Plant Medicine, Breathwork & The Search for Peace
When I first started exploring breathwork and sound baths, I usually came alone.
I would quietly walk in, lay on my mat, experience the session, and leave without saying much to anyone. Eventually, I started talking more with the owner and hearing conversations about plant medicine and healing retreats in Peru.
Like many people, I had heard the stories about breathwork and plant medicine before - going deep into the jungle, intense ceremonies, people “tripping,” and life-changing experiences.
Honestly, at first, it didn’t sound appealing to me at all.
But at that point in my life, I felt incredibly lost.
I wasn’t searching for some wild spiritual experience.
I just wanted to feel okay again.
I wanted peace.
I wanted clarity.
I wanted the heaviness inside of me to finally lift.
At the time, I was trying almost everything I could think of to feel better:
therapy,
reiki,
sound baths,
energy work,
psychics — searching for answers anywhere I could find them.
One experience especially stayed with me.
A psychic once told me I carried “darkness” inside of me and that until I healed it, I would continue repeating painful relationship patterns and emotional suffering.
Whether you believe in that or not, those words stayed with me because deep down, I already felt broken.
So when I began hearing more about the plant medicine "ayahuasca" and healing retreats, something inside me became curious.
For those unfamiliar, ayahuasca is a traditional Amazonian plant medicine that has historically been used in spiritual and ceremonial practices under the guidance of experienced facilitators or shamans. Many people seek it not for escapism, but for emotional reflection, spiritual exploration, and personal healing.
Around that time, Breath By Design, who facilitates healing retreats, invited me to be part of a future group journey planned for 2026.
I had missed the 2025 retreat, and honestly, at the time I signed up for the 2026 trip, I remember thinking: “I just hope I can hold on long enough to get there.”
That’s how emotionally low I felt.
But something unexpected started happening before the trip ever arrived.
People who had returned from the 2025 retreat seemed… softer.
Not weak. Not disconnected. Just lighter somehow.
Their eyes looked calmer. Their energy felt peaceful. And I found myself wanting that same sense of inner calm more than anything.
I had heard people say that “Mother Aya” — a spiritual nickname many people use for ayahuasca - begins working on you before you ever attend a ceremony.
At the time, I didn’t fully understand what that meant.
But as I continued attending breathwork consistently, I noticed changes happening in my own life.
My boundaries became stronger.
I stopped tolerating relationships that drained me.
I became more aware of the people and situations that disturbed my peace.
And slowly, I started realizing something important:
Maybe healing was never about one ceremony “fixing” me.
Maybe it was about finally becoming willing to look inward honestly.
Over time, my perspective shifted.
I stopped focusing on wanting some dramatic breakthrough or “vision.”I stopped searching for a magical answer.
What I truly wanted was understanding.
Why did I repeat unhealthy relationship patterns?
Why did I abandon my own needs?
Why did certain friendships leave me feeling depleted?
Why did I struggle to feel fully safe, loved, or at peace within myself?
That inner reflection became more important than chasing an experience.
This summer, I’ll finally be traveling to Peru for the experience myself - something that once felt unimaginable for me.
But more than anything, this journey has already taught me that healing isn’t about escaping yourself.
It’s about becoming willing to meet yourself honestly.
Breathwork played a huge role in that process for me because it helped me reconnect with my body, my emotions, and the parts of myself I had ignored for years.
Today, I don’t view healing as becoming a completely different person.
I think healing is becoming more honest with yourself.
More aware.
More intentional.
More compassionate.
And honestly…who wouldn’t want the opportunity to improve their life, understand themselves more deeply, and feel a little more peace inside?
Comments