In episode 33 of theAltNormal, we get to the root of ayahuasca (plant medicine) with Melissa Stangl, co-founder of Soltara Healing Center -- a Shipibo-led ayahuasca center in Costa Rica with a focus on integration. After years of corporate and working in scientific labs as a Cancer Research Biologist, she officially moved down to live and work in the Amazon jungle. With a background combining engineering, science and management, her mission is to help advance the plant medicine and psychedelic movements and bridge the Western world with indigenous and holistic health.

This conversation went deeply personal on both sides. While having a life-changing experience with Ayahuasca isn’t news, the underlying root cannot be emphasized enough. Disease does not just magically appear out of thin air. Our emotional traumas live in the body and spiritual disconnection affects mental health. When we HEAL the emotional roots of our physical problems (ie: anger towards a parent underlying a chronic illness - true story), the chances are...those physical ailments will also heal in time. The power of psychedelics in the right ceremonial setting (and respecting the indigenous roots of the medicine) reveals the undeniable connection between unresolved trauma and disease. When we lean into our innate capacity for healing, possibilities multiply.

Without a doubt, the mainstreaming of plant medicine can be world-changing in a post-pandemic (overly-medicated and overly-intellectualized) moment. And it doesn’t have to be a game of “allopathic medicine vs. traditional medicine.” With mental health on the rise, what could be possible if we supported people to cultivate resilience in their bodies with ayahuasca as one powerful modality, of many?

Other highlights of this episode include:

• The journey from cancer research biology to the jungle to start an ayahuasca center

• What makes Shipibo-led ayahuasca different than other approaches to plant medicine

• The BREAKTHROUGH healing story of how a woman diagnosed with Lupus (autoimmune disease) completely healed her symptoms on ayahuasca

• Why “integration” is often an overlooked (yet crucial) piece to the plant medicine puzzle

• Preserving indigenous wisdom tradition with the rise of ayahuasca commercialism and tourism (how to run a conscious plant medicine business)

• The importance of expanding access to the less financially privileged underrepresented BIPOC who may benefit from plant medicine the most

More about the show: https://www.digseedgrow.com/thealtnormal-podcast

Produced by Resonance™, the creative practice of Dig | Seed | Grow

This show is hosted at Destination Outpost, a coliving and coworking community based out in Bali.