Frequently Asked Questions

The Organization

What is Paititi Institute?

Paititi Institute is a nonprofit organization founded in 2010 and dedicated to protecting and revitalizing the intrinsic relationship between biological and cultural diversity. Working in collaboration with Indigenous communities of the Peruvian Amazon and Andes, Paititi supports ancestral education and cultural preservation, healthcare, ecological stewardship, regenerative initiatives and intercultural exchange.

The Institute also protects a 1,516-hectare biocultural reserve in the Mapacho Valley of Cusco, where the high Andes descend toward the Amazonian cloud forest. Paititi’s retreats, courses and educational programs are part of this larger nonprofit mission rather than a separate business alongside it.

Is Paititi a registered nonprofit, and is my donation tax-deductible?

Paititi Institute is a registered Peruvian nonprofit organization (ONGD) and is registered with Peru’s Agency for International Cooperation (APCI).

In the United States, Paititi Institute operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Empowerment Works, Inc., a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations made through this fiscal sponsorship are tax-deductible in the United States as permitted by law.

Where does the money go?

Paititi Institute’s retreats, courses and educational programs help sustain its larger nonprofit mission, including stewardship and guardianship of the Paititi Biocultural Reserve, Indigenous education and cultural preservation, community initiatives, intercultural exchanges, personnel and organizational infrastructure, regenerative projects, and the documentation and practical preservation of ancestral wisdom.

Participation is therefore rooted in reciprocity: the same programs through which people receive these teachings also help sustain the communities, traditions and landscapes from which this work has grown.

Why does Paititi offer retreats and courses if it is a nonprofit?

Paititi’s retreats, courses and educational programs are mission-aligned activities of the Institute rather than a separate commercial enterprise. They create opportunities for experiential education, personal transformation and intercultural exchange while generating resources that help sustain Paititi’s nonprofit work in conservation, Indigenous education, community initiatives and the preservation and practical transmission of ancestral wisdom.

Can I give to a specific initiative?

Yes. Paititi maintains dedicated fundraising initiatives through which donors can support specific areas of the work, including Indigenous ancestral education, biocultural conservation, intercultural initiatives and emergency or community needs.

Current initiatives and their individual donation options can be found through the Support section of the Paititi Institute website.

Retreats

Where do the retreats take place?

Paititi’s principal immersive retreats currently take place in the Peruvian Amazon near Iquitos, in a rainforest setting reached by boat. From the New Year, the Institute intends to hold retreats in the Andes near Cusco as well, and at other locations in Peru and further afield.

The Institute also offers workshops, talks and educational events internationally, as well as occasional pilgrimage and intercultural programs in other parts of the world. Current dates and locations are listed on the retreats and events page.

What actually happens during the 16-day Embodying True Nature Immersion?

The 16-day Embodying True Nature Immersion is Paititi’s most comprehensive retreat process. Rather than being a collection of separate workshops or ceremonies, the immersion unfolds progressively through preparation, experiential practice, ceremonial work, self-inquiry, integration and embodiment.

The process brings together Remembrance practice; Amazonian & Tibetan-Based Primordial Breathwork; Amazonian DreamWork integrated with Jungian and transpersonal approaches; Symptomatic Dance and Sacred Geometry; Qigong and the Andean Art of Being; meditation; movement; creative expression; self-inquiry; integration practices; and ceremonial work within the Amazonian and Andean plant lineages of Ayahuasca, Huachuma (San Pedro) and Coca.

Periods of intensive inner work are balanced with integration, rest and time in relationship with the rainforest. The emphasis is not simply on having extraordinary experiences, but on how insight and recognition become embodied within our relationships, choices, work and everyday responsibilities after the retreat is over.

Which plant traditions do you work with?

Paititi’s retreats may work with three principal plant lineages: Ayahuasca from the Amazon, and Huachuma (San Pedro) and Coca from the Andes.

Each is approached within its own ancestral, cultural and cosmological context rather than as an isolated substance or experience. Within the Indigenous traditions from which these practices come, relationship with plants belongs to a much larger process involving relationship with nature, community, cosmovision, initiation, ancestral responsibility and integration into everyday life.

Is ayahuasca legal in Peru?

Yes. Ayahuasca is legal in Peru, where its traditional use has deep roots among Indigenous peoples of the Amazon. In 2008, Peru formally recognized the traditional knowledge and uses of ayahuasca practiced by Amazonian Indigenous communities as Cultural Patrimony of the Nation.

At Paititi Institute, our work with Ayahuasca takes place within the context of these traditional Indigenous lineages and is facilitated within a carefully held retreat container that includes preparation, screening, experienced facilitation and integration.

What does a retreat cost, and what is included?

Pricing varies by program and is listed on each retreat page. For the 16-day Amazon immersion, the retreat fee includes rainforest accommodation, meals appropriate to the retreat process, the complete facilitated program, preparation guidance and lifelong access to the self-paced Your Evolutionary Blueprint course.

Travel to and from the retreat, along with any other expenses not included in the program fee, is identified in the individual retreat information and registration materials. Current payment and cancellation terms are provided during registration so participants can review them before booking.

How do I join?

Every retreat requires an application and health screening before participation is confirmed. Registration and booking are completed through the individual program page.

The application process also gives prospective participants an opportunity to ask questions and determine whether a particular retreat is appropriate for them.

Suitability and Safety

Is this therapy or medical treatment?

No. Paititi Institute’s retreats and practices are not psychotherapy or medical treatment and are not intended to replace licensed mental-health or medical care.

Who should not attend? What conditions or medications may prevent someone from participating?

Every application is reviewed individually before acceptance. The screening process asks participants to disclose relevant medical and psychological history, current medications and other circumstances that may affect their suitability for the retreat and its practices.

Because individual circumstances differ, acceptance is not determined solely by a generalized list of contraindications published online. Applicants may be asked for additional information or appropriate medical clearance when necessary. Paititi reserves the right to decline participation when the retreat or any of its practices are not considered appropriate for an applicant’s circumstances.

The purpose of screening is both participant safety and the wellbeing of the retreat group as a whole, and applicants are asked to provide complete and accurate information during this process.

Other Ways to Participate

Do I have to travel to Peru?

No. Paititi offers several ways to engage with the work outside of its retreats in Peru, including self-paced online courses, Individual Mentorship and Dreamwork, Distance Healing, and in-person workshops, talks and educational events offered at different locations throughout the year.

What are the online courses?

Paititi currently offers four self-paced educational pathways: Your Evolutionary Blueprint; Primordial Breathwork; Alchemy of Immortality Qigong – Andean Art of Being; and the Practical Alchemy Series, which accompanies Beyond Ayahuasca.

Each course has its own page describing the practices, curriculum and enrollment options.

Indigenous Collaboration and Initiatives

Who are the Yahua and the Q’ero, and what is Paititi’s relationship with them?

The Yahua are an Indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon, while the Q’ero are an Indigenous people of the high Andes whose communities have maintained distinctive cultural, spiritual and ecological traditions across generations.

Paititi’s relationships with the Yahua and Q’ero have developed through long-term personal relationships, reciprocal exchange and collaboration with elders, families and community members. Paititi does not seek to represent these peoples or determine what aspects of their traditions should be preserved. Our role is to support conditions in which elders and younger generations can strengthen the transmission of their own languages, ecological knowledge, stories, practices and ways of life according to their communities’ priorities.

The Ancestral School initiatives grow from these relationships, with their cultural content and direction rooted in the communities themselves. Paititi supports the infrastructure, resources and intercultural bridges that can help this transmission continue while respecting the autonomy and living nature of each tradition.

What is the Paititi Biocultural Reserve?

The Paititi Biocultural Reserve encompasses 1,516 hectares in the Mapacho Valley of the Cusco region of Peru, where the high Andes descend toward cloud forest and the Amazonian watershed.

The reserve extends across several ecological elevations and protects forests, watersheds, springs, wildlife habitat, archaeological heritage and landscapes connected to living Indigenous cultures. Its purpose reflects Paititi’s understanding that biological and cultural diversity cannot ultimately be separated: protecting a landscape also means protecting the relationships, knowledge and ways of life through which human beings have participated in that landscape across generations.