The Retreats
Our psilocybin-assisted retreats offer a safe, legal and supportive environment to experience a psychedelic journey, which can help you experience greater freedom, wholeness and creative flow. The psychedelic used at the retreats is the psilocybin-containing truffle, and the retreats take place in the Netherlands, where psilocybin truffles are legal.
Potential benefits of psychedelics
Psychedelics can shift us out of our everyday perception and help open us up to a larger, mountain-top perspective from which new insights can arise. They can help us make better sense of our past, coming to terms with hardships we’ve faced and understanding how past wounds might be influencing our current life. And they can put us in touch with a deep well of inner resources with which we can begin addressing and transforming patterns we are stuck in. For many, psychedelic journeys are also a first glimpse into ‘the Great Mystery’, and the spiritual dimension of life.
Psychedelics are not enough
Our approach: Open & Deepen
While psychedelics can open us to what is important in life, and steer our course, such experiences alone cannot keep us on track. To deepen the insights gained during a psychedelic journey into a new way of life, we must address what is blocking us from experiencing our full freedom, wholeness and potential. We do so by attending to the various dimensions of our human experience: the relationship with ourselves, with others, with the natural world and the mystery of life. This is the underlying principle woven into all our work and every one of our retreats.
Set & Setting
We take great care to optimise the two key factors determining a psychedelic journey: set and setting. Our retreats are designed to prepare you to let go into a receptive, trusting state of mind (set), in an environment in which you can feel completely safe and supported (setting).
We include exercises and approaches from the Western clinical model, somatic and transpersonal psychology, as well as from ancient wisdom traditions across different cultures and times such as Buddhism and the shamanic lineages of the Americas.
You will:
- Receive 1:1 guidance and support before and after the ceremony from our expert facilitators
- Engage in preparation and integration activities before, during and after the retreat
- Share the journey together with a group of like minded individuals
- Be nurtured and nourished in a beautiful retreat venue, in nature, eating healthy, exquisite food
“Every single thing was perfectly thought out and flowed beautifully. The facilitators were the most beautiful, intelligent, loving, compassionate people. The vegan food was delightful, nourishing, beautiful, every bite tasted like the most special food ever. I could not have dreamed that this retreat would be wonderful from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. It will stay with me for a very long time. I will do all I can do to keep it alive in my body and soul forever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Jennifer, 52 years
What’s included?
PREPARATION SUPPORT
Giving due energy to preparation before the psychedelic journey not only reduces the possibility of anxiety and tension blocking the flow of the experience, it also enhances the probability of an enriched, deeper experience. Ahead of each retreat, you will receive reading material and suggested exercises to support your preparation for the retreat. One week before the retreat you will also have the opportunity to meet your lead facilitator and fellow participants via video call, allowing you to get to know each other and feel safe in the group, as well as ask any burning questions you might have.
On the retreat itself, we offer one-on-one sessions with the facilitators, and individual and group activities to help you feel well prepared and supported, as well as safe and bonded with the group before stepping into the unknown.
INTEGRATION SUPPORT
In many ways, the journey only really begins when the psychedelic effect subsides. In the days after the ceremony, we incorporate solo and group integration activities, and individual one-on-one sessions with the facilitators to give you the opportunity to explore the deeper nuances of your journey. We also offer 3 weeks of support following the retreat – through group video calls as well as suggested exercises – to help you weave the insights from the retreat back into your everyday life.
“The attention to integration was amazing, extremely impactful, and probably the main reason I’d recommend these retreats.” Li, 32 years old
GROUP EXERCISES & GROUP SUPPORT
On the retreat we can safely explore relating to one another in a held and loving space. Tremendous healing comes from being witnessed and accepted as who we are. The group is also a major resource in the integration process. In a society that hasn’t yet incorporated the use of psychedelics and other peak experiences into its fabric, the community of fellow retreat participants plays a central role as allies and companions on this extraordinary journey.
“I learned so much simply from being in the company of fellow participants, facilitators and volunteers. It was so wonderful to feel part of such a supportive community.” Duncan, 35 years old
MEDITATION & CONTEMPLATIVE EXERCISES
Embodiment practices
NATURE CONNECTION
HEALTHY, EXQUISITE FOOD
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
RITUAL AND CEREMONY
MEDITATION & CONTEMPLATIVE EXERCISES
Embodiment practices
NATURE CONNECTION
HEALTHY, EXQUISITE FOOD
CREATIVE EXPRESSION
RITUAL AND CEREMONY
Retreat Types
Our retreats offer an accessible entrypoint into psychedelic and other forms of inner exploration and personal growth work. These retreats introduce you to the foundational pillars of our approach: relationship with self, relationship with others, relationship with nature, relationship with the Mystery.
They are available to all sufficiently mentally and physically healthy individuals, regardless of prior experience of psychedelic substances.
4 DAYS & 5 DAYS
Whether for our 4-day or 5-day retreat, we always begin the first full day with a late afternoon ceremony, meaning you will have had nearly 24 hours to properly land and feel safe, settled and connected to the place and the group. It also gives you space to prepare internally, to come into deeper contact with what is blocking you in your lives, and distill your intention for the ceremony.
On our 4-day retreat, you also have an entire day (and a half) after the psychedelic ceremony dedicated to integration. All our retreats have at least one full integration day, honouring the precious window of time when one is still open and bathing in the ‘afterglow’ of the experience. This is a crucial time to harvest the insights and start weaving them into our way of being.
I was dubious about needing the day after, but it is 100% the right thing to have, almost as important as the ceremony itself. Guy, 42 years
On our 5-day retreats, we dedicate two full days (and a half) to integration, because we believe that integration is really one of the most important keys and we want to support you to make the most of the window of opportunity in the ‘afterglow’ time. This format allows more space for the stillness and quiet that is actually so necessary for integration but that is often lacking in the hectic pace of modern life. It also gives you more time to further unpack and deepen any insights gained from the ceremony, through facilitator support and the various integration exercises on offer, the design of which is informed by the very best of personal and spiritual growth modalities.
The retreat was a wonderful and life-changing experience. The two full days of integration were invaluable. I guess my expectation before the retreat was that the ceremony would be pretty much everything, and the integration days just a nice extra, but it turned out to be the other way round. Ben, 45 years
The Alalaho Journey
Apply
Exploration Call
Book your retreat
Begin the preparation process
Attend the retreat
Embark on integration journey
Apply
Exploration Call
Book your retreat
Begin the preparation process
Attend the retreat
Embark on integration journey
Sample Schedule for a 5 Day Retreat
Day 1: Arrival – Landing
Day 2: Ceremony – Opening
Day 3: Integration 1 – Unpacking
Day 4: Integration 2 – Deepening
Day 5: Leaving – Emerging
Prices
Disclaimer
- Our retreats are for people in good mental and physical health. We do not offer therapeutic or medical treatment.
- Even though the vast majority of our participants have very meaningful and beneficial experiences, there is no guaranteed outcome from participating on a retreat.
- The majority of research indicating the positive effects of psilocybin was done in a clinical setting, which is very different to that of a retreat environment. More research is needed to explore the benefits offered by group psilocybin experiences.
Stay up to date with the latest from Alalaho
JOIN A RETREAT
Submit an application
To join a retreat, first submit an application to the Alalaho retreat programme. This information is essential in helping us support your safety and well-being.
Schedule a complimentary exploration call
After submitting your application, you will be invited to schedule an exploration call.
Book your preferred retreat type and date
If we both decide that a psychedelic journey is the right decision for you at this point in your life, you can then book your preferred retreat type and date.
Receive preparation (and integration) support
Leading up to the retreat, you will receive several emails from us with suggestions for how to prepare. You’ll also receive the dates for the preparation group video call ahead of the retreat and the three integration calls following your experience.
SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
Our application form is designed to help both you and us explore whether a psychedelic journey with us is the right decision for you at this point in your life.
If you do attend a retreat with us, it will also provide us with information that will help us support your individual process in the best possible way, by understanding where you are coming from and what your needs might be before, during, and after a retreat.
Psychedelics can be powerful tools for inner exploration but they also come with risks. It is therefore in your interest to answer the following questions truthfully and thoroughly. By doing this, you help to build the foundation of trust, responsibility, and understanding that makes the retreats successful and safe.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
While there are preliminary studies on psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy showing promising results, there are also cases of symptoms worsening after a psychedelic experience. Alalaho does not provide therapeutic or clinical support and can only safely hold space for participants in good mental and physical health.
Reasons for not being able to participate in our retreats include serious cardiovascular (e.g. recent stroke or heart attack) or neurological issues (e.g. epilepsy or brain trauma), use of antidepressant (e.g. SSRI/TCA), mood stabilising (e.g. lithium) or antipsychotic (e.g. Abilify) medications or severe mental health problems (e.g. psychosis, bipolar disorder, personality disorder).
These conditions and medications pose additional risks, do not combine well with psilocybin-containing truffles and may produce potentially dangerous situations that are beyond the scope of what can be safely managed in a group retreat setting.
We offer a weekly live Q&A session on Zoom, where you can meet one of our team, get a feel for Alalaho and ask whatever question you may have about our retreat program.
You may even meet some other fellow travellers to share the journey with!