Spirit of Peace Healing
Jessica Inman
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Hi! My name is Jess and in 2017 I moved to Peru and devoted my life to working with Ayahuasca and the master plants of the Amazon Rainforest. I currently live in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, near to Cusco, and my intention is to create safe, supportive environments for medicine ceremonies with Ayahuasca, Wachuma and master plant dietas, to support you as best I can with preparing for your ceremonies and integrating your healing experiences, and also to create environments outside of ceremony for healing, integration and self-exploration with Yoga, Ayurvedic treatments and other healing techniques and spiritual practices.
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My Story​
My journey into natural, holistic systems of medicine and wellbeing and nature-based spirituality began when I was in my teens, when I became interested in tarot, paganism and natural nutrition .I was fortunate to grow up in a rural area and always loved being very close to nature, and I spent a lot of time reading about and exploring herbs, natural foods, and spiritual practices that focused on strenghtening our connection to nature and living in harmony with the natural world.
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I completed my BA in Music Technology in 2006 but never really had a clear idea of a career path to follow it, and so afer my graduation I spent some time travelling through Europe, Asia, Australia and the USA, and it was during my travels that I first discovered an Ayurvedic restarurant and was introduced to some of the theories of Ayurveda. At the time I thought it was interesting but had no idea how much a part of my path it would become. Following that trip, I moved to the Isle of Man where I started practicing Yoga regularly and began to notice significant benefits - not only was my physical strengh and flexibility improving but I also found that I was just feeling better - clearer, calmer and generally more positive in my mind. Around this time I was reading a lot about traditional systems of medicine including Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, and my interest in Ayurveda continued to deepen. I found that when I applied the principles that were meant to be good for my constitution, I felt a lot better, and when I did the things that weren't meant to be so good for me, I tended to feel worse. Ayurveda was also teaching me how unique and different each one of us are, how we need all need different things to keep us healthy, and just how fascinating Human Beings are!
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​As my interest in Yoga, Ayurveda and the philosophies surrounding these two very inter-connected systems grew, I decided to begin taking a Yoga Teacher Training course and also to enrol in Dr. David Frawely's 'Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counsellor' program via distance learning. I started both of these for my own interest more than with the intention of becoming a teacher or practitioner, but by the time I had completed the Ayurvedic course I was desperate to learn more. After researching various Ayurveva schools, I enrolled in the California College of Ayurveda's 'Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist' program, which allowed me to study at my home on the Isle of Man and to travel to the school in Californa for the practical elements of the course. In 2012, I had completed enough of the Yoga Teacher Training to begin teaching classes and had reached the point in my Ayurvedic training that allowed me to start seeing clients, so I started a small Yoga and Ayurveda practice, offering Yoga classes and Ayurvedic treatments and health and lifestyle consultations. My trainings continuted until 2014 and 2015 so I was fortunate to be able to practice and continue to learn and grow at the same time. I loved how these systems gave such a deep and compelte picture of a person and provided so many tools to assist with their health, and I loved the diversity of people who would come to me as clients and how every individual needed something unique and different.
Although my practice was growing and I was hugely passionate about how Yoga and Ayurveda were helping myself and my clients to heal and grow, something was calling me away. The deeper I had gone with these practices and my own spirituality, the more I felt that the life I was living was not the one meant for me. I had always wanted to live very close to nature and had been interested in more eco-friendly, alternative ways of living, and had started to think of the potential of living in a different way - one which was more connected to the Earth and less caught up in modern consumerism. At the end of 2015, I travelled to Central America with the intention of just exploring some different ways of life and also to widen my Yoga teaching experience, teaching in various hotels, lodges and communities as I travelled. The idea at the back of my mind was that somewhere I would find something, a place or a strong inspiration, that would lead me to the kind of life I was longing to live.
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I first drank Ayahuasca in 2016 and it wasn't something I had been planning to do. I had explored some Shamanic practices and philosophies and was already very aligned with the concept of plant spirits, but I had developed an idea that Ayahuasca was more of a 'hippy drug' and that it wasn't something I felt would significantly serve me on my path, but I had heard enough about it to spark my interest and thought that maybe I would try it if the right opportunity came up. This is one of the big examples from my life of some of the most important and amazing things being those that I wasn't instantly drawn to (another one was being absolutely certain I wasn't going to travel to Iquitos and ending up living there for four years). I was taking a herbal medicine course in Guatemala where plant dietas and Ayahuasca ceremonies were also offered and was really much more interested in the concept of the dieta; but I thought that, while I was there, I might as well do the ceremony too, and I absolutely loved both of them. To my surprise, drinking Ayahuasca was like 'coming home'. It was as if all of the things I had previously studied and worked on had been to lead me to this medicine, and the first ceremony made it very clear to me that this was the path I was going to follow. I spent six days in silent isolaton in the jungle as I took my first plant dieta and was blown away by the revelations and insights I received and also at this new path that had opened up to me.
Following this experience, I spent some more time travellng in the Americas and participated in Ayahuasca ceremonies in various traditions. I participated in some ceremonies with Wachuma cactus which I experienced a far stronger calling to than I did for Ayahuasca, but which really deserves a post of its own as it is quite a story (involving a lightning strike, fortunately not to me!) Alongside attending retreats and ceremonies, I also helped at some retreats teaching yoga, preparing food and generally dp=oing whatever was needed, and I was continually amazed at the power and intelligence of the plant spirits. One of the things I found most valuable was that although I had already done a fair amont of self-healing and self-exploration with Yoga, Ayurveda and meditation, Ayahuasca was taking me into all the hidden parts of myself, bringing up the deeper traumas and blockages that I wasn't sure I would ever have found without it. And along with working with the insights and the challenges that arose in the ceremonies, the thing I began to notice as I drank regularly over this year and a half was that I just felt more comfortable with being alive. Where in ceremony there had been very specific things that had come up for me to confront, in a much more general way I was feeling happier, healthier and more content with myself overall. And it always continued to amaze me how every person I crossed paths with was I a different experience with the medicine, how there was undoubtably an intelligence bringing every person what they needed for their healing.
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In September 2017, I had the opportunity to teach Yoga at Dreamglade Healing centre near to Iquitos in Peru, which is where I met Raul and Lidia, two of the Curanderos who I work with for retreats now. We instantly connected and over the four years that I worked there I was blessed to go very deeply into the medicines, dieting over twenty different plants under their guidance and participating in countless Ayahuasca ceremonies. Throghout this time, I assisted people from many different backgrounds, with a hugely diverse range of reasons for coming to the medicine, and witnessed many profound transformations and miracles. My love for Ayahuasca and the master plant teachers continued to grow as I was contually learning and experiencing new things, and seeing the potential for healing and growth that the plants have to offer us. During this time, I also learnt a lot about the Shipibo culutre and healing traditions and Raul and Lidia became family to me, generously sharing their knowledge and supporting me on my journey.
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I left the jungle at the end of 2021. Although I loved working with Ayahuasca and supporting people through their ceremonies and their healing processes, being at a retreat all the time was, at times, very intense, and my life had become all about the medicines and little else. Raul, Lidia and their brother Americo had all showed and interest in continuing to work together, so when I moved to the Sacred Valley in 2022, we began to host retreats here in the mountains, and they have all been happy to come to this special area and to bring their families along too! Living in the Andes has also given me the opportunity to work more deeply with the Wachuma cactus and to explore how the two medicines compliment each other in the way that they work.
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Upon leaving the jungle, it became especially clear to me how important the process of integration is, and how, unless we bring the insights and wisdom from our ceremonies into our everyday lives, our experiences in ceremony don't really meant that much. So alongside the cermonies and retreats, I offer support with all areas of integration, whether that is understanding your ceremonies, dealing with difficult situations that arise post-retreat, making changes in your life, improving your health, cultivating spitirual practices or anything in between. And throughout my time in the jungle, and for the whole of my medicine path, I have always relied on my daily Yoga and meditation practices to keep me feeling clear and balanced, and have generally found the wisdom of Ayurveda and Yoga to be invaluable as I integrate and process my experiences. So for this reason, I'm sharing techniques and information from these incredible systems alongside the plant medicine retreats and ceremonies, to offer you the benefits that they all have to offer.
My Qualifications​
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Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist - California College of Ayurveda (2015)
Pancha Karma Specialist - California College of Ayurveda (2015)
Ayurvedic Massage and Body Therapies - California College of Ayurveda (2012-2013)
Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counsellor - American Insitute of Vedic Studies (2011)
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500Hr Yoga Teacher Training Diploma - Ruth White Yoga (2014)
50Hr Yoga Nidra Teacher and Facilitator Training - Yoga Nidra Network (2020)
50Hr Yin Yoga Teacher Training - Yoga & Ayurveda Centre (2020)
If you're interested in potentially attending a ceremony or retreat, or if you'd like my help with preparing for a ceremony, with any aspect of integration or with personal Ayurveda or Yoga sessions, I'm available for a free 15-minute chat to talk about your needs and how I can help! Just click here to schedule a call - I'd love to hear from you!
Drinking with Jess at her retreat was a fantastic experience that I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone interested in working with plant medicines in Peru. Surrounded by the beautiful Sacred Valley and guided through the ceremonies by Lidia, a Curandera whose expertise in working with Ayahuasca is second only to her limitless compassion, created the perfect container in which we all could focus on doing the healing work we'd been called there to do. The medicine was strong, the experienced team of facilitators made sure that every one of the participants had everything they needed, and I can't say enough good things aout Jess, Lidia and everyone involved.
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- Ben Grenrock
Jess put a beautiful Ayahuasca retreat together in Taray this August. Special thanks to her for organizing and perfectly holding the space. The ceremonies were led by our Curandera Lydia and it was just amazing. 7 beautiful ceremonies, plant baths and personal healing sessions. Highly recommend and I am looking forward to the next retreat!
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- Kevin Owens