Our Program
At Arkana, we create the space for you to get in touch with your truth, opening your path for deeper meaning and greater fulfillment in your life. We work with ancestral medicines such as Ayahuasca, San Pedro, Bufo Alvarius, Rapé , using the traditional practices of the indigenous cultures of the Peruvian Amazon. We currently operate two centers in Peru, one in the Peruvian Amazon and a second one in the Sacred Valley (close to Machu Picchu), and one in Mexico, the choice is yours.
With great respect for the plants and the knowledge and healing that comes with them, our lineage of Shipibo shamans set the stage for truly deep and profound healing. Awaken your inner power through their sacred and powerful icaros (healing songs), and discover your connection to all things by exploring some of the 2.2 million hectare Pacaya Samiria National Reserve which is our backyard. Nourish your body and soul with fresh, clean, delicious meals that promote your Ayahuasca experience, and integrate healthy habits into your routine with our yoga classes and extensive selection of gym equipment for all levels. We believe the health of physical body sets the foundation for the health of the energetic body – Often ignored in this type of spiritual work, we find this to be an important part of the healing process, so you can begin implementing the healthy habits that will carry this work with you into your life back home. Finally, relax your mind and spirit with sound baths, meditations, breathwave sessions, and OM circles, or simply enjoy the tranquil views of both sunrise and sunset from our front porch on the banks of the Ucayali River, surrounded by lush biodiversity and the mesmerizing sounds of the jungle.
Arkana’s exceptional team of highly-trained Shipibo Master Shamans represent an unbroken lineage of plant medicine work. With a combined history of over 70 years of experience working closely with Ayahuasca and other master plant teachers of the jungle, our compassionate healers lovingly share their teachings, healing songs (icaros), capabilities, and knowledge with integrity and honor. We strive to maintain the traditional practices passed down through thousands of years of indigenous Amazonian culture, in order to continue to promote the true purpose and nature of plant medicine work.
Experiencing the medicines with us is a transformative personal journey, and so much more. We also work closely with our local community, the Amazonian village of Libertad, to ensure that our Center can benefit and give back to the people who have so generously let us into their homes and hearts. We create employment opportunities, teach free English classes, provide a space for the ladies to sell their handmade crafts, and assist in construction projects, among other things. Our latest endeavor is outfitting the entire village with free solar panels, so every house can have light and electricity. When you join us, you are helping the rainforest and the Amazon communities that live here.
Guests that come to our Center often say they feel like “part of the family” with us – that’s no coincidence, as we are one big family at Arkana! The people that are with you throughout your experience can simply facilitate your own healing journey or become an integral part of it. Our experienced, loving, and professional team of caregivers welcomes you to join our tribe, where we strive to make you feel at home and at ease, supported and cared for with all the love and compassion that is at the core of the plant medicines and people we work with.
Ayahuasca is a powerful medicine that offers us the opportunity to understand our true nature, by shining a light onto our darkness, and holding a mirror up to our fears, negative thought patterns, and self-limiting beliefs. We provide the environment and expertise of a team of highly skilled, warm, compassionate Shamans and facilitators to guide you through the process of awakening, of choosing differently, healing, and expanding. It is a slow but steady path towards freedom – from fear, from illusion, from self-constructed boundaries – resulting in a lighter, brighter, more authentic self, and the full experience of love. It is our honor to help you on this most fulfilling of all journeys: the journey back home.
We look forward to having you with us!
Lots of Love,
The Team
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jcgould
December 11, 2017 at 9:05 amVery peaceful and professional retreat. We were a group of military veterans and all had an amazing time. The staff and the shaman were there for anything we needed. Thanks Jose!
alisek
December 7, 2017 at 11:18 amI chose Arkana for my first time doing ayahuasca so naturally I was a bit worried about it all, but as soon as we arrived at the jungle centre, I felt safe and calm, everyone there was super warm, helpful and lovely. Every person working there (kitchen & cleaning staff, guides, facilitators, shamans) radiates love and kindness, they always make sure you’re okay and are ready to help in whatever way you need at that point. The shamans are extremely powerful, they know just what you need and their icaros work on you like magic.
I am eternally grateful for this place and everyone who made my 2 weeks there so amazing, I left feeling happier than I have been in years and still feel the love & light that I finally found while there.
The centre is in a beautiful location, the facilities are just what you need when you’re in the jungle, nothing too fancy but enough to be comfortable and have a break from the city life.
The organised daily activities/expeditions are fun too, you get to see lots of cool animals & plants, and the tour guide, Falcon, is really knowledgable and funny.
The non-dieta food is pretty good but if you have the chance, definitely try doing the dieta for as long as possible. After 2 weeks of no salt, sugar, oil I felt super healthy, clean and energised, and it helps with the ceremonies too.
If you can, do the sapo ceremony too, it is something indescribably beautiful that goes perfectly with the whole experience.
Overall, the 2 weeks there were incredible and life-changing, I still feel amazing 3 weeks later. I finally found and saw the light that I am, and learnt what love, happiness, peace is, and how to just be. Before this I was not a spiritual person at all and couldn’t have imagined feeling this way and saying things like this but people really can and do change!
Love to all <3
AyaChakruna
December 4, 2017 at 10:03 amI recently returned from my third visit to Arkana / Pulse and the experience was just as incredible as it always is. I stayed for three weeks and couldn’t have asked for a more perfect time. I got everything I needed out of it.
Their shamans are the main reason I keep coming back. The head shaman, Wiler, is amazingly powerful and his icaros will take control of your soul and bring you into the light everytime. I felt a strong connection with Hilberto, the older shaman, this time around. His icaros will make you soar. Then of course there is also Angelita, whose songs will pierce right through to the core of your soul.
The rest of the staff there are also amazing. Craig is one of the funniest guys I’ve met and brings a lot of light and laughter to the centre. Jess is an absolute angel and even baked me an amazing cake for my birthday. Shantanu had an infectious laugh and was amazing at helping people through some difficult moments during the ceremony. The local staff including the guides, cleaning and kitchen staff and others were all amazing. I felt very safe and taken care of at all times.
The facilitaties at the centre are top notch and have improved since my previous visits. In particular, they now have electricity and lighting at all times (this wasn’t there in my previous visits).
No matter where you go, ayahuasca is going to be a challenging experience. For that reason I cannot recommend Arkana highly enough, because they take a challenging experience and provide all the love, support and care to help you on your own personal journey.
melanim
November 27, 2017 at 2:00 pmIt’s been 2 years since i was at Pulse, and I read that the ownership has shifted/changed. I’m now 50 years old, and will give my summation.
I felt safe in this journey and with the pulse members, the amenities, the restaurant on travel to the river was great. there were at least 3 newish relationships going on when i was there…the aya and sex/heart with the new members was probably not a good mix. there were a lot of vulnerable ppl there. but the drama of 2 of the relationships, took away a lot from those people. also,
there was also a man who was very deceptive (on heart/BP meds)…and a pathological liar (I’m sure bc my dad was a naval officer, this guy claimed to be a colonel, hell no). I read that after i left, he was kicked out…ugh…it’s hard to face a person I don’t like for reason of knowing him a liar, every morning at breakfast, to greet him openly. I wonder why it took so long. after that…there was some black magic going on around there; i’m repeating what was said on reddit. and i do believe in darkness now.
so, saying all that, I have my sanity and reason, my intuition, and knowing. The 4th aya journey, was BAD! I did not have the ability to integrate that journey…all the others were good. I had no one to help me process anything…bc it was a journey to choose sanity over insanity. I landed, with the Jesus’ help, on the sane side.
If one if brave enough to journey w Aya, I hope that there is an umbilical cord to their sense of self…that can harbor them if/when, it goes south.
btw, i didn’t follow the messages that i received, they happened anyway ( w a realtionship). aya told me the truth there. I think i needed love more than….
bc la medicina , aya, is so potent….and i had no one to process my experience with (i left the morning after) , i strongly recommend an aya pre and post counseling, and during I’m writing this 2 years later. would i do it again? maybe, maybe yes… Mel
avecjustin
November 19, 2017 at 12:55 pmI returned from a 2 week retreat with Pulse Tours last week. I spent the first week in Sacred Valley and the second in the Amazon.
I understand now why all the feedback says it’s impossible to put the experience into words. What I have to say is that it is definitely worth it and a life-changing journey for those who are ready. It’s work, it’s not an easy experience by any means, but I left this retreat a different person with a different understanding of life from when I entered, and I’m all the better for it.
More practical information: the two locations are completely different experiences. That was amazing because it felt like I was in two different countries, two different cultures, with two different types of ceremonies. The Sacred Valley location had a much gentler feel. The landscape there is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. There was only one shaman in ceremony compared to 3-4 in the Amazon. The Sacred Valley location definitely felt more about the overall experience of that region alongside the medicine compared to the Amazon whose environment itself felt like a part of the medicine. The Amazon was more intense for all of us that experienced the two. I wouldn’t have changed a thing as both experiences were so valuable.
The staff was amazing. The facilitators helped me to grow more than I could have anticipated and were always there to offer help and advice.
I absolutely recommend this to anyone who believes they are ready for it.