Cacao has been the through line of the last four years of my life, and it has taken me further than I expected. I hold ceremonies in Springfield, Missouri, most often at the Den, and I have been fortunate enough to sit with this plant in Peru, Sicily, London and all over the middle of this country.
If you have never done it, the short version is this: it is a warm drink, a quiet room, and about two hours where nobody needs anything from you. Most people leave lighter than they arrived.
How this started
In November 2022 I was at a Kundalini retreat at the Imiloa Institute in Costa Rica, and one night there was a cacao ceremony deep in the rainforest. It was led by Itamar and Noa Geva of Cacao Magic Costa Rica. I had never experienced anything like it. I came home to Springfield still connected to that spirit, and I wanted to understand it properly instead of just remembering it.
In February 2023 I began my practitioner training with Keith’s Cacao, based in Guatemala, and completed my practicum with a colleague, Riddhima Kowley-Khan, who was based in London. What I found was a worldwide community of people carrying this same plant medicine, and I have been part of it since.
Pod, pulp, beans, cup, and the cafe where it ends up. Nothing hidden between the tree and the drink.
The first night of it, in the rainforest at Imiloa in Costa Rica. I did not know it yet, but that was the evening the next four years turned on.
The first cup I ever poured for other people, at Essential Yoga studio in Springfield, Missouri. I had completed my practitioner training the month before, and I was terrified.
Two weeks in my van across Kansas and Colorado, deepening the practice and learning every way to get creative and make a cup wherever I happened to be.
I completed my practicum with Riddhima Kowley-Khan, who was based in London, and later went there to co-create a ceremony with several other women, outdoors, among horses.
Cacao at sunrise beside the Minster, in the middle of the same England trip.
A women’s retreat on the Mediterranean. I led a ceremony on the rooftop of our Airbnb, looking out over the sea.
A ceremony at Gateway Yoga, for a room full of people who had never sat with cacao before.
Time in the cacao groves, and a visit to the local cacao cafe after coming back out of the jungle.
A ceremony for the women on the retreat, which is where this work meets the awareness coaching.
More time in the groves, and back through Pucallpa again. There is no substitute for standing in the trees.
Co-created a ceremony with Leslie Smith and Adi at the festival, for a field of people at once.
The jungle does not need an invitation to show up.
What a ceremony actually is
You come in, you get comfortable on a cushion, and I pour you a cup. We drink together. Then there is time to write, breathe, move, make sound, or simply sit, depending on what the room needs. Some people cry. Some people laugh. Most people get quiet, and stay that way on the drive home.
Nothing is asked of you. You are not performing, confessing or fixing anything. You are drinking a plant that opens the heart a little wider than usual, in a room where nobody is going to make you talk about it.
How to sit with me
Most Tuesdays
Cacao and Conversation at the Den
Community nights at the studio on Glenstone, most Tuesday evenings, usually donation based. About ten seats, so it stays a conversation rather than a crowd.
Private
For couples, friends and small groups
A ceremony built for the people in the room: a birthday, a wedding, a hard anniversary, a group that needs to stop and feel something together. I bring the cacao, the cups and the room.
Elsewhere
Retreats, festivals and travel
I have held ceremony on a rooftop in Sicily, in a field among horses in London, at Gateway Yoga in St. Louis and in the middle of a festival. If you are building something and want cacao in it, tell me.
Questions people ask first
What is ceremonial cacao, exactly?
It is pure cacao, stone ground and unprocessed, prepared as a warm drink rather than a hot chocolate. It contains theobromine rather than much caffeine, so it opens the heart and the breath without making you jittery. It is not a psychedelic, and you stay entirely yourself.
Do I need any experience?
No. Most people who sit with me have never done it before. Everything is explained, nothing is required of you, and you are welcome to drink a smaller cup or none at all.
Is there anything I should do beforehand?
Come with a light stomach if you can, drink water, and skip the coffee that morning. Wear something you can sit on a cushion in. Bring a journal if you keep one.
Is there any reason I should not drink cacao?
Tell me if you are pregnant, nursing, on MAO inhibitors or SSRIs, or managing a heart condition or high blood pressure. Cacao interacts with some medications and we will adjust the strength or skip the drink and keep the ceremony.
What actually happens in a ceremony?
We open, we drink, and then there is time to write, breathe, move, sound, or sit in silence, depending on the room. There is no performing and no confessing. Some people cry, some people laugh, most people get quiet, and all of that is allowed.
Where do your ceremonies happen?
At the Den in Springfield, Missouri, most often on Tuesday nights, and privately for couples, small groups and retreats. I have also held them in London, Sicily, St. Louis, Peru and at festivals, so if you are planning something somewhere else, ask.
One more thing
If you want cacao for your own home
I only recommend the cacao I trained with. It is the same ceremonial grade I pour in ceremony, and you can order it through my link.
There is also a Cacao with Christy group on Facebook, and more of what people say about sitting in ceremony on my reviews page.