Over the years, more than a few of my students have invited me to join them for an ayahuasca ceremony. They describe it as this most amazing thing. The promise of visions, breakthroughs, and spiritual awakening in a single night. I always decline the offers. They’re often unaware of the risks and dangers of ayahuasca that can turn a search for insight into a health or spiritual crisis.

Not because I doubt that ayahuasca is powerful, but because I understand how easily power can be misused. What I see today is not the guarded, lineage-based medicine of the Amazon, but a booming global business that packages deep traditions into weekend experiences for Western spiritual tourists.

From a yogic perspective, there is no shortcut to liberation. Chasing one can leave you more lost than when you began. And in the current rush, ayahuasca dangers are not just physical — they’re cultural, psychological, and ethical. The same is true for the DMT toad, peyote, and kambo, all now marketed as fast tracks to healing and insight.

This is not an anti-plant medicine rant. It is a call to look at what happens when sacred medicines are removed from their roots and sold to the highest bidder and why the quick fix often carries the highest cost.

In the last decade, the interest in ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT from the so-called “DMT toad,” peyote, and kambo has exploded. What was once confined to remote jungle villages and indigenous ceremonies is now a rapidly growing sector of the global spiritual tourism market. Retreats sell “transformational” packages the way music festivals sell VIP tickets: glossy websites, influencer endorsements, and price tags that can rival a luxury vacation.

In Iquitos, Peru, more than 40 ayahuasca retreats now compete for foreign clients, some charging up to $3,000 for a 10-night stay. In Costa Rica, Rythmia Life Advancement Center openly markets itself as a miracle factory, with weekly rates nearing $5,000. These centers advertise life-changing visions, but rarely lead with the medical disclaimers, the screening process, or the realities of what happens when an unprepared participant meets the intensity of these substances.

And this is not limited to South America. From Malibu to Tulum, the ayahuasca ceremonies extend to the DMT toad ceremonies run out of Airbnbs, peyote “vision quests” offered to non-Natives despite strong indigenous opposition, and kambo “detox” sessions in urban yoga studios. What unites them is not lineage, training, or safety protocols, but a market hungry for seekers and a steady stream of seekers desperate for an answer.

The result is a spiritual gold rush that preys on vulnerability. Many participants arrive carrying real pain: grief, addiction, depression, trauma. In this state, it is easy to trust the smiling facilitator who promises “breakthrough” in a single night. But without proper preparation, medical oversight, or cultural respect, these promises can collapse into physical harm, psychological fallout, and a disconnection from the very wisdom these traditions were built to protect.

In the cultures where ayahuasca, peyote, and other sacred medicines originate, the people who carry these traditions are not weekend facilitators. They are healers who have undergone many years of training, often under the direct guidance of elders and passed down through many generations. Their role is not simply to serve a substance but to guide a process that is as much about preparation, prayer, and integration as it is about the ceremony itself.

In the modern retreat circuit, this depth is often missing. The rise of “weekend shamans” has turned what should be a carefully held space into a consumer experience. A few hours of instruction, borrowed songs, and a feathered headdress can be enough to market oneself as an expert.

This shift strips these practices of the cultural context that gives them meaning and safety. In some cases, the appropriation is overt: sacred songs recorded without permission, ceremonial tools reproduced as merchandise, even indigenous identities claimed by those with no connection to the communities. The result is not just inauthentic, it can be dangerous. Without the deep knowledge of how to navigate the intense psychological and spiritual terrain these substances open, untrained facilitators can leave participants adrift in confusion or crisis.

For those of us on the yogic path, this is a clear lesson. A shortcut without a guide who truly knows the terrain is not a shortcut at all, it is a gamble. And when the stakes are your mind, your body, and your spirit, that gamble is rarely worth the risk.

These substances are not harmless, and in the wrong context, they can be deadly.

Ayahuasca – The brew can cause extreme vomiting, diarrhea, spikes in blood pressure, and psychological overwhelm. The U.S. Embassy in Peru has warned that several American tourists have died or suffered severe health crises after ceremonies. In 2025, a 41-year-old man died from multi-organ failure after drinking ayahuasca while on antibiotics — a drug interaction that triggered a fatal reaction. Even without medical complications, intense visions can destabilize the mind, sometimes leading to violent or self-harming behavior.

See: How an ayahuasca retreat claimed the life of a 24-year-old Kiwi tourist in the Amazon

5-MeO-DMT (DMT toad) – This is one of the most potent psychedelics known, capable of completely dissolving ordinary awareness within seconds. Untrained facilitation can result in seizures, respiratory distress, or injury as participants lose control of their bodies. Deaths have been reported, including a 2019 case in Spain where a man died after smoking toad venom in a poorly managed ceremony. Beyond human risks, the demand for this substance has endangered the Sonoran Desert toad, with poaching and overharvesting threatening wild populations.

See: Cardiac effects of two hallucinogenic natural products

Peyote – Sacred to specific Native American traditions, peyote is already endangered due to overharvesting and habitat loss. It takes years, even decades, for the cactus to mature, making the current tourism demand unsustainable. While generally safe in traditional use, high doses can cause dangerous dehydration, vomiting, and in rare cases, fatal complications. Indigenous leaders have repeatedly asked outsiders to leave peyote alone, both for ecological survival and to preserve its cultural integrity.

See: The Peyote Cactus: A Sacred Plant Facing Extinction

Kambo – Not a hallucinogen but a frog poison applied to fresh skin burns, kambo triggers an immediate and violent purge. Proponents call it cleansing; doctors call it high-risk. Side effects include dangerous shifts in blood pressure, seizures, organ failure, and death. Fatalities have been recorded in multiple countries, including cases where practitioners had little to no medical training. One Australian coroner described the sudden death of a healthy woman after kambo as “violent” and entirely preventable.

See: Actress, 33, dies after consuming frog venom at spiritual cleansing retreat in Mexico

In each case, the dangers are amplified by poor screening, lack of emergency planning, and the false confidence of facilitators who believe enthusiasm is a substitute for expertise. When the body, mind, and spirit are subjected to powerful forces without proper guidance, the results can be catastrophic.

I have met many people who came back from a ceremony with stories of cosmic visions and deep emotional release, yet months later, they were wrestling with the same patterns they had hoped to dissolve.

This is not because the plants have no power. It is because the transformation they offer depends entirely on how a person lives afterward. Without integration, discipline, and daily practice, the insight fades like a dream. The same anxiety, addiction, or restlessness that drove someone to the ceremony simply resurfaces.

From a yogic perspective, lasting inner change is not something you can buy in a week. It is the fruit of sustained sadhana over months and years. Just as one does not master meditation in a weekend, enlightenment is not a peak experience but a lived state cultivated through repetition, self-inquiry, and steadiness.

The pursuit of quick fixes is tempting because it promises to skip the slow work. But the slow work is the path. When we chase peak states without building the foundation to hold them, the mind often snaps back harder, leaving us more confused than before.

The dangers of these substances are not only physical. They can leave deep marks on the mind and spirit that are harder to see but just as real.

For some, an overwhelming psychedelic journey can destabilize the psyche, triggering anxiety disorders, depression, or even psychosis. The mind is opened wide and without the right grounding, that opening can invite confusion, obsession, or lasting distress. In certain traditions, this is spoken of as “opening portals” without protection, allowing harmful influences to enter. Whether one views this through a psychological or energetic lens, the risk is real.

There is also an ethical dimension rarely discussed. In recent years, YouTubers chasing views have traveled to India, filming themselves giving intoxicants to Sadhus and other spiritual practitioners who had not asked for them. This is more than reckless, it is a violation of sacred boundaries. To impose a mind-altering substance on someone in the name of “sharing an experience” or “content creation” is an act of deep disrespect. It trivializes both the person and the tradition they represent, and it mirrors the broader pattern of outsiders imposing their will on cultures they do not fully understand.

When substances like ayahuasca, LSD, the DMT toad, peyote, or kambo are offered to those who already live within disciplined spiritual paths, it ignores a key truth: these practitioners have chosen a way of life that does not require, and may even forbid, such shortcuts. Influencing them to participate is a breach of trust and a betrayal of respect. In short, it is unethical.

DMT Seized and Arrest made in Goa, India

In yoga, the understanding is simple: everything you need for awakening is already within you. The breath, the mind, the body, and the subtle currents of energy are the tools, not exotic substances from far-off lands.

Disciplines like meditation, self-inquiry, and pranayama are not consolation prizes for those who “can’t handle” plant medicine. They are direct paths, time-tested across thousands of years, that cultivate clarity and stability without the volatility of a drug-induced peak. A practice like Nadi Shodhana can purify the body’s subtle energy channels over time, creating space for clarity and the steadiness needed for genuine inner vision.

The craving for something external to spark transformation is understandable but true inner vision is not about speed. It is about depth. And depth grows through repetition, devotion, and the willingness to stay with the work long after the excitement has faded. In essence, enlightenment is hard earned through diligent practice and nothing else.

When you understand that awakening is an uncovering rather than an acquisition, the appeal of a shortcut fades. You stop searching for the next big thing and start tending the garden that was always yours.

If you feel called to explore plant medicine, do so with both eyes open. These ceremonies can be profound in the right hands, but the modern market is full of people who do not know or care how to hold the responsibility.

Red flags are easy to spot once you know what to look for:

• No medical screening. A responsible facilitator will ask about your health history and medications. If they don’t, they’re not protecting you.
• Grandiose promises. Any claim of guaranteed enlightenment, miraculous cures, or a “100% success rate” is marketing, not medicine.
• Unclear lineage or training. A real guide can explain their teachers, tradition, and years of preparation. Vague answers are a warning.
• Stacked ceremonies. Offering ayahuasca, kambo, and toad venom in the same week might sound exciting but it’s a physical and mental strain few can handle safely.
• No integration support. The days and weeks after ceremony are critical. If the organizer disappears once the retreat ends, that’s not care, that’s commerce.

Do your homework. Research the people, the place, and the plant. Listen to the voices of the cultures these medicines come from. And most of all, trust your instincts. If something feels off, it probably is.

Your path is yours alone. No retreat, no shaman, no substance can give you the inner freedom that steady practice will. Don’t let business, hype, or curiosity pull you into situations that risk your health or your spirit.

The urge to explore the unknown is part of being human. But you do not need to risk your life, your health, or your mind to touch the deeper truths within you. The same insight seekers hope to find in a ceremony can be cultivated through a steady and grounded yoga practice without the danger, the cultural harm, or the quick-fix illusions.

If you’re ready to explore time-tested practices for inner vision, check out: Trataka Meditation and How to Do Nadi Shodhana and start putting in the work.

Your transformation does not depend on anything outside yourself. It begins the moment you commit to the path.

Om Shanti