Honoring Those Who Came Before

The Legacy

The Mission

We successfully treat many serious physical and metaphysical conditions and we always expect and aim for real, lasting resolution of all cases.

The purpose of our work is to open and maintain a path to real world, results oriented healing that focuses on bridging the gap between 'spiritual' work and all other aspects of health, love, success and wisdom that are needed to bring us to a full, well lived human experience and beyond.

We are committed to offering treatment and support to those who are TRULY READY to change, grow, and heal beyond their current limitations, be those physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

Our opinion is that much of what has been sold as 'spiritual' work in the modern world is actually just behavioral modifications, belief systems, and coping techniques which mask and provide temporary relief but do not resolve underlying causes of sickness and confusion in the spirit world.

This is where we do much of our work: once these subtle causes are removed and energy currents restored in the spirit worlds, things can begin to rapidly (sometimes instantly) shift around on the emotional and material levels, at which point many of those same practices, processes and relationships we felt stuck in can suddenly become effective and fruitful once again.

Spiritual Traditions & Philosophy

Modern spirituality in many cases has been reduced to a performative identity circus, narcissistic branding and profit driven marketing campaigns.

Many once effective practices and techniques that originated from legitimate spiritual traditions have been co-opted, whitewashed and corrupted for financial gain and social status. This is nothing new as it has been happening through religion and politics for millennia, and to some extent is an inevitable side effect of these traditions growing and reaching more and more people.

For this reason it is more important than ever for individuals to claim and maintain their own sovereignty and power, so as not to fall prey to charlatans, cults and scams of all kinds.

On the other hand, it is also understood by all ancient cultures that no one is truly an island; it always takes a village to survive and prosper on earth, and even more so in the spirit world.

This wisdom has been lost by modern 'individualist' societies and many have lost sight of what 'doing the work' really means; it does not mean suffering alone, or in silence, attempting to deal with issues that are beyond your ability, or adopting the masochistic belief that sickness and suffering is always necessary or indicative of spiritual growth. Nor does it have to mean wasting time or energy on endless therapies, classes, modalities, gurus and certifications.

Simply put, in the case of spiritual work, even a brain surgeon will sometimes need to go see a chiropractor, and even a chiropractor may have need to call an EMT!

This means that no matter what our own level of familiarity or experience is with healing and spiritual work, even if we are 'professionals', we will always from time to time need help from others more advanced or specialized in certain things to get at those hard to reach places and blind spots.

This is why the continuity of lineages, traditions and teachers is now more than ever an important counter balance to the powerful 'DIY' spiritual tools we have access to.

We proudly carry, represent and advocate for the lineages and traditions we are a part of and derive much of our strength, power, and stability from those roots. We encourage you to claim your ancestral paths and do the same!

With this in mind we maintain a strong network of other practitioners in various traditions from medical to esoteric and work closely with them on cases as needed. For this same reason we also warmly invite other workers in the healing communities to benefit from the work we do either personally or in collaboration by client referral.

If your teachers or doctors don't actively continue to learn and maintain their health from other teachers and doctors, run.

Who We Serve

Our medicine and teachings are not for everyone, and particularly not those who are very attached to the identities they have created around their problems and issues, or are unwilling to let go of the communities that often develop around illness and drama. Neither is our work suitable for those who believe that constant bliss or happiness is truly the goal of a meaningful existence, and that a spiritual teacher should always wake up and go to sleep with a beatific smile on their perpetually beautiful face.

There is a niche for everyone these days, and we prefer to keep our time and energy available for those who are ready and willing to take the time honored shamanic journey of descending into the shadows of the unknown in order to find their lost power, dissolve what is broken and re-emerge whole, stronger and with the clarity and determination to help guide others through their dark nights of the soul, not deny or avoid them.

Our conviction is that if your soul brings you here, this is the place you are already meant to find healing and resolve what has troubled, confused, or limited you and it becomes no longer a question of if, but simply how and when we get there together: and we will!

This is why we approach our process with everyone from the perspective that we expect full healing and resolution of whatever you bring to this work, and we encourage you to expect the same.

We are not shy or doubtful of curing serious physical or spiritual issues, and there are plenty of clients who we now proudly call friends who have found resolution and now share our optimism about what is possible on this path.

Our work is meant to be complementary to and not a substitute for allopathic medical care. On the contrary we maintain contacts with modern medical professionals that we can and do work with for bloodwork, imaging and various other forms of diagnosis or treatment.

Carlos Nelson

Carlos Nelson

Founder & Steward · Since 2021

Carlos began his own healing and studies with plant medicines in 2008 under the late Javier Reguiero, and completed his first dieta in 2011 with his current maestro, Don Francisco Montes Shuña, a renown Capanawa curandero from the Ucayali region of the Amazon with over 50 years of experience healing and training students from all over the world.

Carlos apprenticed and worked alongside Don Francisco in the Amazon since 2021, becoming adept and proficient with Ayahuasca, Huachuma, Tobacco and carrying on the tradition of Perfumero Toecero, specializing in work with Datura Brugmansia.

Having worked with several other curanderos and medicine centers, he endeavors to keep his view as broad as possible while staying loyal to the practices of his tradition and lineage.

He currently practices plant medicine and curanderismo in the Cusco Valley area and brings several groups per year to the Amazon for shamanic dietas and healing retreats.

He is also founder and steward of the Ayaruna Gardens project, taking over the care of his teacher's ethnobotanical gardens where all of our medicines are sustainably grown and prepared in a way that maintains the continuity of lineage passed down from Don Francisco to Javier, Carlos and other future generations of students.

You can reach Carlos for consultations, requests for ceremony or more info at:

Datura Spirit MedicineDaturaSpirit.com →
Pedro Panduro

Pedro Panduro

Master Builder · Jungle Guide · Vegetalista

Pedro is our master builder and jungle guide. A vegetalista and curandero as well, he grew up in logging camps deep in the jungle and is a living encyclopedia of Amazonian cures and remedies.

Pedro specializes in Sanango dietas, for deep physical healing and strengthening.

He is also an ayahuasquero, medicine maker, and oversees the care and maintenance of Ayaruna Gardens.

Don Francisco Montes Shuña

Don Francisco Montes Shuña

Original Steward · Capanawa Curandero

Don Francisco is the original steward of Ayaruna Gardens, once known as Sachamama Botanical Gardens.

Born into the Capanawa tribe, Don Francisco spent the first 20 years of his life in Tamanco, a small village in the jungles of the Ucayali river region of the Amazon.

Beloved to many students worldwide, he is a medicine teacher and guardian of ancestral knowledge. With over 50 years experience as a curandero, he has dedicated his life to preserving the sacred plants, songs, and healing traditions of the Amazon.

His grandmother was part of a lineage of curanderas that goes back further than anyone can remember, and it was at the ripe age of 6 years old that Don Francisco was given his first cup of ayahuasca by his grandmother, along with instructions that he was to open the tradition and teachings up to students from other cultures to assist in the coming global changes humanity would experience.

It was under Don Francisco's guidance that Javier underwent his first dietas and initiations into the profound world of plant medicine. His lineage and teachings continue to form the spiritual foundation of Ayaruna Medicine Gardens.

Don Francisco continues to collaborate on the medicine retreat program, ensuring the authenticity and depth of the healing work.

Javier Regueiro

Javier Regueiro

In Memoriam · Passed October 2021

Javier Regueiro was a widely respected plant medicine practitioner and advocate practicing out of Pisac, Peru who passed on to the other side in October of 2021.

A Spanish national born and raised in Switzerland, Javier moved to Peru in 2004 to study Amazonian plant medicine and shamanism. He apprenticed with various teachers across the Iquitos and Pucallpa regions, but settled into and was deeply committed to the lineage of Sachamama and Don Francisco Montes Shuña, undergoing more than a solid year of shamanic diets with ayahuasca, tobacco, and datura.

His commitment was to make sacred plant medicines available to all people called to use them for personal healing and spiritual guidance. He touched thousands of lives worldwide through his work and teachings.

Ayaruna Gardens is where Javier began his plant medicine pilgrimage and is kept and dedicated to the memory of this beautiful teacher who still lives on in the hearts and songs of his friends and students worldwide.