At The Buena Vida, we believe the most profound healing available to a human being is also the most underutilized.
Since 2018, we have guided over 2,000 people through structured, legally grounded plant medicine retreats in Joshua Tree, California and Sayulita, Mexico. What we have built over seven years is not a wellness offering. It is a container — carefully designed, rigorously screened, and held by people who have done this work longer than almost anyone in the world.
We honor the sacred traditions that surround this medicine. Ceremony, intention, and the wisdom of Indigenous practice are woven into everything we do. And we bring to that foundation a level of professional structure, clinical rigor, and trauma-aware facilitation that sets this work apart.
This is where the ancient and the modern meet. Where healing is not just felt — but held, integrated, and built to last.
Most people who find us have already tried other paths.
Therapy. Coaching. Meditation. Medication. Personal development. They have done real work and hit a real wall — a layer that conventional approaches cannot reach.
Plant medicine, held inside a properly designed container, can reach that layer.
Not because the experience is magical. Because the preparation, the screening, the ceremony, and the integration — when built correctly — create conditions for change that nothing else produces.
This is not a healing vacation. It is some of the most important work you will ever do. And it requires the right setting, the right people, and the right guidance to be safe and transformative.
That is what The Buena Vida was built to provide.
We respect your privacy.
Amanda’s goal as a Psychedelic Leader & Guide is to bring warm, loving service to humanity.
She has spent eight years building one of the longest-running and most trusted psilocybin retreat organizations in the world.
She has guided over 2,000 participants through ceremony — more than almost any other facilitator working in this space. Her work is not built from theory or curriculum. It was built inside thousands of hours of real ceremony, watching what actually creates lasting change and what doesn’t.
Amanda brings a rare combination of deep ceremonial knowledge, trauma-aware facilitation, and somatic preparation to every retreat she leads. She has trained over 120 facilitators and continues to lead every Buena Vida retreat personally.
Her approach is warm, grounded, and direct. She has a gift for holding the most difficult moments in ceremony with steadiness and care — and for bringing humor and humanity to even the deepest work.
She splits her time between Austin, TX, Joshua Tree, California and Mexico, where The Buena Vida operates year-round.
Wellness Directors. Workshop Design. Ceremony leadership
The Buena Vida is guided by an all-female facilitation team — medicine women who have supported over 2,000 participants across seven years of immersive retreat work.
Sarah McCunn and Autumn Flory serve as Wellness Directors and ceremony leaders. Their combined expertise spans breathwork, meditation, somatic facilitation, and holistic wellness practices drawn from traditions across the world. They design and lead workshops, hold ceremony space, and bring a depth of care and presence that shapes every retreat they are part of.
For every 10 to 15 guests, a dedicated support team of 4 to 5 leaders is handpicked by Amanda. All staff are trained in harm reduction and hold certifications across yoga, hypnotherapy, nutrition, and somatic practice. The team rotates among 10 experienced leaders throughout the year — all aligned with The Buena Vida’s values and standards.
Dr. Rayyan Zafar — Imperial College London Researcher studying psychedelic-assisted treatments for addiction and compulsive behavior. His work informs how preparation and integration influence the durability of altered-state experiences — shaping how Buena Vida structures the arc before and after ceremony.
Dr. Rosalind McAlpine — University College London Developer of the Psychedelic Preparedness Scale and researcher studying psychological readiness and outcome tracking in psychedelic therapy. Her work directly informs Buena Vida’s participant screening process and how we measure meaningful change over time.
Ceremony is the heart of this work. And it is also the most misunderstood part.
The ceremony itself is not where the transformation happens. It is where something is opened. What determines whether that opening becomes lasting change is everything around it — the preparation that precedes it, the quality of facilitation inside it, and the integration that follows.
Every Buena Vida ceremony is held inside a thoughtfully designed container. Our ceremonies draw on the spiritual traditions of the Camino Rojo and Indigenous wisdom — honoring the land, the medicine, and the lineage of healers who came before us. Sacred song, sound, and ritual are woven into every experience.
Ceremonies last 3 to 5 hours. A 1 to 4 facilitator-to-guest ratio ensures that every participant is seen, supported, and safe throughout.
Ceremonies are led by experienced medicine people with deep knowledge of plant medicine. They will begin by preparation, dosing, and making your sacred mushroom tea.
We’ll sit together in a sacred space, each in our own comfortable spot, allowing for personal journeys while feeling the group’s safety and unity.
The medicine will be taken respectfully as ginger and lemon mushroom tea, with intentions set for learning and growth. Once we’ve taken the medicine, the curandera will sing traditional songs to invoke the healing power of the fungi.
Once the ceremony leader senses the presence of the fungi, she’ll guide us inward to explore our own inner landscape. The medicine woman and her assistants closely monitor everyone to ensure safety, offering individual healings through song, sound, floral, and energy work. Ceremonies typically last 3-5 hours.
If you need fresh air or want to walk in nature, you can ask a facilitator to leave the temple, but you must stay within view at all times.
As the night continues, there may come a time in your journey where you feel the desire to talk, laugh or express. We will have a separate area (close by) so that those who wish to talk will not disturb others still in silence or enjoying the music.
We sit comfortably through our own individual journeys as the fungi medicine guides us through the work we must do. We are supported by the shaman, the curandera, her music, her energetic offerings and guidance throughout the ceremony. You will feel safe and held throughout the experience.
In closing, the candles will be lit once again as we are slowly invited back into the space. Fresh fruit will be brought out as we re-adjust to the light and waking consciousness.
During dinner together after, we will be able to calmly reintegrate back into the space with the help and guidance of facilitators on site until each and every guest is back to the ground!
Below you’ll find an overall picture of our Daily Schedule for our 7-Day Retreats. 5-Day retreats are similar, yet have 2 ceremonies.
