My Ayahuasca Journey Begins

Hi, welcome back to the Rise, Shine and Redefine podcast. I'm your host, Karen Meininger, and today I am just going to share a little bit about an adventure that I'm about to go on. And for about four years I have been looking into going on a plant medicine journey and I just really haven't found the right time or the right moment or the right energy to go on the trip. And about four years ago, I heard somebody talk about Ayahuasca on a podcast and I didn't really know much about it and I kind of looked into it a little bit and I was like, okay, this sounds like something that I might want to do. And I talked to my husband about it and he was kind of on the fence about it. Not really sure, but. But it's just something I've been talking about for about four years. And originally I was going to go to a place in Costa Rica called Rythmia. And for whatever reason I never, I never signed up, I never went, I never booked it. I almost booked it a couple times and then it just didn't happen. And the other, I don't know, not the other day, but maybe back in. I think it was October, I think it was October, I got an email that said, rare opportunity. Now, if you're like me, I don't really read all my emails. Most of them go to junk or I don't open them, they just kind of sit there. But for whatever reason, I chose to open this email and I didn't even know who it was from. It was like one of those that didn't really. I guess looking back, I. I saw who it was from, but I didn't think much of it. I just thought of it as like another one, just another email with somebody probably selling something or some sort of tip. But I decided to open this email and it was for a retreat for Ayahuasca called Selena. And I was like, okay, for four years I wanted to go to Rythmia and now here's this random email showing up in my inbox with, I don't know if you guys follow him, but his name's Aaron Doughty and he's kind of a spiritual. Not, yeah, I guess like a spiritual guru type. And he's somebody that I had been following for years and you know, I've done a couple of his little raise the vibration programs, but nothing like too intently. And so whatever, I was like, oh, what is this about? And I started to really look into what this retreat had to offer and it was Ayahuasca in Nosara, Costa Rica. And it's so interesting because I've only been to Costa Rica once and I've only been to Nasara. Of all the places in Costa Rica, it's the only place I've ever been. And they were. And it was. It's so beautiful there. It was such a. Such pure Vita there, right? It was such a vibe. And I was like, okay, I'm opening this email. It's in Nosara, and it's with people I like and people I follow. And so for me, I was like, okay, this is. This is some serious synchronicity. And it happened to fall on dates that I was able to go. And I was like, okay, I'm going. Well, they interview you to make sure that you're a good fit for the retreat. And it just felt really aligned and really beautiful. Now, with that said, I do get white coat syndrome at the doctor, so, you know, high blood pressure is. Could be an issue when you do Ayahuasca. And. And so I was a little concerned about having white coat syndrome and doing it. But as I've done more research, I think it's going to be totally okay and I'm going to be really gentle and kind with myself and maybe even heal my white coat syndrome. I don't know. I am doing it because I just really want to go a little bit deeper in who I am and. And break through whatever limits are holding me back and understand a little bit more of who I am. As I was doing some reflection and taking off layers of who am I if I'm not a mom, who am I if I'm not a wife, who am I if I'm not a coach, who am I if I'm not achieving? And all of these things were starting to make me feel like I am no one. And I want to go deeper in understanding my essence and also ways I can serve and change the world and be a better version of me. Now, I do understand that not all journeys lead that path, but I'm going in with a really strong intention of being a better version of me so that I can serve and be. Be a version that can really help others and help them show up fully in this world. Now, will that happen? I don't know. I'm going to do a series on my Ayahuasca journey. I leave on January 9th and I come back January 14th. And so I am hoping to get downloads, insights, kind of see what opportunities are there for me or what things still need to be healed for me to continue to show up in my authentic self and fully be who I am and have whatever it is I need to share for you, like what is it that's going to help you become better, if you want to be better? And that's really what I'm, I'm looking for, is just to constantly grow and constantly learn and to show up with no expectations. I did not go down the rabbit hole on Ayahuasca and maybe that's good, maybe that's bad. I don't know. I don't know. But I don't want to have biased opinions on the experience. So I am going into it with just having the medicine show me what I need to see. And I don't. I don't really know what that is. I might like it, I might not like it. And just having to be okay with whatever I'm shown and learn how to integrate that into my life moving forward. I am claiming 2025 as my best year yet. 2025. My word is iconic. My business is to live iconic. And that is what I want to continue to live into for myself and for you to be able to show up fully be who it is that you want to be in your fullest authenticity and creating your dream life as you really see it, without the limiting beliefs and without you getting in your own way to show up as who you want to be. Who are you serving? Right? If you're an entrepreneur, you're creating a product or a service to help, right? That's what we do. We create things to help. At least in this world, in the coach's world, in the entrepreneurship world, or if you are wanting to create a better relationship, it's like, how do we become a better version of ourselves? And the way I think we do that is by working and looking inside of who we are and noticing anything external is a reflection of the internal. So once we're able to recognize, hey, okay, my external reality is a movie that I've created from my subconscious and my internal space. And I don't like that reality. I don't like this movie that's being played. I want to go inside and I want to change it. And that is what I'm here to help you do, is really reprogram unconscious patterns, unconscious programming, things that are repeated patterns that you don't like and you want to be different. And we do that by going under the hood and really going deep and really nurturing and having self compassion for yourself. I know with this Ayahuasca journey, I am going to be super self compassionate with myself. I have to be. I have to accept all parts of me so that I can move through and get to the next level and show up and be more in an enlightened space so that I can help you become the version of you that you are dying to become. So this is my before on the Ayahuasca journey. I have never done it. I have never experienced psychedelics ever. So it should be really interesting on how my body and brain show up for me and what it shows me so I then can share my experience with you and hopefully get the insights and downloads for not only myself, but for you. So stay tuned. I will be doing more series on it. I don't know how many parts yet because I haven't done it yet, but there will be follow up podcasts on this experience and I am really excited to share it with you. Take care.