Including

EARTH WISDOM

PERMACULTURE DESIGN CERTIFICATION

EARTH WISDOM

BODY WISDOM

FOOD AS MEDICINE

AMAZONION PLANT MEDICINE & SHAMANISM

HANDS-ON ACTION-LEARNING

INTEGRATIVE ECO-SOCIAL DESIGN

INNER ECOLOGY

INVISIBLE STRUCTURES

SONG, CEREMONY, RITES OF PASSAGE

& MUCH MORE

Hosted By

The Paititi Institute

Instructors & Facilitators

Andrew Jones

Shenaqua Sookhoo-Jones

Course Overview

The goal of the course and the center is to share how we can live and be in a more sustainable and harmonious relationship with nature while creating a supportive, self sufficient and nurturing community around us. In collaboration with international experts in Permaculture and indigenous Shamans of the Peruvian Amazon, we will immerse ourselves into one of the most bio-diverse regions on the planet. Entering the Amazon, we will experience deeply how we are interconnected to this magnificent organism, earth. We will study Permaculture design while learning to truly be in relationship with ourselves. The course will intertwine three main areas of experience:

Earth Wisdom: through Permaculture, designing sustainable communities in co-creation with Nature

Body Wisdom: though developing a deeper connection to our bodies and our food as Medicine from soil to stomach.

Universal Wisdom: through Healing Arts of Yoga, Shoalin, Qui Gong, Meditation, Chinese healing techniques plus, Amazonian Plant Medicine & Shamanism.

The experience is educational, awe inspiring, grounding, opening & cleansing on all levels of our being, connecting us more deeply to our true nature and potential.

Course Work

The coursework will follow the structure of the Permaculture Design Certificate Course with a focus on the tropical region. Our time will be about 50% interactive lecture and 50% hands on.

Topics to Include:

Principles and Ethics of Permaculture

Observations and Patterns

Plant propagation, pruning, & grafting

Soil building & sheet mulching

Land Regeneration and Preservation

Food Forests, Companion Planting,Guilds and Polycultures

Water and Earthworks

Climates and Micro-climates

Succession

Eco-Building

Zone and Sector Analysis

Aquaculture

Mushroom Foraging and Propagation

Designing and Eco-community

Bio-Fuels

Economics

Niche Marketing

Urban and Suburban Permaculture

Garden Management

Small-Farm Strategies

Large-Farm Possibilities

International Implications

& Much More!

Schedule

The daily schedule will roughly follow the outline below and a more detailed schedule will be available down the road.

1. •8am: Morning Exercises and Meditation
   

2. •BREAKFAST
   

3. •10am – 1pm: Coursework and/or Field Trip
   

4. •LUNCH
   

5. •2 – 5:30pm: Coursework and/or Field Trip
   

6. •DINNER
   

7. •Evening Activities
   

Field Trips

There will be a few field trips incorporated into our program. We will be visiting at least one local tribe and village as well as some local farms in order to learn more about the cultural history as well as the problems the local communities face today. We will work with these challenges to design Permaculture solutions that are relevant to these local communities. In addition we will make a trip to a jungle preserve and to the zoo near Iquitios.

Evening Activities

Music circles, field trips, swimming, cooking and raw food prep class, wild foraging, traditional plant medicine ceremonies, etc. Massage and Acupuncture will be available as needed.

Travel & Accommodations

Participants should plan to arrive in the city of Iquitos, Peru by the evening of February 6th as the course will begin the morning of July 9th. The best way to travel to Iquitos is to via plane from Lima and the best prices are available once in the country. More travel details will be provided once registered and also available in the Travel Prep document which can be downloaded at the top of this page.

There are traditional houses on the property where all participants will share space. Private rooms huts may be available if not in use by patients of the Natural Medicine Hospital and/or Transformation Retreat Participants. The facilities have running water in some locations, showers and composting toilets. There is no electricity at this time, but we will run a generator (soon to be replaced by solar) once a day to pump water and students can charge electronic equipment during these times. Internet is available in the city of Iquitos and a trips will be worked into the schedule.

Once registered we will be in touch to coordinate your pick up in Iquitios and provide details on how to prepare for your trip. Feel free to contact us for travel question, concerns and advice.

What is Permaculture?

Certification Applicability

Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a Permaculture Design Certificate. Design Certification is applicable towards Gaia University Degree Programs.

More Info, Contact & Questions

To read more about this retreat please download the Info & Prep pdf;s available for download below.

1. •Read more about this retreat: Info, Prep and FAQs
   

2. •Travel information
   

3. •Download the release form    
   

Contact & Questions email: info@paititi-institute.org

To Register On-Line Click Here.

(Enter Referral Code: Living Mandala - for 10% Discount

Contribution

1. •$2200 (with 3 traditional ceremonies)
   

2. •$2000 (w/out ceremonies)
   

3. •10% early bird discount if registered in full by December 7th (30% deposit)
   

4. •15% student discount (early bird discount does not apply)
   

5. •Couples and group discounts available
   

30% of the course contribution is due upon registration. Your contribution covers everything except air fare — food, accommodation, permaculture course work, herbal study, ceremony, pick up and transportation from the Iquitos airport are included. Please contact us for payment plan options.

To Register On-Line Click Here.

10% Off Through Living Mandala!

The Paititi Institute is offering a special discount of 10% off  for participants who register through Living Mandala. To receive the discount, enter referral code: Living Mandala

Earth Wisdom - Permaculture Design Certification

Permaculture provides a general design approach that allows us to design resilient and productive systems using natural ecosystems as our model. In this two week intensive hands-on training, will work from broad design principles to the specifics of system design for maximizing productive food systems and community homesteads, harmonizing with the abundant natural energies of nature. In the end we will realize that food production and consumption provides us with abundant opportunities to sing, dance and celebrate life – a characteristic of all traditional cultures and one that we would do well to rediscover.

The Permaculture Design Certificate course is an internationally-recognized course resulting in a Permaculture Design Certificate.

Body Wisdom: Food as Medicine

As humans, we are inexorably linked to the soils and natural systems around us for our sustenance – physical, spiritual, mental and economic. We all have potential for massive abundance of energy, health and vitality – this is in fact our birthright and available to us through the application of appropriate knowledge related to food and living choices. In order to be in true harmony with our natural environment, we must not ignore the inner environment of our own bodies.

Intertwined into the coursework, we will explore the key elements of health and body function such as body PH, acid/alkaline foods, food combining, the importance of healthy fats/oils, sugars and chlorophyll in the diet and the role of enzymes and minerals in our foods. The health and wellness workshops include the culinary arts, preparing a variety of unique cooked and uncooked dishes. All food will be vegan with the addition of fresh fish.

Universal Wisdom: Amazonian Plant Medicine & Shamanism

As part of the course the participants will have an option to partake in ancient Amazonian indigenous ceremonies of Ayahuasca and Andean culture of San Pedro. Both of these plants have been declared to be a national heritage and cultural treasure of Peru.

The ceremonies associated with these sacred plants have been known for thousands of years to reconnect people with Mother Nature, heal from all ailments and clear all confusions, doubts and obscurations of consciousness. We encourage our participants to connect with Nature inside out and this is a very beneficial way to tap into the source of life in the universe as we know it.

In the course, we will have a chance to be introduced with local Shamans, who have followed the path of Amazonian tradition of Ayahuasca and other healing plants for all of their lives. They are our long time teachers and have an incredible ability to channel the wisdom and the healing power of nature. Participation in traditional ceremonies is optional.

Plants are teachers and the spirit of these plants can support us in connecting to deep subtle energies of our body and the interwoven reality surrounding us. The indigenous amazonian cultures have an extensive and deep knowledge of the medicinal and sacred plants of the rainforest through abiding uninterruptedly for 1000s of years in the jungle and creating synergetic relationship with this organism of which we human beings are an integral part. The intention of our work is creating a global community of individuals who remember this ancestral heritage.

In addition to traditional ceremony we will have wild herb walks in the rainforest surrounding our retreats space, exploring the medicinal plant and superfoods of the Amazon.

Site Details - The Paititi Institute

The Paititi Institute for the Preservation of the Amazon Rainforest & Indigenous Culture is a Peruvian based non-profit actively working with communities in Peru and the U.S. The institute is based on 100 acres in the Peruvian Rainforest between the city of Iquitos and the village of Nauta, and is the base for their cornerstone projects — Natural Medicine Center, Institute for Indigenous Studies and Permaculture Education Center. In the United States the institute participates in many community building projects and assists communities in the grounding of their spiritual base in collaboration with the Planetary Spirit Native American Church.

The center has been established as a model community incorporating permaculture restoration and reforesting projects, forest gardens, a living library of medicinal plants, department for Indigenous studies and a traditional Amazonian healing center.

The Paititi Institute is a lighthouse. It exists as a space of healing and service guiding us to the light of our true nature and true potential to live in symbiotic harmony with our fellow human beings and the mother of us all, planet Earth.