How did I end up in Peru working with plant medicines? It is a question that I still ask myself because it seems like a course in life that I never came close to expecting. Going from a 100% Gung-Ho Marine in Afghanistan to living in Peru working with plant medicines is a big leap. It’s something that growing up in Nebraska I could have never imagined but after the military I was lost and looking for direction. My deployment disheartened me and I wasn’t sure about the mission anymore but like so many other veterans my military identity was hard to leave behind.
I was experiencing severe PTSD symptoms and felt hopeless. I started hearing about Ayahuasca and felt what I’ll describe as maybe a spiritual calling. That led me to traveling to Peru ten years ago to try this mysterious brew that transformed my life, perspective, and soul.
Before I even tried Ayahuasca, I felt a change in my PTSD symptoms in Peru. The country itself seemed to have a healing energy. I landed in Iquitos, the world’s largest city that can’t be reached by road. It felt very Indiana Jones-esque. As someone who enjoys adventure and extreme terrains, the jungles of Peru felt raw and spiritual to me. It felt like an escape from the standard American life of sprawling suburbs, meaningless jobs, political insanity and an arrival to somewhere that felt more real.
After arriving in Iquitos, our group stayed the night in a jungle hotel and traveled on the Amazon River in a long canoe with an old engine on the back. The retreat center was four hours away and cruising down the Amazon River with dense jungle on both sides had a profound impact. It was a different world, life was everywhere and I marveled at the extortionary power and raw beauty of the Amazon.
When I explained to a pretty young facilitator, who spoke four languages, how much I have been enjoying the experience so far, she looked at me and with a wry smile said “wait till you try Ayahuasca”. If I thought my reality was opening up before through being in the jungle, Ayahuasca completely overturned my world. I never thought that such an experience could exist. Being a military man, my life pretty much consisted of drinking beer, whisky, frequenting strip clubs and nothing else. Ayahuasca and plant shamanism, sent me past the edge of what I thought was possible. The week consisted of four ceremonies, I saw auras and the shaman healing people with energy. Things that I never believed were possible.
Are Plant Medicines The Way?
It became apparent to me that we humans are primarily spiritual and energetic beings. Today, I’m still trying to understand the implications of that discovery. I came away from the experience feeling “healed” and I would say, until this point, I did not know what healing was. In the Western model “healing” is usually being prescribed a drug and what I experienced was definitely not that. I left the jungles of Peru knowing my life had changed though I wasn’t quite sure what that meant yet.
My second experience was in the Sacred Valley of Peru and this experience cemented that I wanted plant medicines in my life. My first trip hadn’t been a fluke. I discovered people from all over the world that called the Sacred Valley home and each person that ended up there had a different story. A few wanted a break from the constant stress of the rat race of Western countries, some wanted adventure, and others exploring plant medicine. For me it was all those things and more and after my second Ayahuasca experience I decided a different type of life was for me.
“When I was living in the United States, I felt like I was getting older each year and life was passing me by. When I finally moved to Peru, after being back and forth for several years, I felt like I was getting younger and that I was growing in ways that could never happen in the United States. I was growing as a person.”
– Luke Jensen of Tiwaz Awakening
Almost immediately after my first Ayahuasca experience in 2014, I discovered the realm of neurofeedback and QEEG brain mapping. I found neurofeedback to be extremely healing for my anxiety symptoms and wanted to combine that new technology to the old world of plant medicines. Not only could this be healing but I understood we could train spiritual states. Training the brain could lead human beings to their peak potential. I became enchanted with the prospect of working with the two together, plant medicines and brain mapping technology.
I arrived back in Peru after the Covid lockdowns in March 2021. I began to work with the two together. Eventually I wanted to start retreats combining the two, neurofeedback and plant medicines. Alongside these two modalities, I had many other ideas I wanted to bring into our retreats.
The first retreat I went to combined adventure tourism with Ayahuasca. I always appreciated that. When I visit another country, I want to see that country and experience that country in the fullest way possible, that is what I wanted to do with our future retreats. I also felt strongly about how spirituality does not have to be pillow sitting and meditating. I instead wanted to engage people in their bodies because I knew that the physical can indeed be a path to the spiritual as well. Eventually this led to the inclusion of martial arts in our retreats in the form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu..
When I discovered Brazilian Jiu Jitsu this was as life changing as any plant medicines. I never knew how much I missed the physicality of the Marines and Jiu Jitsu brought that back. It also brought back that sense of tribe and community in a martial way. It brought me back to the physical. BJJ also has a way of showing you who you are. Every day, you test yourself because every class you spar. There is no room for self-deception in how good you are because every class you test yourself against other people and yourself. BJJ also has a way of building up your constitution. You can take more and become more resilient. This has a huge translation for real life and when we become more resilient to the challenges of real life, does this not allow us and give us the opportunity to reach higher states?
What I Learned Abroad
It is fascinating where life can take you. The old me could never imagine that I would be living in Peru and “doing drugs”. People often talk about how Ayahuasca can change a person’s life. I’ve seen people start playing instruments, choose new career paths, get married or divorced, and change their lives. My first experience with Ayahuasca set my life on a much different course.
Peru showed me that I did not have to live a “normal American life”. Actually, that American life that I was living was making me spiritually unhealthy. So, there was both a push and a pull. I wanted to leave America, a culture that was feeling stale, uninspired, philosophically and spiritually lost. The pull to Peru was many fold. For starters, I could have a lifestyle in Peru that would be impossible in the United States. The lifestyle was far more rewarding and far less expensive.
I didn’t have to have much money to make it work. I could find a house to rent for $200-300 which would be impossible in the country I fought for. Today you can find a great place for under $500. I can go out to eat without worrying about the bill and cooking at home costs almost nothing. If you like to eat organic, you can head to a Peruvian market and buy a ton of produce for $5 to $10.
If you want to get a Peruvian Visa, you have to be able to prove you have a monthly income of $1,000.00 a month. With a US Passport you can enter Peru for 183 days without looking into a visa. The costs of medical care are quite low, private insurance is available and affordable for expats.
In the States, it feels like everything is expensive and it’s a challenge to get ahead. I started a business abroad and I don’t even want to know how much it would take to start a business nowadays in the United States. Both in terms of money and regulatory hurdles. Here, my acupuncturist friend and I rent an office space for 600 soles a month, which is less than $100 each. How much does a decent office space in the US cost? Now there is nothing in me that wants to go back to that world.
For me that world costs too much, and it takes too much and what do the American people get back from that world? A political system that is totally insane and divided along with the vague hope that the next politician will somehow change it. Here in Peru, I don’t wait for the government or any other social system to change my circumstances. I do it myself. Making my own way in Peru has been the most rewarding thing that I have ever done in my life. Here I feel independent, I feel like my own man, and I think every man, deep down, needs to feel that way.
“Now, everyday feels like a blessing. Not only do I get to live in such a wonderful county, but I’m living my dream of running plant medicine retreats. I’m grateful to work with veterans.“
Luke Jensen: Read Luke’s Published Papers on The Effects Of The Ayahuasca Ceremony… and The Effects of Huachuma…
I’ve said that the modern veteran community is unique because we have to write our own story. There’s never been a cultural coming to terms with the War on Terror that began in September 2001 and continues without end. Today, the United States has military personnel all over the world and the American people don’t even know where they are anymore. Surely, this is not a healthy sign for a republic. Afghanistan, the longest war in American history, ended in a complete and embarrassing failure.
American politicians and generals seem completely incompetent at best, and career obsessed liars at worst. Is Iraq better? Is Afghanistan better? Is Libya better? Is Syria better? Is the United States better? Is the United States more free or less free? These are questions that veterans must come to terms with. I think there is no better place to do this than in the plant medicine space with other veterans. If you’re a Veteran and your interested in learning about Peru, plant based medicines, brain mapping, or coming to one of our retreats, reach out to me.
Thanks for reading,
Luke Jensen
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John’s Note
I attended Luke’s Tiwaz Awakening retreat and wrote about my experiences: Veteran Therapy – Ayahuasca. There’s also a YouTube Video about my experience with plant medicine in Peru. If you’ve got questions about plant medicine or living in Peru you can contact Luke. I believe that for some Veterans, we can live healthier and happier outside the United States. Moving abroad isn’t for everyone, but if you’re interested on my Moving Abroad Blog I have a series of articles and country guides like this one. I also wrote a free Ebook For Veterans Moving Abroad.
Moving abroad isn’t something that can solve all your problems, if you need to talk to someone you can hit me up or contact the Veterans Crisis Line. I’ve come to believe that environment is very important when it comes to mental health and a lot about our American society and culture is toxic. From our political division to consumerism, it’s not always a healthy place. I asked Luke to write this article in the hopes that it would inspire more veterans to look into plant based medicine and also consider moving abroad.
I appreciate you, follow me on Instagram and TikTok for living abroad adventures and veteran information, motivation, and humor. Share the article with a veteran interested in plant medicine, moving abroad, or Peru. If you’re interested in writing your story about living abroad, hit me up and check out my free Writing Prompts For Veterans.