Your safety

01The medical screening

Every booking starts with a free call with Kene or Maisie. Every guest goes through a medical screening before being accepted: a few questions when you book your call, and our Medical & Safety Screening before your retreat.

We take the time to understand each person who comes here, to care for you properly, never to judge. Complete honesty lets us:

• keep you physically safe during ceremonies;
• adjust pacing, preparation or dosing if needed;
• offer more support where it matters;
• or, now and then, suggest a different path that fits you better right now.

Some conditions are not compatible with this work, and we'll tell you directly if that's the case. We don't take a deposit until we've spoken and know it's a fit.

Our team reads every screening before we confirm your place. We can ask for a letter from your own doctor. We always ask for one if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure that isn't under control, epilepsy or diabetes treated with insulin, if you take blood thinners, or if in the last 6 months you've taken an antidepressant or mood stabiliser or had surgery. If you're over 65 with a long-term condition, the letter includes a recent ECG.

Everything you share is kept strictly confidential. Only the team responsible for your care sees it.

Your safety depends on what you tell us. If you leave out, or give us wrong information about, your health, medication, supplements or substance use, or don't follow the preparation we agree, we aren't responsible for harm that results from it, to the extent the law allows, and you can't take part.

02The questions we ask

When you book your call, for our Sacred Plant retreats

• Are you currently taking any psychiatric medications?
• Have you ever experienced psychosis, mania, or been diagnosed with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia?
• Do you have any physical or mental health conditions for us to be aware of?

When you book your call, for Yoga, Breath & Wellbeing

• Do you have any physical or mental health conditions for us to be aware of?
• Are you pregnant, or do you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, epilepsy, or a recent injury or surgery?

Some breathwork practices aren't suitable during pregnancy, or with a heart condition, high blood pressure, epilepsy, or a recent injury or surgery. We'll adapt the practice for you, or tell you honestly if now isn't the right time.

In the Medical & Safety Screening, before a Sacred Plant retreat

• Your mental and emotional wellbeing. A history of psychosis, mania or an active psychiatric crisis means we prepare differently, or look together at whether a different path would serve you better right now.
• Your heart and blood pressure. Ayahuasca can raise heart rate and blood pressure for a while. For most healthy people, this is mild and short.
• Every medication and supplement you take (section 3).
• Any recent use of recreational or psychoactive substances (section 4).
• Your physical health: recent surgery (especially abdominal), digestive conditions, chronic illness, significant injuries, and whether you're pregnant or breastfeeding. If you're pregnant, you can't take part in plant medicine ceremonies.
• Kambo, if your retreat includes it: whether you've done it before, and how your body reacted.
• Any severe allergy, and whether you carry an adrenaline auto-injector or an inhaler.
• An emergency contact, and any food you can't eat or allergies.

There is no judgment in any answer. If something you share means we need to change our approach, we work through it together.

03Medication and supplements

Ayahuasca contains MAO inhibitors. They change how your body processes some medications and supplements. With the wrong one, it can trigger serotonin syndrome, a serious condition that needs emergency care. These need special attention:

• SSRIs and other antidepressants, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil or Celexa. If you take them or stopped recently, you need to have stopped at least 8 weeks before the retreat, under medical supervision.
• Anti-anxiety medication, such as benzodiazepines.
• Antipsychotic medication.
• Stimulants.
• Tryptophan supplements, and St. John's Wort.
• Any other prescription or over-the-counter medication or supplement.

List everything you take, even if it feels minor or natural. Some supplements, like lithium, 5-HTP or amino acid blends, are easy to overlook. If you're not sure, include it, and we review it with you before the retreat.

Any change to your medication is decided with your doctor, never on our advice. Never stop a prescribed medication without your doctor.

04Other substances

We ask about any recent use of recreational or psychoactive substances, and when. Some combinations put serious stress on the body if they're too close together. This is about safety and spacing, nothing else.

Some combinations are especially dangerous. There are documented deaths and serious medical emergencies when Ayahuasca is combined with 5-MeO-DMT ("Bufo" or "Toad"), Datura or MDMA.

During the retreat, we ask everyone not to drink alcohol or take recreational drugs.

Don't take plant medicines, rapé or sananga home. Carrying them across borders can be a crime where you live, and we don't sell or give medicine to take away.

05Your preparation

On our Sacred Plant retreats, before you pay a deposit, we go through your preparation with you on a call, including any medication you'd need to pause and when. Your preparation starts two weeks before you arrive, with a call. Meals follow traditional dietary guidelines for plant medicine work, with appropriate preparation and safety considerations.

For every retreat, we send you a full packing list, and you tell us about any food you can't eat.

06During your retreat

• Through the night. A facilitator who knows your story is always available to you, through the whole night of each ceremony.
• A trauma-informed team. In some ceremonies, bodywork is offered when your body needs support.
• Your own choice. You can decline any ceremony or activity at any time. Everyone in the ceremony space takes the medicine. If you decide not to take it, that's completely okay. You can also start with a small amount and see how you feel, and we guide you with amounts throughout the retreat.
• Kambo, only if your medical screening says it is right for you. It is always served by a practitioner with many years of experience, and someone from our team is beside you throughout.
• Everything is optional. If you're feeling tired or unwell, you can rest. Nothing here is forced.

Ceremonies can bring strong physical release, like sweating, nausea or vomiting, as part of the traditional cleansing. If you feel physically or psychologically unwell, tell a facilitator straight away.

Our facilitators can decide at any time that you shouldn't take part in a ceremony or activity, for your safety or the group's.

No one takes photos or videos during ceremonies, guests included.

Facilitators and our team never have romantic or sexual contact with guests, during a retreat or the integration time after it. If anything makes you uncomfortable, tell Kene or Maisie, or write to us at reservations@libelularetreatcenter.com. We look into every concern.

Bodywork

Your body, your boundaries, always. Intimate areas are never touched. You can change the pressure, or stop any session at any time, for any reason. If bodywork is offered during ceremony, you give your consent beforehand, in your retreat agreement, with a clear mind.

On the land, follow our team's safety guidance around the pools, the waterfalls and the trails.

07In an emergency

Libélula is a remote rainforest, and it isn't a medical facility. We have no medical staff on site, and we can't promise that a particular person, medicine or piece of equipment will be there at a given moment.

We have an emergency plan to get you quickly to the nearest hospital. In a medical emergency, we call emergency services, share the medical information responders need, and call your emergency contact. Costa Rica has excellent healthcare, but specialised hospitals can be hours away.

If you have a severe allergy, to stings, food or anything else, tell us in your screening and bring two of your own adrenaline auto-injectors (like EpiPen). Bring any inhaler and other medication you need too, with extra for your stay. Keep them with you at all times, in ceremony too, and show your facilitator where they are. We don't stock personal or prescription medication.

Your medical costs, transport and evacuation are yours, which is why we strongly recommend travel insurance (section 9).

08After your retreat

The retreat ends. The support doesn't.

• An integration call with your facilitator once you're home.
• A WhatsApp group with your group and our team.
• Access to a network of therapists, if you want continued support.
• A session for your loved ones, so they understand how to support you when you return home.

If you feel in crisis after you go home, contact your local emergency services or your doctor first. Our integration support walks alongside them, and we reply within our working hours.

09Travel insurance

We strongly recommend travel insurance that includes medical cover valid in Costa Rica, emergency medical evacuation, and trip cancellation or interruption. Check that your policy doesn't exclude ceremonies with plant medicine.

If you travel without it, you accept responsibility for any medical, transport, evacuation or travel costs that come up during your stay.

If your health means you can't come, our Flexible Cancellation Policy applies, as it does for every reason. It's in our terms, with how we look after your details in our privacy policy.

Last updated: 16 October 2026.