Testimonials
Priceless
Danilo
February 2021
” I found Onanya Joni after 2 years of active search for the right place while I was living a complex and intense period of my life.
It all came exactly at the end of a long deep circle of self awareness and this experience closed it for the beginning of a new great one .
Everything was priceless : the group of people that was with me, the professionalism
and unique sensitivity of Geraldine, the calm place and the unique experience of
living with yourself and your feelings while you dieted plants and you did attend cerimonies to connect with your deep soul….unforgettable experience….” Grazie di cuore !!”
About the detox
Mallyan
June 2019
It is really difficult to put the detox experience into words, because there are still changes happening. This time the retreat was very smooth and the overall feeling was like I am at home, just enjoying my participation and be present for the other people in the group. It was so comfortable just to be there and enjoying the plants and feeling their work on my body.
On a conscious level there was no big issue on which I have to focus or have to work on it, so I thought…..ok it was a nice experience be here cleaning myself and exploring more of the plant world. But as usual this was only on the surface( I start to get used to the fact that the work with plants is on levels and you never know where is the button ) , when I went home real changes started to happen in my perception about the surrounding world.
In series of dreams started to appear confusion about my relationship with the Masculine side and that there is need inside myself to make changes how I relate to it. The roots of this confusion is in my childhood and the image which I created about my father being in the family environment. Now it is time to change how I relate to him and I how I relate to the masculine side in the world around me. So I suppose that there are still new insights and dreams waiting to come on the surface.
I can not express my gratitude that I have the opportunity to take part in your retreats, Dietas and seminars. Two years have passed from my first seminar and looking back then, it was an intense journey overcoming the use of marijuana and meeting the skeletons in the wardrobe. Thank to you for your supporting warm attitude and your work as curanderos. I did not succeed to lost myself as usual during these two years, even more I start to find myself 🙂 I am more and more drawn to the world of plants and working with them.
Just started to scratch the surface
Kent
I have attended many retreats with Onanya Joni since 2014: their detox week, weekend seminaires, and 10 day dietas. I have complete faith and confidence in their abilities with Amazonian plant medicines.
My personal journey has been long and intense, but without their support and guidance I would not be married to the love of my life, raising a family, and living in a beautiful location outside of Lisbon.
The world of plant medicine is very difficult to navigate because it is only after cultivating a deep sensitivity, which generally takes years to attain, that individuals become aware of what is happening when attending ceremonies. After 5 years, I feel that I have only just started to scratch the surface. For this reason I only trust reviews about other curanderos from people that have tremendous experience.
The ayahuasca ceremony is a tool and in the hands of curanderos that don’t take personal precautions like these shamans, it can adversely affect the participants. The most difficult part to accept is that the participants often have no knowledge of these adverse affects. I am speaking from personal experience.
The shamans cultivate a warm and humble sense of family in their retreats. They not only host the ceremonies, but also manage the food and logistics. They take as much time as they have to talk through peoples problems while maintaining their own needs for rest. They choose to host their events in locations that serve up the best of Portugal. In fact, my first retreat in the south of Portugal made me fall in love with the country itself!
If you’re looking for a safe, warm, beautiful experience, there’s no need to search further.
Grateful for the small things
Bernard
I know it is very late, but I am writing to thank you for such a wonderful week. I thought I would wait and write once some time had gone past so I could tell you about any progress in my life and indeed there has been. My outlook has changed to a much more healthy one and very subtle but profound changes have happened. I feel so lucky to have had the experience of the detox run by such professional and caring individuals. I have still quit smoking and even started running again after a few years. The diet has made me much more aware of how I treat my body and I feel much more alive now.
At this point in my life, I could not have imagined a better and more thorough foundation to continue my path. I felt so calm and at peace all week and surrounded by so much love. I was overwhelmed by the support around me at a point when I could have felt very alone. The ceremonies were beautiful… More than beautiful , magical and your singing was enchanting. The food also was so delicious and made with such love. Every day was perfect and so good for the soul
(…) I do not expect huge changes and I am grateful for the small things. Actually that is what I appreciate the most, I seem to appreciate smaller things more. Such as how beautiful duck eggs are, or freshly baled hay in a field or the smell of food and the kindness around me. I definitely feel more free and less apprehensive about the future. I have so much more love for myself and recognise I should not be afraid to ask for help when I need it. I feel very lucky to have had this experience and to have met the people who surround me now. I really feel like my suffering is in the past and things have changed for the better ( which is all perspective I guess).my mind is in a very happy and healthy place.
Hope for Humanity
Hope for Humanity
One month has passed now and I just want to express my gratitude.
You guys have transformed my life to the better! Every day I wake up with a big smile on my face and I realize that I can do absolutely anything I set my mind to. It’s only my philosophical understanding of the world combined with my creativity that sets the limit of what I can achieve in life.
In a way it feels like I’m still under the influence of ayahuasca even though a month has passed. I haven’t touched alcohol yet because to be honest I feel I actually that I don’t need it anymore and also I’m afraid that if I drink alcohol the “ayahuasca-state” that I’m still feeling will disappear. Maybe I’m wrong… 🙂
The first few days after the ceremonies I had nightmares. Which was really strange because I felt so good and happy during the day but during the night I could sometimes experience these horrific nightmares
Was that ayahuasca still doing work with me in a sense?
This might sound really strange but another thing that happened was that in these dreams when the nightmares became really bizarre I could actually wake myself up in the dream. So I was conscious that I was dreaming and I started to explore the dream state and I had the ability to go back to the “spirit world” where I had been during the ayahuasca sessions.
Has that happened to you guys aswell that you can control your dreams after taking ayahuasca?
Because I only had this ability for about a week after the latest ceremony and after that the nightmares went completely away and the ability of having lucid dreams stopped.
Once again I can’t thank you enough! You are great role models for me and I really look up to you guys! I think you change people’s lives for the better and I feel great hope for humanity knowing the fact that people like you are out there doing great work to steer this world to a better place.
Wonderful work
Marius, Clara,
Carmen, Adriana
Hello!
Thank you very much for everything you have offered to us. You and your partner make a wonderful work for healing.
God bless you
For the first few weeks after the ceremony I felt the plant still present in me – a beautiful sensation – and over time it got less, but the feeling of “something happening to my heart” stayed over time. In these past two years tears have generally come to me much much easier then in all the years before. Issues that move me easily make we well up in tears, not necessarily crying for long, but the energy which my system holds for a certain topic, often flows through the heart into tears. It is a good feeling, it feels healthy, cleansing & freeing to the body, the heart and my general organism. And sometimes in such moments I feel that the tears seem to be like the 1st stage of something larger, as if more power wants to enter still … curious where this will lead me.
I gained & still have an immense respect for Ayahuasca, through working with you. Thank you for that, too. The ceremony with you was strong, and especially the 2nd night was also frightening at times. I believe I was at the edge of losing control, losing myself into something so absolutely beyond my control that I was afraid of who I’d be the next morning, if I remembered myself. I found my way trough this night, back then, and it also left me with homework, or next steps, which I feel are yet to come. Facing my heart and it’s wounds in a yet stronger way was the call in that 2nd night. Ever since the ceremony with you, I feel my pull towards and my fear of Ayahuasca at the same time. I will continue to listen if it is my time soon to come back and work with you. If you have any recommendations or hints for me, also regarding how to work with the fear of Ayahuasca, I am very curious and open to hear them.
Thank you for the work you’re doing!
Johan
Ancient power and wisdom
Jens
Thank you for an inspiring and unforgettable session two weeks ago!
After spending two days in Lisbon I went for yoga & surf retreat in Ericeira for one week. It was a good place to do a proper integration after the healing seminar. I attached a couple of pictures of me learning the surf technique 🙂
This session with you was important in my spiritual path. The ancient power and wisdom conveyed by your singing was energizing and I sensed a connection through all the generations that has contributed to these Icaroses.
The out of body experience I had was a first time I really sensed how our souls are not just within ourselves, but is something that will outlive our physical death.
I also feel that I’m gradually getting a deeper connection with other people. That’s something I’m searching. For instance I feel that I’m more present when talking with others.
Mentally present, not just physically there. I’m also feeling much more relaxed with other people and getting healed from a social anxiety.
Our relationship is now on strong grounds and we decided to move back together. We will buy new wedding rings to mark this as a new beginning 🙂
By the way, I still sometimes wonder why everything felt so familiar. On both evenings with the madre. It just felt that I’ve lived that moment before…
Hope to meet you again! Have a very nice rest of the summer!
Dancing and singing together into
eternity
S. Abba
Dear Shamans,
I want to express my gratitude to the work you do. You both are very professional healers and work together in unison. As music is so important to me, I have to thank you also for your singing. In one vision that I had, I saw you two dancing and singing together into eternity in energy form.
The tobacco ceremony was a really good tool for me as I am so open and sensitive to the energies of the spiritual world and universe. It gave me clarity and firm grounding.
Also the aya-sessions taught me to stay in my center no matter what happens around me. My energy is mine and I have the power to control where it goes and to whom it goes.
While the sessions were not emotionally loaded for me this time, the emotional outburst came two days after we left, in Lisbon, while walking in the street. Suddenly I forgave my self for letting so many people take advantage of me in the past (including sexual abuse), and I realized that my sacral chakra was rapidly healing. This is important since I had already forgiven the abusers, but not myself. Intimacy with my husbandi is hence more natural.
I would like to explore what other plants can do for me in the future so I can be a better healer in my own work. I look forward to participating in one of your retreats again!
Singing stamped in every cell
Andrea
Hi, sorry I don’t know English but I wanted to thank you for the path that I could do with you, I carry with me fruits, was wonderfull experience. Your singing is still stamped on every cell.
Oh thank you so much for good words. Yes I feel stronger and more confident every day. And my mind is more clearer, I start to see things clearer about my past life and now present, how good and blessed my life has actually been, just even looking at pictures. A lot of people envy me for my life but they don’t see it was constant sadness and depression that prevented me to see things clear in the past. It comes and goes. I really want to get rid of it for good. I hope to see you again.
Messed up
Gatis
I kept remembering that I never really had a chance to say a big thank you for your work , effort and attention and of course goodbye.
I also want to confess 🙂 that I was really messed up during my visit at your center, I don’t know why I was going through that. and most importantly I felt scared during the ceremonies which made me to try my best to distract myself from my fears, and make the time pass by as soon as possible, instead of facing them. So I kind of cheated which makes me regret a bit of lost effort. A big thank you and maybe we’ll see again someday. Thanks. 🙂
