My journey with plant medicine started at a very pivotal moment in my life.
At the time, I felt stuck and confused. I wasn't sure what to do or, honestly, who I was.
I had a life I thought I wanted and should be happy with. I had a career, a house, a partner. From the outside, my life looked perfect. I had followed the map given to me by society and my family about how to be happy. I worked hard, and I accomplished a lot.
But I felt that something was off.
Instead of the happiness and joy I thought would come from having all of those things, I felt empty inside. I was going through the daily motions. I felt anxious, depressed and lost. I even felt ashamed for feeling this way because I knew I had so much to be grateful for.
I kept asking myself one question:
“Is this it?”
There was a small part of me that refused to give up. So I went looking for answers.
I tried many different things. I read books, went to wellness retreats, explored different practices and went to traditional therapy. Some of these things gave me temporary relief and moments of connection, but eventually those same feelings would come back.
My journey eventually led me to plant medicine, and it changed the direction of my life.
Finding plant medicine
I travelled to Mexico, where, by pure chance, I met my now dearest friend and guide, Nina. She was a plant medicine integration therapist, and through her I was introduced to the sacred plant Ayahuasca.
At that point, I wasn't familiar with plant medicine or ceremonies. I had no idea what to expect or what I was supposed to do. I had many questions and probably just as many fears.
But something inside me knew that I needed to try.
Nina prepared me for my first ceremony and then held an integration container for me afterwards. Looking back, I realize how important both parts of that process were.
The ceremony itself was powerful. The ayahuasca helped me see and feel things that had been buried inside me for years. But it wasn't a fast or easy journey.
I had to go deep. I had to meet parts of myself that I had avoided and understand where some of my patterns, beliefs and pain were coming from. And, most importantly, I had to continue doing the work after the ceremony.
Little by little, I began to discover who I was underneath all the layers.
Underneath the conditioning, the expectations, the beliefs about who I should be, what I should do and who I should become, there was me.
I began to peel away those layers, piece by piece, and then put myself back together, but this time keeping only the pieces that truly aligned with my own values and beliefs.
I started to feel free. Free from everyone’s expectations and my own expectations I placed on myself. Free from always trying to control my life and the world around me.
And with that freedom came something I had been searching for a very long time: peace.
The gift I didn't expect
One of the most difficult but also most important gifts I received from the medicine was a deeper understanding of my parents, their parents and my ancestors.
I didn't realize how much pain I was carrying from my relationship with my parents, especially my mom.
For a long time, I carried resentment and anger. During my journey, I was able to see things from a different perspective. I began to understand my parents as people with their own wounds, experiences, limitations and stories.
The resentment slowly transformed into kindness and empathy.
That was one of the biggest gifts for me.
It felt like I had freed myself from my own prison. I could move forward without being defined by my past.
It didn't mean that everything that happened suddenly became okay. I just no longer needed to carry that burden with me and let it define my life.
From my own journey to helping others
The second biggest gift Ayahuasca has given me is purpose.
After experiencing such profound changes in my own life, I wanted other people to have the opportunity to explore this work for themselves.
But I also knew that having a powerful personal experience wasn't enough.
My own journey showed me how important it was to have someone there before the ceremony, a guide who could answer questions, help you prepare and create a sense of safety around something that can feel very unknown.
And also be there for you afterwards.
Someone who could listen without judgment and who could tell you, “You are okay. What you're experiencing is okay. Let's take some time to understand it.”
I wanted to become that person for someone else.
I completed a year and a half of training as a Plant Medicine Integration Facilitator, alongside certifications in breathwork facilitation and yoga.
I wanted my own profound experience to be supported by real training and structure, so that I could hold space for another person through their own process.
Why preparation matters to me
One of the things I care deeply about is preparation.
When people are approaching their first ceremony, there can be so many questions.
- What is going to happen?
- What should I expect?
- Why is there a dieta?
- What should I bring?
- What if I'm scared?
- What if I don't experience anything?
- What if I experience too much?
Sometimes simply having someone take the time to answer those questions can make a huge difference.
For me, preparation isn't about trying to control the experience. Quite the opposite.
It is about creating enough understanding and safety that you don't have to spend the whole ceremony worrying about what is happening.
We also work with intention setting. An intention doesn't have to be a perfect sentence or a big life question. Sometimes people don't even know what their intention is when they arrive, and that's okay.
Part of the preparation is creating the space to slow down and listen to yourself.
- What are you really looking for?
- What brought you here?
- What are you ready to explore?
You don't have to do this alone
After my own ceremony, having someone there to help me integrate what I experienced was incredibly important.
That is something I never want to underestimate in this work.
The ceremony may be over, but it only marks the beginning of a deep process.
Sometimes you need to talk about what happened. Sometimes you need to hear that what you're feeling is normal. Sometimes you need someone who can simply sit with you while you find the words.
And sometimes you need someone who has been through their own difficult experiences and can genuinely say, “I understand.”
For me, creating that sense of safety is one of the most important parts of what I do.
A safe space to communicate.
A safe space to feel.
A safe space to be vulnerable.
A safe space to not have everything figured out.
And a safe space to know that someone is there to hold the container while you find your own way through it.
Finding Alex
My journey eventually brought another very important person into my life: Alex.
We met in Mexico at a women's circle, and there was an immediate connection between us.
We were both going through some of the same questions around healing, growth and discovering ourselves. I saw very quickly what a kind and compassionate person she was, and we realized how much we had in common.
We also shared a deep belief in the potential of plant medicine to support profound personal growth and transformation.
But we come to this work from different backgrounds.
I am a Plant Medicine Integration Facilitator, with training in breathwork and yoga. Alex is a coach who works with people through personal development and transformation, bringing her own experience and tools to this work.
Together, we felt that these different perspectives complemented each other.
We created RECLAIM from that shared belief.
The name came naturally because, at the heart of everything we do, is the idea of reclaiming yourself.
Reclaiming the parts of yourself that may have been buried under expectations.
Reclaiming your own voice. Not becoming someone else, but coming back to yourself.
What does it mean to reclaim yourself?
For me, it doesn't mean that you will suddenly have all the answers.
It doesn't mean that life will become perfect.
And it certainly doesn't mean that you will never feel sad, anxious, confused or lost again.
I still have gray days and moments when I don't know what I'm doing. I feel sadness and difficult emotions.
But something fundamental has changed. I don't abandon myself when things get difficult.
I know how to listen to myself. I know how to give myself compassion. I understand that I don't have to control everything. And I know that I can choose again when something no longer feels aligned with who I am.
That, for me, is what the journey has really been about.
Not becoming a different person.
Not escaping my life.
But coming home to myself.
And that is the space I hope to create for others through this work: a space where you can slow down, feel safe enough to look inward, and begin your own journey back to yourself.
Karina and Alex host RECLAIM: A Journey Back to Self at Lunita in Puerto Morelos, January 6 to 10, 2027. More about their work at reclaimexperience.com.