Healing Retreat Center in the Costa Rican Mountains

Ma’at 

A Healing Retreat Center  

In the heart of Costa Rica’s Caribbean side  

Helping people to help themselves 

Our VISION is to create a sanctuary. A safe place.

A peaceful and harmonious getaway in the mountains – far from distractions and the outside world. A place of LOVE, acceptance and healing. Filled with loving, compassionate people who understand the pressures the outside world can bring. A place to come and expand your mind, ground yourself in nature and remember where you came from. A place where you can come and feel safe with your thoughts and feelings and be free with who you are and who you want to become.

Now is the time to re-connect. Plug back in to nature and to your true essence. To get back to the way of our ancestors, their cultures and their traditions. Back to cooking, preserving and eating the foods we grow together. Back to having love all around us – in the form of the trees, water, animals, friends and family – a support group. This tribe mind set again.

We are inviting you to our house. To Costa Rica. To the jungle. Let us show you another way. A more meaningful, connected, conscious way of living. More connected to nature. A living off the land way. A more holistic way. Food is our medicine and medicine is our food. And speaking of medicine – every plant, root and tree here is medicine. Straight from mother earth. No need for pharmaceuticals or chemicals. Just pure jungle magic. The perfect breeding ground for healing.

Our house has always been the safe place. The place where people come to be themselves without judgment. The place where all the animals hang out and all the kids congregate. We are caring, compassionate, giving, healers that want to share with you what we’ve learned. But it’s not just us showing you – it's a whole healing community of like-minded people that we have gathered throughout the years, all with different expertise's, talents, traits and wonderful things to offer.  

OUR VISION is to help people through this transition. Helping people to help themselves. The transition of becoming our most authentic selves and living our most authentic lives, with less fear, anxiety, worry, and depression. To make a real difference in oneself. And then like a virus (a good virus) spreading it from person to person and creating a positive shift in humanity. We do this through emerging ourselves in the jungle. Exposing ourselves to the elements-becoming vulnerable. Experiencing the true life that the jungle has to offer and reminding us what in life is truly important.

HOW 

We do this through Ceremony: plant medicine, mushroom and cacao ceremonies. This is where we uncover our past traumas, fears and blocks. And with mindfulness, talking about and writing about it, this is how we get through it, this is how we heal. And with continuous healthy practices, such as meditation, yoga, healthy eating and healthy lifestyles – this is how we integrate it and make it a part of our world. And with education; classes, workshops and lectures, this is how we understand it, de-stigmatize it and then teach it. 

OUR SERVICES

We offer a wide range of holistic/living medicines/modalities and services to help you transform your life. Our services include:

1. RETREATS:

-Wellness Retreats

-Mushroom Retreats

2. CEREMONIES:

-Mushroom

-Cacao

3. WORKSHOPS & CLASSES:

• Cacao -

• Micro Dosing with Mushrooms

• Fermentation

• Herbalism/Natural Medicine

• Harvesting/Cooking off the land

• Permaculture

• Natural Building

• Planting/growing your own food

• Making natural Household Products

4. TOURS:

• Jungle Tour - Native animals/plants/trees/fruits and natural pools

• Adventure Tours – Ocean, swimming and snorkeling, national parks, waterfalls and natural pools. Nearby tourist towns Puerto Viejo, Punta Uva, Manzanillo, Cahuita and Bri-Bri.

5. OTHER SERVICES:

• Counseling

• Mentoring

• Life Coaching

WHO

Paul and I (Elizabeth) came from similar backgrounds, Paul being from London, England and myself from NY and Los Angeles. Both coming from big cities, both owning businesses and managing many people. Juggling family life, kids, social lives. Dealing with the high anxiety and pressures that living in the city can bring. Disconnected, distracted, unaware, full speed ahead. Never a moment to stop, to reflect, to think who do I want to be? Why am I here? How do I want to leave my legacy? What good am I doing for the world or for the people around me?  

And somehow, although living in different countries- we both craved the same things: an alternate lifestyle based in nature. Both craving inner healing and understanding of ourselves, our actions and how we affect those around us. Both feeling disconnected from our true nature. 

We both searched for years in our own ways, starting our healing journeys. Paul dove deep into plant medicines- Ayahuasca, Buffo, and the mushroom. I was more meditation, yoga, herbal-ism and mindfulness. 

We met here, in Costa Rica 3 years ago, up in the mountains, deep in the jungle on the Caribbean coast. We both moved into an up and coming off grid community around the same time. Paul has already been in Costa Rica for 2 years- so he had a lot to teach me about the plants, animals, the food, the culture, and the mushroom. 

We became fast friends and quickly realized we worked really well together helping other people help themselves. And we found that we were really good at bringing the yin and the yang – the masculine and the feminine and holding space for people around us. Around this time, Paul introduced me to the mushroom – the Cubensis. He had been harvesting mushrooms in the local cow pastures for years already, making chocolate and doing ceremonies. I mentored with Paul for a long time - harvesting, making medicines and holding ceremonies together.

My love and understanding of the mushroom grew over the years as I felt myself changing, I released a lot of guilt, anger and sadness and began to love myself more. I begin to forgive my past and move forward. Most importantly I saw the pure magic the mushroom brought to everyone who took our medicine or came to a ceremony. Transformational. Every single person. I saw across the board it helping all kinds of people from depression, anxiety, fear, built up traumas, PTSD – you name it – I was stunned and honored that I got to work with the mushroom to help people heal. How magical!

Paul and I joined forces- both in our love life and in business. Partners. Healers.

Together, we created Nature’s Magic - a nature based company helping people to help themselves. Herbal, plant and living medicines that include micro dosing mushroom tinctures and chocolates. Great for depression, anxiety, grief, migraines, focus, grounding, and most importantly - being present. Herbal products include Oregano, Mimosa, Arnica, and Dandelion tinctures – holistic medicines based in nature for ailments from pain relievers, sleep aids, cold medicines, to immune boosters, circulatory and respiratory health and much much more. We created a wellness brand that supports the relief of most ailments physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Not just on a surface level, but on a deep healing level that could last a lifetime. And, something truly remarkable, what we’ve see with our clients over time, our products can and do replace their pharmaceuticals :)

Not only have Paul and I been helping others, we’ve been helping ourselves. For 3 years, we’ve been in a 24/7 jungle school. Nature school. Or, self school. No distractions- no tv/movies- barely any internet, no news, emails, alerts- nothing. Just nature. And just ourselves to deal with. Only us vs. ourselves. Plus, our demons, our shadows, our history, our baggage, right front and center. We had no other choice but to work on ourselves at a very deep level. And with help from plant medicines, yoga, meditation, community, mushrooms and many more modalities – we were then able to do the work, go through our traumas, all the triggers, all the baggage. As our feelings, thoughts and emotions rose up, we had the time to work through them- accepting them, forgiving them and letting go. Over and over and over again. Letting go of guilt, anger, sadness, frustration, grief, buried traumas, you name it- we have worked through them.

This helped us transfer what we’ve learned about ourselves to the community around us. We became the mediators/councilors for our community, one on one sessions to start and then two on two. We learned having a man and a woman in a session with a couple was very powerful. It made both sexes feel more comfortable and able to open up freely as they could relate to us -woman to woman and man to man.

WHY:

Our inspiration comes from the Bri-Bri tribe. Set here in the Talamancan Mountains on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. They are one of the 8 remaining tribes left. They are a perfect example of community. We’ve worked closely with the Bri-Bri’s on various projects throughout the years, and we’ve learned a lot from them. Much like Ma’at – (the Egyption goddess of truth, justice and balance) – the Bri-Bri’s subscribe to similar laws and principles of respecting each other and each other's property, integrity and living in harmony with nature.

The Bri-Bri’s forest is their supermarket, their pharmacy, their hardware store and their home. They don’t need the government, they don’t need the outside world – because they have everything they need within their community. Friendship. Love. Food. Water. Animals. Stories of their ancestors, traditions they still hold to this day. The result – I see, is a different kind of person that I’m used to being around. A person that will stop and help you at any given moment. A person that looks you in the eyes, smiles and says hello. A person that really doesn’t get phased by outside influences. They don’t let things bother them. They are tranquillo – they take things slow. They literally stop and smell the flowers. There’s nothing to worry about in their eyes. Pura vida – pure life. They are in service to their forest and to their community.

THE OFFER

Our next step is to grow. Grow and expand Nature’s Magic into a community based healing center that offers retreats, ceremonies, and holistic medicines. One thing we hear often from travelers is - people don't attend retreats a lot of the time because they are unreasonably expensive. We want to change this and be the difference. We believe that if we can be as fully self sustainable as possible, meaning - we have our own water, food etc. we can keep the cost low - so everyone can afford to come for healing.

How you can help us/be a part of this movement?

Volunteer – we are always in need of volunteers. Together we create, we build, we plant, we cook, we eat, we dance and we make magic happen. Our volunteer days are our favorite – they’re more like ‘friends’ days :) Message us for volunteer days coming up. Hope to see you soon!

Financial Donations - we are always in need of donations. For building, for tools, for maintenance, for making the infrastructure of the land suitable for guests, drainage, piping, water tanks for rain water collecting. Mosquito netting, etc. We are also on the pursuit of acquiring the land we are on. To become it’s protectors, it’s guardians - to conserve it, to maintain it and to love it. To make it a safe haven, a sanctuary for people coming to heal, while working in tandem with nature. This initial $25,000 will help us START - these funds will help us secure the land, improve water drainage, infrastructure, tools, materials and to build a couple cabanas.

WHERE

This land is pure magic – way up in the Costa Rican mountains –1.5 hectors, 5,000 square meters fenced in and full of LIFE. I haven’t counted yet, but if I had to guess – I would say there’s close to or maybe more than 100 trees and half of them are mature fruit barring trees! From Biriba, banana, guava, lemons! Limes, oranges, sweet lemons, grapefruits, cassava, coconuts, mandarins, plantain, yucca, avocado, mango and there’s so much more! The monkeys visit often eating the biribas off the tree :) and leaving the rest for us :) Every bird imaginable sits on the branches in front of our house – from Toucans, Parrots, to the famous Montezumas. According to National Geographic, Costa Rica has the most diverse group of birds in all of the world. Nature at it’s finest and most raw. We have a creek fed by the local river below and all around us adding to the abundance of this land.

CONSERVATION AND NON PROFIT

-Besides the 5,000 square meters fenced in, there is an additional 7,000 square meters outside the fence. This is untouched by humans and our intention is to keep it that way. Conserving the land. Protecting the animals, plants and trees.

-We are also going to be donating our time once a month - to perform ceremonies free of charge for any locals that can't afford services.

-Our intentions are to hire locals for any building projects, maintenance, planting, gardening etc.

-We will act as a hosting site for the indigenous to teach workshops and classes - to help their culture/traditions and medicines stay alive.

Our goal is to build 3-4 cabanas for people to stay when they come for healing. Our plan is also to build a couple of tree houses and have spaces for tents. The main house will serve as the ceremonial space, as well as cooking and eating together. There are structures already built here – an outside bathroom/kitchen/shower space. It just needs a little love and money put into it - to make it perfect for an outdoor shared living space. There is also another structure that features 2 floors – the bottom has electricity and water and a pizza oven! Our idea is to make it an outdoor shared kitchen/workshop/classes area – for cooking classes, fermenting, harvesting and making products. Upstairs is a yoga deck overlooking the jungle! Yoga classes, meditation, reading etc can be done up there.

This land has so much potential to house a lot of people comfortably. We just need some help to make it all happen! How can you help? And what can we offer in return for your generosity:

Not only will we be forever grateful for your donation – we can offer you a lifetime of services:

A donation of $5,000-10,000 – Gets a one room cabin built in your name. When you are here – it’s yours – always. And when you are not here – we can use the cabins to house people for a night or two for retreats. So you will also be helping other people in need. You will get a mention on our website and social media.

Also -if you donate between $5,000-10,000 we will donate a percentage of your donation to the Bri-Bri tribe.

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If you donate between $10,000-$20,000 -You will get everything above, PLUS:

1) Free entry into any ceremony/retreat/class/workshop we have (pending we have plenty of notice and can reserve your space)

2) You will be added to our monthly newsletter – to receive updates- pictures/videos and progress.

If you donate $10,000 or more - we will donate a percentage to the Bri-Bri tribe.

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If you donate $20,000 or more – You will get everything above, PLUS:

-An invitation to skype calls with investors/partners/contributors to talk about progress/ideas/future ideas – you have a say!

If you donate $20,000 or more - we will donate a percentage to the Bri-Bri tribe.

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50K – you will get EVERYTHING mentioned above, plus:

Become our partners – decision making – a cut of the profits. This can be discussed in a side panel :)

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To follow us or to keep in touch - you can find us on Instagram at Naturesmagichealing and our soon to be website at NaturesMagic.Love