The Team
Former Shamans and Current Retreat Leaders:
Lead Facilitator Shurandy
Shurandy can be described as a heart centred consciousness teacher and plant medicine facilitator. His approach is truly unique as he combines sensitivity, compassion, and broad-spectrum wisdom to provide a playful but practical space for development and spiritual growth.
With roots to the Amazon itself, Shurandy has the ancient knowledge and sacred connection to spirit running through his DNA and this can be felt within his ceremonies. His powerful spiritual connection invites the divine into the ceremonial space, whereas his playful grounded energy creates a secure bubble of safety within which you can explore your inner and outer worlds.
Working with sacred plant medicine for close to 10 years, Shurandy has led hundreds of Ayahuasca, San Pedro, and Psilocybin ceremonies all over Europe, working with thousands of people from all over the world.
Through this special work, Shurandy has learnt the true meaning of unconditional love, acceptance, and forgiveness. This he embodies through his ability to experience the essential oneness continuously present in everyone, no matter who they are and what they think they are. By seeing the Divine in all people, he helps you to connect to that sacred part of yourself empowering true change and healing.
Shurandy not only draws on his experience with plant medicine to help people overcome barriers, blockages, hindrances, and trauma, but his work in the social care sector before he found his true path as a ceremony leader. This has allowed other forms and tools of trauma work to be available to him as he guides people towards an empowered position of healing and consciousness.
“Plant medicine is an extremely powerful tool that raises your state of awareness and consciousness, so you have access to your higher self. This portal puts you in a position where you can be the creator of your own reality and implement real change and healing.’
‘The main difference between working with sacred plant medicine and other more Western approaches to mental health and healing is that you are forced to let go of control within the psychedelic space. When you allow the medicine to take over and completely surrender to this beautiful process, a higher evolved version of yourself, or ‘higher self’, can enter your body and lead you through a deeply profound journey of self-discovery, emotional cleansing, and consciousness expansion.’
‘My role as lead facilitator is to make sure that every person feels completely safe within the space so they can trust the process, which can sometimes be confronting and challenging. With trust, you can surrender. Another aspect is to create a sacred and healing energy field in the ceremony yurt so that divine connection can be made in the most loving way possible.”
Shurandy deeply understands the immense bravery and profundity of working with plant medicine and how different medicines can work synergistically together. He is every time humbled when he greats our guests who have taken this important and often life-changing decision to evolve consciously.
“This profound work has the ability to release patterns that do not serve us”, he says, “but these patterns do not only affect us but the people around us and our larger networks to some degree or another. Like ripples on a still lake, the healing you do for yourself is but the first ripple, and as those ripples multiply and expand so does the effects of your healing. Extending beyond our immediate field of vision.”
Shurandy is a truly unique Maestro of Plant Medicine and structures his retreats to include individual and social dynamics, as well as consciousness work and integration tools to make sure you receive the most out of your psychedelic experience. Invest in yourself and book your spot today!
Book your spot now!
Lead Facilitator René
René, a seasoned expert in the realm of plant medicine ceremonies, is a proud co-founder of the Acsauhaya Retreat Center. With over a decade of experience in holding space for transformative psychedelic experiences, René has dedicated his life to facilitating profound personal growth and healing for thousands of participants from around the world.
As a founding member of Acsauhaya and the visionary behind two other plant medicine retreat centres in the Netherlands, René has successfully established and managed five unique locations in the past that cater to the diverse needs of seekers of healing and meaning. Throughout his journey, René has worked closely with indigenous shamans as well as practitioners from Western plant medicine traditions, creating bridges between cultures and fostering a rich exchange of knowledge and wisdom.
During ceremonies, René is known for his unwavering presence, calmness, and confidence. His natural gift for holding space allows the plant medicines to work their magic, while participants can fully surrender and feel secure under his guidance. René’s approach is rooted in a deep sense of compassion for all, seamlessly blending his playful curiosity and boundless energy with genuine care for those who embark on the spiritual path.
For many, René is not just a healer but also a true friend, committed to supporting and guiding them every step of the way. René’s mission is to create a nurturing and empowering environment where people from all walks of life can connect with their inner selves, experience profound transformation, and embrace the power of plant medicine.
Lead Facilitator Joe
Joe is a gentle and loving plant medicine facilitator, who has worked with sacred plant medicines for over 5 years. His own profound inner journeys provided a path of healing and transformation in his life. This process inspired him to shift his focus to be of service, so that other beings have an opportunity to be in touch with their inner core and this magical life.
His calming energy provides an atmosphere of trust and acceptance where one can truly flourish. With his work Joe supports those seeking personal development, inner connection and profound transformation. His warm presence creates a loving space that nurtures the spirit and encourages growth.
Joe understands the importance of both preparation and integration, skilfully guiding individuals through these essential steps in their journeys by sharing his knowledge and experience. Joe has already facilitated hundreds of individuals on their transformative paths and invites all those seeking true healing to attend one of his wonderful retreats.
If you’re seeking a guiding light for your personal journey, Joe can be that beacon with his gentle nature open heart. Embrace the calming energy and loving atmosphere he provides, surrounded by his unwavering support.
“It’s a very brave decision to join a ceremony and to dive deep into your inner self. My intention is to create a safe and loving atmosphere, so that every beautiful person is able to let go, to surrender and to trust the process. I feel very honoured to be part of each ceremony and I feel a deep respect for the souls who are willing to start this inner adventure.”
Lead Facilitator Michał
Michał, a seasoned retreat facilitator, offers invaluable guidance and expertise in transformative journeys. With extensive experience in facilitating psychedelic experiences, he collaborates with subject-matter experts, physicians, and therapists to establish secure spaces for profound exploration.
In ceremonial settings, Michał fosters an environment where participants can surrender and trust the healing and transformative process. He skillfully creates a secure container, allowing the enchantment of sacred entheogenic medicines to unfold gracefully under his guidance.
Lead Facilitator Sofia
Meet Sofia, your dedicated guide and facilitator for this remarkable journey. With years of facilitating psychedelic retreats working with various plant medicines, collaborating with both indigenous shamans and western retreat leaders, Sofia brings a wealth of knowledge and a profound respect for these sacred practices.
Sofia’s mission is to cultivate a nurturing and safe environment that empowers you to delve into the profound depths of this medicine and establish a connection with your inner self. With the utmost care and expertise, she will lead you through this transformative experience, assisting you in unlocking your full potential and finding the healing you seek. In addition to her guiding role in Psilocybin retreats, Sofia also conducts cacao ceremonies, facilitates sacred rage release and trauma release sessions, and offers energy healing.
Embark on this journey of self-discovery, empowerment, and personal growth alongside Sofia. Together, you will navigate the realms of consciousness and emerge from this experience stronger, wiser, and more deeply connected to your authentic self.
Lead Facilitator Magda
Magda is a certified psychedelic practitioner, known for her ability to bridge spirituality with practical life to help others connect with their authentic selves. With empathy, attentive listening, and genuine care, she guides individuals in cultivating trust as a pathway to inner wisdom.
Her journey has taken her around the world, led by heart and intuition, to find teachers and mentors who have shaped her experiential learning and transformation. Magda has explored mindfulness, meditation, Reiki, yoga Nidra, tarot, and various wisdom traditions, eventually discovering a passion for psychedelics that opened doors to profound understanding, compassion, and love.
With extensive experience facilitating group ceremonies at Acsauhaya, Rejuvyn the Synthesis Institute and other prominent centers, along with her private practice, Magda brings a wealth of knowledge and depth to her work. She is also a certified life, spiritual, and relationships coach, integrating these skills seamlessly into her psychedelic practice. Trained in psychosomatics, she holds a deep respect for the body’s wisdom and incorporates this insight into her approach.
For Magda, everyday life and relationships are continuous sources of growth and learning, adding layers to her own journey. Living in Amsterdam, she remains dedicated to her calling with a heart full of compassion and commitment.
Maestro Donaldo Antonio Roque Cumapa (Reshin Nika)
RESHIN NIKA is the Shipibo name of Donaldo Antonio Roque Cumapa, Educator and Maestro Ayahuasquero who lives in the native community of Santa Clara in Yarinacocha, Pucallpa, region of Ucayali, Peru. He is 53 years old, and belongs to the Shipibo-Conibo ethnic group. His family has been traditionally working with Natural Medicine for generations.
When he was 15 years old he started his studies about the medicinal use of sacred plants. He started with medicinal herbs, and continued with plants of power. His first teacher and maestro was his grandfather, Birri Mano , who gave him his shipibo name: Reshin Nika.
Donaldo explains about his initiation: “When you are strong in spirit, the spirits choose you to teach, and so I had to pass through intense initiation processes, which required concentration and strong discipline, to learn how to work with medicinal plants, before starting to help people”.
Donaldo was studying with his Mentor about the world of Ayahuasca and the healing processes with medicinal plants.
Donaldo started his healing path working mainly with babies and children. After that, he assisted his grandfather in Ayahuasca ceremonies, and gained more experience, which eventually led him to lead his own Ayahuasca ceremonies with individual patients and big groups.
His guides his ceremonies using original Icaros (“Songs for the Soul”), that he learned from the plants themselves. These Icaros have profound healing powers and are sang in the magical Shipibo language”.
Nowadays, Reshin Nika works leading Ayahuasca ceremonies together with his daughter Isarina, to whom he is sharing all his knowledge, so she can also practice and help other people who seek help to heal themselves.
Donaldo says: “We want to be a bridge of help for the ones who look for an alternative of natural healing; the ones who believe in healing with medicinal plants. We are open to assist them, and at the same time, to share between us. We are souls living an earthly experience so to transcend into a new consciousness. My blessings from the depths of my heart, RESHIN NIKA”.
Maestro Abel Faustino Fernandez Garcia
Maestro Abel Faustino Fernandez Garcia was born in 1943, in the native community of Santa Clara, district of Tahuania, Region of Ucayali in Peru, within the ethnic group Shipibo-Conibo. He is currently 76 years old and has over 50 years of experience as Ayahuasquero and Vegetalista, healing people with traditional (plant) medicine.
Maestro Abel’s family has been traditionally working with the master plant Ayahuasca for generations. His roots and family tree are full of healers and Maestros Curanderos. Maestro Abel himself started pursuing this path from his early twenties. His teachings have been passed from generation to generation. At the age of 23 he led his first ayahuasca ceremony.
Currently Maestro Abel lives deep in the Amazon rainforest, that borders with Brazil, in the community of Tupac Amaru (Alto Ucayali), whose population belongs to the ethnic group Shipibo-Conibo, with a great tradition of healers. Here, Maestro Abel is one of the main Maestros, leading ayahuasca ceremonies for both indigenous and non- indigenous communities. All his life he has basically worked with Ayahuasca in the regions of Ucayali and Lima in Peru. Throughout his life as a master shaman, he has treated thousands of patients and grew out to be a well-known and respected Maestro.
Maestro Abel’s work is fully devoted to the master plant Ayahuasca. He is known as a humble, sincere and knowledgeable shaman. When he leads ceremonies, he heals people with the usage of his Icaros – through these authentic songs and his voice he brings profound healing to the people. He “receives” his Icaros directly from the spirit of the plant and sings them in the mysterious Shipibo language. Maestro Abel doesn’t speak Spanish, he only speaks the Shipibo-Conibo language.
Maestro Abel will guide the ceremonies at Acsauhaya with one of his students, Felipe Sanchez, also born in Ucayali and part of the Shipibo-Conibo tribe. Felipe also leads ayahuasca ceremonies with his wife in Lima, Peru. This is the first time that Maestro Abel travels abroad, to lead Ayahuasca ceremonies in a different country. From his home in the Amazon, it takes 18 hours on a “fast” river boat to reach Pucallpa! He feels honored to bring his healing work to another part of the world.
Maestro Elias Rengifo Pizango
Elias Rengifo Pizango, Maestro Ayahuasquero from Peru belongs to the ethnic group Shipibo Conibo and lives in Pucallpa. He comes from a strong lineage of maestros. He followed the footsteps of his father, maestro Don Nicanor Rengifo Bautista. His name in Shipibo is PANSHIN SHEKA.
He has over 23 years of experience, as an ayahuasca maestro, leading ayahuasca ceremonies throughout Peru. When doing ceremonies in the Imperial City of Cusco,he received the energy of his ancestors, the powerful Incas, and where he received the flag of 7 colors of the powerful Kingdom of Tawantinsuyo.
His father, Don Nicanor Rengifo Bautista was his teacher, who worked very hard and gained much respect for his work as a healer among the Shipibo Conibo community. Elias has a lot of of experience with participants coming from abroad. Spiritual seekers are coming from all over the world to Peru to do deep inner work with him. To date he receives his particpants in Pucallpa and Cusco.
Elias receives his Icaros during the ceremonies, when he is in “mareacion” thanks to the connection with the medicinal sacred plants. Elias is a Maestro Ayahuasquero that loves his work, and dedicates his life to this important work, with respect and humility. He is thankful to receive the gift of life, and feel honored that the spirit of ayahuasca is channeled through him, healing people from all over the world.
His wife, Martina , is a curandera as well and she is joining him and supporting him in the ayahuasca ceremonies, bringing in a gentle, loving feminine energy to the ceremonies.
Maestra Doña Asencia Sánchez Canayo
Born on the 20th October of 1948, in the native community of Puerto Nuevo, within the ethnic group Shipibo-Conibo , in the Amazon region of Ucayali, Peru. She has 30 years of experience carrying out Ayahuasca ceremonias, and currently she is 70 years old. Her speciality is Ayahuasca. Doña Asencia leads Ayahuasca ceremonies at her own center located in the jungle few hours away from the city of Pucallpa, in Ucayali: the Healing Center Wasan Yaka.
She has the ability to immerse us in the spiritual world, with diets, the Master Plant Ayahuasca and the wonderful initiation into the world of the jungle and the Shipibo-Conibo culture, where she comes from, where she belongs. Doña Asencia is named in different ways, Shaman, Chamana, Naturalist doctor, wise senior lady of the Amazon jungle, grandmother Asencia, and so on. She doesn’t speak Spanish, she speaks the language from where she comes from: Shipibo-Conibo. Her companion and translator who helps with the Spanish is Santos Muñoz Sánchez.
Since she was a little girl she was instructed to be a Shaman, “like the original ones” says Doña Asencia. She is also a midwife (doula), and since her early years she used to combine her skills in crafts-making with midwifery. In the jungle where she was born and she grew, from the age of 8 years she was prepared to do what she does. In those times there were no roads, neither hospitals nor health centers – so what could we do, says Doña Asencia? “We had to learn. From generation to generation. Learn all the “secrets” of the plants that the spirit gives us as a gift for all that we need.”
Doña Asencia works with Medicinal Plants, she has infinities of healing methods both acting in the physical and spiritual levels, and her knowledge was acquired from Generation to Generation. When she was a baby she suffered from a severe illness, and was miraculously healed. the Spirits of the Jungle where the ones that healed her, Doña Asencia says.
Her Godmather´s name was Wasanyaka – and she gave her name to Asencia. Asencia´s current name in the language of Shipibo is Wasanyaka (means “Bird of fire”.) Her father and mother were doctors, and used to work with the medicine Ayahuasca, as well as Her grandfather and grandmother. As a little girl, Asencia was watching carefully how they would cook and prepare the Ayahuasca. At the age of 15 years old, she started to prepare the medicine herself, and after that started to participate in ceremonies of healing with Ayahuasca.
in all of her practices, Doña Asencia sings and invokes the power of the jungle to heal, the power of Mother Earth (Pachamama) to embrace, and to deliver infinite, unconditional love. In the Ayahuasca ceremonies her songs, her Icaros, bring us closer to the divine. She makes us feel like children with her Icaros, and brings us back to the innocence of our inner child. Doña Asencia is widely known in Peru for her wisdom and knowledge. She has participated and participates actively in women gatherings, women circles, festivals and events of medicine-music in Lima and Cusco, and has traveled abroad within South America, to Argentina, for events and women gatherings in 2010 and 2014.
FB page of Asencia – CENTER OF ASENCIA: Centro de Sanacion Wasan Yaka
Ronald Rivera
Ronald Rivera Cachique, born on 27 October 1967, is a well-known Ayahuasca Maestro from Pucallpa, the capital of the Amazon region of Ucayali, Peru. He is highly experienced, gentle, caring, and deeply dedicated to healing. He leads ayahuasca and tobacco ceremonies at his own center, “Ayahuasca Sabiduria”, in the Amazonian rainforest in Pucallpa (Peru), as well as in several other countries in South America.
Ronald studied philosophy at La Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marco (a State University in Lima, Peru). These roots in philosophy, turned out to be a great foundation for his work as an Ayahuasca Maestro. He eventually decided to fully dedicate his life to working with this sacred plant medicine. He has now 23 years of experience as ayahuasquero.
Ronald grows his own organic ayahuasca plants and harvests them in a sustainable manner. His brew is prepared only from the Chacruna bush and the Ayahuasca vine (Banasteriopsis Caapi). There are no additives in his brew. During the ceremony, he sings his own icaros, which he receives from the plants.
Ronald was featured by the documentary maker Seti Gershberg (thepathofthesun.com) and has been interviewed in several other occasions about Ayahuasca throughout the years.
Ronald is also active as a traditional Maestro Ayahuasquero in the “Instituto Nimairama”, an institute of transcultural health and traditional medicines, dedicated to integrating healthcare, sacred plant medicine and the knowledge and wisdom of native and indigenous shamanism.
He also wrote two books about Ayahuasca: “Ayahuasca de la Selva su Espíritu” and “Arte con Ayahuasca” and he is now writing the third one!
“I am a person who is full time devoted to ayahuasca. I have a center 30 kilometers from Pucallpa, where I receive people to do sessions. The meaning of my existence is to be ayahuasquero. Moreover, and that differentiates me from other ayahuasqueros, because of my education in philosophy, I have this call to share something, to inform and explain what we are talking about. And I chose this specialty: art, that’s why I work on this project called “Art with Ayahuasca”, but the truth is that I feel so energetic that I will open myself to other areas later.”
What is the power of Ayahuasca?“Ayahuasca has the virtue of making you think things that you would never think of in an ordinary state of consciousness. Ayahuasca, allows you an extraordinary state of consciousness that is unparalleled with the ordinary state of being. They are two qualitatively different levels of consciousness.”
What is required to benefit the most out of an Ayahuasca ceremony?“A session with ayahuasca is something, it requires a lot of dedication, it is not something that can be done one day and is something else the next day. The people who come to my center are not tourists, they are people from abroad who come exclusively to the jungle to die with the plant. The purpose of the trip is not fun, but healing.
Ayahuasca helps us to be authentic people. The ayahuasca, makes us clear what the meaning of our existence is.
There are many people who pretend to be healthy, but deep down their lives have no meaning. Initiation in the spiritual world with ayahuasca promotes a way of life that people realize in all areas of their lives. Ayahuasca, forms a new type of person. An evolved and superior man.”
Support Team/Guides
Our support team has three main goals: to make sure you are physically safe and comfortable, to make sure you feel emotionally safe and welcomed to surrender to the medicine, and to support the integration of your journeys. All our staff members have personal experience with ayahuasca healing and are deeply committed to self-awakening. They have been through the challenges and difficulties of many years of deep healing. From this experience they can hold space for you and offer you authentic compassion, loving kindness, empathy and a genuine willingness to help you.
Our support team members regard it as a privilege to guide and support you when you do your deep inner work with us and treat you how they (would have) liked to be treated during their own healing process.
Attending an ayahuasca ceremony is an extremely exciting event for most people. You set out on the path to meet unknown people in an unfamiliar environment, and so it is extremely important that you feel heard, welcomed and accepted.
Besides, working with ayahuasca can be very confronting and requires the willingness to live through emotional and physical pain when needed, for the higher cause of releasing your internal blockages. Acsauhaya’s support team is there to remind you of your courage and determination in these vulnerable, difficult moments. We will remind you of your inner strength, wisdom, and ability to let go and trust the medicine.
Acsauhaya’s commitment stretches beyond the dates of the retreat; it begins with medical and psychological screening during the booking procedure and continues after the retreat through our integration support. Your well-being and safety are paramount to us! We are constantly working on providing a safe and comfortable environment for you to get the most out of your ayahuasca healing experience with us.
Besides the support team and the integration guidance that will be present at the retreat, behind the scenes there’s a network of affiliated therapists (psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors, facilitators of breath work and body work, etc.) that are there for you as well.
Acsauhaya’s support team is there to help you finetune and focus your intentions before the ceremonies, to hold safe space that will allow you to surrender completely to the medicine during the ceremonies, and to support the integration of your “newly upgraded self” after the ceremony. If you want to read more about the Retreat Support Program, click here.
Volunteers
There is a dedicated team of volunteers active behind the scenes of Acsauhaya. Without them, we would never be able to manifest such a big “movement”/community. We are eternally grateful for everyone that contributes to this project in any way possible.
If you possess useful skills and would like to contribute as well in any form or shape, we would like to hear from you.
