Veterans and first responders
A medically supervised Bwiti iboga retreat held by a former U.S. Navy SEAL, trained in Gabon at Bwiti House by Moughenda Mikala, a tenth-generation Missoko Bwiti shaman. For people who served and came home carrying more than they left with. Two dedicated dates this year, eight guests each.
Why veterans come
Iboga is not a sedative and not a high. It is a long, lucid night in which the mind replays what it has stored, with the body kept safe by a medical team beside your mat. Guests who served describe three things.
The ceremony night is followed by a processing day in which most guests sleep deeply for the first time in years. Sleep, heart-rate variability and resting heart rate are measured before and after, so the change is visible, not just felt.
Iboga tends to bring memories forward with distance: you see the event without being inside it. Our practitioners guide the life review the next day, and the psychologist helps you decide what to do with what you saw.
For guests who lean on alcohol or medication to get through, the detox program adds days and medical care around the ceremonies. Iboga is known for interrupting the cycle; the three months of follow-up are for keeping it interrupted.
Traditional Missoko Bwiti Ceremony vs Ibogaine Clinics
Traditional Missoko Bwiti Ceremony, practiced at centers such as Bwiti Life and Bwiti House, places iboga within a living spiritual tradition. Ibogaine clinics, such as Beond and Ambio, organize treatment within a clinical framework. At Bwiti Life, whole root bark, traditional practitioners and ceremony shape the experience alongside medical supervision. Move through the four stages below to explore the differences in setting and support.
Veterans · the two routes
Before the night
Whole Tabernanthe iboga root bark, with the alkaloids that occur together in the plant: ibogaine alongside ibogaline, ibogamine and tabernanthine. A practitioner trained in Gabon gives it in steps through the night and adjusts to what he sees in front of him.
Isolated ibogaine administered under a medical protocol. Dosing and timing depend on the individual assessment and clinic; some programs include additional doses when clinically appropriate.
As it comes on
A fire, Missoko Bwiti Music and sacred Songs, and practitioners who stay in the room until morning. The physician and the cardiac telemetry are there for the body; the practitioners are there for the night itself.
A clinical treatment setting with medical staff and cardiac monitoring. Room arrangements, therapeutic support and additional practices depend on the provider and program.
The long hours
Memories, emotions and personal imagery may arise. Missoko Bwiti practitioners help you explore the experience within the tradition, with attention to your life and the questions you brought to ceremony.
Introspection and emotional experiences can also be part of clinical treatment. Beond and Ambio describe coaching or therapeutic support to help guests process the experience; the approach varies by program.
And the months
You tell the practitioners what you saw, and they read it back in the tradition's terms. Then a processing day, an integration day, and three months of scheduled calls with people who were in the room.
Medical observation and recovery are followed by integration support. Beond describes ongoing coaching and follow-up; Ambio describes continued work with a coach after departure. The schedule and format vary by program.
Both approaches require careful medical screening and supervision. This comparison focuses on the cultural setting and support around the experience. The ceremony details describe Bwiti Life; other providers’ programs vary. Read iboga vs ibogaine and the safety protocol.
Who holds it
Cory served ten years as a U.S. Navy SEAL and lived the transition out himself before he found iboga. He is initiated in the Bwiti tradition in Gabon and a graduate of the Bwiti House Training Program. See photographs from his training in Gabon. He leads the veterans' retreats with Michael, and the medical team never leaves the palapa.
How it unfolds
A discovery call, a medical questionnaire, an ECG review and a medication check with the physician. Some VA prescriptions need a taper; we plan it with your doctor. If it is not safe, we say so.
Airport pick-up in Cancún, your own room in the jungle, vitals and bloodwork review, and the first fire talk with Cory and Michael the same evening.
Two ceremonies over seven days, three over ten, and up to four over fourteen: some guests take three with microdosing, the practitioner decides. Cardiac telemetry, IV access, a physician beside you. Missoko Bwiti Music and sacred Songs accompany the ceremony throughout the night. Between them, a processing day and an integration day at the cenote.
Weekly calls with the medical team or Tania for three months, your wearable data reviewed, and a living plan for sleep, training, alcohol and the people around you.
Dates
Groups of eight, all veterans and first responders. Arrival dates below; the seven-, ten- and fourteen-day programs start the same day. Other dates are open to everyone and are listed on the schedule.
After two tours I had tried therapy, EMDR and every supplement on the market. The ceremony gave me back the night. The doctor followed my heart monitor the whole time, and the integration calls afterwards are what made it last.
Pricing, US dollars
All inclusive from Cancún airport: medical screening, ceremonies, room, meals, three months of follow-up. All payments are final, see the terms. Full pricing.
Questions veterans ask
Often yes, sometimes with a taper planned in advance with your prescribing doctor and our physician. SSRIs, some sleep medications and most blood-pressure drugs need a review; a few medications are incompatible with iboga and we will tell you which. Send us your list on the discovery call; nothing is decided without the medical team.
Yes. The October and December retreats are reserved for veterans and first responders, eight guests maximum. You share the fire circle and the meals with people who understand the vocabulary, and you have your own room.
Iboga affects the heart's rhythm, which is why unsupervised ceremonies have caused deaths. Every guest here is screened with an ECG review and bloodwork before travel, has IV access placed before any dose, and is monitored with cardiac telemetry by a physician all night, with a hospital twenty minutes away. If the medical team is not comfortable, you do not take the medicine.
No. Iboga is not an approved treatment in the United States, and the retreat is paid privately. Some guests use the VA Community Care network for follow-up therapy at home; we write a summary for your clinician if you want one.
Iboga is not scheduled in Mexico, where the retreat takes place. It is a Schedule I substance in the United States, so nothing about the medicine crosses the border. See the legal note in our guide.
You've carried this long enough. Start with a conversation with our medical team.
