After my first plant medicine ceremony with Eleanor, I remember feeling so many emotions. I was full of expansion, enlightenment, beauty, but also fear. I was so scared I would forget all of my insights from ceremony. How was it possible I could bring all of the brilliant teachings from the plants into my everyday life? I was completely entangled in this fear.

​It was the wise words of Eleanor’s husband, Jon Medina, that thwarted this feeling. After tearfully sharing with the group how scared I was to forget all of the plants’ wisdom, he gently responded:

​“All of the wisdom is already within you. You can access it anytime.”
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​I remember feeling a sense of relief and calm when hearing this. It was a simple sentiment, and true.

What I could have never imagined before starting this journey is that the medicine ceremony itself is only one small piece of the extraordinary puzzle. After the medicine has been ingested, the twists and turns of the journey have been experienced and the neural pathways have been altered, the biggest and most important piece of the puzzle lies ahead: integration.

Integration is the process by which we weave and connect the wisdom and teachings from our experience into our everyday life. It’s walking the walk and talking the talk. It’s the magic sauce of this whole thing. Because really, what is the point of going through the deep and vulnerable work of exploring ourselves, if we can’t bring our insights to our life?

​Through my work with Eleanor at The Makaranda Method, I’ve learned about four pillars that support the integration process. These are interconnected practices that help you anchor to the inner healing intelligence within you. We always begin with the foundation of the method: Nurture.

Before we can do any of the deeper work, we must tend to ourselves with radical care. Integration asks a lot of us: it requires vulnerability, courage, and energy.

​Nurturing yourself means prioritizing sleep and establishing restful routines. It means nourishing our bodies with whole foods and plenty of water. It means practicing saying yes to what supports you and no to what doesn’t. It means speaking to yourself with compassion and kindness and allowing yourself to receive support. This is about creating the conditions for your healing to unfold.

Once we’re nurtured, we can turn our attention to the mind, to witness it with curiosity and compassion.

This looks like daily meditation to quiet the mind and create space for integration. It means journaling insights, dreams, and messages from the universe. It means being mindful of what you consume, choosing media, conversations, and content that support your healing rather than dysregulate your nervous system. It’s slowing down enough to notice what’s arising and trusting that whatever comes through is exactly what you need.

My mind wanted to grasp, to figure it out, to make meaning immediately. I learned that mindset work teaches us to simply be with what is.

One of my biggest shifts came when I realized how mean I’d been to my body for so long- the things I said to myself, about myself. Then in integration it hit me: I actually have a choice in this. I could choose kindness not only for others, but for myself. And even more importantly, I have the power to break the cycle of negative self talk. If I loved my body and were kind to it, then my future kids would only know kindness to their bodies from their mother. Through integration and a major mindset shift, I realized it wasn’t about fixing myself anymore, but rather how can I accept and love myself exactly as I am? That is the legacy I want to carry forward.

The body holds what the mind cannot yet process. Movement creates pathways for stagnant energy to shift, for emotions to release, for insights to land in our cells.

This can be yoga, picking up heavy weights, walking in nature, dancing. I find flow state in physical movement. I am able to get out of my head and into my body in a way that supports healing and peace. Singing has even become an integral part of my integration and energy movement. I sang for the first time in years while sitting in ceremony. All of a sudden I was able to make the connection between the energy vibration in my voice and speaking up in my day to day life. Now I can’t stop singing!

​I see now that as we move our physical bodies, internal stagnant energy also has the chance to shift. This energy transfer can unlock ideas, insights and changes in thought patterns.

We are of the Earth. Nature reminds us of rhythms larger than our own small concerns, of beauty that exists simply because it exists.

Before one ceremony, Eleanor had us introduce ourselves to the Earth. We spoke our names, our parents’ names, our grandparents’ names - our family tree - and then stated our intention for working with the plants. I had never done anything like this before. It was a rooted connection I didn’t know I was missing, this formal acknowledgment that I come from somewhere, that my people come from the Earth, that I am not separate from her.

This kind of connection means spending intentional time outdoors, engaging all your senses (we have far more than five; some traditions say up to 200). It’s noticing what you notice: beauty, texture, temperature, energy, the art of really seeing all there is to see.

Developing a meditation practice has grounded much of this awareness for me. Whether I’m able to sit outside in my wooded yard, or just on my couch in silence, I practice tuning in to the inhale and exhale of my breath, the noticing of my thoughts. I give grace to whatever wants to come, while practicing the art of just simply noticing.

At the heart of all four pillars is something we call Inner Healing Intelligence, the wisdom from Stanislav and Christina Grof. The core principle is that in non-ordinary states of consciousness, there’s an innate wisdom within the psyche that knows how to heal and will naturally move toward integration and wholeness when given the right conditions.

As I continue to explore plant medicine in group ceremonies and in my professional life as a nurse at a ketamine clinic, I am struck by how important integration is. I have found a passion for this specific piece of the puzzle and hope I can provide a safe and meaningful space for people to integrate their insights into their lives.

May we walk together through the depths of our own soul and hold one another as we unearth each layer, piece by beautiful piece.