Discover our unique approach to integration. Learn how we utilize years of experience and formal training to create lasting impact from our natural healing retreats.
Integration is the medicine of all medicine that forms the heart of our approach at Dragonfly Awakenings. We believe in the power of weaving profound healing experiences into the tapestry of your life, transforming them from mere moments into catalysts for deep, lifelong positive transformation. This process is not just about creating fond memories; it's about forging a path towards enduring change and growth.
At Dragonfly Awakenings, we understand that deep, sustained healing and transformation extends beyond just the healing ceremonies, retreats and the journey back into daily life. Your healing experience with us begins long before you arrive. After we ensure that your chosen medicine(s) is safe and appropriate for you, we equip you with the optimal mindset and a stacked toolbelt for your upcoming adventure in our integration calls. This preparatory phase sets the stage for a safe and highly impactful experience, allowing you to fully immerse in the process of healing and growth. During our retreats, we provide further guidance and support to help you navigate and integrate your experiences with clarity and purpose. And it doesn't end there — post-ceremony, we offer coaching, guidance and additional tools to help you apply the insights and breakthroughs to your daily life, ensuring that the seeds of transformation take root and flourish.
This holistic and encompassing approach to integration is what makes the journey at Dragonfly Awakenings so powerful and unique. The benefits of our comprehensive integration process are vast and deeply transformative, allowing you to retain your growth and build an abundant, fulfilling life enriched with love, joy, health and divinity. Before we cover our approach in more depth, let's delve deeper into why it's so important for manifesting these lasting positive changes.
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Integration serves as a crucial step in translating the profound mental, physical and spiritual health benefits from natural healing experiences into sustained improvements to daily health, well being and satisfaction.
The bursts of creativity and enhanced problem-solving abilities unlocked by natural medicines are grounded into everyday life through integration, enabling individuals to apply their expanded creativity in personal and professional contexts.
Integration ensures the enduring impact of spiritual awakenings, embedding deep insights into the fabric of daily existence. This process fosters a life enriched with peace, joy, health, and divine connection, allowing individuals to continuously draw from their cosmic understanding and live in harmony with their spiritual revelations and the outer world.
Integration helps translate the emotional breakthroughs and personal insights into improved interpersonal dynamics, fostering empathy, compassion, and deeper connections. This not only heals the individual but also mends and strengthens their relationships with others and the planet.
Integration aids in applying profound self-discoveries to achieve greater self-awareness and growth, aligning external actions with inner truths for authentic living that resonates with one’s core being.
Integration often involves sharing experiences within supportive communities, creating bonds of friendship, understanding collective healing and mutual growth within a tribe that is always there for you.
Integration provides the tools and understanding necessary to navigate the significant life changes and decisions that often follow profound experiences, guiding individuals towards positive, life-affirming actions.
When treated as an ongoing process, integration fosters continuous personal development, allowing individuals to keep evolving and adapting the lessons learned from their experiences into all facets of their lives.
It’s important to reiterate and understand that integration begins before your healing experience and unfolds over time. The ancient cultures and Indigenous peoples that share their medicines and practices with us live in a very different world than our modern western culture. Integration was already woven into their way of life. Most of us, however, can greatly benefit from making some key lifestyle and mindset adjustments in preparation for our ceremonies. You may have heard of the terms set and setting when considering energy healing and natural medicine ceremonies. Set refers to one’s mindset, the mental state you bring to the experience, such as thoughts, mood and expectations. It can also be linked to your physical state too, due to the connection between our physical and mental states. Setting is about the physical and social environment of the healing space. Both set and setting heavily influence your experience, thus preparation of your body, mind and spirit is crucial for you to truly achieve the maximum benefit from your journey. Here at Dragonfly Awakenings, we provide a safe, welcoming setting and help you optimize your (mind) set as soon as you reach out. Let's look at how.
When working with natural medicines and healing modalities, setting intentions - defining what you intend to do or bring about - precedes all other forms of preparation. Before you embark on your healing adventure, you must first be clear on WHY you are committing to such a powerful, revolutionary process. Is there something in your mind, body, spirit and/or life which you wish to heal, change, manifest, understand and/or improve? Clarifying this intention(s) acts as a guiding principle in the ceremony space and provides purpose to your adventure. Keep in mind that intentions are not expectations, or predictions of what will happen. They are signals to yourself, the medicines and their benevolent spirits that you are committed to doing the work. Once you have achieved clarity, it is important to 'put them on the shelf' and remain open and trusting to the experience. Whilst setting intentions to guide you through healing ceremonies is powerful and useful, especially for beginners, 'shelving' them and embarking on your healing adventure completely open and trusting to the process is the most powerful approach. The medicines know what you WANT and will consider it when giving you what you NEED to maximally improve your health, abundance and wholeness. As you trust in them and simultaneously remove any perceptual narrowing or expectations, you open yourself to receive what you need for your highest benefit to flow organically. Here at Dragonfly Awakenings, we help you set powerful intentions right from the start in your integration calls and then during our retreat, whilst helping you build trust and courage to surrender them, if you choose.
Preparing your mind for a natural medicine ceremony is as crucial as preparing your body. Mindfulness and self-awareness lay the groundwork for a transformative experience, fostering a compassionate and patient presence. We practice a range of meditation and mindfulness techniques here at Dragonfly Awakenings to help calm, ground and focus the mind in preparation for your healing experience. One we practice and encourage practicing at all times is to reflect on the thoughts and words directed towards yourself and others. Guide them by asking, "Is it kind? Is it true? Is it helpful?". This practice of mindfulness helps to align your inner dialogue with positivity and truth, setting the foundation to receive the same energies. Whether in a retreat or not, we encourage incorporating meditation/prayer, affirmations, and mantras into your daily routine, to cultivate a healthy, prepared mindset. These practices help you focus and attune your mental state to the frequencies of healing, faith, confidence and enlightenment. Lao Tzu's wisdom encapsulates the journey of preparation: “Watch your thoughts; They become words. Watch your words; They become actions. Watch your actions; They become habits. Watch your habits; They become character. Watch your character; It becomes your destiny.” Let this insight guide you as you prepare your mind for the sacred ceremony of healing and/or life, ensuring a path that leads to a destiny shaped by mindful presence, peace and intentional living.
Embarking on a journey with natural medicines often encourages cleaning and preparing our bodies to receive maximal healing from Mother Nature and other benevolent spirits. This process is often called 'dieta' and is a central part of optimal pre-integration. Dieta extends beyond what we eat and drink, to encompass our entire lifestyle and the energies we absorb into our bodies. We help guide you with this preparation as it varies by medicine and tradition. Generally dieta advises abstaining from certain foods, drugs (including alcohol and medications), sexual activities and heavy/intense energies, such as horror films and social media. Doing so helps remove energetic blockages and builds a strong, clean 'chi', allowing for a deep, dedicated connection, or 'courtship', with the healing spirits of nature. Further preparation includes practices like breathwork, yoga, meditation, reiki, massage and heart healing/opening exercises. These practices, which we offer at Dragonfly Awakenings, help release energetic blockages, open your channels, foster inner peace and build self-compassion, preparing us for a transformative journey of healing and discovery.
Preparing your spirit for a ceremony with natural medicines transcends religious beliefs, embracing the ancient wisdom that every living being possesses a spiritual essence or soul. This understanding, shared by indigenous communities and spiritual seekers alike, acknowledges the interconnectedness of all elements in nature. At Dragonfly Awakenings, we encourage you to forge a spiritual connection with the medicine before your arrival. Find a quiet, safe space, a serene spot in nature and/or a personal altar, to commune with the spirit of the medicine, including that within you. Through meditation, prayer, or mindful presence, open a dialogue with this life force. Invite guidance, healing, or messages that resonate with your soul's journey, such as requests for freedom from fear or the lifting of sorrow, setting your intentions for the healing path ahead. Echoing the profound words of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "we are spiritual beings having a human experience," we emphasize the importance of cleansing and nurturing our physical and spiritual selves. Embracing our emotions with self-love and compassion readies us not just for the ceremony, but for the entire healing journey. This holistic preparation, which we assist more with in our pre-integration, enriches our spiritual connections, guiding us towards profound healing and the discovery of our place within the universe.
Understanding how to self-regulate your nervous system is a key component of preparing for a natural medicine healing experience. At Dragonfly Awakenings, we're committed to guiding you through this essential process. Self-regulation, the mastery of one's behaviors, reactions and stress, begins with the simple, yet profound, act of slowing down. We encourage you to take a pause, become a neutral observer, and allow sensations to flow freely, devoid of fear or judgment. To facilitate this journey, we offer support and guidance in meditation, mindfulness, breathwork and somatic self-touch. The combination of the three allow you to be more present, calm, connected, accepting and comfortable. Learning them is not only useful for preparing for and navigating your healing experience, they are lifelong skills for continually integrating and enhancing your wellbeing. This is why, as certified Integration Coaches and family who want the best for you, we help you learn and practice them before, throughout and after our retreats. This personalized support ensures you enter and leave ceremonies grounded, prepared and open to the transformative experiences, peace and harmony that lay ahead.
I am ready to healOnce you are optimally prepared to heal, the power of the experiences can be beyond words and comprehension. There can be times and modalities that are soft and gentle, but there's also times and modalities that can bring extremely profound physical, mental, emotional and spiritual experiences. However your journey unfolds, it is our highest priority to ensure you are safe and able to navigate and integrate your experience as it unfolds. By practicing the previous knowledge and techniques outlined, plus the many more we offer during our retreats, you will be able to go deep, navigate properly and integrate DURING your retreat. In such a short amount of time, you can lay the foundations for an incomparably better life, full of love, joy, health and abundance in all aspects. How do we help you get there?
Warm Welcome and Orientation:
Your transformative journey at Dragonfly Awakenings begins with a heartfelt welcome and comprehensive orientation. This initial step introduces you to the sacred space, nestled in the lush Costa Rican jungle, surrounded by vibrant wildlife, birds, and the rich tapestry of nature. It's designed to make you feel comfortable and familiar with your surroundings, setting the stage for deep healing and integration. You will also meet your new tribe and lay the foundation for trust and community among all participants, allowing for deeper collective healing and integration support.
Integration Practices and Resources:
Throughout your retreat, you will delve deep into the heart of integration with mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, meditation, and sound healing sessions. These practices, supported by our exclusive 'Dragonfly Awakenings Integration Journal' and other resources help you process and integrate the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual revelations from your experience into your daily being.
Energetic Cleansing and Grounding:
As part of preparing for the deep work ahead, we engage in energetic cleansing with sage, mapacho, a grounding bowl, and agua de florida or sweet lotion. These rituals clear and ground your spiritual energy, setting a purified stage for your transformative journey.
Sacred Spaces for Reflection and Connection:
Surrounded by lush wildlife and nature, our retreat offers serene Zen areas, peaceful walking paths, a labyrinth for meditative exploration, and a rejuvenating jacuzzi. These spaces are designed for you to reflect, connect and integrate in the tranquility of our jungle sanctuary.
Community Building and Group Sharing Circles:
Building on the initial individual pre-integration sessions and introductions to your tribe, our compassionate, trauma-informed sharing circles, guided by our expert coaches, offer a supportive environment for voicing experiences, insights and questions and receiving guidance and support. These sessions provide communal support and collective integration, allowing you to reflect on and integrate your journey with the support of fellow participants. Maybe you'll make some new lifelong friends too, most people do!
Nourishing Body and Spirit:
Complementing the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of integration, we provide clean, nourishing food. This supports your physical well-being and energetic vitality throughout the retreat, ensuring a deeper connection to the medicines and heightened energy for doing the work and integrating effectively in our sacred space and community.
24/7 Support:
Emphasizing our commitment to nurturing a safe, supportive and transformative space, our integration coaches are available around the clock during your retreat. We encourage you to seek assistance from the healers and our staff whenever needed, ensuring a supportive backdrop for your journey. At Dragonfly Awakenings, your journey of integration weaves together the healing power of natural medicine, professional support and the serene natural beauty of our Costa Rican sanctuary. Dedicated to guiding you through every step, we ensure your experience is not only transformative, but also deeply integrated into the fabric of your daily life, supported by the strength and wisdom of nature and our community.
As you transition back into the rhythms of daily life after your transformative experience at Dragonfly Awakenings, integration continues to take center stage. Mindful post-integration allows you to root the spiritual awakenings, emotional shifts, and newfound clarity into your daily practices, mindset and life. Without this grounding process, there's a risk of feeling confused, disconnected and tempted to revert to old patterns, as the initial bliss, clarity and connection experienced can give way to the busyness, noise and stress of everyday life. With the right support and practices, this transition can become a powerful opportunity for continual growth, rather than a source of discomfort. At Dragonfly Awakenings, we understand the significance of reintegrating effectively back into the world. We provide a comprehensive support system to guide you through this process:
Embodiment and Grounding Practices:
We provide guidance on continuing your healing and grounding with creative expression, gentle yoga, mindful movement, breathwork, meditations, nature walks and more. These help to maintain a deep connection to your newfound gifts, the present moment, and your entire being, solidifying your positive transformation into everyday life.
Navigating Emotions:
The emotional journey moving back into daily life after profound healing and transformation can be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. At Dragonfly Awakenings, we offer tools, compassionate support, and additional resources that help you recognize, understand and integrate the wide range of emotions that may emerge. We are committed to ensuring that your journey beyond your retreat continues smoothly and positively.
From Insights to Actionable Change:
Our team provides useful tools and direct assistance in translating your profound experiences into distinct realizations, concrete plans and positive lifestyle adjustments. We help ensure that previous unhelpful habits and patterns remain in the past and the seeds of transformation planted during your retreat flourish forever.
Community Support:
The value of a supportive community cannot be overstated. We provide tools, resources and guidance to help you understand how to reintegrate back into broader society after such a profound transformation. Furthermore, you will always have a supportive community in us and the other participants who embarked on their healing adventure with you. Reconnecting with fellow participants, our team and other trusted online networks provides an extensive network of comfort, understanding and encouragement to aid your healing journey forever.
Long Term Support and Guidance:
Through follow-up calls, optional additional coaching, and a range of additional resources, we're committed to supporting your continued personal growth long after your retreat has ended. Our aim is to provide a guiding hand as you continually weave your new vibrance and understanding into the fabric of your daily life. As integration is a lifelong endeavor, the support and guidance we provide will help to maintain the momentum of your personal transformation forever.
Post integration is more than a concluding phase to your journey; it's an ongoing process of embodying and strengthening the change you've experienced, allowing the lessons and healing to continually infuse your life with more meaning, purpose, joy and holistic wellbeing. So long as you commit to doing the work - reflecting, processing and integrating - you will continue to feel the benefits of your profound awakening and transformation. At Dragonfly Awakenings, our certified Integration Coaches - Denise, Ramona and Teresa - are dedicated to assisting you in this continual journey, gently and compassionately guiding you through every step of your journey and ensuring your experience is truly life-changing. We would love to have the opportunity to guide you towards getting to know, understand and love yourself, your life and all the beings that bless it.
Begin your journey to your best life now!Please book a call or send us an email to find out more information about our natural healing, integration and wellness retreat center. The best decision of your life could be just one message away.
