Carlos Tanner
Director, Ayahuasca Foundation
Carlos Tanner first visited the Amazon rainforest in 2003 to get his life back on track. In just three weeks he healed his heroin addiction, released his childhood traumas, and cured a mysterious digestive issue that western doctors could not diagnose, all thanks to the plant medicine tradition of ayahuasca. The Peruvian curandero that provided his treatment invited Carlos to become his apprentice and due to his profound experiences during the ceremonies, he accepted the offer and moved to Iquitos, Peru in 2004 to live and study with the curandero, don Juan.
In 2008, after a four year apprenticeship, Carlos came up with the idea for the Ayahuasca Foundation, which he started the following year, together with two indigenous plant medicine doctors. The Foundation offers healing retreats and educational courses led by indigenous Shipibo healers and currently hosts medical research investigating the effectiveness of treatment for depressions, anxiety, trauma, and chronic pain with the ayahuasca plant medicine tradition of the Amazon rainforest. The Ayahuasca Foundation is a founding member of the Psychedelic Medicine Association and was featured in the Netflix series Down to Earth with Zac Efron, as well as several other documentaries.