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Episode 26

What Plant Medicine Can Teach You About the Ego, Healing & God with Rita Hraiz

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About This Episode

The world of plant medicine is growing rapidly—but how much of what we hear is actually true? In this episode, spiritual visionary, sacred artist, and modern mystic Rita Hraiz explores the deeper spiritual purpose of sacred plant medicines beyond the hype. Together, we unpack the modern psychedelic renaissance, common misconceptions surrounding Ayahuasca and other master plants, and why these medicines are far more than transformational experiences or quick fixes. Rita shares her own powerful journey—from early psychedelic experiences and a six-month period on the edge of psychosis to discovering the profound intelligence of Ayahuasca and dedicating her life to spiritual awakening. She explains how different sacred plants carry distinct energies and intentions, why facilitator integrity and participant preparation are essential, and how true transformation happens through integration—not the ceremony itself. Whether you're curious about plant medicine, considering your first ceremony, or seeking a more grounded spiritual perspective, this conversation offers thoughtful insights into approaching these ancient traditions with reverence, responsibility, and discernment.

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Special Guest Profile

Rita Hraiz is a spiritual visionary, sacred artist, and modern mystic devoted to awakening the divine feminine and guiding souls back to their truth. As a lifelong student of Ageless Wisdom and a keeper of the Shambhala flame, Rita weaves ancient teachings with modern consciousness to help others embody love, purpose, and radiant presence. Through her transformational work in color alchemy, soul mentorship, and conscious fashion, she empowers seekers to walk the path of beauty, integrity, and inner liberation. Rita is not just a teacher—she’s a mirror, a catalyst, and a voice for the rising light of a new humanity.

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Sanaiyah Gurnamal

Healer and transformational coach

I’m Sanaiyah! A love and relationship coach, speaker, and writer. I’m passionate about helping women make love their power move—in relationships, life, and business. I’ve lived through heartbreak, self-doubt, and the kind of patterns that keep repeating until you finally wake up and say, “I’m done.” For years, I gave my power away—searching for love, losing myself in it, and carrying the weight of old wounds into every relationship that followed. But it wasn’t just in love. 

I poured the same perfectionism into my career. I graduated from an Ivy League university, launched multiple businesses, earned advanced degrees and awards, checked every box… yet somehow, it still didn’t feel like enough. Because I was building my life from a place of proving, not from a place of belonging. But somewhere in the middle of all that mess, I realized something profound: The most important relationship I would ever have…was with myself.

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Katherine Barroeta

Family Constellation and Transgenerational Therapist, Reiki Master, and Holistic Therapist

For years, I lived in a paradox—smiling on the outside while feeling lost on the inside. I didn’t understand why suffering existed, yet I found myself trapped in it. It wasn’t until I discovered the world of spirituality, psychology, human patterns, and consciousness that everything changed. I realized we are not our thoughts or our emotions—we are the awareness behind them. And from that moment on, I was no longer just surviving. I was alive. Today, my passion is to help others experience this same transformation. Through holistic healing, deep inner work, and immersive retreats, I guide people in breaking free from limiting beliefs, healing old wounds, and creating a new reality—one built on self-awareness, empowerment, and inner peace.

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Jenny Dunsford

A sound and vibrational healing practitioner and Wim Hof Method instructor

I’m a yoga, sound – vibrational, and Wim Hof method instructor. I’m originally from Newcastle, UK, but have been living and working in Dubai for the last 10 years. I currently work in corporate sales and manage my wellness buisness on the side. My life purpose is to spread love and light to everyone I meet.

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Nic Woodthorpe-Wright

Effective Coaching Solutions for Leaders and Organisations

Nic is a leader in the Middle East coaching industry and has over 19 years’ experience in executive coaching. He is a founding member of the International Coach Federation, Dubai Chapter and served as its President from 2012-14. During this time he achieved growth and understanding through initiatives such as the 1st ME ICF Coaching Conference, which was held in November 2014. While still active as Past President, he is also Managing Director of the largest and most established corporate coaching company in the region – WWA Corporate Coaching. Nic’s business background is extensive and he has had a strong and successful career in sales leadership, both in the hospitality and express logistics fields across the Middle East. 

With a lifelong passion for self-development and growth, Nic had a Eureka moment when he discovered coaching in the late 1990s. Ever since then he has focused on using coaching to expand the ability and impact of both individuals and companies. Nic continues to promote the importance of coaching standards and ethics and is an advocate of strong coaching credentials and qualifications. He achieved his Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential, global recognition of an exceptional and proven coach, from the International Coach Federation (ICF) in 2010. He was the first person to achieve this accolade in the Middle East region.

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Sam Daghash

Master Coach and subconscious reprogramming expert

Sam Daghash is a globally recognized Alignment & Breakthrough Specialist, elite performance coach, and founder of New Mind™ — a transformative brand built to liberate individuals from unconscious limitations, recondition identity, and activate true personal and financial freedom. Over the past 7 years, Sam has been guiding high-achievers across industries — from professional traders to C-level executives, entrepreneurs, founders, creatives, and global performers — Sam has become a trusted leader in the field of deep identity recalibration, neuro-transformational coaching, and human optimization. At the core of Sam’s mission lies one simple truth: “Everything begins within the mind. When you shift perception, you shift reality.”

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Holly Hollistic

Founder of Holly Holistic

The UAE’s first homegrown holistic brand for beautiful, magical souls was established in 2016. Our big focus is on self-love, as it’s a big part of our healing journey. Self-love is going to be your best friend during times of healing and transition. Holly Holistic was created because YOU are the most important person in your life and we want to share all the best tools that can help you love yourself more and keep your vibrational field strong against negativity. If you protect the seed that is trying to sprout within you, you will heal faster.

At Holly Holistic, we believe positive energy can calm even the most anxious mind and radiate love. We source fair and ethically traded products at Holly Holistic whenever possible, our products are natural and divinely wonderful for the benefit of your personal well-being and are sure to nurture your mind, body and soul. Caring deeply about Mother Earth, our products are locally sourced whenever possible and we have recently converted to 95% sustainable packaging, using recycled and reusable materials.

Our mission is to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature by offering these natural healing products. Holly Holistic is a family run business with a small team who are deeply dedicated and committed to providing the best products and customer experience possible. We are genuinely interested to get to know our community and each customer personally, often referred to as our Soul Tribe. We are happy you are here!

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Phil Quirk

Human Performance, NLP, Hypnosis

Phil has worked with Olympic champions, special forces operators, corporate leaders, and high-performing individuals across the world. Drawing from his experience in the Royal Marines, as well as decades studying psychology, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), breathwork, hypnosis, and ancient philosophy, Phil shares the mental frameworks that help people unlock their highest potential.

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Janelle Houston

Craniosacral Therapist and Energy Healer

Janelle Houston is a Dubai-based Cranial Sacral Therapist and Energy Healer, and the founder of The Tree of Hope. With roots in Scotland and a background in psychology, cognitive hypnotherapy, Reiki, and Biodynamic Cranial Sacral Therapy, she brings a deeply intuitive and trauma-informed approach to healing.

Her work supports clients in releasing emotional blockages, regulating the nervous system, and finding relief from anxiety, ADHD, overwhelm, and childhood trauma. Known for her gentle presence and signature Infinite Flow Healing method, Janelle creates a safe, grounded space for deep transformation.

Whether working with adults, children, or families, her goal is to help people reconnect with their inner calm and build lasting emotional resilience. Janelle also shares her insights through online content and podcast appearances, making nervous system education and holistic healing more accessible to all.

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Laura Deva

Transformational guide, psychotherapist, and ISTA faculty member

Laura Deva is a transformational guide, psychotherapist, and ISTA faculty member devoted to awakening embodied sovereignty and soulful power. With over 15 years of global experience, she weaves deep psychology, sacred sexuality, trauma alchemy, and ancient temple arts into potent spaces of healing and rebirth. Trained in clinical and criminal psychology, and rooted in tantric and shamanic lineages, Laura holds a fierce yet tender container for radical transformation. Whether through her private practice in Geneva or international workshops and rites of passage, she leads seekers home to their bodies, their truth, and their divine essence.

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Rita Hraiz

Spiritual Visionary, Sacred Artist, and Modern Mystic

Rita Hraiz is a spiritual visionary, sacred artist, and modern mystic devoted to awakening the divine feminine and guiding souls back to their truth. As a lifelong student of Ageless Wisdom and a keeper of the Shambhala flame, Rita weaves ancient teachings with modern consciousness to help others embody love, purpose, and radiant presence. Through her transformational work in color alchemy, soul mentorship, and conscious fashion, she empowers seekers to walk the path of beauty, integrity, and inner liberation. Rita is not just a teacher—she’s a mirror, a catalyst, and a voice for the rising light of a new humanity.

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Alice Hong

Pleasure & Embodied Feminine Leadership Coach

Alice Hong is an Embodied Feminine Leadership Coach and Tantra teacher. She helps passionate women create lives that turn them ON – in love, life, and business, so that they can have more aliveness, pleasure and financial wealth. She’s supported thousands of women and hundreds of men create greater intimacy, passion and purpose in their lives by connecting to the wild wisdom of their bodies, increasing access to pleasure, and equipping people with tangible tools that align actions with soul purpose, so people can move forward with their lives in a powerful way.

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Daniel Li Ox

QiGong Master, Zen Buddhist Monk

Daniel Li Ox is a Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor, Medical Qi Gong Teacher, and an ordained Zen Buddhist Monk. He is also the Founder of ZenCleanz, a revolutionary detox and cellular nutrition product that helps us cleanse with the power that comes from the enzymes of fruits and plants that have been fermented for three years.

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Nikola Jurisic

Cultural Transfiguration Catalyst

Nikola is a spiritual warrior, cultural transfiguration catalyst and a leading global expert in building values driven systems and organizations at scale. He brings a career of experience working on culture with hundreds of organizations and systems around the world, blending more structured organizational approaches with more intuitive work. He is the Managing Partner of Transfiguration Advisory, where he works with corporations and institutions on broad systemic and cultural change. Prior to building his own consultancy, Nikola lead McKinsey’s culture and change work across more than 90 countries in Eastern Europe, the MIddle East and Africa (EEMA). Nikola is also the Founder of Project Light, a non-profit organization focused on processing collective trauma and supporting the collective healing work within the Balkans, where he was born and raised. He brings a wide range of divergent perspectives, and weaves them together as a self-described ‘free radical’. His top three values are learning, fun and adventure, and excellence. Nikola also takes private one-to-one clients from the executive leadership space.

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Fadi Rifaai

Singer of Sufi Poetry

Fadi Rifaai is a Syrian artist, singer, actor, and writer, who was born and raised in Dubai. Though he has acted in films, he has a particular love of producing art and interacting with the world through his gift in a live format. He has a particular penchant for Sufi poetry and a love of Sufi wisdom, which comes live through his classical singing and sufi sound journeys. Beyond playing curated shows, at various theatres across Dubai, he also plays at deeply healing and transformative retreats – and creates journeys for private events as well. You can connect with him on Instagram. 

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MayBritt Searty

Family Constellations Therapist

May-Britt is an esteemed international therapist with over 30 years of experience in personal development, natural health, and spiritual psychotherapy. Certified in a wide array of therapeutic modalities, she holds expertise in 3-in-1 Kinesiology, Counseling, Coaching, Osho Therapy, Family Constellation, Trauma-Related Systemic Constellation, Kundalini Yoga, and various bodywork techniques, including Cranio-Sacral Therapy. Additionally, she is a trained Naturopath.

Throughout her career, May-Britt has facilitated hundreds of workshops and conducted thousands of one-on-one sessions, impacting lives across the globe. Born in Greenland and raised in Denmark, she has accumulated a wealth of life and work experience from living and working in 12 countries across three continents, including the UK, Bahrain, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Germany, Qatar, and the UAE.

May-Britt’s holistic approach is both transformative and integrative, merging spirituality and psychology to create a nurturing environment where clients can embark on their unique journeys of healing and growth. She intuitively and directly engages with the human energy field, offering guidance and resolution for personal and career issues.

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Liberty Gelderloos

Liquid Flow & Womb Steam Practitioner, Menstrual Cycle Coach

Liberty coaches women, advocating for menstrual cycle awareness. She helps women reconnect with their wombs, and also facilitates womb-healing practices as a certified womb steam practitioner and devoted plant medicine womban. Driven by a passion to empower women, Liberty has been sharing the profound benefits of womb steaming since 2019, bridging the gap between tradition and modern self-care.

Since 2022, Liberty has also been facilitating transformative experiences in water as a Certified Liquid Flow Practitioner, trained through Watsu India, under the Worldwide Aquatic Bodywork Association (WABA). Liberty’s work aims to create a sanctuary for individuals to simply just be.

Liberty has also curated and created her own line of womb steaming products, from the steam herbs to drinkable teas, and the womb steaming chair. Find out more by visiting sheisliberty.com

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Rike John

Embodied Love & Relationship Coach

Rike is a VITA certified love and relationship coach working with the modalities of Internal Family Systems (IFS), Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and Authentic Relating, infused by her background in Tantra and modern mystery schools. She works with clients from around the world using various methods such as shadow work, embodiment and somatic practices, as well as inner parts work and practical communication tools and processes for couples and individuals. When you meet her, you realize she’s built for this; she provides a safe space for deep healing – as if it’s in her blood. But she’s lived a few lives already, from working in the corporate world, to the startup world, and then spending several years in tantric and sex positive spaces. She is now based in Dubai, working with clients in-person and online, to help them feel the love, connection and joy that they desire.

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Roos Veerle Krijnen

Personal Coach, Medicine Journey Facilitator, Yogi & Tantrika

For over a decade, Roos has been working with the intelligence of the body and facilitating fungi medicine journey’s to help people connect with their intuition, inner knowing and internal instructions. As soon as you meet her, you’ll see that she’s a deeply rooted and earthy being. Roos pulls from many schools of thought to weave sacred healing spaces infused with her Psychology education and her work in Tantra and Conscious Sexuality, Breathwork and Psychedelics, as well as the Art of Gathering.

She runs medicine journey retreats, tantra retreats, and facilitates 1-on-1 coaching trajectories. Roos works with clients to embrace their naked truth and follow nature’s guiding principles to purify whatever needs to be purified – which ultimately always results in the frequency of pure love.

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Nathan Marcuzzi

Energy & Bodyworker, Breathwork Facilitator

Nathan is a bodyworker and energy healer, travelling the world and educating people on how to access and clear their energy body. He does this through breathwork, de-armouring, and what he calls full-body ecstatic experiences – which uses Kundalini energy to open the body up to greater joy and aliveness. He weaves many modalities together, including sound healing and shamanic journeying.

Nathan has been a lifelong yogi, committed to a hatha yoga and meditation practice since the age of 14. He’s a certified Reiki energy worker, and has studied sacred sexuality through ISTA, rebirthing breathwork, and trauma care practices in a 500 hour kolo informed program. He heals with sound as well as shamanic journeying.

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Erika Masako Welch

Spiritual Warrior & Podcast Host

Erika is a Japanese-Canadian Dubai-transplant that has called the Middle East her home for the past 15+ years. She’s an empath, a heart-warrior, community builder, entrepreneur, dog-mum, and eudaimonia practitioner – which she describes as someone that seeks “a life lived meaningfully well”. Erika has been a spiritual seeker on the spiritual warrior path for most of her life; curious about the human condition, and how to interact and relate more authentically with others, all in the name of creating deeper intimacy. 

Erika is a multi-dimensional being balancing the aliveness of being plugged into the matrix as an entrepreneur and business-woman, while providing safe spaces for her and others to unplug, anchor back into ourselves, and connect into source. She’s studied Neurobiology and Psychology at McGill University, Sustainability and Leadership at the University of Cambridge, and received her Executive MBA from Stanford University. She’s also studied design thinking at the d.school and had a keen interest in researching the intersection of technology and well-being. She has also studied at multiple Mystery Schools including the International School of Temple Arts (ISTA) working with coaches and facilitators from around the world exploring various types of shamanism, energy work, body work, tantra and sacred sexuality, and has opened her mind and heart to journey with plant medicines from around the world. 

She’s always been a community builder, serial-connector, and human-first being; she’s been running women’s circles in Dubai for years and is one of the ISTA alumni community leaders in Dubai. She’s worked in over 40 countries, and travelled to over 70; she loves to learn from all cultures and peoples. Erika decided to bring this Podcast to life because she’s met so many divine beings along her healing journey; many of whom she wishes to help amplify their voices and bring their healing gifts to Dubai. EnlightenDXB is all about levelling-up together in community, in tribe; particularly here in Dubai, where the healing community is still in its nascency. Erika works with global practitioners of all kinds to bring their work to this dynamic city.

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