Reconnect. Recalibrate.
Return sharper.

You can choose to sit out any ceremony or practice on any day, for any reason, with no pressure to participate. The itinerary describes what's on offer, not a requirement — you're in control of your own experience throughout.

An intention is simply a purpose you set for yourself, and it's what keeps you anchored during a ceremony. Getting clear on it beforehand focuses the mind and makes the work that follows more useful.

In the week before you travel, we recommend:

• A short daily meditation, even if you don't normally practice — use it to sit with your intention rather than to empty your head
• As much time outdoors as you can manage
• A media fast — no television, films, news or social feeds. This is the part founders find hardest and value most
• Abstaining from sex for the seven days before the ceremonies, and the seven days after. Intention, focus and sensitivity all sharpen with it

The MAO-inhibiting effect of the medicine requires a diet beforehand: at least four days in advance, and ideally starting a week before the retreat. The diet is entirely without meat. Meals in Colombia are provided and prepared accordingly — the part that's on you is the week before you fly.

A few days on soups, salads, cooked vegetables and other light, easily digested food is the best preparation and leaves you far more receptive. Keep it vegetarian and, if you can, organic: no sugar, no citrus, nothing spicy, no garlic, no onion, minimal salt, and modest portions.

Don't eat in the four to five hours before a ceremony — but don't arrive starving either. The aim is balance: not too much, not too heavy, and not too little.

Alongside the vegetarian diet, these are best avoided in the days before the ceremonies. They won't put you in danger, but they reliably make the experience harder on the body:

• Processed dairy — yoghurt, sour cream, buttermilk
• Aged, mature or unpasteurised cheese and farmer's cheese (cottage cheese and young cheese are fine)
• Dried and fermented sausage — salami, pepperoni, corned beef, liver
• Meat, fish and eggs that aren't fresh
• Salted pickled herring and dried fish
• Meat extracts
• Yeast products such as Marmite (bread is fine)
• Sauerkraut
• Figs, bananas, pineapple, avocado, raisins, plums and raspberries
• Peanuts and other nuts
• Fava beans, snow peas, soy beans, lentils
• Soy sauce
• LSA — morning glory and Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds
• MDA-related herbs — sweet flag and nutmeg
• Chocolate
• Caffeine — coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks
• Guarana
• Ginseng
• St John's wort
• Nasal sprays such as Vicks Sinex, Prevalin or Otrivin
• Any other MAO-inhibiting product

The program includes jungle treks of up to four hours and travel across varied, sometimes remote terrain. Come in reasonably good physical condition; let us know in advance about any physical limitations so we can plan accordingly.

Comprehensive travel health insurance covering wilderness activities and emergency medical evacuation is required for participation.

If you currently take medication or any other substance that shouldn't be combined with this work, discuss with your doctor whether it is safe to stop before, during and after the ceremonies, how far in advance to stop, and how best to taper. Never discontinue medication without your doctor's approval. We cannot be held liable for decisions you make about taking or not taking your medication.

Every participant completes a Ceremony Agreement as part of their application. Please answer all of it honestly and in full, and tell us about any medical condition not covered by the questions — we can't be held responsible for problems arising from incomplete or inaccurate answers, and without a completed form you can't take part.