Ayahuasca is often introduced through mystery. Some hear about it through documentaries, some through podcasts, and many first encounter it surrounded by controversy, legal debate, or exaggerated stories. But for Sam Believ, founder of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat in Colombia, the deeper meaning of ayahuasca becomes much simpler once a person experiences it directly: it is a medicine that reconnects people with themselves at a time when modern life has pulled them far away from who they are.
What makes his perspective especially unusual is that he speaks not only as someone working with plant medicine, but also as someone constantly balancing spirituality with the practical realities of building and running a retreat center in the modern world.
A Retreat That Began Through Unexpected Events
Sam often describes the beginning of LaWayra not as a carefully planned business idea, but as something that unfolded through a sequence of events that gradually led him in one direction.
At first, there was no clear intention to create a retreat center.
He simply wanted to drink medicine at his own countryside property rather than travel elsewhere for ceremonies.
Then someone entered his life who wanted to rent the place for retreats.
Later came suggestions that he should organize retreats himself.
That first arrangement failed, another opportunity appeared, and step by step, what looked accidental became a full project.
Looking back, he describes it as a mixture of coincidence, work, and what many spiritual traditions would call synchronicity.
Why Healing Naturally Leads to Sharing
A major reason the project continued growing was personal conviction.
Like many people who experience meaningful relief through ayahuasca, Sam felt a strong desire to help others discover the same possibility.
When someone has struggled with depression, anxiety, emotional heaviness, or lack of direction and then experiences genuine relief, it becomes difficult not to speak about it.
That inner motivation eventually became stronger than the fear of entering an unusual field.
Over time, that motivation turned into a retreat that has now served more than a thousand guests.
What Ayahuasca Actually Is
Sam explains ayahuasca in very practical terms.
It is a brew made from two plants traditionally prepared in Amazonian regions of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil.
The process of cooking it takes several days until it becomes a thick dark liquid used ceremonially.
But the real explanation begins after the chemistry.
For him, ayahuasca works because it reconnects people to something many have lost: direct contact with their own deeper emotional and psychological layers.
That is why people often describe it not simply as seeing visions, but as receiving insight.
It may feel spiritual to some, psychological to others, but almost everyone leaves feeling they encountered something deeply personal.
Why It Cannot Be Reduced to Chemistry Alone
Modern science understands certain molecules involved in ayahuasca.
Researchers know how compounds interact with brain receptors.
What remains much harder to explain is why many effects continue long after the active compounds leave the body.
The medicine may no longer be chemically present after several hours, yet people often report emotional changes lasting weeks, months, or even years.
For Sam, this is one reason indigenous traditions still matter.
Long before science studied molecules, traditional healers had already developed practical knowledge based on generations of direct experience.
Why It Is Different from Ordinary Drugs
One of the strongest distinctions he makes is that ayahuasca should not be understood in the same category as substances designed for pleasure or escape.
Unlike alcohol or recreational drugs, the process is often physically demanding.
There can be nausea, emotional confrontation, discomfort, and difficult moments.
That difficulty is precisely why addiction rarely forms around it.
People may deeply value the medicine, but very few crave repeated ceremony for pleasure.
The process demands too much honesty.
The Reset Many People Describe
A common experience among guests is what Sam compares to restarting a computer.
People often arrive mentally overloaded — anxious, emotionally tired, overstimulated, or disconnected.
After ceremony, many describe unusual clarity.
Not euphoria in a superficial sense, but mental freshness.
Thoughts feel quieter.
Emotional reactions become less automatic.
For some, this becomes the first time in years they feel internally calm without external distraction.
Why Modern Society Feels So Disconnected
A recurring theme in Sam’s reflections is that much of modern suffering comes from disconnection.
People are disconnected from nature, from silence, from tradition, and often from themselves.
Daily life fills every empty space with stimulation.
Phones, work pressure, endless decisions, and constant comparison leave little room for introspection.
This is why even basic silence now feels difficult for many people.
The moment external distraction disappears, unresolved internal material quickly becomes visible.
Why Addiction Often Begins with Emotional Pain
He also connects many modern addictions to this same disconnection.
Alcohol, cigarettes, food, compulsive scrolling, overwork, and many other habits often serve the same function: temporary relief from internal discomfort.
The substance itself is not always the root problem.
The deeper issue is usually emotional pain that has not been fully understood.
This is why some people lose addictive patterns after ceremony without directly trying to quit.
Once the original emotional pressure weakens, the compulsive need often weakens too.
Running a Spiritual Project Inside a Capitalist World
One of the most honest parts of Sam’s perspective is how openly he talks about the tension between healing and business.
LaWayra is a retreat, but it is also a company with staff, infrastructure, construction, salaries, and ongoing operational costs.
That creates a constant internal balance.
He wants the retreat to remain affordable and accessible, but also sustainable enough to continue growing.
At present, LaWayra remains significantly lower in price than many comparable South American retreats, even while supporting a growing team and expanding facilities.
Growth Without Losing the Core Purpose
The retreat now runs multiple programs each month and continues expanding physically.
Cabins are being built, roads improved, and infrastructure upgraded.
Yet the central idea remains unchanged:
the retreat should not become luxury detached from healing.
It should remain a place where people come because they need something real.
Why Ancient Traditions Still Matter in the Future
Perhaps the strongest message beneath Sam’s work is that ancient traditions may still carry answers for modern problems that technology alone has not solved.
The world has become more efficient, more connected digitally, and more materially developed.
Yet emotional suffering remains widespread.
Depression, anxiety, addiction, and meaninglessness continue rising.
For him, ayahuasca is not a miracle solution, but it may be one of the tools helping people remember that healing often begins not by adding more, but by returning to something older, slower, and more honest.
Listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4PRsoJEyZs
Sam Believ is the founder and CEO of LaWayra Ayahuasca Retreat, the best-rated Ayahuasca retreat in South America, with over 520 five-star Google reviews and an overall rating of 5 stars. After his life was transformed by Ayahuasca, he dedicated himself to spreading awareness about this ancestral medicine to help address the mental health crisis. Sam is committed to making Ayahuasca retreats affordable, accessible, and authentic, with a focus on care, integration, and the involvement of indigenous shamans. He is also the host of the Ayahuasca Podcast.