The Alchemy of Pleasure & Plants: A Women's Healing Retreat in Costa Rica

Christine Gordineer

Founder & Travel Curator

A journey into plant wisdom, nature, creativity, and remembering

What if the healing you've been searching for doesn't require you to do more — but simply to slow down?

That question is at the heart of The Alchemy of Pleasure & Plants, an intimate women's healing retreat created by Twin Star Tribe on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica — a journey into herbal wisdom, ritual, yoga, meditation, creativity, and deep connection with the natural world.

It is especially meaningful to me because Lupo Passero, the founder of Twin Star Tribe, is one of my own teachers and mentors. To now help create an experience alongside her — and guide yoga and meditation within it — is something I hold with tremendous gratitude.

When the Plants Become Teachers

In Guanacaste, Costa Rica, tropical dry forest, gardens, mountains, and the Pacific Ocean become part of the experience. The retreat invites participants to explore medicinal plants and herbal wisdom through education, observation, relationship, and ritual — not chasing an extreme experience, but developing a deeper relationship with the natural world.

The approach is rooted in herbal and earth-based practices rather than psychedelic experiences — an emphasis on learning, listening, slowing down, and cultivating reverence for the living world around us.

Meet Lupo Passero of Twin Star Tribe

At the heart of this experience is Lupo Passero, herbalist, educator, travel guide, and founder of Twin Star Tribe. For more than two decades, Lupo has shared her knowledge of herbalism, plant wisdom, ritual, and nature through educational programs, community gatherings, and international sacred travels — bringing together botanical medicine, spiritual exploration, creativity, and a deep relationship with the natural world.

For me, Lupo represents a teacher who encourages us not simply to learn *about* nature, but to develop a relationship with it. That philosophy is woven throughout this retreat.

The Creative Alchemy of Sherri Burch

The retreat also brings creativity into the experience through metalsmith and jewelry artist Sherri Burch. Participants can explore metalsmithing and create a personal amulet inspired by intention, story, and spirit — a tangible reminder of the intentions they carried into the retreat. The creative process becomes another way of slowing down, becoming present, and listening inward.

Yoga, Meditation & Coming Back Into the Body

I am deeply honored to guide transformational yoga and meditation during this retreat alongside my mentor and dear friend, Lupo. Rather than pushing the body toward another achievement, we use movement, breath, stillness, and meditation as invitations to listen, notice, soften, and reconnect. Practicing yoga surrounded by the jungle creates a completely different relationship with the practice — the goal isn't perfection. It is presence.

A Place to Put Down the Weight

So many women spend their lives holding everything together — careers, families, relationships, businesses, responsibilities — and somewhere along the way, it becomes difficult to remember what it feels like to simply receive. This retreat creates space for that.

There will be time for journaling, nature walks, meditation, yoga, rest, and simply being. There will also be time to explore the Pacific coast near Playa Avellanas and Playa Negra, with optional excursions like cacao and coffee, boat trips, and horseback riding. You don't have to fill every moment. In fact, you're encouraged not to.

Our Home in Guanacaste

We gather at a three-generation, women-owned and operated retreat center in Río Seco, surrounded by the landscape of Guanacaste. With private and shared rooms, classic and king bungalows, a swimming pool, warm soaking area, garden paths, a communal dining room, yoga and meditation space, and a fire circle for evening gatherings — it is a setting designed for connection to yourself, to other women, and to the land.

What Does "Plant Medicine" Mean Here?

For this retreat, the emphasis is on medicinal herbalism, plant education, earth-based traditions, ritual, and relationship with the natural world rather than psychedelic medicine. The intention is to explore how plants have traditionally supported human wellbeing — with humility and respect for the Indigenous cultures and traditional knowledge keepers who have protected plant wisdom for generations. We are guests on the land, and meaningful wellness travel should begin with respect for the places, cultures, and communities that make the experience possible.

A Deeper Relationship With Mother Earth

Sustainability isn't only about what we consume — it is also about our relationship. How do we relate to the land? How do we travel without treating destinations as commodities? These questions are central to the kind of travel I believe in through Tranquil Escapes: luxury as thoughtful design, meaningful connection, and experiences that leave us more connected to the places we visit. That is the heart of regenerative travel.

The Golden Eagle, the Condor & the Hummingbird

There is a beautiful ceremonial song called *Águila de Oro*, or *Golden Eagle*, whose imagery has stayed with me. The eagle invites us to see from a wider perspective. The condor reminds us to remain grounded in the mountains and the Earth. And the hummingbird brings us back to beauty, movement, color, pleasure, and love. Together, they create an image of balance — and perhaps that is what many of us are ultimately seeking. Not a completely different life, but a more balanced relationship with the life we already have.

This Is Not About Fixing Yourself

This retreat isn't built around the idea that something is wrong with you. You don't need to arrive with everything figured out. You simply need to arrive — curious, open, and ready to slow down. The transformation may be subtle: sleeping more deeply, laughing unexpectedly, feeling the ocean against your feet, learning the name of a plant, creating something with your hands, or remembering a part of yourself that has been quiet for a while.

Is This Retreat For You?

This experience may speak to you if you are a woman who:

• Feels tired of constantly being "on"
• Wants meaningful rest rather than another packed vacation
• Is curious about herbalism and medicinal plants
• Wants to deepen her relationship with nature
• Loves yoga, meditation, creativity, or ritual
• Is seeking connection with other women
• Values sustainability and responsible travel
• Feels ready for a pause and a new perspective

You don't have to know exactly what you are looking for. Sometimes the first step is simply recognizing that you need something different.

Your Invitation

The Alchemy of Pleasure & Plants is a week of plants, ocean, jungle, yoga, meditation, creativity, women, rest — and the quiet wisdom of the Earth. If you feel that familiar pull that says *it's time to slow down*, listen to it.

Learn more and explore registration at www.twinstartribe.com. And if you would like support with the travel planning and logistics surrounding your Costa Rica retreat experience, Tranquil Escapes would be honored to help you create a seamless, intentional journey.

Sometimes we don't need to go farther. We simply need to go deeper.

Travel With Total Peace of Mind

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