Yawanawa Retreat
with Chief Nixiwaka & Family
February 17 - 23, 2025
Join us for a deep connection with the ancestral culture of the Brazilian Amazon with the Yawanawa tribe.
The ancient songs of the Yawanawa are like anthems for humanity, they bring us home to our hearts with so much joy. This is an opportunity to study the Yawanawa spirituality, chants and music.
This is a very special opportunity to be in an intimate container with the spiritual leaders of the Yawanawa people.
Chief Nixiwaka is one of the most important indigenous leader of our time. His wife Puttany and her sister are the first woman in their tradition to work with the ancestral medicines.
This will be a powerful experience bringing the transmission community & family - held by seven of the most incredible healers and musicians of the Yawanawa. We will also be joined by special healers from the Marubo tribe.
THE YAWANAWA PEOPLE
There are approximately 1200 Yawanawa living in the Brazilian state of Acre, in villages along the banks of the Gregório river, where they have made their homes since time immemorial.
The Yawanawa people's first contact with the non-indigenous world happened around the 19th century. It was an intense period of much conflict with the rubber barons and missionaries who invaded their lands and tried to forbid Yawanawa language, culture and spirituality. In the 1980s, chief Biraci Nixiwaka Brazil led his people in the fight for the recognition of their native territories, and the Yawanawa became the first indigenous people to obtain the official rights to their lands in the state of Acre.
The Yawanawa have since then reclaimed their sacred medicines, rituals, song and dance, festivals, games, traditional body painting and adornment, artwork and food, in a profound journey of cultural revival.
THE YAWANAWA IMMERSION
Experience a profound return to WHOLENESS.
A homecoming to your heart.
When you hear the songs of the Yawanawa it feels like you have known them forever, making it easy to sing along and feel the power of our voices united.
Dancing to the rhythms of the drum will bring you to your original joy & innocence.
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2 Nights Sacred Ceremonies
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Yawanawa chant, guitar songs & culture workshops
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Preparation & Integration Practices before, during and post retreat guided by Ixchel Munay co-founder of Yacumama
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Embodiment Sessions Including - Yoga, Meditation & Dance
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Authentic Connection, Partner Exercises, Community
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Optional massages & Healing sessions with the Yawanawa
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Nature immersion in pristine land with river, creek, mountains, ocean views, wildlife - monkeys, toucans, hummingbirds, scarlet macaws.
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6 Nights accommodation and 7 days organic farm to table meals
SCHEDULE
We'll take you on a powerful journey of transformation through sacred ceremony, wisdom circles and embodiment practices. There will also be a balance of spaciousness to connect with nature, reflect, rest and receive optional healing sessions.
Our focus is on creating a nurturing and supportive environment for you to dive deep into your own personal journey of healing and self-discovery while creating a group field of connection and coherence.
You'll leave this retreat feeling fully alive, with a renewed sense of vitality, inspiration and aliveness.
This is a special and unique opportunity to receive the ancestral wisdom of the Amazon with the leaders of the Yawanawa tribe to create lasting positive shifts in your life.
February 17
Arrival between 2:00 and 3:00
Welcome Circle - Sharing about Yawanawa culture, ancestral wisdom from the forest.
Offerings to Spirits of the land at the Grandmother Tree
February 18
Group nature walk to river & waterfalls
Singing Class - learn Yawanawa chants and culture - both the traditional Saitis and with instruments.
Optional massage, rest
Sunset Yin Yoga with Ixchel to Prepare for Ceremony
Ceremony in Evening
February 19
Integration Circle & connection and embodiment practice
Silent time in nature, rest
Optional massage with our therapists or healing sessions with Yawanawa
Yawanawa Storytelling & Culture Workshop
Yawanawa Guitar & Drum Rhythm Workshop
February 20
Morning integration embodiment practice
Silent time in nature, river, creek
Optional massage with our therapists or healing sessions with Yawanawa
Singing Class - learn Yawanawa chants and culture - both the traditional Saitis and with instruments.
Ceremony in Evening
February 21
Blue Clay ritual at creek
Authentic Relating Integration Circle
Optional massage with our therapists or healing sessions with Yawanawa
February 22
Morning integration embodiment practice
Silent time in nature, river, creek
Optional massage with our therapists or healing sessions with Yawanawa
Integration/Closing Circle with Yawanawa
February 23
Integration embodiment & connection practice
Silent time in nature, Optional massage
Departure
PREPARATION & INTEGRATION
Preparation and integration are some of the most important aspects of this experience and Ixchel will be supporting with this to upgrade your experience.
When you say yes, you will receive a package of preparation and integration tools with meditations, embodiment practices, journal prompts, an integration e-book, dietary and lifestyle guidelines.
These are all to prepare us for the ceremony of life so we can be more loving, aware humans in all of our relationships.
We will have a post retreat group integration call on:
April 3rd 5:00-6:30pm CST
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A community is created within the group and if you choose, you can continue to connect with people that may become your friends for life.
I will be forever grateful for my profound experience with the Yawanawa at Yacumama - for the deep healing found in sacred celebration with community.
It felt as if we were embodying the keys to bringing this earth back into balance.
– Courtney Smith
OUR ACCOMODATIONS
We have a variety of accommodations all nestled in nature to connect you with the forest and inspire you with expansive views of the ocean, mountains and jungle. You will likely see blue morpho butterflies, hummingbirds, toucans, scarlet macawas, monkeys and more right from your room.
JUNGLE CABINS
1 - 2 Twin Beds, Wood floors, sliding glass doors. All have forest views, some have ocean views. Ensuite sink & compost toilet, three shared shower options including amazing outdoor ocean view shower.
OCEAN VIEW HEXAGOMES
6 meter luxury ocean view tents with Balinese carved doors, high ceilings, wood floors, wood walls combined with tent walls with big screened windows, en suite sink and compost toilet, three shared shower options including amazing outdoor ocean view shower.
TORTUGA ROOM
Beautiful room with ocean, mountain and forest views, en suite bathroom. 2 twins or one king, desk, and AC.
TORTUGA CASITA
Beautiful casita with ocean, mountain and forest views, en suite bathroom, bathtub overlooking the ocean, 1 queen bed, desk, terrace lounge area, kitchenette.
Wood Balinese cabins with exquisite carvings, two twins or king bed, ensuite bathroom and private outdoor shower overlooking forest.
BALINESE CABINS
2 Twin beds that can be together to form a king bed, additional couch that has a twin mattress for triple option, ensuite sink & compost toilet. Ocean view indoor/outdoor bathtub/shower. Full kitchen. Expansive ocean and mountain views.
LUXE OCEAN VIEW CASITA
Chief Nixiwaka is one of the most relevant indigenous leaders of our time. He has dedicated his life to reclaiming his people’s ancient culture and spirituality. After reconquering the rights over their ancestral territory, Nixiwaka, alongside his family, led the opening of their culture to the outside world. Its main element is the Yawa Festival, which is held annually since 2002 in the village of Nova Esperança (“New Hope”). In the past years he has spent most of his time in the Sacred Village, dedicated to spirituality and healing, receiving teachings from the elders, in order to carry on the Yawanawa legacy. In his few journeys out of his village to represent his people, he’s also visited other spiritual leaders around the world and has partaken in the sharing of many cultural traditions.
Nawashahu is the eldest daughter of Putanny and the chief Nixiwaka Yawanawa. She has been brought up to become a leader. Nawashahu has been very dedicated to their studies of Yawanawa spirituality, dieting with the elders and always seeking to learn more from the leaders of the tribe. Nawashahu is a guardian of this knowledge and a very talented singer, who has accompanied her parents in their work and travels outside the villages since early age.
Peu is one of the most devoted spiritual leaders from the younger generation of the Yawanawa people. He committed to the sacred “samakei” (diet), the Yawanawa’s highest spiritual initiation, for five consecutive years. In this period he received direct teachings from the elders Tata and Yawa, who have recently passed away. His studies with the elders brought exceptional strength to his work with the sacred healing prayers of his ancestry. Today Peu is responsible for preparing and serving the medicines in the Sacred Village. He is also a talented musician, as has traveled to Europe, North America and Asia sharing Yawanawa spirituality.
Hola I'm Ixchel! I’m a cofounder and steward of Yacumama walking in devotion to the beauty way. I’m in service to thriving regenerative culture, to our collective remembering of unity & wholeness. I'm a mother, ceremonialist, community builder, spiritual midwife, facilitator, dancer, musician, entrepreneur, coach, permaculturist and eternal optimist. I am student of the living world, indigenous wisdom and the ancient teachings of yoga. I value authenticity, keeping it real and creating spaces free of judgement where we can feel safe to let go of the masks to experience true intimacy and connection. In 2004 I experienced the most profound homecoming in my first ceremony with Ayahuasca. I got to connect with the part of myself beyond name, beyond time and space that has always been and will always be - free of the ego that was identified with any of my triumphs or failures. The Yawanawa have touched me deeply and I am honored to be in service to this container with my passion for embodiment, preparation and integration.
We are so happy that you are considering joining us for the Yawanawa Immersion at Yacumama!
This will be an experience of a lifetime, a powerful, transformative opportunity to connect with yourself, with the land and the allegria (joy) that the Yawanawa bring.
Please fill out this brief form for more info.
JOIN US
If you have questions and would like to speak to one of us, we’re happy to support.
LOCATION
Yacumama is in Ojochal, a small town near the Pacific Ocean, known for its international fine dining, which is part of the Ballena (whale) Coast.
We are 30-40 minutes south of Dominical and 15-20 minutes south of Uvita, where the Envision Festival has been held for the past ten+ years.
Yacumama is a 3-4 hour drive southwest of the international airport, SJO.
From San Jose or other airports in the country you can also take a 45 minute flight on a small plane or even hire a small private plane to Quepos airport which is about an hour drive from Yacumama.