My journey to the Amazon in search for healing
I wasn't even aware that I needed to heal. My life was full of art and travel; most days were spent in my studio painting and planning my next travel adventure. Daily fatigue, poor digestion, recurring migraine headaches, isolation, and mild depression were simply my normal and the way I thought most people lived.
Eventually, my 'normal' began to feel miserable, and I started to dig. The more I reflected on my state of being, the clearer it became that I would never realize my potential if I kept going this way. My body, mind, and spirit were in serious need of help, and although I began to see this and wanted to change, I felt too frozen to make a move. It may sound cliche, but I literally looked up to the sky one morning and said out loud, “I need to heal and want to change, help!” Those words alone seemed to mobilize me enough to begin my search.
Meeting mother Ayahuasca
What followed not long after were many auspicious encounters that seemed to be leading me in the direction of Peru to work with the sacred Amazonian plant, Ayahuasca. Although slightly hesitant, it became more apparent that this experience was calling out to me with each encounter. As providence would have it, within weeks, the opportunity presented itself to sign up for a ten-day Ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, Peru; I took a leap of faith and said yes.
Little did I know that decision would change my life beyond my scope of imagination.
Building a healing center in the Amazon
That ten-day retreat developed into an intensive healing period in my life. I decided to stay on when I realized that my work with Ayahuasca, the master plants, and the curanderos/shaman was helping me unravel what had been bound so tightly. The next six months were full of insights and challenges. I was healing on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level and learning new and exciting concepts about the spirit world and shamanism.
The center I stayed at became the hub of serendipitous moments that would lead me to relocate to the Amazon to co-found the Ayahuasca healing center Nihue Rao, with Maestro Ricardo Amaringo and Dr. Joe Tafur. It was there that I met my husband, Markus Drassl, and began my apprenticeship with Maestro Ricardo and Indigenous plant medicine.
The six years at Nihue Rao were a cauldron of personal growth. They were challenging, fulfilling, character building, and soul-enriching.
Through those years of healing, learning, and holding space for others, my gifts as a healer bloomed and took shape, as did the vision of my future.
Onwards to here
The intensity of living and working at a healing center began to feel unsustainable. I wanted to land, root, and integrate. I wanted to go home.
With deep gratitude for the years of working so intimately with my Maestro and the plants, I headed back to Canada with my husband and began the real work of weaving my unique experiences and knowledge into everyday life.
Without the bountiful resource of Ayahuasca, I found myself curious about other ways in which I could continue learning and fortifying my well being.
This curiosity led me to Peter Levine’s Somatic approach. The training and personal sessions sparked new levels of understanding about the nervous system and trauma and has opened doors into new ways to support myself and others.
Eleven years into my quest, I continue to witness the beautiful weave of providence, hard work, patience and the power healing.
Photo by Zippy Lomax