I booked the 1-day Aya Retreat with Edgar and couldn’t be happier with my experience.Easy to book, great contact with Aloee the whole time I was in Playa/Puerto Morelos via WhatsApp—super responsive. And really good price for a real plant medicine ritual experience with a seasoned, authentic local healer.This was my second experience with Ayahuasca, and what really stood out were a few things. First, Edgar knows the stories and the history of the plant medicines, the peninsula, the people, the land. Having a guide who has spent 18+ years working with elders to apprentice into the tradition, to learn the forest and the wisdom, to be able to give deep history on everything from the symbolism to the culture to the language matters. It made me feel more comfortable leaning into the experience, trusting him to guide me through the journey and to get out of my own head—not an easy thing for me do, which is why I wanted to do it a second time.This time, I was able to let go and listen to my body without overthinking. The stories and songs were my guide, and Edgar gave a sense of peace through the whole night as a symphony of nature played outside around us.I was also surprised I didn’t get eaten alive by mosquitoes out in the jungle—the cabin was well protected and the weather was kind of perfect, with a light rain around maybe 3am that made everything cool and quiet until dreams swept me away.I woke up and we talked a while, ate some local fruits and nuts, and then closed the ritual. Afterwards, I walked around the area, following the trails a while, over to a small cenote on the property, than back into a tree line where I left some fruits as thanks on a large stone facade.It’s been a couple of weeks now, and I’m still feeling the calm of that night, which is saying something for me. I work in fast-paced startup environments and tend to be pretty heady, so my goal was to reconnect with myself—find a little peace and relearn to listen to myself. I’m naturally skeptical, spent more than a few years in neuroscience and now in biz ops, so I tend to be distrustful of anything I can’t quantify.One of the things that helped me trust the experience is the knowledge that Edgar shared about how the medicine is made, it’s origins, even appropriate dosage—ie it was measured, not guesswork.Edgar is a healer, I believe that—not easy to say for someone prone to disbelief. And I felt something shift in me that night.For my experience, though, as I’m sure everyone’s is a little different, the stories of Yucatán mattered most. We talked about the popol vuh—one of the origin stories I studied in grad school—of the Mayan people, their relationship to the plants and trees and earth and animals. It felt kind of like magic out there, with Edgar as a guide—Virgil walking Dante through the wood of confusion; time seems different. I feel a bit different—not a different person, just awake, more relaxed. That’s what I asked for—just didn’t expect to find it.Dissertation aside, I’ll be back to Aloee. There are more stories and dreams and questions to explore out there in the jungle, and I’d like to keep that connection alive—to listen into the night.There’s a good group of people at Aloee and Casa Sangha. Worth an annual retreat. Next time, I’ll try a second day, maybe another plant medicine, too. Humbled and grateful for this experience.