16. The Healing Wisdom of Plant Medicine with Mariah Gannessa of Four Visions

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Mariah Gannessa, the founder of Four Visions, a global leader, educator, and advocate for the study, benefits, and uses of plant medicine. Born and raised in Northern California, Mariah now lives in Colombia, working directly with the Indigenous tribes. She’s spent the last decade immersed in the healing cultures of the Amazon and has dedicated her life’s work to the plants and the peoples of the Amazon Rainforest. Four Visions supports these communities through direct commerce partnerships, donations, and sponsoring charitable initiatives.Mariah also founded the nonprofit organization, MAGIC Fund, where she spearheads projects to preserve the Amazonian people, their culture, and their lands.Mariah Shares: Her early life as an academic over-achiever and how her first plant medicine ceremony was a catalyst for her healing Her travels that led her to Columbia to embark on a 10-year apprenticeship learning about the art of healing, guided by her teacher, Tiata Juanito How her desire to find a way to support the ancestral practices and the indigenous tribes who guard them led to the creation of Four Visions Choosing her own path despite cultural and familial conditioning Keeping a connection to Nature whether immersed in the forest or in the city Insight into the Yahe culture of the Columbian Amazon rainforest and all the ways they utilize plant medicine Western attachment to the idea of credentials as necessary to being successful or experienced  The various ways to experience plant medicine in our modern society A detailed look into an ayahuasca ceremony, as practiced by the Inga culture, and the experiences one can have  Four Vision’s offerings and what those four visions of the future areYou can connect with Mariah through Four Visions:Website: www.fourvisions.comInstagram: @fourvisionstribeIntro/outro music by Ken Belcher