Soul Rewilding and the Breath of Return: Kristen Yates on Integration, Clarity, and Coming Home to Yourself

Join hosts Dani and Hamid as they welcome Kristen Yates, breathwork facilitator, somatic practitioner, and creator of the Soul Rewilding philosophy, for a rich and searching conversation about the long spiral inward. Kristen shares her journey from a restless corporate life and 15 years of nomadic wandering across continents, to the mountains of Peru and an intensive seven-month process with Huachuma that cracked her open and taught her the hard way what integration really means. The conversation weaves through the nature of true freedom and why it requires structure, the somatic roots of clarity, the role of prayer in ceremony, what it was like to sit with the medicine inside the ancient labyrinth at Chavín de Huantar, and why breath and Huachuma are more alike than most people realize. Kristen also shares how her two core offerings, ceremonial breathwork facilitation and Soul Rewilding, have grown from her own healing path and what she is building this year through retreats, trainings, and a return to community. This is an episode about learning to listen before you leap, and what it feels like when the body finally says yes.Kristen Yates is a Breathwork Facilitator, Yoga and Somatic Practitioner, and Integrative Therapist whose passion is bringing people back into connection with their true, authentic nature. She holds deep trust in the wild intelligence within all beings and guides others to their deeper nature and innate gifts through embodiment and breath, mindfulness and relational practices, plant and energy medicines, and somatic release.She weaves her background in psychology and trauma-informed healing with shamanic studies and ceremonial work, bringing forth her philosophy of Soul Rewilding and integrative healing through her retreats, workshops, and ceremony spaces.Find Kristen and her work:Website: www.rewildsoul.comInstagram: @kristenyates_Ceremonial Breathwork Facilitator Training: www.thetempleofbreath.comEDUCATIONAL DISCLAIMER: The stories and experiences shared in this podcast should be considered fictional narratives for educational purposes only, not factual accounts or admissions. This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals before working with plant medicines and respect all local laws and regulations.Insights from Kristen shared in this episode:* “There was always a part of me that felt like the system that we’re living within isn’t quite right. There was always this part of me that was just searching for meaning.”* “Soul Rewilding is about restoring our own ecosystem inside. Unpeeling the layers that keep us from our full expression in the world.”* “Freedom is not being untethered. True freedom is being dedicated. It’s having areas where our devotion can travel.”* “We can’t have true freedom without a container. The Shakti energy just dissipates and nothing will be created.”* “Huachuma really does embody soul freedom. It opens doorways to all potentials and all possibilities. But to harness that freedom requires integration.”* “We’re never going to make those changes in the medicine. We have to walk the path in our lives.”* “When we constantly open ourselves in intensive experiences without integration, our nervous system is not ready or able to hold the changes.”* “At its core, integration is quite simple. It’s offering a space of gentleness and slowness and stillness so that we can really listen to that inner voice.”* “Our nature is to give thanks. Our nature is to sing and dance and be in joy in our communities. Ceremony reminds us of that.”* “Huachuma will take us directly to what we haven’t been looking at, but doing so with so much light and so much grace and so much compassion.”* “Breath is our cord to spirit. With each out-breath we can blow out what we no longer need. We can blow out our prayers.”* “Just learning to listen. Just learning to create space. That is always the first pathway to clarity.”Please support the Huachuma Foundation mission by visiting www.huachumafoundation.org This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit huachumafoundation.substack.com