The Signature Retreat: Teacher Plants

This retreat is for queer, gay, and bisexual men (cis or trans) of any age, body shape, race, and background.

Experience a Transformative Journey with Sacred Plants in the Costa Rican Jungle

Guided by indigenous wisdom and modern therapeutic techniques, our professionally-led bespoke signature retreat is an inner journey into your personal and spiritual growth.

The Sacred Plants Retreat is a unique 7-day retreat crafted for the queer community. Nestled in the majestic landscapes of Costa Rica’s Diamante Valley, this experience is designed in deep reverence to the wisdom of these sacred plants. With skilled and loving guidance, reconnect with your intrinsic wholeness in community and in nature, through a blend of sacred plant work, ritual, immersive encounters with nature, and holistic practices (including yoga, breathwork, dance, and more).

This transformative retreat is meticulously crafted to guide you on a path of rediscovery and reconnection, leading you back to the core of your existence. At the heart of our endeavor lies the profound acknowledgment of interconnectedness – a potent catalyst for healing and growth. Just like the beautiful mycelium. Here, amidst the vibrant energy of the jungle, you will reclaim your innate birthright: a profound, nurturing connection with your authentic self, with others, and with the boundless and inherent queerness of the more than human world.

Built on compassion, trauma-informed care, and understanding, our program is designed to honor the unique journey of each participant, providing a safe and supportive space for exploration, healing, and thriving.
Embark on a carefully curated experience featuring two sacred plant ceremonies, expertly facilitated individual therapeutic preparation and integration sessions, and immersive intercultural healing practices. Engage in somatic practices to reconnect with the wisdom of your physical form, and embrace moments of serenity through contemplative practices.

Nourish your body and spirit with a diet designed to support relating with the sacred plants. Adventure on exhilarating excursions into the embrace of nature that offer opportunities for profound introspection, renewal, and childlike play in a mutual relationship with nature.

Guided by ancestral wisdom and a rich tapestry of contemporary therapeutic modalities emerging from scientific research findings, the signature retreat invites you to embark on a healing journey with the mycelium towards self-discovery and empowerment. Join us and experience the power of radical reconnection – a journey that transcends boundaries, ignites the soul, and encourages a deep sense of joyful thriving.

The Sacred Plant retreat is crafted and co-lead with a facilitator trained in an indigenous lineage of these plants.

As you embark on this journey with sacred plants, there are certain specifications in order to prepare your body, mind, and spirit for the experience. Upon showing interest towards joining us, and passing our in-depth screening, you will receive guidelines to support you in your preparation.

These guidelines will cover:

• A special diet in the two weeks before the experience
• Invitations in bringing awareness to the body and supportive somatic practices
• Invitations towards developing, deepening, and bringing attention to a spiritual practice and suggested readings
• Our passion for creating experiences for the queer community has led us to create retreats that participants report as being one of the most impactful experiences of their lives.

What To Expect

This retreat is a container for queer individuals to come together and explore emotional intimacy with themselves, their community, and with nature. By experiencing these elements we can heal dynamics of shame, validation-seeking, and isolation and loneliness. We will co-create a space that allows us to honor our authentic and deepest needs. Our mission is to address all that you need to thrive as a queer person.

Retreat Programming

Every group and every retreat are unique experiences, just like leaves or snowflakes. We honor and welcome this diversity, while keeping a base that can support a deep and meaningful process.

From the first preparation calls, we will build and sustain a community space of safety, connection, and exploration. The practices and experiences offered will give you tools for lasting meaningful change. These will be achieved through:

Preparation: Building the Foundation (4 weeks – Virtual)

• Physical and mental health screening process
• 1:1 facilitator preparation session and one live group session (90 minutes, to support community building, intention setting, preparation practices)
• Supplementary 1:1 therapeutic coaching is offered if needed
• Access to our preparation exercises and unique list of recommended readings

Signature Retreat: Experience the Magic Together (7 days – In-person)

• 2 sacred plant ceremonies
• Traditional healing practices
• Breathwork
• Meditation and walking meditation
• Authentic movement and embodiment practices
• Group circles
• Nature immersion
• Sound Baths
• Workshops
• Sharing and delving into the queer experience

Integration: Planting the Seeds for Lasting and Meaningful Changes (4 weeks – Virtual)

• 1:1 facilitator integration session
• Three group sessions (to continue fostering community and accountability outside the retreat)
• Integration practices (communicating about your experience, supporting yourself as you integrate back into everyday life)
• Supplementary 1:1 therapeutic coaching is offered if needed

Who is this retreat for?

• This retreat is open to all GBTQ+ men (cis and trans) of all ages, racial backgrounds, body shapes and sizes, neurodiversity, and HIV status – and all levels of practice and experience with yoga, meditation, and sacred plant ceremonies.
• Those seeking a meaningful change in their life
• Those who want to move towards joy and authentic relating
• Those who want to delve deep and benefit from a transformative experience
• Those who want to contribute to an authentic healing space for the queer community
• Those looking to gain experience with plant medicine

What have past retreat participants reported about their sacred plant experiences? 

• Gained new or deeper insights into their lives
• Experienced emotional intimacy in the queer community
• Deepened self-understanding and personal growth
• Experienced deeper resilience
• Accessed an increased sense of well-being and deeper sense of joy
• Explored new boundaries of creativity
• Found a greater sense of purpose and direction
• Found new tools to thrive from minority stress, trauma, and addiction
• Felt supported through a deeper sense of connection to self, others, and nature

What makes the Jungle Gayborhood unique?

• Experiences crafted by queer people for queer people
• Based within the specific phenomenology of the queer experience
• Science-backed, honoring traditions and reviving uniquely queer traditions
• Focused on community building, radical inclusivity and radical acceptance
• Founded in ethics and best practices
• Trauma-informed
• Balancing the human, the spiritual, the scientific, the relational, and the sacred
• Expert and thorough screening process and safety protocol
• Engaged in reciprocity with local indigenous populations
• Engaged in research with partner Universities and Research Institutes

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About the Facilitator

Gabriele Cotronei

Gabriele has studied the human mind for over a decade and has had the honor of serving over 500 clients as a therapist. After working with non-verbal patients, psychoanalytic infant observation at the Centro Studi Martha Harris and the Tavistock Clinic, and his own propaedeutic psychoanalysis, his own process brought him to work with psychedelics. […]

Learn more about Gabriele Cotronei

Categories : All Retreats, Early Bird Discount, Men's GBTQ+ retreats, Sacred Plant Ceremonies