A Warm Welcome
Nestled in the jungle foothills of the Andes near Tarapoto, Oka Wasi, founded in 2013, is an immersive retreat center dedicated to the preservation and transmission of Amazonian traditions.
About Us
Born from a long initiatory journey in the heart of the Amazon, Oka Wasi is the result of many years of learning, encounters, and transmission within living traditions. This work has been shaped through a direct relationship with master plants, healers, and the ritual frameworks within which this medicine is traditionally transmitted.
Oka Wasi and all its retreats are led by Yann Rivière, his wife Zsuzsi Rivière, and their apprentices. Yann began his apprenticeship with Shipibo healers at the age of 18 and has been living in Peru for many years. His path has led him to train within different lineages of the tradition and to spend extended periods living in Amazonian communities, where he learned this medicine in its original cultural context and observed the role these practices play in daily and ritual life.
One of the central aspects of Yann’s work is his ability to build a bridge between the Shipibo tradition and Western culture. This dual understanding is essential in working with ayahuasca and master plants, where misunderstandings and over-interpretations can carry significant risks. His role goes beyond leading ceremonies and includes the creation of safe and structured frameworks, the orientation of processes, and the ongoing support of participants throughout their journey.
Zsuzsi Rivière has been engaged in this tradition for more than ten years. A clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, she integrates the tools of modern psychotherapy with the Amazonian ritual framework. Her work places particular emphasis on the assessment, integration, and follow-up of lived experiences.
Yann Rivière and Zsuzsi Rivière are both officially recognized and authorized by the Shipibo-Conibo Council to practice as curanderos, in accordance with the traditional and cultural frameworks of this medicine.
Our Vision
Amazonian medicine has endured through the centuries despite the transformations of the modern world and the risks of folklorization brought about by globalization. At the same time, our societies are experiencing a weakening of symbolic and spiritual reference points, leaving many people in search of meaning and direction. It is within this context that certain ancestral traditions continue to offer structured frameworks for approaching fundamental human questions in a different way.
In the Amazon, this medicine is embedded within a coherent system in which the human being is understood in relationship to the world and to the invisible. Traditionally, ayahuasca was only rarely given to patients; it was primarily used by healers themselves, either as part of their training or as a diagnostic tool. It formed part of a broader set of practices based above all on the dieta of master plants, isolation, silence, and attention to dreams.
Our vision goes beyond individual care. It seeks to preserve and transmit ancestral knowledge so that it may remain living, coherent, and accessible to future generations. We consider this knowledge to be a true treasure, capable of shedding light on certain challenges of the present world and helping individuals better situate themselves in our time.
Our approach to this practice is grounded in the dieta of master plants, as it is transmitted within the tradition. When practiced with rigor and with respect for its context, this medicine can open a space for reflection in which ancient traditions and contemporary realities can genuinely dialogue.
Master Plant Diet
In the Shipibo tradition, the dieta is an ascetic discipline that includes the ingestion of a plant. It lies at the heart of the medicine, as it is through the dieta that a living relationship is established between the person and the plant.
Entering a dieta means accepting a time of encounter. The plant is experienced as a teacher who is welcomed. It teaches by guiding processes of healing and inner realignment through gradual transformation, rather than through immediate visions or spectacular effects.
The dieta involves dietary, behavioural and social restrictions. It is not understood as a deprivation, but as a way of creating an inner space of availability, comparable to tidying one’s home to receive a guest. By withdrawing from the stress, noise and constant demands of everyday life, the person in dieta becomes more attentive, more receptive, and ready to listen.
The teaching of the plant unfolds mainly through dreams, felt experience, inner movements and understandings that emerge over time. It is a form of learning that takes place over the long term. The transformations arising from the dieta take root gradually and become anchored in the body, daily habits and one’s way of being in the world.
Our Retreat
At Oka Wasi, we organise small-group retreats that offer an immersion into traditional Amazonian medicine, held for a minimum duration of two weeks. The retreats take place in a simple, family-like atmosphere, allowing for genuine human connection and individual accompaniment.
The centre is located in the Upper Amazon region, on the edge of the Cordillera Escalera protected reserve, around 14 kilometres from the city of Tarapoto. Surrounded by forest, natural waterfalls and rivers, this calm and preserved environment allows participants to step away from everyday pressure and distractions, and to focus on their inner work.
Our retreats are held within a living and structured tradition. Our integrative approach is grounded in a clear and safe framework, with particular attention given to each participant and their process, considered as important as the ritual practices themselves. The rhythm is intentionally simple, leaving room for rest, silence, and time between experiences, allowing what is lived to settle and integrate naturally.
These retreats are open to people engaged in personal development or seeking to deepen their relationship with spirituality. They offer a space for reflection and inner work, within a clear and respectful framework that honours each participant’s journey..
Our Project
Oka Wasi is a place set in nature, on a 9-hectare property in the High Amazon region.
The center is primarily dedicated to hosting retreats, which form its main activity.
Alongside this, various projects are developed on the land, related to the environment, agriculture, and self-sufficiency. The resources generated through the retreats are largely used for the maintenance, renovation, and development of the center, as well as for the implementation and follow-up of these projects. To date, most of these projects have been carried out using our own resources.
Projects already completed or currently underway include:
– reforestation and tree-planting actions,
– the cultivation of medicinal plants such as ayahuasca and chacruna,
– diversified crops (cacao, banana plants),
– the creation of a botanical garden,
– the first foundations of permaculture projects, focused on sustainable soil and resource management.
In the longer term, we plan to establish an association in order to structure these initiatives, receive additional support, and continue their development.
These projects also have a social dimension, while being primarily focused on environmental protection and reforestation, which are particularly close to our hearts.
Contact & Booking
If you are interested in joining a retreat, or simply wish to learn more, you are welcome to get in touch. For each enquiry, we take the time for a personal exchange to answer your questions and to explore together whether the proposed setting is right for you.
This exchange is an integral part of the process and takes place before any participation. From time to time, we also offer online activities and conferences.