Integrating Shipibo Ayahuasca Tradition with Modern Healing: Melissa Stangl of Soltara

Medicine for These Times with Beth Weinstein

Melissa Stangl holds a Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, USA. After several years conducting brain and lung cancer research and gaining managerial experience across a wide range of businesses, her interests turned toward the healing power and responsible use of plant medicines and psychedelics, and working with the wisdom traditions and cultures that steward them. 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 managing a top-rated ayahuasca center in Peru, and now as Founding Partner and COO for Soltara Healing Center, an ayahuasca center working with Shipibo healers in Costa Rica and Peru, with a focus on integration. She is also Co-founder of the Soltara Community Platform, a conscious community platform centered around holistic healing and plant medicine preparation & integration.

Melissa serves on the Advisory Board of the Elected Leaders Collective and collaborates with multiple organizations in the field through her work at Soltara, including the Chacruna Institute, Amazon Watch, the Indigenous Reciprocity Initiative, Imperial College, Johns Hopkins, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Amazon Rainforest Conservancy, Heroic Hearts Projects, VETS Inc., and more recently, has been working with other centers in Costa Rica to form a national alliance of ayahuasca centers to support the implementation of frameworks for ethical standards, approaches, education, and political advocacy.

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, their traditions, and a holistic approach to health.

Episode Highlights

▶ How Melissa went from the corporate world doing cancer research to finding her passion for ayahuasca

▶ The power of integration after using plant medicine

▶ The work Melissa does at Soltara and the focus on integration

▶ The importance of psychedelic-informed bodyworkers, holistic practitioners, or somatic therapists.

▶ The challenges and realities of running a retreat center

▶ Cultural sensitivity in psychedelic practices

▶ Healers’ perspectives on sharing medicine globally

▶ The role of ayahuasca in global healing

▶ The work Melissa does in her retreat center and what she has planned for the future

Melissa Stangl’s Links & Resources

Website: https://soltara.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soltarahealingcenter/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soltarahealingcenter/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soltara

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soltarahealingcenter

Soltara Plant Medicine + Holistic Healing Toolkit-

Support your healing journey with frameworks, practical tools, plant medicine resources, and holistic practices you can incorporate into your everyday life:

https://soltara-healing-center.ck.page/0ac9267848

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