Makena Keahiomakali’i Seymour is a curandera and apprentice of Maestro Ricardo Amaringo at Nihue Rao Centro Espiritual. During her 9 year battle with problematic substance use Makena attended treatment and became a strong believer in the combination of plant medicine, conventional and alternative approaches to help overcome her addiction. Makena began working with ayahuasca in 2017 and realized its powerful ability to heal her trauma. Makena has over 1 year of abstinence from drugs & alcohol.

Makena has a professional background in tropical permaculture and gardening that was inspired by her deep love for working with the earth. She started the permaculture project at the beginning of 2022 with her partner Sapha. Her experiences with ayahuasca helped her recognize the immense suffering of the planet, people and animals. Makena co-created & envisioned the Sacred Rebels Recovery project as part of a collective solution. Makena is driven to reforest the 30 acres of the permaculture project with endangered trees, medicinal plants, fruit, vegetables & ancestral foods from various cultures. She believes that combining plant medicine, recovery work and connecting with the land & the local people is the ultimate combination for deep healing and transformation.

Makena aims to share the medicine of the jungle and the knowledge she has gained through working with the plants & healing her own trauma with others, especially people from her home territory of Hawaii and the BIPOC communities so that they too may benefit & find freedom in the ways she has been able to. Makena sees a deep need for marginalized people to have access to plant medicine and wishes to help curate retreats that create opportunities for all people to attend.