Our Team

Maestra Maricela Rios Inuma is of the Shipibo nation from the area of Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon. Her path working with plant medicines began from a very young age — she first dieted the master plant Jaguar Caspi at the age of 13 to heal from a serious illness. Working with this plant she was able to heal completely, and this was the first step in a lifelong path of learning from the plant spirits.

Maestra Maricela is 50 years old, and has been working alongside her husband Maestro Francisco as a powerful Onanya (Shipibo word for ayahuasca healer, or "one who has wisdom") for the past 12 years. Her Shipibo name 'Inkarina' translates to 'fierce medicine woman princess'.

Together Maestra Maricela and Maestro Francisco provide profound and incredible medicine work rooted in a foundation of heart-centeredness and unconditional love. We at Soltara are grateful for their warm hearts, easy laughs, and the incredible penetrating beauty of their icaros, or medicine songs.

Maestro Francisco Huayta is of the Shipibo nation from the area of Pucallpa in the Peruvian Amazon. He began his path with plant medicine dieting plants such as Nihue Rau, Marosa, and Piñon to be able to help people in his community heal all kinds of illnesses.

Don Francisco is 70 years old, a respected elder amongst his community. He has worked in this context as an Onanya (Shipibo word for ayahuasca healer, or "one who has wisdom") for the past 27 years. Before him, his ancestors worked with ayahuasca and the traditional plant medicine methods that were used in the Shipibo culture to protect, strengthen, and heal illnesses. The knowledge was passed down to Maestro Francisco by his parents and grandparents. These traditional shamanic methods were the main way illness was treated in his community and amongst the Shipibo, well before hospitals and western medicine doctors arrived.

Now Maestro Francisco is delighted to share his wisdom and healing with people from all around the world here at Soltara together with his wife Maestra Maricela. We are grateful for his warm smile, easy laugh, and abundant wisdom of plant medicine and Shipibo cosmology which he shares with our guests and community.

Maestra Silvia Marin Garcia has been working with plant medicine since she was 12 yrs old. She was born in Nueva Avaipa, 8 hours from Pucallpa along the Ucayali river. From a young age, Silvia was guided by her mother and grandparents to understand the plants. As she learned more about their medicinal properties, and the Shipibo artistic traditions, Silvia quickly understood the importance of preserving the knowledge and wisdom of her ancestors to help others to heal.

At 12 years old, Silvia moved to the city of Pucallpa where she began to diet the plants to clean her mind, body, and spirit in preparation for her shamanic healing path. She began to diet with her uncle in the community, Dos Unidos; after which she continued with her auntie, Eliza Vargas in the community of San Francisco. It was here where Silvia's commitment to the plants solidified, and quickly began to apprentice and learn everything from her auntie.

Maestra Silvia believes Ayahuasca and plants are sacred spirits that offer us an important and necessary connection to nature's wisdom. They help to unblock, clean, and heal our spirit, heart, and mind to bring us into a state of inner harmony. In helping others work with the medicine, Silvia has witnessed its positive, long-lasting impact on people's lives. This drives her to continue and extend her work outside of Peru.

Grateful to be sharing the medicine outside Peru, Maestra Silvia aims to give her best and share her wisdom with integrity and love. She passionately devotes her life to preserving and sharing the ancestral Shipibo tradition so it can continue to heal the world. She aims to offer people an authentic experience that opens new possibilities for a better future.

We are delighted to welcome Maestra Anita Perez Sinacay, affectionately known by her Shipibo name, Matsakate, meaning "beautiful woman full of the light and colors of the medicine," to the Soltara Healing Center family. Born in 1975 in the vibrant community of Nuevo Paraiso, Coronel Portillo, in the Ucayali Region, Maestra Anita has been steeped in the rich traditions of healing for 25 years. Her journey into the realms of healing began with her first dieta with Renaco, and like the deep roots of this plant, she has developed a profound connection to her ancestral knowledge.

Maestra Anita, alongside her husband Maestro Javier, comes from a revered lineage of medicine carriers, with a shared belief in the transformative power of plant medicine. Their philosophy of healing emphasizes spiritual strength and clarity, aiming to illuminate the path to wellness with the light of God. At Soltara, Maestra Anita brings her gentle yet powerful approach to healing, facilitating guests' connections to the healing spirits of the plants and the natural world. Her favorite plant, Shihuahuaco, is known for its grounding and strengthening properties, mirroring her own role within the healing community.

Maestro Javier Vasquez Gomez, or Isabarry, which translates to "bird of the sun" or "messenger of the sun," is a profound presence at Soltara Healing Center. Born in 1973 and hailing from Nuevo Paraiso outside Pucallpa, Maestro Javier has been a healer for 30 years, learning the ancient arts of plant medicine from his grandfather from a young age. His profound connection to his heritage and the spiritual guidance he provides are cornerstones of his practice.

At Soltara, Maestro Javier not only practices as a healer but also mentors other healer teams, sharing the wisdom handed down through generations of his family. His philosophy, shared with his wife Maestra Anita, centers on the healing power of spiritual clarity and freedom from fear, facilitated through the sacred use of plant medicine. His favorite plant, Shihuahuaco, symbolizes his deep-rooted connection to the earth and his commitment to nurturing the spiritual well-being of his guests. We are truly grateful to have Maestro Javier and his wife Maestra Anita as part of our team, bringing their invaluable lineage and heartfelt medicine to enrich the experiences of all who visit.

Maestra Karina Garcia Rios, known by her Shipibo name, Inin Kena, which beautifully translates to "Covering the patient's body with a beautiful smell," was born in 1984 in Caco Macaya, Alto Ucayali. Maestra Karina represents the heart and soul of the Shipibo-Konibo indigenous group from the Ucayali Region, Pucallpa-Perú.

Maestra Karina's journey with healing began in 2003 with her first experience with Ayahuasca, followed by her first dieta in 2005 with Aypana, a bush known for its abundant flowers and pleasant aroma. This marked the beginning of her 12-year journey as a healer, during which she has upheld the legacy of her ancestors and grandmothers, who were keepers of the ancient wisdom of Ayahuasca.

Her philosophy of healing is deeply rooted in the traditions of her people. She stands as a beacon for indigenous women, embodying their cultural values through the use of Ayahuasca Medicine and other master plants. Her approach to healing predates the pharmaceutical industry, offering a connection to the spiritual and physical realms through traditional methods.

In her dedication to preserving and revitalizing the rich heritage of the Shipibo people, Maestra Karina is also the visionary behind the Isa Weni project. This ambitious initiative involves developing a school in the Amazon for the children of her community. Isa Weni aims to educate the next generation of Shipibo children, ensuring they maintain a deep connection with and understanding of their ancestral culture. Furthermore, the school opens its doors to foreigners who are eager to learn about the intricate and fascinating aspects of Shipibo traditions and ways of life. This project is a testament to Maestra Karina's commitment not only to healing but also to cultural education and sustainability.

In addition to her expertise in indigenous healing practices, Maestra Karina also has training in psychology. This unique combination allows her to engage in meaningful conversations about healing and Shipibo culture with our guests, enhancing their understanding and experience.

Maestra Karina's presence at Soltara Healing Center brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team of amazing Shipibo healers. Her art and teachings represent the cosmovision of the world, as seen through the visual representations of the songs and energy of the Shipibo Konibo culture. We are truly privileged to work alongside such a remarkable healer and guide.

Born and raised in the community of Betania, Maestro Soi was born into a family of Maestros. This intimate connection between the plants and his family lineage, gifted him his unique name that's taken from the feminine aspect of the sacred Tree, Noya Rao. 'Soi' refers to the soft luminous light — an accurate description of Soi's energetic essence.

39 yrs old, Maestro Soi's healing path began at 14 yrs, with an impressive plant dieta that lasted one and a half years with Noya Rao. He spent his time in the jungle in complete isolation, with his grandfather guiding and mentoring him. Through energetic transmissions, Soi acquired the wisdom of the elements and nature. Soon after, at the age of 16, Soi began to practice in ceremonies, learning how to diagnose and treat people's traumas. He continued to work with his grandfather and uncles throughout his youth and adulthood.

Maestro Soi shares how his and others' shamanic healing path comes with tremendous challenges, and in order to reach a certain level of mastery, one is presented with many 'tests' that manifest in all areas of life: within family, friendships, relationships, and more. It requires real endurance, and sacrifices need to be made in order to walk the medicine path with mental strength, integrity, and faith.

Maestro Soi gets immense fulfillment in helping others transform themselves psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. He recognizes that sometimes people have lost their authentic direction in life, and are void of meaning and purpose. Many have lost touch with their cultural roots and true path. Others live in a numb state where they cannot feel themselves and others, and through this lack of feeling, we have lost connection with nature, and how to live in harmony with our environment. In this 'numb' state our minds do not rest, and people's spirits live in a kind of dream state from the lack of presence.

Maestro Soi holds a deep understanding of the medicine, and the responsibilities a healer must honor when sharing it with others. He sees the acute levels of misuse and confusion around the medicine and practice. This drives him to expand outside of Peru, and offer his gifts here at Soltara. Working closely with his cousin, Maestra Silvia, they make a powerful duo representing the Sun and Moon, where their united team spirit resounds through every icaro (healing song) they sing together.

Maestro Soi appreciates and welcomes people's curiosity for the Shipibo medicine, and recognizes they are looking to discover themselves, and a higher wisdom — a deep knowing of self and life that isn't easy to find in our modernity. He wants to serve those who look to find peace and harmony within themselves. He walks the healing path with the highest respect for the plants and our humanity, and this integrity is felt in his work, in and out of ceremony. With his softly spoken, peaceful presence, Maestro Soi exudes trust and compassion in all that he does.

Maestro Moises Vasquez Nunta is of the Shipibo nation from the area of the Ucayali River in the Peruvian Amazon. Born in 1981, Moises is a member of the up-and-coming generation of young Shipibo maestros who have committed to the long path of Master Plant Dietas and sacrifices needed to become an Onaya (Shipibo for "healer" / "man of wisdom" / "medicine man"). Moises was born and raised in the remote Shipibo village of Nuevo Nazareth, 9-10 hours by speedboat from Pucallpa.

Moises' Shipibo name is Isá Wéni, which means "vision of expanding birds". Moises' philosophy of healing is "more than anything about the light". In his experience, nothing dark can escape the light of the icaros. He has explained that through their experience with plant dietas, maestros learn to transmit the medicine's healing powers to the ceremonial participants. The responsibility of the guest is to show up, trust the process, and open themselves up to the medicine and to the icaros. His mission is to guide the medicine into the guests to support their healing and bring light into their lives. Moises has been on the path of plant medicine healing, dieting, and training for over 12 years.

We feel honored to have Maestro Moises as part of our team and look forward to many more years of working together as Moises continues on his path of carrying on the traditions of the elder Shipibo maestros.

Mary Julliana was born in 1989 in the old Aguaypa community, Iparia district, Ucayali, Peru. Her Shipibo name is San Kenguano. Her mother and her father have been healers for many years. She learned about medicine since she was 15 years old, seeing how her mother, Maricela Ríos Inuma, prepared the remedies and cured the sick in her community. At the age of 16, she began to drink ayahuasca, did her first diet and opened her connection with the sacred plants. From that moment on, she was always accompanying her parents in the ceremonies, assisting them and helping them with the different treatments.

From the age of 18 she began to guide ayahuasca ceremonies and diets. Maria Juliana is committed to help her patients, heal their body, their soul, their spirit, and align their thoughts and feelings so that they can also open their heart. She believes in life, in peace, harmony, tranquility when one heals and in connection with mother earth through plants and the spirit of the jungle.

Maestro Rober is the son of Maestros Francisco Vasquez Huayta and Maricela Rios Inuma and the brother of Maestra Mary Julliana. He was born in the Shipibo community of Antigua Ahuaypa, in the Iparia district, on the Ucayali River in the Shipibo region of the Peruvian Amazon. He grew up around medicine and dietas from early childhood, and he began drinking the medicine at age 16 and dieting at age 18.

Rober considers himself very lucky to have grown up in a Shipibo medicine family in which his parents helped him take his first steps on the medicine path. He continues to learn and collaborate with his parents as well as with his older sister Mary Julliana, who is his partner in his work at Soltara.

Rober's first dieta was Marusa and that is one of his favourite plants to this day along with Niwe Rao. Rober credits these plants with first opening his medicine path, with teaching him self acceptance and self love, and with teaching him how to begin to help heal others who suffer from psychological and emotional traumas.

Rober is grateful to be working at Soltara with his sister Mary Julliana. They are Soltara's only brother and sister team, and Rober feels that gives them the capacity to work in deep harmony with each other, and to support each other, in service to Soltara's guests and to the medicine. He says that the master plants have shown him that his purpose as a man and as a maestro is to continually work on having a good heart, and that a good heart will always be his guide for his healing knowledge and capacity. A good heart helps him open up a world of peace and tranquility for Soltara's guests.

When Rober isn't at Soltara, he spends time with his partner and three children. He says that he normally takes the first month off to rest and enjoy life with his family and have fun with his kids. After that first month he starts dieting, as well as fasting for two days every week, in order to clean himself, recharge, and prepare for his next shift at Soltara. During his time at home he also works with his sister and parents in Pucallpa, offering ceremonies to Shipibo community members as well as to non-Shipibo Peruvians who seek his family's help via the medicine.

Their commitment is to always be open and generous with anyone seeking assistance and healing.

Rober’s Shipibo name is Niwen Mané, which means he who brings good energy and pure love, or simply “a person with a good heart”.

Gabor Maté (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver's Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of four books published in twenty-five languages, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. His book on addiction received the Hubert Evans Prize for literary non-fiction. For his groundbreaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country's highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His books include In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction; When the Body Says No; Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection; Scattered: How ADD Originates and What You Can Do About It; and (with Gordon Neufeld) Hold on to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers.

We are honored to have Dr. Gabor join the Soltara advisory team and lend his expertise to our project. From his vast medical experience to his deep understanding of trauma work, mental illness, addiction, and plant medicine healing, Dr. Gabor assists us in our mission of providing education, integration and a safe space for holistic healing.

Dennis McKenna is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. Dennis also serves on the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council; as Founder and Executive Director for the Institute for Natural Products Research; as an Independent Research Consultant to the Phytomedicine and Nutraceutical Industry; and is an adjunct professor in the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. McKenna received his Master's Degree in Botany from the University of Hawaii in 1979, his Ph.D. in Botanical Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 1984, and continued into post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. His research has included the pharmacology, botany, and chemistry of ayahuasca and oo-koo-hé. He has also conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon. In 1992-93, he organized and was co-investigator on the Hoasca Project — a biomedical investigation of sacramental ayahuasca use among the members of the UDV, a Brazilian religious sect that utilizes ayahuasca in their religious practices.

McKenna's research led to the development of natural products for the Aveda Corporation, as well as greater awareness of natural products and medicines. He has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and written books, including "The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss: My Life with Terence McKenna", and co-author of "The Invisible Landscape" with his brother Terence.

We are excited to have Dennis join our advisory board for Soltara Healing Center, where we will work with him on cultivation and permaculture, eco-initiatives, and education related to the pharmacology, ethnopharmacology, and therapeutic applications of psilocybin and other psychedelic medicines. His voice and experience will help drive our mission to provide high-quality, informative resources across topics in the consciousness and medicine community.

Dr. Bia Labate (Beatriz Caiuby Labate) is an anthropologist, educator, author, speaker, and activist, committed to the protection of sacred plants while amplifying the voices of marginalized communities in the psychedelic science field. As a queer Brazilian anthropologist based in San Francisco, she has been profoundly influenced by her experiences with ayahuasca since 1996. Dr. Labate has a Ph.D. in social anthropology from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. Her work focuses on plant medicines, drug policy, shamanism, ritual, religion, and social justice.

She is the Executive Director of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and serves as a Senior Advisor for Culture and Strategy at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Additionally, she is a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and acts as advisor for around 15 organizations, among them the Veteran Mental Health Leadership Coalition, Sacred Plant Alliance and the Alaska Entheogenic Awareness Council.

Dr. Labate is also a co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP) in Brazil and the editor of its site. She has authored, co-authored, and co-edited 28 books, three special-edition journals, and numerous peer-reviewed and online publications. Dr. Labate serves as Science and Culture Coordinator at Soltara Healing Center in Costa Rica.

Clancy Cavnar has a doctorate in clinical psychology (Psy.D.) from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA. She currently works in private practice in San Francisco, and is Co-Founder and a member of the Board of Directors of the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. She is also a research associate of the Interdisciplinary Group for Psychoactive Studies (NEIP). She combines an eclectic array of interests and activities as clinical psychologist, artist, and researcher. She has a master of fine arts in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, a master's in counseling from San Francisco State University, and she completed the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy program at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).

Dr. Cavnar specializes in addiction treatment, psychodynamic, CBT, mindfulness, and transpersonal services offered (e.g. one on one, group sessions, integration circles, addiction recovery programs) for individual therapy, teletherapy, pre- and post ritual counseling. She is excited to offer her therapy services to the Soltara community.

Dr. Cavnar says: "The potential for personal transformation is highly accelerated by compassionate, informed examination. As someone who is familiar with psychedelic experience, as well as being a licensed psychologist with specializations in substance abuse and psychedelic therapy, I can offer a comprehensive assessment and treatment focused on a client's individual needs in a wide range of areas. In addition to work with adults, I have also years of experience working with children, and from this have gained insight into the profound impact childhood experiences have on our growth as adults. I utilize mindfulness and integrate spiritual concepts that I have found useful in my work. I like to keep an open format so that any topic is welcome without judgment, and invite exploration of the meanings of all feelings, visions, and dreams, with greater connection, wisdom, and happiness as the ultimate goals."

While Dr. Cavnar believes in the potential healing benefits of psychedelic medicines, she does not work with any of the medicines directly. In adherence to the laws and regulations of the United States, she does not recommend their use in her practice, nor does she provide them herself, or make referrals to those who do.

After spending years working in scientific labs and corporate offices, Melissa realized the healing and transformative potential of working responsibly with psychedelics and plant medicine. In 2015, she consciously chose to leave Corporate America and moved to live and work in the Amazon jungle. Melissa has since used her background in engineering, science, and management to help advance the plant medicine and psychedelic movements — first by helping run a top-rated ayahuasca center in Peru as Operations Manager, and then as Director of Business Development — and now as Founding Partner and COO for Soltara. She is passionate about using her technical, managerial, and problem-solving skills to help bridge the gap between the Western world and the incredible healing potential of plant medicines and holistic health.

Melissa graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Master's Degree in Biomedical Engineering, and has since managed multiple businesses, ranging from a small Café to a logistical department for a large supply company. Having also worked in the scientific field as a cancer research biologist, she became interested in the healing power of ayahuasca and other plant medicines. She has now found her place helping those seeking healing through traditional plant medicine ceremonies. Having lived in Peru and now Costa Rica, she has also deepened her work with the plants through several master plant dietas. Her desire is to help those who undertake such an important and transformative pilgrimage to trust the process fully, by caring very deeply about every person's well-being, ensuring all questions are answered and logistics are handled, such that each person feels completely safe to get the most out of their healing.

Melissa is honored to be a part of this project and working with such a high-quality team that understands the importance and sacredness of this work. Her ethos is one of authenticity, professionalism, respect for tradition, reciprocity, and high-quality service. These mutual tenets are the team's vision for Soltara as a whole, and she is grateful to take part in creating a space that is a strong conduit for healing, sustainability, and knowledge, empowering each guest to become global beacons for positive change.

Kali Slate was born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She has been a Psychologist for 20 years and for the last 10 years has been exploring the therapeutic use of psychedelics to help clients. She primarily works with people who have experienced trauma and works to help them navigate their healing journeys. In addition to providing therapy, her focus in the psychedelic space is to help people prepare and integrate their experiences. She believes there are beautiful connections between the work of traditional therapy, the healing potential of plant medicines, as well as human's innate capacity to heal themselves.

To expand in the areas beyond traditional talk therapy Kali has immersed herself in gaining training and experience with a variety of body-centered approaches; transformational breathwork, somatic approaches, Hakomi, as well as understanding the physiology of trauma. When blended with the cognitive approaches of understanding our mind, and helping to connect with our spiritual core she believes a holistic understanding of healing can be experienced.

She has profound gratitude for the healing power of plant medicines and has had her own powerful experiences which have transformed her life. We are grateful to Kali for offering her therapeutic services to our Soltara community!

Ilan was born and raised in Israel. At 24 he moved to Vancouver Island, BC, Canada, which has been his home base ever since.

Throughout his life, Ilan engaged in many avenues of change making, including peace activism, community activism, food activism, media activism and political work in the realm of Canadian Federal politics.

Ilan started participating in Shipibo ceremonies in 2004 in British Columbia. At the time he was the owner and manager of a popular restaurant which he founded and ran for 12 years. In 2015 he took the first of several trips to Peru to do master plant dietas, and to work as a facilitator and general manager of a healing center which was focused on master plant dietas, near Iquitos, in the Peruvian Amazon.

In between his medicine work, Ilan also managed four federal election campaigns in Canada, twice succeeding to get a Canadian member of parliament elected. He also served as the Chief of Staff to that MP for two years.

At the end of 2021 he left political work to focus full time on plant medicine work. Ilan believes that "humanity is at the stage of 'Transformation of Consciousness or Bust'", and it was time for him to focus on human transformation of consciousness.

He joined the Soltara team in July 2022 as a facilitator and became one of our Directors of Retreats in April 2023.

Ilan is a graduate of the February 2023 cohort of Gabor Mate's Compassionate Inquiry 12 month course for professionals.

Ezio, born and raised in Costa Rica, comes from both Costa Rican oceans — Pacific and Atlantic. His father is from Guanacaste, along the Pacific Ocean, and his mother is from Limón, along the Caribbean Atlantic. As such, he considers himself a son of the ocean, and loves living a lifestyle that represents that, enjoying the ocean and taking care of it as much as he can, and sharing that same feeling with his wife and children. Since he was a young boy, his family traveled all over Costa Rican coasts, camping and living life "pura vida" style. His biggest passion is his family, he has 1 daughter and 1 son, and his second biggest passion is surfing. He has been an avid surfer since he was 18 years old.

Ezio has worked in tourism for the last 8 years in different positions and areas around Costa Rica. He studied tourism and cooking as his careers. He has worked in restaurants, tour operations, and hotels. At Soltara, Ezio wears many hats, managing local operations, including our maintenance, housekeeping, kitchen, and security teams, always working to ensure smooth experience for our guests and team, and beautifying the Soltara grounds with more plants, projects, and love! His passion, dedication, and attention to detail form the backbone of our center's operations, and we are grateful for his easy smile, warm heart, and commitment to high quality in everything he does.

He loves working at Soltara because he feels it is the type of work that really represents who he is, and that is making the people around him feel happy and well cared for.

"I reveled in books at a young age and spent much of my time outdoors. My interests, connection, and natural aptitude in nature, art, and myths captivated me. They imprinted within me perception and felt understanding that there is more to life than what we perceive with our mind."

Sylvia Bringas is the Director of Outreach & Community Building at Soltara Healing Center, where she employs her deep understanding of Somatic Experiencing, philosophy, and psychology to lead outreach efforts with integrity and a nuanced approach. Her work is dedicated to spreading the message of ayahuasca medicine and elevating the Indigenous practices that Soltara is privileged to be a part of — an endeavor she considers both an honor and a privilege.

Sylvia Bringas infuses her expertise as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner into crafting empathetic, ethically grounded community building strategies. Through ethical storytelling, Sylvia shares transformative experiences with integrity, ensuring that every message informs and respects the individual's journey. Sylvia's unique blend of professional insights enables her to engage audiences meaningfully, fostering a community built on trust, understanding, and shared aspirations for embodiment in body, mind, and spirit.

Massiel Obando Garcia comes from a small town called Matagalpa located in Northern Nicaragua. She has lived in Costa Rica since 2009 in Playa Blanca, one of the beautiful beaches right next to Soltara. She loves cooking and everything that has to do with it, and her passion shows in the food she makes at Soltara! She loves working with local foods, local exotic fruits, organic vegetables and fresh fish and chicken to create beautiful, wholesome dishes that nourish the soul. She pours her heart into each dish and has helped our kitchen become a space for gathering, nourishment, community, and delicious, ayahuasca-friendly food which complements the medicine work. She also trains new staff and helps ensure kitchen operations run smoothly alongside our Chef, Jesse.

Masi has been part of the Soltara family since its inception, and since working here, has also created a love for ayahuasca and deepened her relationship with plant medicines. She loves Soltara because she considers it her second family — she loves Pinta, our beloved dog, and all the staff too. One of her greatest pleasures is to see the guests and staff enjoy the food that she and her team prepares, and help support the healing & medicine experience.

Without even realizing it, his culinary passion began at a very young age in his Grandfather's kitchen baking homemade bread and discovering how putting time and love into his food can make all the difference in the flavor. It wasn't until he was in college for Graphic Design that he was offered a job by his cousin to work in the kitchen of a large restaurant chain. Thus began his path into the culinary world. Starting as a dishwasher/prep cook then eventually a line cook and kitchen supervisor. After graduating college he remained at the restaurant for almost 7 years before moving to a new opportunity at high-end family owned Italian restaurant where local ingredients were sourced and 90% of the products were made in house from scratch. Thriving on new inspiration, Jesse quickly worked his way up to a supervisor role, running the kitchen as well as helping to create feature menu items for the next 5 years. During the same time he was still pursuing his Graphic Design career by starting a small business working from home for multiple clients as well as an online business.

Realizing he wanted to focus further on his creative passion for design, he later left the culinary world to work on his business. After 5 years apart, he returned to the kitchen part-time after discovering that food and nutrition needed to be a constant in his life. This time to a different Italian kitchen. During this time he also worked with Dan (Soltara's co-founder) helping to build his brand and website for his previous retreat center in Peru. Very curious about taking a trip to Peru to experience it first hand, in 2017 he traveled down to work with the plant medicine ayahuasca as well as Kambo. This opened up new inspiration and flooded him with new creative passion yet again. When Dan and Melissa began Soltara Healing Center they turned to Jesse to help build the website as well as help create a menu for the retreats & maintain it to this day. Helping on several projects including website design, updates & maintenance as well as video editing, photography and graphic design for Soltara events and promotional content.

Jesse brings more than 15 years of kitchen and graphic design experience to Soltara. Collaborating with his kitchen manager to develop ayahuasca-dieta friendly menu options that are healthy, nourishing and have lots of flavor while cutting down on salt, oil and spices and eliminating dairy, red meat, processed sugars & butter! Luckily his experience with Italian cooking had prepared him with the knowledge of working with many different fruits, vegetables and plant based proteins, creating delicious meals with simple ingredients that are full of flavor and heart.

Mayela Nunez Matarrita is from Playa Paloma, one of the beaches right next to Soltara. She and most of her family live down there, having grown up in the beautiful local community where Soltara is located. She started working in HouseKeeping at different hotels in San Jose, about 4 hours away from her home, until she found the opportunity to live and work very close from her home right here at Soltara, which has been a blessing on many levels.

In her free time, Mayela enjoys motorcycles and rallys, dancing and reading. She loves working at Soltara because of the "warm family energy among the team," which she hadn't experienced in previous jobs. The proximity to home allows her to spend more time with her family and avoid long commutes.

Mayela brings a warm smile and dedication to her position, taking pride in maintaining clean and welcoming spaces for guests.

Nicole was born, raised and is currently based in Northern New Jersey.

Guided by a deep connection to spirit, natural curiosity and longing to reconnect to the Earth and the most exalted version of herself, Nicole first found herself sitting with Ayahuasca in February of 2012. This experience inspired her to leave her budding career at an Investment Bank in New York to move to the Peruvian Amazon, where she was based from 2012-2016 working deeply with Ayahuasca and the Shipibo and helping to support others on their journey.

Nicole is a Trauma Informed E-RYT 500, KRI 200 with an additional 50 hours of yin training.

With yoga and plant medicine as her guides, Nicole continues to understand, more deeply embody and integrate teachings of reciprocity, integrity, and love. She sees the body as a guide that reflects the healing each of us still has to do, and that which has already been done — each muscle, tissue, ligament, synapse, cell holding a thread of each person's story that all come together as a whole. For the individual and the collective.

She finds healing through movement, expression, presence, breath and connection and has dedicated her path to help guide others seeking the same. In the name of Green Tara, she dedicates her work to the Highest Good of All.

Camelia was born in Romania and moved to Italy with her family when she was 11. Upon completion of her degree in International Studies for Cooperation and Development at the University of Turin, she embarked on a spiritual journey and deepened her understanding of holistic experiences in India and Thailand. Seeking guidance and a new direction in life, Camelia had her first encounter with Ayahuasca Medicine in 2019.

Since then, every year she embarks on a journey to South America, where she engages with various Maestros in Costa Rica, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil to gain knowledge about indigenous traditions, Master Plants, rituals, and cultures. Through this immersive experience, she acquires insights into the diverse spiritual practices and beliefs of indigenous communities. This engagement with the Maestros enables her to broaden her knowledge horizons and further her understanding of the cultural heritage of these communities.

She began her journey on the Path of Service, with the guidance of wonderful mentors she met along the way. She is now part of the Soltara Family, as well as various projects in Brazil, Argentina, and Europe that involve Ayahuasca and other Master Plants.

Richard Wade Willis is dedicated to applying powerful methods like Compassionate Inquiry and traditional healing modalities to help his clients move through challenging spaces of addiction and psychological suffering toward liberation and well-being. His experiential knowing has been well-earned throughout his own journey of healing and awakening.

He began working with plant medicines in the Peruvian Amazon in 2013, after recovering from many years of severe addiction, and found their capacities for healing to radically shift the course of his life. His subsequent commitment to plant dieta with Ayahuasca, and awakening to the vast healing potential of spirit medicine, reached new heights when he began his apprenticeship with Don Agustin Machacca Florez of Q'eros Nation in 2016. His skillful approach and keen insights into psycho-spiritual integration are nourished through sustained study with Jennifer Welwood and Dr. Gabor Mate. In recent years, he has committed to a long-term initiatory path with the Lakota people, and the Sundance.

Each year, he teaches courses on dreamwork and Peruvian Shamanism that culminate in an in-person group journey to the high mountains of Peru. His private practice is open to support those who wish to receive honest reflections and skillful guidance from an experienced practitioner.

Sean Chiddy is a psychotherapist providing integration support to guests in preparation for their retreats and when they return home. He has also facilitated retreats at Soltara and specialises in combining applied mindful and other psychological approaches to help people confidently navigate the medicine space and get the most from their experiences.

With a longstanding interest in healing and wellbeing, Sean trained and registered as a Psychologist in Australia and later as a Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapist in the UK, supporting people working with various common mental health conditions including depression, trauma (PTSD) and various other mood and anxiety problems. He was rated a top performing therapist at one of the largest providers of treatment in the UK health system. He is known for his compassionate and down to earth manner.

After beginning his work with ayahuasca and other plant medicines in 2011 he moved to Peru in 2015 working in the integration team at one of the most respected ayahuasca centers there along with facilitating a successful workshop series called Mindfulness and the Medicine. Whilst in Peru, he began dieting with Shipibo maestros and continues to be amazed by the depth and potential of this plant medicine tradition. He joined Soltara in 2019, inspired by the opportunity to work with the world class team being assembled.

Hey Namaste! My name is Tatiana Caravaca, I am 30 years old and from Costa Rica. I come from a fishing family, farmers, and artisans. I am a native of Playa Blanca in the Gulf of Nicoya. I was born in the Sea, in a small boat on the way to the hospital towards Puntarenas, and I grew up in this beautiful, powerful, and healing jungle.

Since I was a child I have been passionate about animals and the science of medicinal plants, with which I grew up as an alternative medicine because of my mother and my family. I had the opportunity to study as a veterinarian by profession. However, Life had other plans for me along the way and guided me to the practice of Yoga and Meditation as wonderful life tools, just when I needed them the most. These tools worked for me as a lifeline, guiding me towards a deep process of reconnection, acceptance, recognition, and internal healing with myself, helping me get out of many episodes of intergenerational trauma and situations of depression and anxiety that I had been carrying in my life. With internal work and time, I became a Mother, and this was also an important part of my spiritual growth. Again, these wonderful tools of Yoga and Meditation continued to support me and guide me on a deep journey toward motherhood. I am still in the process of healing, growing, learning, unlearning and relearning.

Over time I was trained with different Integral Holistic Therapies, and different Yogic modalities, alongside different teachers, all complementary in supporting and guiding me in this practice and medicine.

In 2017, together with my life partner, who also shares the love and devotion for the discipline of yoga and meditation, we founded our own holistic studio, holding workshops, different sacred ceremonies of medicinal plants, cocao, sound, and Yoga Nidra for both mothers, women, children, and older adults, creating a beautiful community around us.

In 2022, life led me to an encounter with Ayahuasca Medicine in my own native Earth, in a powerful call moving everything around me in an unknown journey and bringing me back to my Roots and the origin of my life. In a powerful journey of navigating in depth with myself on the path, to self-knowledge and acceptance at levels that words cannot describe, I dare say that it has guided me in a flowering of my being with all my facets, of embracing and appreciating life, nature, the Human experience as such and its magic in deeper levels of awareness and gratitude and curiosity of this omnipresent energy and connection that flows as a whole inside and outside each one of us Here and now.

I continue on the deep path, honoring from my soul what I have learned and sharing it with Love, devotion humility and confidence that I feel for these tools that life has given me with so much love itself, I share them believing that they can also help others as they have done to me.

Currently, I am very lucky to be the one who picks up the guests on their trip to the location of Soltara in Playa Blanca, crossing the sea together towards our beautiful Jungle. I also have the honor of humbly serving as a Yoga Facilitator here in Soltara, holding and guiding the space and moment of Yoga and holistic Meditation before the Ceremonies in the Retreats, holding other integration support with yoga in the mornings and afternoons. I assist with the organization of transportation, and with the Doctor in health check-ups of entry and exit Health. I love to share and help translate for our powerful teachers in the Shipibo market at the end of each Retreat and whenever necessary.

It is a blessing and honor for me to be part of the team of this loving container of healing for the whole world. I serve with devotion, gratitude, and faith in what each one of us gives to accompany you and witness the healing, transformation, flowering, and expansion of each soul and heart that accompanies us week by week to grow, nourish ourselves, and live together in community, in connection with Mother Earth and her sacred medicine Ayahuasca.

Gemma was born in the United States and grew up in the South of Germany. After finishing high-school she moved to Denmark to pursue her studies in Design and a Master of Arts degree. She worked as a Designer and Design Consultant in the field of Design Research, Strategic and Business Design and specialized in the approach of human-centered design. This methodology places the user's needs at the heart of the design process to facilitate behavioral change and create real value for people and organizations.

In 2011 a series of synchronicities led her to join a volunteering project in Rwanda, Africa. The whole journey sparked an awareness in her which initiated a radical change within. As a result, Gemma was led on her journey to search for meaning, plant medicine and healing modalities that would help her heal from her work addiction and severe anxiety.

She began her plant medicine path in 2014, when she joined her first Ayahuasca retreat in the Peruvian Rainforest. Since then, she has been working with Ayahuasca, other master plants and medicines to heal, learn and grow. Gemma has taken part in many plant dietas, some under the guidance of the Mestizo lineage and others under the Shipibo lineage. Her diets in the Shipibo lineage have significantly deepened her relationship with plants and opened the path to her own medicine which has led her to support others on their healing journey.

Today, Gemma resides in the mountains of Peru where she lives a life of service as a facilitator for Ayahuasca, San Pedro, and Kambo ceremonies and retreats. She continues her apprenticeship and immerses herself in multiple medicines and healing modalities. She is a yoga teacher and works with herbalism, food therapy and sound healing. She also practices Ayurvedic Marma Therapy, Pranic Healing, and Theta Healing to support and empower individuals on their Journey.

Gemma believes in the power of nature, prayer, and living a life of gratitude, connection, and community; a way of life that leads to supporting each other on this life journey for more healing, growth & expansion.

Blagomira (Bonnie) Kostova is in love with life and the potential that lies within human nature. From an early age she is fascinated by the world of spirits and mystery and since has been exploring the ancient pagan rituals and traditions of her homeland Bulgaria, studying the medicinal properties of different herbs and plants of these lands.

She graduated in journalism and, following her innate curiosity, ventured into various professional endeavors until she experienced her first Ayahuasca ceremony 14 years ago. The meeting with the medicine is a profound revelation for her, which in an unexplainable way connected different dots of her personal inquiry of the self and the connection we have with Mother Nature. Lucky enough to have shared her first Ayahuasca experience with her brother, this allowed them both to embark on a journey of self discovery and healing, sitting in different medicine ceremonies around Europe meeting different indigenous lineage carriers and eventually organizing and facilitating medicine ceremonies in their homeland. Along the way she has apprenticed within the Red Road tradition, completing a 4-year cycle of Vision Quest and Sun Dance, receiving the honor to host the European Sun Dance on their land.

Blagomira is currently apprenticing within the Shipibo-Konibo tradition, recognizing it to be a beautiful example of how the Ayahuasca medicine can be put in service for healing in a sacred and healthy way.

Joining the Soltara family in the summer of 2022, she has been proud to witness the safe container Soltara has created for their guests, and the support Soltara offers to the Shipibo community, working with Maestros, who come from a long lineage of healers, and caring for them with respect and honor.

Blagomira is a breathwork practitioner, and within the past three years has been exploring mindfulness and meditation as yet another tool of navigating and reaching the highest potential each of us holds as an expression of the boundless human nature. Currently she is in a process of completing a self limiting beliefs practitioners training, bringing that knowledge in her work as a trauma informed plant medicine facilitator. Positive and open, Blagomira has a kind and loving personality, and has a genuine talent to hold a compassionate space for others, guiding them to their own personal truth and value. She believes that music is another form of healing and can often be seen playing her ukulele or learning and singing new songs with a big smile on her face.

Nicholas joined the Soltara team in 2022 and has fully dedicated his life to understanding and serving in the Shipibo healing system. He can be deeply compassionate with people from all walks of life, having lived in many places and overcoming intense personal challenges. Nicholas's devotion to the plant world originated in his childhood in the rural mountains of upstate New York, where he snowboarded, fished, hunted, and gardened. His love for nature further evolved in Colorado as he began his journey actively tending to and learning from different medicinal plants.

This led him to a deep understanding of the need to embody the wisdom these plants had to offer. Nicholas decided to focus on his own emotional and ancestral healing with the African plant medicine Iboga in the ancient Missoko Bwiti tradition. His personal work led to training in supporting others, which became an integral part of his desire into actively serving others. Life later led Nicholas to the Chirripo Mountain in Costa Rica, where he fell in love with ayahuasca while sitting in his local medicine center. He loves engaging in community building and receiving mentorship while attending ceremonial gatherings in various traditions. Nicholas is particularly passionate about holding space for processes of addiction recovery. He is devoted to the constant immersion and study of human potential, plant medicine traditions, and therapeutic approaches to personal growth.

Frida Stavenow is a trauma-informed plant medicine facilitator, psychedelic integration specialist, teacher, writer and aspiring horse whisperer.

Born in Sweden, she spent the first part of adulthood in the comparative tropics of London, UK, studying literature and working in fancy investment banks until realising South East Asia had an actual tropical climate and moving to Vietnam. Over the next five years she taught English and Creative Play to kids in Thailand, Spain and Mexico, where a diversion to a horse ranch in Baja California Sur put the final nail in the rat-race coffin.

So successful was this retreat from the world of sensible choices that she began a Creative Writing MFA in San Francisco, which is where, in a yoga centre leased to the Santo Daime, she first met ayahuasca in 2014. Surprisingly, this did not make her move to the jungle immediately — instead, she dawdled around between Caribbean horse yoga retreats, Mexican Peyote circles and the London entertainment industry until, aided by the silence brought on by a global pandemic, she finally heard the call and left for South America in 2021.

Once there, things quickly fell into place. While previously her struggles with depression had made Frida feel out of place, in an environment where people came to heal, it became an asset. Supporting others in their work with the plant medicines that had been so helpful to her, she found a sense of purpose that remains her driving force to this day. She spent the next two years learning from Shuar taitas in Ecuador, Aguaruna maestros in the Peruvian Amazon, Huni Kuin elders in England, Shipibo onayas in Spain and Sami noaidis in Norway. Of course, she couldn't leave the horses entirely behind, and so put down her cup for a few months to apprentice in Spain with equine ethologist Lucy Rees, appropriately known as 'The Horse Shaman' for her ability to connect with traumatised horses through methods that can only be described as sacred space-holding.

Since August 2021, Frida forms part of the Maloca team at Soltara in Peru and Costa Rica. In addition to her academic qualifications in Creative Writing and Teaching, she is trained in Psychedelic Integration and AyaSafety by ICEERS, Psychedelic Harm Reduction by PsyCare UK, Psychodrama by Folkuniversitetet Sweden and Emergency First Aid by the Royal Life Saving Society UK. She continues to write, teach and work with horses in-between retreats.

Stefania was born and raised in a small village in the mountains of Italy.

She met the Medicine in 2010 and fell in love. From that moment the main purpose of her life became "healing and knowing herself". This purpose has led her to meet and sit with many healers and medicine plants from ancient traditions. Fascinated by the huge transformative power and trauma-healing potential, went in Peru to diet in a Shipibo centre where she was also working as translator and interpreter for the Maestros.

At the same time she was learning the San Pedro traditional ceremonies and the Altars of the Red Path (Sweat Lodge, Vision Quest, Sun Dance). She started to work with Soltara with a lot of respect and appreciation for the deep healing that people can benefit through this symbiosis of Traditional Shipibo Medicine and the facilitation work based on compassion, love and support.

When not working in medicine retreats, she loves singing, building puppets and do theatre performances for children.

Robert was born and raised in London, and currently splits his time between Costa Rica & Peru. From his earliest years, he has been fascinated by the mysteries of life and possessed a deep-rooted affinity for nature and exploring the world around him. An adventurer at heart, he has travelled the globe, immersing himself in diverse cultures and forging connections with people from varied communities, enriching his understanding of the human experience.

Originally studying to become an actor, he transitioned into a career in advertising, where he held positions with some of the UK's largest publishers.

In his quest for direction and self-acceptance, he found himself drawn to the transformative potential of ayahuasca in 2014. This experience became a powerful catalyst for spiritual growth, and over the subsequent years, he continued to deepen his relationship with ayahuasca in the UK and also in Ecuador, and Peru.

In 2020, Robert returned to South America to immerse himself in plant medicine work and fully commit to the path of serving others. He began facilitating at an ayahuasca center in the Amazon jungle of Peru and later in Mexico. And during this time, he strengthened his connection to the Shipibo tradition and also worked extensively with other sacred medicines including kambo, bufo, and peyote.

Robert was delighted to join the Soltara team in April 2022 and feels honored to continue guiding groups through their journeys with ayahuasca.

Known for his compassionate nature, quick wit, and genuine kindness, he embodies a deep commitment to supporting others on their paths of healing and self-discovery. He aims to empower individuals and help them integrate their newfound wisdom with warmth, playfulness and curiosity to bring long-lasting change to their lives.

Robert graduated from Gabor Maté's Compassionate Inquiry professional training program in February 2024. In addition to his work with plant medicine, he is also a yoga teacher and has taught across various countries in Latin America.

Christina brings two decades of experience rooted in the Shipibo tradition to the Soltara facilitation team. She is deeply inspired and guided by earth-centered ritual and ceremonial medicines. Her commitment to the natural world is evident in her approach to human healing. Employing her intuitive skills, she assists individuals on transformative journeys, seamlessly blending traditional wisdom with contemporary insights.

Christina's unique perspective extends beyond traditional practices, with an emphasis on the profound healing available through embracing the entire spectrum of human experience. With a deep empirical understanding of our capacity to navigate the vast polarities of our internal emotional landscapes, she aims to guide individuals towards a holistic integration of their ceremonial experiences and to further cultivate harmony and coherence within the authentic self.

Her facilitation goes beyond the immediate effects of plant medicine, encouraging individuals to explore and accept the richness of their own human journey. She believes that by fully engaging with the diverse facets of our existence, we unlock aspects of the psyche in which lay keys to potent healing. Likewise, she believes the need to balance inward and outward achievements is an integral aspect of human happiness that has been vastly neglected in our current paradigm. Through her guidance, participants not only connect with plant medicine but also with the intricate tapestry of their own emotions, fostering a profound sense of self-discovery and holistic well-being.

Beyond her role as a facilitator, Christina walks the path of an artist, intertwining creativity with spirituality and relational healing. Her artistic expression is fostered and fed by a deeper connection to nature, plant-based medicines, and the healing potencies found within earth-centered relating. In her journey of life, areas of study and interest have been Mysticism, Psychology, Indigenous Sciences & Ceremony, Alchemy, Theosophy, Trauma & Somatics, and Poetry. She holds various certifications within these fields but continues to place the majority of due credit on experiential wisdoms born through honest explorations of the individual self within healthy community contexts.

Leah was born in a small community in Northern Alberta, Canada and raised in a cabin on a remote piece of land. She spent her early years living off-grid surrounded by and in awe of the wilderness and seasons of nature. She worked on the Light family farm, with animals and in her family's organic vegetable growing and sale operation: Northern Light Produce Network. At the age of 14, she fell gravely ill, which though she did not know it at the time, would mark her entrance to a life long path of experiential growth and learning on the healing journey.

In 2004, Leah moved from Alberta to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where she met a master healer working in the Five Elements acupuncture tradition. He became a long term teacher, friend and mentor up until his death in 2021. His treatments initiated some of the earliest lifting of the layers of illness and blockage from Leah's life. Through that transformation and the relationship formed around it, she came into her first understanding of soul level healing and what it felt like to start walking the necessary path back to wholeness. Throughout that time, Leah worked as a tree planter and in other capacities in the forestry industry, and was certified as a Community Support Worker. Subsequently, she worked for a number of years supporting people with physical, mental and cognitive health challenges.

In 2014, Leah sat in ceremony with Ayahuasca for the first time. That first ceremonial experience brought her immediate further healing. Very soon afterward, she started dieting with master plants in the Shipibo tradition, both in Canada and Peru. Dieting the master plants opened many further gateways to transformation and growth. Physical pains and problems ongoing from early life illness also continued to fall away. In 2018, Leah began facilitating ceremonies in a Shipibo healing center near Iquitos Peru, where she worked off and on until 2022. Leah came to Soltara to work as a facilitator in October of 2023. Over that time period, in addition to facilitating ceremonies in Peru, Leah studied at Pacific Rim College in Victoria, British Columbia, where she graduated with a diploma of acupuncture in 2023.

In her work as a plant medicine facilitator, Leah draws on her life experiences being in deep relationship with nature from an early age, from time spent with her five elements healer and teacher, from her dietas, and from working with guests and clients both in and out of the Ayahuasca medicine space. Her ongoing personal medicine journey of returning to wholeness after illness also informs her work, adding sensitivity and compassion to her offering. She believes that every person has a purpose and innate gifts to share as well as the courage to face their own challenges and find their own solutions. She feels honored to be present to the healing journeys of others as a facilitator: to witness; to coach; to companion. Leah continues to stand in awe of nature and the plants. Of their ability to heal both bodies and souls, and to help us more joyfully be within the continually unfolding, interconnected web of life's becoming.

When not at work, Leah can often be found rock climbing, going for walks and meditating in nature, or on the river bank with friends. From 2010-2014, she skated as a Pivot, Blocker, and Jammer with the Nanaimo Nemesis and Brass Knuckle Derby Dames roller derby teams.

Born and raised in Italy, Viviana is both a traveler of the world and an explorer of the inner landscapes of the mind and heart. After earning a degree in Economics and beginning a career in finance, she realized her true calling lay elsewhere. A series of profound spiritual experiences led her to discover Ayahuasca in 2017, igniting a transformative journey that changed her life.

Driven by a thirst for truth and a desire to dig beneath the surface of reality, Viviana has spent thousands of hours in ceremony, both in group settings and in solitude, including master plant diets in the Amazon rainforest. She joined Soltara's family in 2022, where she now supports guests in navigating their personal healing journeys.

For Viviana, plant medicine is a tool to return to the heart's core, clearing away the noise that disconnects us from our true essence. She sees it as a way to clean the mirror through which we view ourselves and the world. In her facilitation, Viviana creates a space where others feel naturally at ease being their authentic selves, holding a presence that reflects back the light of those around her. She guides participants in organizing their thoughts and emotions, helping them reconnect with their core motivations and intentions. Her approach focuses on identifying deeper messages and teachings that wish to emerge, always rooted in love, personal growth, and collective evolution.

Viviana's facilitation style is inclusive and supportive, grounded in presence, active listening, radical acceptance and deep compassion. She aims to create a safe and nurturing environment where cathartic healing can unfold, both in and outside the ceremony space.

Outside of her work with Soltara, Viviana facilitates transformative workshops in Italy, focusing on authentic self-expression and conscious intimacy. These workshops are designed as tools for self-discovery, inviting participants to build heart-centered connections with themselves and others.

Isabelle comes from Quebec, Canada. She inherited Native American roots from her grandfather and has always been fascinated by indigenous culture and spirituality. She has traveled all around the world, learning from tribes in Africa, Central and South America. Her passion for ancient knowledge combined with a deep call to spirituality, naturally drew her to plant medicines, and more specifically, Ayahuasca. In reality, she feels that the Plant herself brought her into this alliance, to work together.

Her first experience with the medicine was with a Shipibo Maestro traveling to Canada. From that point, a series of synchronicities brought her to meet an elder Shipibo Maestro in Mexico, and she immediately knew that a path had begun. Not so long after, she started to organize ceremonies, learning from and assisting a Canadian Maestra from the same lineage — and traveled to Peru for her first Master Plant diet. Nearly five years ago, she moved to Peru to continue her apprenticeship with the Shipibo tradition. She is now based in Moyobamba, San Martin, Peru.

Isabelle has extensive teaching and facilitation skills which she developed through more than 25 years of experience facilitating and creating workshops, teachings and programs for personal growth and healing. She designed different retreat concepts, transformative workshops, plant medicine healing journeys and participated in the creation of uplifting programs for homeless individuals and mental health organizations. Her approach is intuitive and heart centered and she facilitates safe spaces where oneness, harmony, joy, peace and self reflection co-exist. She traveled through Canada for almost 7 years with a service that she created called Cercle de Vie, teaching about Indigenous wisdom in schools and sharing with teachers how to apply tools to induce more harmony in a scholastic or organizational context. She is always looking for new, innovative, and respectful ways to connect various ancestral teachings, spiritual knowledge, and scientific discoveries to shift consciousness beyond what seems possible. She plays music, sings, and is passionate about well-being, plants, and healing.

Isabelle speaks English, French and Spanish.

My journey with healing began years ago when I was on track to attend medical school in the United States. With a special passion for the science behind holistic health and the mind-body connection, I completed a research thesis on the psychoneuroimmunology of yoga and meditation. As I studied the inseparable nature of the body and mind, I realized something was missing in my path with the Western medical approach — the soul and its emotional heart. I began to understand the impact that trauma and unresolved emotional pain had on an individual's well-being. Though I shifted my trajectory and did not attend traditional medical school, I have since found myself on a wonderful and exciting path where "medicine" is present all around me, every day.

When I first began working with Ayahuasca, I was coming to heal the pain I was carrying in my heart and soul. Like many who come to this work, I had my own long, heavy story of generational trauma that I slowly began to face, ceremony after ceremony. Through the grace of this work, I have met the deepest parts of my being that needed to be seen, held, and, more than anything, felt. My journey eventually led me to where I am now, fully devoted to these plant medicines and being in service to others who come to these ways. I would not be where I am today without the amazing facilitators, teachers, and guides who held me in my hardest and darkest moments, and I have now committed my life to offering this for others as well.

Since 2022, I have been working as a retreat facilitator and supporting hundreds of guests from all walks of life. As an ongoing student of holistic trauma healing and personal transformation work, I combine my training in Somatic Attachment Therapy and nervous-system-based approaches with my experience in plant medicine to offer a heart-centered, compassionate, and therapeutic presence. For in this space, one's own connection to their inner wisdom and guidance can blossom, leading the way back home to wholeness. With deep reverence and gratitude, I cherish the opportunity to offer support for all those who come to Soltara feeling the call of these sacred healing traditions.

I'm Paola. I've worked with psychedelics, plant medicines, and various healing practices for many years; both for my own evolution and to accompany fellow travelers in their journeys of self-discovery and healing.

Through the medicine, I joined Soltara's facilitation team this summer with deep gratitude and joy. I believe that the work with the medicine is a journey that begins the moment one feels the call to meet her and continues through the retreat — and beyond — throughout one's life.

I also believe that sharing this process is essential, as we open ourselves to the immense and powerful network that becomes available through such a mysterious and wise channel.

I consider it a great honor to walk hand in hand with all who choose to embark on this path. Over the years, I've had the privilege of accompanying people during their preparation and integration processes — sometimes in formal settings, and often more informally. My approach is grounded in presence, deep listening, and mutual trust, creating a space where each person feels supported in their own unique unfolding. I aim to help others connect with their inner wisdom, making space for whatever arises with compassion and curiosity.

I have spent the last fifteen years exploring all manner of ways to balance body and mind, love and loss, Indigenous wisdom and the excesses of western stimulation. I believe that life is incredibly challenging for many of us, and I also believe that it is the most beautiful and mysterious gift we could conceive of.

My first Ayahuasca ceremony was held by an esteemed Taita in Colombia in 2012. I later spent a year living, working, and dieting in the Shipibo traditional heartland of the Peruvian Amazon from 2016-17. I first came to Soltara in 2021, and I work as part of the facilitation team here, proudly supporting the retreat and ceremony space. Along the way and across those years, I have experienced and come to revere many incredible medicines, wisdom traditions, and sacred ceremonies, including (but not limited to) Oni, Yoga, Huachuma & Iboga. I am forever grateful for the depth and intelligence of the plants and for the growth, peace, and inspiration that are available to each of us through this work.

I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively through the world, living in the ashrams of India and the wild beauty of the Amazon, all the while interspersing my time with spells in the corporate chaos of an investment bank in London. Having worked on the FX trading desk in my early twenties, I have seen the staggering juxtaposition of just how many ways there are to live in this world, and how critical it is for you to find your own stable centre, your own knowing, irrespective of the environment you may find yourself in. My work intends always to guide you towards that stability.

I believe that we embody our life experiences, and so the body is where we ought to address and integrate them. Over the years, I have studied and found great benefit from many disciplines, and among them, I primarily turn to Compassionate Inquiry, EFT, and Yoga Therapy to support my work with clients. The path is not easy, but my hope is that together we can find a way through, and that you will come to discover that tending to your own wellbeing is the most generous, compassionate, and important work there is.

Giulia was born and raised in Italy and is currently based in Lisbon. Deeply curious about life since childhood, she has always been passionate about traveling, discovering new places, and staying connected with nature. Art has also played a central role in her journey, especially painting and dance, which she considers profound forms of expression and connection.

With a background in architecture, Giulia dedicated many years of her life to both design and teaching. Alongside her professional path, she cultivated a deep interest in the energetic, spiritual, and psycho-pedagogical worlds. Growing up surrounded by people and experiences that introduced her to these dimensions, she gradually deepened her understanding and practice of energetic healing and human connection.

Her first experience with Ayahuasca marked a profound turning point, transforming this inner calling into a grounded and constant path. Her journey with the master plant has been shaped through a blend of Brazilian, Colombian, and currently Peruvian traditions and cultures. Today, she shares her experience as a devoted student of this sacred medicine, integrating its teachings into her daily life and supporting ceremonies in Italy.

Every year, Giulia travels to the Brazilian rainforest together with a community of Ayahuasca practitioners and Indigenous people to participate in the complete cycle of the birth of this sacred remedy. She feels honored to be part of this divine mystery and to contribute, through her path, to humanitarian healing and collective well-being.

She sees this as a lifelong commitment — a bridge between spirituality, humanity, and service — that she wishes to continue expanding and sharing for the benefit of life itself.