About Kiyumi

Kiyumí is an integrative, psychedelic-assisted, salutogenic approach to self-inquiry and growth. We build a bridge between science-based, trauma-informed modalities to plant medicine traditions around the world. Through contemplative, somatic practices, we explore how to develop a deeper connection to ourselves, to others, and to the world. We offer various psilocybin-assisted programs and retreats, with an in-depth preparation and integration process, to support the psychedelic experience and other non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Our approach is centered in connectedness and we are deeply inspired by the power of the group. We believe that coming together and sharing expansive experiences in a safe container can support us in living fuller lives and being more in touch with our essence. Kiyumí has become a pioneering, multi-disciplinary platform for an emerging international community of individuals who cultivate and share expansive experiences together and approach them from a place of curiosity. We work with psilocybin-containing truffles and have witnessed their great potential for nurturing processes of self-inquiry, connection and growth.

Our organization is passionate about creating safe spaces where the well-being of the self can be explored and where personal and social transformation may occur. Our aim is to (re)connect to nature, to call for true compassion and acceptance of ourselves and of each other. In coming together we listen, share and inspire, igniting a sense of belonging that can be carried back into our communities of origin. As we (re)awaken forgotten parts of ourselves and invite more vitality and joy, we come together, celebrating our full creative expression with a new-found expanded sense of purpose and capacity to act in the world.

Kiyumí was founded in 2019 by Amit Elan, a somatic and psychedelic practitioner, dancer, and visual artist. On a mission to heal himself from Crohn’s disease and problematic substance use, Amit realized these maladies were revealing a deep inner calling. By 2011 that calling brought him to discover plant medicine and the work of Gabor Maté, among others. These teachings led him to devote himself to a path of healing through plant medicine and service as well as connecting with other like-minded humans.

The word Kiyumí is Hebrew for “existence” and related to the word for cosmos “Yekum”. The name alludes to the innate connection between self and universe.

Psilocybin

The effects of psilocybin, the bioactive compound found in magic mushrooms and truffles, are wide reaching and multi-faceted. Our retreats are designed to provide a safe and open environment. As the frontier of psychedelic research continues to expand, we are committed to further developing our approach and incorporating current innovations.

To ingest a mushroom is to intimately commune with nature and deeply attune to our own inner nature. Growing in vast networks below the forest, mycelium functions as a resource-web allowing trees to share messages and nutrients. Mycelium exemplifies connection and mutualism, inviting us to bond with our interrelated natures and reminding us we are integrated in the web of life. 

Psychoactive mushrooms are used in many different traditions around the planet. These forms of ceremony and ritual inspire us in creating our integrative approach. In the family of teacher plants they are often called the niños - the children. In some cultures, journeying with them means tapping into our inner child and into a quality of playfulness — the cosmic giggle, meeting the depths of life and its mystery.

Our Approach

Four Layers of Connection

Connection to Self
Connection to Others
Connection to the World
Connection to the Beyond

The basic need and capacity for connection is centered in Kiyumi’s work. Through contemplative, creative and somatic workshops we offer different opportunities to connect to one’s self and the group, and to support a culture that is diverse, playful and accepting.

We empower and support participants to be leaders of their own journeys, making their own meaning and conclusions. Practicing compassionate inquiry of self and others while leaning into a sense of belonging and care, participants tap into their inner healer, artist, and truth researcher.

Our integration program is meant to support this process beyond the space/time of the retreat, to allow participants to continue the process of holding their experience and embodying it in their relationships and day-to-day life with well-being, solidarity, and curiosity.

We are delighted to share that our new community platform is open! If you completed a Kiyumi retreat and would like to receive more information please write to integration@kiyumi.org

Our Tools

1. One on One Sharing Sessions: These conversation-based spaces are carefully held by our experienced facilitators and adapted according to our participants’ needs and sensitivities. Telling your story and having a heart-centered space to share can make all the difference when approaching the psychedelic state. During the preparation phase, the retreat itself, and as a part of the post-retreat integration program, we offer ample opportunities to check in. Our team of facilitators are versed in various talk therapy modalities (such as Hakomi and ACT among others), offering a gentle inquiry, free of agenda, where you can be heard and supported with clarity and integrity.
   

2. Group Sharing Containers - Being in a group can be both reassuring as well as challenging. We want to offer a safe space where we can gently feel our connection to others. To be held in a group setting offers us a unique way to lean into our humanness, to be seen and heard with compassion. Similar to how our body’s intelligent systems work interconnectedly and impact one another, we are directly connected to our environment and have the potential to alter and grow through our interpersonal relationships. A group setting is a powerful tool to enhance the individual process. 
   
   The group process cultivates the experience of being a thread which is woven into the whole. We want to keep our horizons wide and our hearts open. Weaved into our personal processes is the call to serve humanity and the planet. Through our emerging community platforms: our integration program, workshops and forums, we would like to support each other as we venture into new ways to act, impact and thrive in the world. 
   

3. Listening to the body - Supporting an Embodied experience -  Through a range of somatic practices, we cultivate deep listening and tap into our body’s inherent wisdom. We (re)discover and celebrate the body’s power and resilience. Through online and onsite workshops, we give tools for self regulation of the nervous system and deeper connection to our bodies. We acknowledge the body as a wisdom holder and enhance our sense of embodiment through touch, awareness and listening. Finally, our body conscious chefs prepare delicious, nutritious vegan meals that support the psilocybin journey.
   

4. Creating bridges into the Mystical Experience, Ritual and Ceremony - In workshops and through the journey itself, we invite you to explore what spirituality is for you, in what ways you relate to the great mystery, the unknown, and how you can lean into this inquiry with ease and grace. We will study the elements that make a ritual and discuss ways to create ceremonies in our own way. Through creating our own ritual we learn to approach experiences with intention, curiosity and gratitude. These practices open our subtle sensors and can help us connect to ineffable, non-verbal layers of experience, to our imagination and dreams. This also supports the bridge between the psychedelic state and the daily states of our so called ‘regular’ consciousness.
   

5. Dance, Movement, Voice Workshops - Freeing our expression through dance and movement can reconnect us with joy, and authenticity, allow deep emotional releases and help us discover modes of knowing that are beyond language. Through workshops and rituals, in an easy-going, judgment-free environment, we aim to cultivate a safe community that celebrates our true voice and flow and allows for more vulnerability. In the process, we will explore the role of shame and the preciousness of play. 
   

6. Sound - Music is said to be the language of the soul and is used in many traditions to guide the self through different states of consciousness. Each Kiyumí psychedelic journey is held and navigated with carefully curated soundscapes. Through uniquely designed psychedelic playlists and our in-house musicians, we create an attuned and nurturing environment. Singing circles and yoga nidra practices are also part of our retreat culture and deepen the sense of connectedness.
   

7. Nature Connection & Contemplative Practices - In acknowledgment of certain indigenous values and deep ecology practices, we explore our relationship with the earth and seek to listen, feel and commune in new ways, (re)aligning to nature's cycles. We use contemplative practices, such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, shiatsu, storytelling and more, to enhance our awareness of what lies within and beyond our own body and supports simply being. Our integration program helps participants reconnect to the organic matrix, attuning and weaving your inner experience to nature’s cycles.

Kiyumi’s Values

Togetherness - One of the biggest gifts we can give each other is the gift of presence : the mere act of being together and sharing the raw human experience as it unfolds in the moment. 

Inspired by the mycelium and by all things natural, interconnectedness is what weaves together the different elements of a Kiyumí experience. We also believe that cultivating an authentic sense of inner and relational belonging can help us overcome our fear, grow in awareness and allow us to nurture ourselves and others.

Vulnerability -  We aim to create a safe container where the full spectrum of emotional expression can be felt and potentially shared. Being in a space where one can be real, fragile and transparent, has the potential to radically shift inner repressive shame patterns. We seek to normalize experiencing vulnerable feelings in public and celebrate these acts of authentic expression.

Inclusivity & Accessibility -  We recognize that certain communities have been historically underrepresented in the psychedelic field. Since our very beginning as an organization, we take active steps to have a diverse team and participant composition. We welcome members of the LGBTQi+ and other marginalized communities. Our Equity Program is aimed to serve people from these communities who would otherwise not be able to afford participating in a Kiyumí program.

(Re)membering community -  We hear the call to be a part of creating new ways of organizing in a life sustaining way. Facing the harsh reality of a society that is based on individualism, competition and separation, Kiyumí sees itself as an incubator that nurtures a contemporary tribe-inspired community of individuals. In our team, as well as through our retreats, we openly aspire to innovate and learn, as well as collaborate with other intentional communities, exploring different group dynamics as to refine the tools that could help us socially sculpt our futures.

Queerness - Unveiling the Myth of "Normal" - Many of our staff and participants identify as queer. We embrace queerness as an act of unveiling the myth of “normal.” Through our integrated passion for mushrooms and queer culture, we question normalized social constructs and resonate with the lens of living beyond expectation and expanding our lives. Whether through sexual orientation, gender identity or radical self-expression, Kiyumi connects to the innate queerness of the universe, welcoming and celebrating the full spectrum of who we are.

For us queerness reaches beyond the political. We want to lead a path of reclaiming our creative relationship with the spiritual, remembering to continuously question dogmas and restrictive belief systems. As we celebrate each other's uniqueness, we invite the weird, the colorful and the different to create a safe welcoming space for all beings where magic and tenderness can flow.

Activism - We believe that goodness and a calling to care is inherent to our human nature. Complementing our individual growth, we want to invite participants to join us in an attitude of responsibility and care towards the planet. Many Kiyumí facilitators are students of various indigenous traditions (such as Huni Kuin, Yawanawa, Shipibo, Lakota) who are the guardians of healing plant medicine wisdom. With deepest respect and appreciation for these cultures, we are committed to supporting them and are currently in the developing phases of various collaborative projects where we can create sustainable relationships with communities such as these. We are sensitively cultivating alliances to bring forth fair exchange and connection.

Celebration - Kiyumí recognizes joy as a resource for uplifting, vitalising and re-awakening life force in us. Emerging from rave and festival culture and echoing traditional tribal gatherings all over the world, our approach recognizes the recreational as a valid and valuable field when safely practiced from which we can be nourished by in the psychedelic experience and in life. Sharing spaces of celebration where pleasure is allowed, enhances bonding and synchronization between members of our groups and creates a sustainable context to deepen our healing work.

Play - Alongside the depth and care we invest in each Kiyumí experience, we also want to make sure not to take ourselves too seriously. We love to be spontaneous, connect to our inner child and, while in reverence, still be able to hear the cosmic giggle. Moments of play allow us to soften and suspend fixed judgments and categories of identity. A state of play helps alleviate our amassed heaviness, becoming more flexible and rewiring our creative and relational pathways.

Curiosity - When exploring psychedelic and other non-ordinary states of being, we are being asked to open our hearts and minds to the mystery and to dare to explore the unknown. Rather than treating what is different as foreign or threatening, Kiyumí welcomes the unfamiliar with compassion. We promote an environment where we can cultivate a beginner’s mind, see the world with a fresh open gaze and agree to not know. 

Creativity - We believe that every human is naturally an artist, our lives a work of art. Creativity is an essential quality as we process and integrate a non-ordinary experience, find means to express our visions, reach the deeper symbolism and the keys to understand our dreams and the delicate language of our soul.

Healing - Healing is becoming whole again. Rather than ‘fixing a problem’, Kiyumí views healing as an ongoing process of opening our hearts and integrating different parts within and outside of us. Healing can be an opportunity for growth and expansion and for opening the path for reconciliation with our ancestors and with the collective consciousness of our time.

At Kiyumí, we cultivate healing as a way of life, and strive to grow in our awareness of the pain in our inner and outer worlds. Our research develops a new way of integrating a modern western approach (which places the self at the center) to a more ecological approach that stems from indigenous cultures that view humans as an integral part within nature. Our work intends to build a bridge between science-based, trauma-informed modalities to ancient plant medicine traditions around the world.

Possibility - Beyond just healing or surviving, we want to learn how to approach life from a place of possibility. How to live from an empowered, self-actualized place where vitality and life force can pulsate through us. Truly sensing and seeing the potential in ourselves and in others, living in freedom and safety to be our authentic selves. Rekindling child-like wonder while maintaining agency and the capacity to be a response-able and flexible force of change making. Seeing the potential for transformation and growth within ourselves and the world. Activating our essence and our callings beyond social constructs, towards the optimism of the will, heart and soul. As the Buddha said: "There is a universal potential in all of us."

We are constantly evolving, learning from research, from experience and from the mushrooms themselves, expanding our horizons and our offerings, daring to dream and to act.

Here’s a glimpse into one of our retreats:

Testimonials

“ It hasn't been often in my life where I have felt that connected to myself and to other humans. I was able to experience deep grief and sadness in a safe and supported environment which has helped me process the passing of my wonderful Dad. I have learned the importance of community - something I have been longing for. A place to feel safe where everything is welcome, to be supported and to support others. I feel more connected to my heart and the retreat as a whole has helped me on my path in coming home to myself.”

— NINA, UK

"I have connected with parts of myself that had been suppressed since childhood as well connecting with other group members so deeply. The love I have for myself and the other members feels for the first time so authentic.

Highlights were the ceremony and integration days and discussions with facilitators. In essence, I took away what I needed to find and that was the ability to truly trust.

— DHAKSHINI, UK

"There's a real gender binary, often in medicine circles. I feel like neither and both. It felt here
like there's a fluidity with it all and a place for whatever kind of expression I bring.
I haven't experienced that before in any other medicine circles.
I felt seen, taken care of and I´m very grateful for this inclusive and safe environment."

— MARIAN, UK

" The retreat was profound and life-changing for me. It was the most connecting and meaningful experience in many years. It helped me gain insight into underlying patterns and suffering, to my body and to feelings that I had long
ago lost touch with. Kiyumi has a way of making you feel like you just came home to your tribe. Real attention and
connection in everything they do. "

— XAVIER, NETHERLANDS

“I have been to a few psychedelic ceremonies, but never with such intense care, and such truly dedicated facilitators, and an understanding that healing happens in community, that sharing and integration is fundamental, and that play and dance and joy are part of it as well”

— BARBARA, GERMANY

"I loved every single one of the facilitators! They all brought their own unique energy and skill set that combined to create a beautiful safe space that allowed us to do deep work, but also (and maybe more importantly?) have fun!"

— KYLE, BERLIN

“Releasing pain. Laughing. Connection. Peace. Stillness.”

— TIPH, UK

“The different sessions were all excellently held, and I enjoyed the mix of things more meditative and more energetic. Everything felt thoughtfully and lovingly planned. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience. The facilitators were outstanding: warm, open, wise - it felt like you were all coming from the depth of your own experiences with this process. I can’t wait to see what the longer-term impact might be!”

— ANETTE, UK

 Our Retreat Venues

Our retreats take place at the venues below. All are all-inclusive, full accommodation, with delicious healthy meals, and located in beautiful close-to-nature centers close to Amsterdam.

Land of Yemaya

New Eden

Meeuwenveen

 Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ applies to our other offerings than the Psychedelics & Compassionate Inquiry Program

About the Retreat

Retreat Eligibility

Cancellation Policies

There are different cancellation policies for our Psychedelics and Compassionate Inquiry Program and our Integrative Psilocybin Retreats.

Travel Preparations and Covid

Psychedelic Substance and Dosages

Travel, Accommodation, and Catering