Behind the Scenes: The Difficult Life of an Ayahuasca Retreat Facilitator

In a candid conversation on the Ayahuasca Podcast, facilitator Oliver Glozik opens up to Sam Believ about the realities of running an ayahuasca retreat. Far from being a constant stream of jungle bliss and spiritual serenity, his account reveals a path filled with emotional weight, logistical challenges, and moments of profound purpose.

A Life Transformed

Before stepping into the world of plant medicine, Oliver lived a very different life. Raised in Germany with Hungarian roots, he ran a successful video-marketing agency, building campaigns for tech companies. “It was all about money,” he admits. “It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t fulfilling.” His encounter with ayahuasca changed everything. After several ceremonies that completely shifted his outlook on life, he sold his company and followed a deeper calling—eventually co-founding a retreat center in Colombia dedicated to authentic plant-medicine work.

“I didn’t plan this,” he says. “Ayahuasca found me.”

The Weight of Responsibility

Many people imagine retreat work as a peaceful, almost vacation-like lifestyle. Oliver is quick to dismantle that myth. Running an ayahuasca retreat, he explains, is like running a hotel, a restaurant, a therapy center, and a spiritual sanctuary—all at once. “You’re responsible for people’s safety, their emotional states, their healing, and their overall wellbeing. It’s a lot.”

Unlike typical hospitality work, the guests aren’t simply travelers—they’re participants undergoing deep psychological and spiritual transformation. Many arrive with trauma, depression, or a sense of despair. Some even arrive as a last resort. “We’ve had people come with one-way tickets,” Oliver recalls, “saying, ‘If this doesn’t help me, I don’t know what else will.’ That’s an enormous weight to carry as a facilitator.”

Money vs. Mission

Although a retreat must operate as a business to survive, Oliver insists that profit can never be the primary motive. “If you do it for money, you’ll burn out or fail,” he says. “This work has to come from the heart.”

Every retreat demands careful logistics: sourcing clean water, maintaining the property, organizing transportation, and ensuring that the medicine itself is prepared safely and respectfully. Yet what keeps him going isn’t the operations—it’s the moments of transformation he witnesses. “When someone comes broken and leaves with light in their eyes again—that’s what makes it worth it.”

The Emotional and Energetic Toll

Being surrounded by intense human emotion day after day is no small challenge. Facilitators often hold space for crying, shaking, purging, fear, and catharsis—all happening simultaneously among multiple participants. “You absorb a lot,” Oliver admits. “If you’re not grounded, it can take you down.”

That’s why he emphasizes self-care and boundaries. Regular meditation, clean diet, rest, and personal ceremonies are essential to staying balanced. “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” he says. “The facilitator must stay in integrity—spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.”

Integrity and Authenticity

Throughout the conversation, both Sam and Oliver highlight integrity as the foundation of all true healing work. Oliver recalls a mentor shaman whose strength came not from charisma or showmanship but from quiet authenticity. “He lived what he preached. That’s why his words had power.”

Similarly, facilitators must embody the principles they encourage in others: humility, discipline, and continuous self-work. “You can’t help people face their shadows if you refuse to face your own,” Oliver says. In his view, every ceremony reflects back parts of the facilitator’s inner world. The work never stops—it deepens.

The Constant Test

No matter how well a retreat is planned, Oliver explains, there will always be unpredictability. “You can have the right team, the right space, and still have a ceremony that tests everyone.” The lesson is to trust the process and remember that ayahuasca gives participants what they need, not what they want. Sometimes that means confronting fear, grief, or uncomfortable truth.

He and Sam agree that a retreat’s success can’t be measured only by how pleasant an experience feels. “Healing isn’t always pretty,” Sam adds. “But the real transformation often happens after the hardest nights.”

Fulfillment Amid the Difficulty

Despite the challenges—the sleepless nights, the crises, the emotional storms—Oliver says he wouldn’t trade this life for anything. “It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done, but also the most rewarding.”

Seeing people reclaim their lives, repair relationships, or rediscover self-love fills him with gratitude. “You can’t put a price on that,” he says. “When someone hugs you and says, ‘You changed my life,’ you realize why you’re doing it.”

A Realistic View of the Path

Oliver’s reflections pull back the curtain on a world often romanticized in spiritual circles. The ayahuasca retreat is not a paradise where everything flows easily—it’s a living, breathing ecosystem of human emotions, logistical challenges, and sacred responsibility.

His message to anyone drawn to this path—whether as participant or facilitator—is clear: don’t idealize it. Come prepared to work, to face yourself, and to hold others with compassion. “This path will humble you,” Oliver concludes. “But if you stay aligned, it will also make you more human.”

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Based on the Ayahuasca Podcast episode “Difficult Life of an Ayahuasca Retreat Facilitator” with Sam Believ and Oliver Glozik.