What you seek is seeking you.
What you seek is seeking you.
What is Dieta?
A Spiritual Discipline of Connection with Teacher-Plants
Noe Rao
Fig. I - The Definition
Written by
Boris & Maestro Pepe Francini Vasquez
Boris & Maestro Pepe Francini Vasquez
Ayahuasca vs Dietas
CHAPTER 1: ORIGIN
Ayahuasca opens the door.
Dietas invite you to come in.
Ayahuasca opens the door.
The Dieta is the room where the work happens.
Some paths reveal what is happening inside you. Others are designed to change it. Long before Ayahuasca became famous, the Shipibo used Dietas as their core medical system. It is a "University Without Walls" where healing is learned, embodied, and transmitted.
- Ayahuasca reveals what is out of balance. It brings clarity by making patterns, conflicts, and blockages visible.
- Dieta (Sama) is the disciplined work that follows. Through simplicity, isolation, and relationship with a specific teacher plant, it allows those imbalances to be addressed and gradually reorganized.
How the Dieta Unfolds
CHAPTER 2: THE PROCESS
The dieta unfolds quietly and continuously.
The ceremonies support the process, but the work happens in between.
Opening the Dieta
with Ayahuasca Ceremony
with Ayahuasca Ceremony
Isolation and Deep Work
Mid-Process Realignment
second Ayahuasca ceremony
second Ayahuasca ceremony
Closing and Rest
final Ayahuasca ceremony
final Ayahuasca ceremony
1. Opening the Dieta
The process begins with the selection of a teacher plant and an opening ayahuasca ceremony.
This ceremony establishes the relationship, clarifies intention, and formally opens the dieta.
2. Isolation and Deep Work
You then enter a period of isolation lasting eight days.
During this time, the work continues continuously.
You are supported through:
Silence, simplicity, and solitude allow the plant’s work to deepen without interference.
3. Mid-Process Realignment
An ayahuasca ceremony is held midway through the dieta.
Its role is to realign the process, clarify what is unfolding, and support the ongoing work of the plant.
4. Closing and Rest
The dieta is formally closed with a final ayahuasca ceremony.
Spiritual protection is placed, and the process is sealed.
A full day of rest follows before departure, allowing the work to settle and stabilize.
The process begins with the selection of a teacher plant and an opening ayahuasca ceremony.
This ceremony establishes the relationship, clarifies intention, and formally opens the dieta.
2. Isolation and Deep Work
You then enter a period of isolation lasting eight days.
During this time, the work continues continuously.
You are supported through:
- daily contact with the Maestro
- individual energetic care
- access to an on-site therapist for private support
Silence, simplicity, and solitude allow the plant’s work to deepen without interference.
3. Mid-Process Realignment
An ayahuasca ceremony is held midway through the dieta.
Its role is to realign the process, clarify what is unfolding, and support the ongoing work of the plant.
4. Closing and Rest
The dieta is formally closed with a final ayahuasca ceremony.
Spiritual protection is placed, and the process is sealed.
A full day of rest follows before departure, allowing the work to settle and stabilize.
The Protocol
CHAPTER 3:
Creating the Vacuum
Creating the Vacuum
The Commitment:
It is simple, but it is not easy.
It is the price of admission for deep change.
Dietary:
For the Shipibo people, certain plants are teachers and doctors that possess Rao, a spirit with its own unique character and knowledge. Through the discipline of dieta, it becomes possible to form a relationship with these plants. For this work to unfold, the noise of the outside world must be reduced so a real alliance with the plant can develop.
This requires strict commitment. The rules are not moral; they are functional. They create the conditions for the plant to do its work and reflect your inner commitment to change.
This requires strict commitment. The rules are not moral; they are functional. They create the conditions for the plant to do its work and reflect your inner commitment to change.
Food intake is limited to one or two simple meals per day.
Meals typically consist of fish, boiled plantain, and rice.
Meals typically consist of fish, boiled plantain, and rice.
Celibacy:
Preserves your vital energy (Caya) for the spiritual work.
Silence:
You speak only with the healers and the on-site therapist, who also follows a light diet in order to support you without intrusion.
Isolation:
No social contact, phones, electricity, or external distractions.
This gathers attention inward and creates inner space.
This gathers attention inward and creates inner space.
How the Teaching Arrives
CHAPTER 4:
THE EXPERIENCE
THE EXPERIENCE
How it Feels:
The plant works on you 24/7,
not just during ceremonie
Vivid Dreaming
A dieta is not a constant psychedelic experience. It is a subtle, deep process of building a relationship with a teacher plant and allowing the lasting changes it brings to unfold.
As external noise falls away, perception sharpens, and you begin to hear the forest and its beings speaking in a language that becomes personally intelligible.
As external noise falls away, perception sharpens, and you begin to hear the forest and its beings speaking in a language that becomes personally intelligible.
The plants often teach through symbolic dreams during sleep. It is there that you encounter the spirit of the plant you are dieting with.
Cleansing:
You release on emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual levels.
Deep Stillness:
Moments of profound clarity that feel like "remembering" yourself.
Emotional waves:
Old grief, joy, or memories may surface to be processed and released.
Traditional Roots, Modern Support
CHAPTER 5:
THE SAFETY NET
THE SAFETY NET
On-Site Therapist
Unlike most jungle camps, we have a dedicated professional therapist available for private support.
A facilitator with years of personal dieting experience and a degree in psychology helps interpret the tradition for the Western mind.
The Onanya
A Maestro with over 40 years of experience and more than 36 completed plant dietas administers your connection with the teacher plant, guiding and protecting you throughout your personal journey, both within and beyond the ceremonial space.
Facilitator
This work opens you up deeply. To do it safely, you need a secure perimeter.
We provide a bridge between the Amazonian tradition and modern care.
We provide a bridge between the Amazonian tradition and modern care.
Who Is Dieta For?
CHAPTER 6: THE BENEFIT
The Dieta helps those seeking to:
It changes how you live, not just what you see.
Break stubborn patterns:
This is not a vacation. It is an intervention. People come to dieta when they are ready for structural change rather than a peak experience. The process takes days to unfold its strength, but if you are ready to slow down and listen, an experience of a lifetime awaits.
Shift behaviors or addictions that ayahuasca alone can not resolved.
Find direction:
When life feels fragmented or a sense of purpose has been lost.
Deep Stillness:
A contained space to digest loss without distraction.
Rewire the nervous system:
For those experiencing burnout, exhaustion, or chronic stress.
Explore Shipibo Tradition:
For those drawn to the core practice of Shipibo healing, not only its ceremonial expression.
Answer the deep call:
For those who have been called through ayahuasca and are ready to move from vision into apprenticeship.
Are You Ready to Listen?
CHAPTER 6:
The Call
The Call
Receive a Guide
This path is for those who respect discipline. It is for those willing to trade comfort for clarity.
It is for those ready to stop "visiting" the medicine and start "living" with it.
It is for those ready to stop "visiting" the medicine and start "living" with it.
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