my chronic pain through using the plant medicine, working with Sanango and doing meditations with Ananda. I learned that by giving the painful sensation my energy and attention, I was only making it worse. If I just sat with it and practiced completely accepting it, the pain would fade. This seems like a simple realization but it is something I have been working on for 20 years and it wasn’t until I did the combo of plant medicine and being in the peaceful setting of Sinchi Runa and learning from these master teachers that this lesson really stuck.
I was also able to work through my phobia of others vomiting. I tried the kambo ceremony by myself a few times and did well with the medicine. It was very challenging to work with physically but had immense mental/psychological beneficial benefits. Then I sat through the tobacco ceremony as an observer and was able to face my fears and stay in my meditative practice and get through the experience of others vomiting. I’m so proud to have faced my fear and be able to move past it now.
As for the anxiety, going off of my SSRI was extremely challenging for me and I ended up struggling a lot when I got back home and was trying to acclimate back to normal life. The silver lining is that I found out it’s not just anxiety, but rather OCD that has been bothering me. So now, about 2 months after Sinchi Runa, I am on a better medication for my symptoms and feeling good!
Overall, I recommend Sinchi Runa to anyone and everyone. Just know that you are going there to do hard heart work. You will be held through it though and will be in a beautiful setting with highly skilled facilitators. I share with them a mountain of gratitude and love.
Life Changing!
Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude to everyone at Sinchi Runa.
My Ayahuasca retreat at the end of May was nothing short of life-changing. My experience was so profound and beautiful that even now, I find it difficult to put it into words. I always felt held with kindness and compassion. The space is sacred, in both structure and energy. I felt seen, supported, and safe to journey inward in ways I never imagined possible. While my integration continues, I carry a renewed sense of clarity, purpose, and peace within me. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the incredible work you do. The dedication, love, and integrity you pour into this path are truly a gift to the world. Highly Recommend!
Incredible and life changing experience!
I completed a 12 day a retreat at Sinchi Runa in September 2023 and the beautiful ripple effects continue to surprise me months after.
As a psychologist, I know the value of working on and with yourself. And eventually you reach a point where talk therapy is not enough. The plant medicines have helped me access deeper (more unreachable) parts of my myself. Furthermore, the entire structure of the retreats at Sinchi Runa (sleeping in 1-man tents, the silence, the diets/food, the ceremonies, the sharing circles, etc.) invite you to dive deep within yourself in a way that is difficult to create in our normal and busy lives.
The people who work at Sinchi Runa are in service to this mission and the love, care and attention that you feel from them is very special. The food is beautiful, living in the tents is so magical and I felt so safe and held.
Any experience that you have while on this retreat (and in each ceremony) is EXACTLY the experience you are meant to have. Because any experience we are having in life, is a reflection of where we are at and what we need to learn. This was such a beautiful (and funny) lesson I got from my retreat that the plants helped me understand (with Maestro Sanango’s support). After truly understanding this, everything started to shift for me.
I am not the same after my experience …. And the transformations and deepening keep coming, months after my retreat ended. I am deeply grateful. Thank you Sinchi Runa!
I hope you also give yourself this beautiful gift and experience.
YouTubeThe first step is a conversation
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