I still find it hard to believe that what I experienced was real.

A snow-white poncho dressed in cold, a sleeping heart of fire. The height, the wind and the storm painted the landscape with flickering rays that made my soul reel with emotion.

We walked slowly, without a fixed path but with a goal in front of our eyes … one foot, then the other, one heartbeat followed by another, and one astonishment after another.

Silence was our company and it was thanks to him that everything seemed eternal, frozen in a threshold where nothing seemed real and yet everything was tangible.

I saw myself retracing memories and walking new paths, I understood where my place is and that being faithful to this path is being faithful to myself.

Aramí Monsalvo del Cid

Bobinsana (Calliandra angustifolia) is native to the Amazon Basin and has been used for countless generations to heal the body and to enhance spiritual and shamanic abilities. A revered plant for lucid dreaming, it is said that the spirit of the Bobinsana plant can provide comfort to those experiencing loss, heartbreak or grief.

For those who undergo a Bobinsana dieta for one to three months, the Master Plant Teacher may present in dreams as a giant anaconda or other being emerging from the water world. Sometimes also referred to as the son or daughter of Noya Rao (the tree of light), Amazonian shamanic enthusiasts revere this fluffy, vibrant tree growing along river beds in the jungle whose flowers look like open hearts. Her feminine mermaid spirit also earned her the loving moniker “Sirenita Bobinsana”.

Bobinsana is also traditionally used as a contraceptive in Peru. While there is no scientific research to confirm this possible action, those seeking to get pregnant should avoid this plant. Bobinsana should not be used during pregnancy or lactation.

Don Policarpio Flores Apaza was a small man with a big heart in which everyone found warmth, ease, friendship and wisdom. As an orphan, Don Policarpio cried a lot, as a child, adolescent and young man, he traveled from place to place with difficulties to survive, and therefore had to perform the hardest jobs such as working in the mines.

He married Doña Martina and they settled in the country of her people: Tiwanaku, the most sacred place of the Aymara people. Although he came from another place, he trained and was eventually recognized as The Chief Priest, perhaps one of the most respected and loved in recent history.

When he met Beautiful Painted Arrow and me(Miguel Kavlin) for the first time, he recognized us, mentioning that he had dreamed of us for a long time. We had come to ask for permission and blessings to perform the first Sun and Moon Dance, the meeting of the eagle and the condor. Not only did he give us permission and blessings, but he also accompanied us in the Dance every year of his life, along with his wife Doña Martina and some of their children.

Thanks to him, his recognition and his support, we have been able to grow sustainable roots in the land and with the people, so that we can bring together different traditions that strengthen and confirm our river of life.

His memory and love lives in us always.

To this day, the Chief Priest of the Aymara counsel of elders, Don Policarpio succesor, Don Lucas Choque lives in Tiwanaku, and continues to be involve in our community and supports and acompanies our rituals often.

Miguel A. Kavlin

Born in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, he is soon to be a Mechatronic Engineer. Julio lived his entire life in love with science and technology, but also an insatiable desire to uncover the mysteries behind this beautiful thing called life.

The COVID- 19 quarantine gave him a 360 degrees life turn around, when he decided to explore different states of consciousness. Beginning with daily meditation and yoga, he eventually discover sacred plant medicines with the Sacha Runa community and committed to a new way of living based on love, surrender and devotion.

His life purpose is to serve the world and help all sentient beings find the Divine within.

This months retreat participant testimonial is from Greg Manning

Greg is from Vancouver, Canada. After looking for something authentic to have his first plant-medicine ceremony, he found Sacha Runa, where he experience a beautiful connection with himself and all the energies that surround our Andean retreat center.

Come for 3 months or more and pay only USD1500 a month.

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