Day 1: The first day is considered a travel day. Participants who arrive in Oaxaca City on this day may take the private transportation to the hotel. There is a welcome dinner this evening for those who can make it, but the official orientation and start to the retreat is the following morning, once all participants have arrived.

Day 2: We begin our retreat with breakfast in Oaxaca City. After breakfast we travel (1.5 hours) to Cuajimoloyas in the Sierra Norte. We will spend the afternoon getting settled in our cabins in the forest, and have lunch prepared by a cocinera tradicional (traditional cook) from the community. In the evening we will gather for an energetic limpia and agradecimiento (gratitude) ritual with a local healer in the forest. After the ritual, we will gather for a dinner of local dishes.

Day 3: We begin our day with breakfast and morning movement. After breakfast, we will spend the morning hiking, accompanied by a local Zapotec master of medicinal plants, recognized by the community for her in-depth knowledge of native plants and their healing properties. As we walk through the cloud forest, we will identify native plants and gain a deeper understanding of their medicinal uses.

After our morning hike in the forest, we break for a delicious lunch. We then continue the day with our maestra (teacher) preparing our own salves and oils with the plants we harvested during the medicinal plant walk.

After the workshop concludes, you will have some time to rest. We will gather again in the evening for dinner. You can spend the evening relaxing in your cabin, or with the group around the fire.

Day 4: After breakfast, we head into the forest to forage for wild mushrooms in one of the most prolific fungi regions in the world. Our journey is guided by Doña Marta of Mujeres Recolectoras de Hongos Silvestres (Women Gatherers Of Wild Mushrooms) — a collective of Zapotec women who collect and classify local fungi. We will learn how to forage responsibly, without causing harm to the ecosystem.

We will bring the mushrooms back to town, where our maestra (teacher) will help us classify and identify them. We spend the rest of the afternoon learning how to prepare traditional dishes from the region, and sit down together to eat the mushrooms we foraged.

In the evening we have a group dinner, and you may relax by the fire or in your cabin.

Day 5: After breakfast and morning movement, we visit the local high school and meet with the students to learn about the community project the Cosa Buena Foundation is supporting through the Plantas Sagradas Retreat.

In the afternoon we make our way back to the Central Valley to the town of Tlacochahuaya where we will stay the evening at a permaculture eco-village. Upon our arrival, we will enjoy a farm-to-table lunch, followed by a tour of the farm and eco-village. During the tour we will learn about medicinal plants from the Central Valley. You may spend the remainder of the afternoon hiking to an ancient Zapotec ruin, exploring the beautiful eco-village, or relaxing in the natural pool.

In the evening the group will meet for delicious farm-to-table dinner prepared by a cocinera tradicional.

Day 6: We rise early for a light breakfast followed by a traditional temazcal ceremony. The temazcal (sweat lodge) emulates the womb, and is believed to be an energetic cleansing or rebirth.

We close our retreat after the temazcal ceremony and prepare to return to Oaxaca City. You will have some free time to rest, or roam around the city and visit shops and galleries before our final group dinner.

Day 7: The last day is considered a travel day. Participants who plan to leave Oaxaca on this day may take the private transportation to the airport for their departing flights. Breakfast will be served at the hotel for those who are able to attend.