what’s kambo?

Kambo should not be used casually or recreationally. Its effects are quick and intense, and the experience is often described as “an ordeal”; challenging, direct, and demanding. Because of this intensity, readiness matters.

Understanding and alignment with safety, informed consent, preparation, and aftercare are essential parts of the process. The session itself is only one component; preparation and integration is considered equally, if not more, important.

Kambo is not appropriate for everyone. Participation requires:

• Clear understanding of the experience

• Understanding of safety guidelines

• Understanding of contraindications

• Honest personal assessment

• Consent

• Clear communication

• Willingness to follow preparation and aftercare guidelines

• Transparency

It is the participant’s responsibility to consult licensed healthcare providers when asked to do so and required to determine whether this practice is appropriate for them.

This work extends beyond the ceremony and session itself. Preparation helps establish readiness and clarity, while integration supports reflection and follow-through afterward. These phases shape how the experience is understood and carried forward, with personal responsibility empowering and grounding the experience for the participant.

Some participants report changes in perspective, emotional processing, or their relationship to stress and wellness following a session.  Others describe the experience as heart opening, grounding, and fortifying. Kambô is often sought as a deliberate interruption. Often used as a way to confront intensity and re-engage with embodiment and personal responsibility. The experience itself is brief, but demanding, and is shaped by preparation, context, and support.

This practice is not about escape, transcendence, or bypassing difficulty. It is about meeting what arises with presence and accountability, and allowing meaning to emerge through integration rather than expectation. This feedback is subjective and not guaranteed.

Thru the years, in addition to our personal journey, we have heard many thoughtful and incredibly positive reflections about the Frog, both from those we have worked with directly and from individuals who have experienced Kambo and friends elsewhere.

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In recent years, we have received an increasing number of messages from individuals reaching out after having dangerous experiences with Kambo in other settings, often without a full understanding of contraindications or safety considerations. These accounts are difficult to read. They underscore why discernment, informed preparation, accountability, and a clear understanding of the: who, what, where, when, and why, one is receiving this work are essential.

Within Indigenous contexts, Kambo has traditionally been associated with clearing panema, an essence of heaviness, stagnation, or misalignment. Select tribes will use Kambo as a Universal Healer for physical needs and to amplify hunting and vitality.

Outside of the tribes, many report transformation of entrenched patterns and stress states. The experience is known to create space for reassessment, reflection, and recalibration, rather than offering a prescribed outcome. Which is very exciting potential!

The experience is grounded in physical sensation and presence. Participants remain fully conscious and engaged throughout.

Kambo is also not presented as a cure or diagnostic tool. Individual experiences vary greatly while many report similarities. It’s relative to the individual.

Kambo does not involve:

• Hallucinations, you’re not going to trip

• Psychoactive or psychedelic effects

We acknowledge the Indigenous origins of this practice and for 2026 we are finalizing our choices within The Sofie Foundation and The Rainforest Alliance.