Carlos Tanner - From Rock Bottom to Rainforest: A Journey of Ayahuasca Mastery

The Psychedelic Podcast

In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin welcomes Carlos Tanner, founder and director of the Ayahuasca Foundation in Iquitos, Peru.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-277-carlos-tanner/?ref=278

Carlos shares his transformative journey from addiction to becoming an apprentice of master shaman Don Juan Tangoa Paima, leading to the creation of the Ayahuasca Foundation in 2009. He discusses the integration of Western educational approaches with ancestral healing traditions, the foundation's groundbreaking research on ayahuasca's effects on PTSD, and his vision for bridging indigenous wisdom with modern psychedelic therapy.

Carlos Tanner has been studying ayahuasca and plant medicine in the Amazon Rainforest since 2003. As the director of the Ayahuasca Foundation, which he founded in 2009 in Iquitos, Peru, Carlos organizes healing retreats and educational courses led by indigenous curanderos. These programs help people heal from conditions ranging from depression to cancer or learn about Amazonian ancestral healing traditions.

Since 2017, the Ayahuasca Foundation has partnered with Onaya Science to research the ayahuasca tradition’s effects on depression, anxiety, and trauma. The research has led to over a dozen published articles showing significant reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms, along with improvements in PTSD, chronic pain, and other health issues.

Highlights:

• Journey from depression and addiction to discovering ayahuasca in Peru
• The transformative experience of his first ayahuasca ceremonies
• Background on Don Juan Tangoa Paima and his unique multicultural lineage
• Development of structured educational programs for ayahuasca training
• Discussion of the art form approach to plant medicine
• Evolution of the Ayahuasca Foundation over 15 years
• The importance of spirit relationships in healing work
• Research on ayahuasca and PTSD
• Ayahuasca's potential effects on PTSD and childhood trauma

Episode Sponsor:

• The Practitioner Certification Program by Third Wave’s Psychedelic Coaching Institute.