Traditional Plant Medicines

Ancient traditions. Modern lives. A relationship built on respect.

Across generations, Indigenous peoples have cultivated deep relationships with traditional plant medicines as part of living cultural, medicinal, and ceremonial traditions.

At Roots, our relationship with these medicines begins with the Indigenous communities and practitioners who carry these traditions.
Our role is not to own these practices or reinvent them. We are here to create the conditions in which guests may encounter them with preparation, care, and respect.

More Than the Medicine

At Roots, traditional plant medicines are never approached in isolation.

Ceremony sits within something larger—experienced guidance, ritual, nature, movement, breath, shared meals, community, reflection, and time. The ceremonies are an important part of the week. They are not the whole week.

Meaning may arrive during ceremony. It may also appear much more quietly—on a walk, over breakfast, in conversation, through movement, or simply in the space that follows. We allow all of it to belong.

Yagé

Yagé, often known more widely as Ayahuasca, sits at the heart of our ceremonial week. Across the retreat, three Yagé ceremonies are guided by Indigenous practitioners, with the Roots team alongside them. Every ceremony is different, and no particular experience can be predicted or promised.

A Wider Tradition

Yagé is one part of a much wider tradition. Depending on the retreat, guests may encounter other traditional medicines within preparation, ceremony, cleansing, prayer, or cultural practice. Each has its own history, purpose, and place within the traditions from which it comes.

Choice, Consent & Safety

Participation is always your choice. No guest is expected to take part in every ceremony or practice. You may observe, step away, or decide that something is simply not right for you. That decision will always be respected.

Before joining us, every guest completes our confidential health screening process. Certain medical conditions, medications, or circumstances may mean participation is not appropriate. Traditional plant medicines are not a replacement for appropriate medical or psychological care.

If we believe participation would not be safe, wellbeing will always come before a booking. Our responsibility is to provide information, guidance, and support. Never pressure.

Come Without a Promise

We cannot promise what you will experience. We cannot promise healing. We cannot promise answers.

What we can offer is a thoughtfully prepared environment, experienced guidance, genuine hospitality, and deep respect for the traditions that have carried these medicines across generations.

We believe traditional plant medicines are best approached with preparation rather than expectation, relationship rather than consumption, and humility rather than certainty.

Meet the Medicines

Yagé is part of a much wider tradition. Each medicine carries its own history, context, and relationship with the people who work with it.