Riga psychotherapist Irina Nazarova told MK-Latvia about the experience of a single retreat in the jungle of Peru and shared her impressions of how solitude, asceticism, communication with nature and giving up gadgets change the perception of the world.

Irina is a psychotherapist who uses Jungian psychoanalysis methods in her work.

She helps her clients calm their minds, shift attention from everyday thoughts and worries about their lives, relax and look around, see how many beautiful little things surround us. For this, Irina herself went to South America for a six-week individual retreat in the jungle. “Just me and nature. Serious work with the body and psyche. This is a deep energetic study that I need for life and work,” she describes her experience.

Contemplating the jungle

Irina spent six weeks in the heart of the Amazon jungle near the city of Iquitos – you can only fly there by plane or sail by boat, there is no land road. All this time, Irina lived without a telephone, without the Internet and electricity. She was given a small house, essentially a hut with a bed, table, and hammock. Instead of walls, the house had mosquito nets. There were houses nearby where other people were on retreat, but Irina had minimal contact with them. The only food was boiled potatoes, unsweetened banana and a small fish.

– How did you get the idea to go on a solo retreat?

– I have been to retreats before, mostly group ones, including those with the participation of shamans. But it was not always a successful experience.

Therefore, this time I was looking for an individual retreat, where you choose the practice yourself and where there is no constant guidance from the organizers. A retreat where you can be alone with nature, with yourself. Where there will be no chaos that often accompanies retreats. The organizers of this retreat are from Russia – they are not so much teachers as guides.

– What did you do during the retreat?

– The retreat organizers gave me several practices, and I did them. There was a practice of contemplating nature. I sat down and contemplated the jungle for two hours. The second practice was listening to the sounds of the jungle – they are never silent: insects rustle, birds chirp.

If you look from the outside, it might seem like I didn’t do anything. But at the same time there was a feeling of great internal work. True, during the day I became sad or very bored for a couple of hours.

– How did you cope with sadness and boredom?

– They eventually retreated on their own. I also had a third practice – recapitulating the events of my life. This is closer to psychotherapeutic practices. Many memories came from early childhood – they had to be viewed according to a certain pattern. Well, the main practice was working with plants and taking decoctions.

The Amazonian jungle is such a powerful place, where nature itself heals. People there are treated for very serious diseases; they often come for oncology retreats.

– You lived without gadgets. Could you read books?

– There were some books there, but it was gloomy in the house and it was inconvenient to read. I kept a diary there, filled half the notebook, and described my impressions.

– Is everyone accepted for the retreat?

– Not everyone is accepted there. At the beginning, people undergo a serious selection process and fill out a detailed questionnaire. I think they don’t hire those who suffer from mental illness. Since I had previous experience of going through retreats, I was accepted without an application form. I devoted about seven years to the topic of plants and medicine in the Amazon. This is authentic medicine, somewhat similar to the practices of our herbalists. Only the plants there are completely different.

When you work with Amazon plants, you begin to understand what needs to be done and how.

The full version of the review can be read here