Paula Numan takes a journey to the Peruvian jungle for education and enlightenment.

Most people know that as the director of Star Condos, Paula’s life passion is not about chasing people who have not paid their rent. Teaching yoga t is one of them but her biggest passion, that caught her heart over 10 years ago, is shamanism and the ceremonial use of medicinal plants.

In short ‘shamanism’ is the oldest religion in the world going back tens of thousands of years. Actually it is more a belief system since there are no sacred scriptures like, the bible, or holy people, like a pope or priest, who interprets certain rules to be followed.  shaman is a person who is able to communicate with and travel through the spirit world in order to diagnose the illness of a patient or tribe member , among many other things. This communication is established through a controlled form of trance or ecstasy, induced by continuous dancing, singing, drumming or the ingestion of certain psycho-active medicinal plants.

Another key element of ‘shamanism’ is the belief that everything has a spirit or life essence, from the plants and the trees to the wind, the rivers, and the mountains. In the shamanistic worldview there is a continuous interaction between the world that is ruled by the spirits and our ordinary human world. The shaman understands the technique to act as a mediator between these 2 worlds. A shaman will often have an ancestor spirit or animal spirit, called a ‘nagual’, to guide her through the astral realms and assist in her work.

Last year Paula found herself in Peru at the first International Conference on Shamanism, as one of the invited guests to talk about yoga and the benefits and the related qualities in shamanistic traditions. It was love at first sight when the shamana Norma Panduro and Paula set eyes on each other. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, she had found the ‘Maestra’ she had been looking for. Almost a year later, after several trips back to the jungle of Iquitos, Paula is the vice president of Norma’s healing centre called Estrella Ayahuasca, which they have now expanded with 7 new cabanas, a new kitchen and a common area.

To meet Norma, many other ‘curanderos’ and a wide variety of the most interesting speakers on the subject of shamanism and medicinal plants, you are invited to visit Peru at the end of June for the second International Conference on Shamanism: http://www.soga-del-alma.org/.

 This year Paula will be speaking about the ‘History of women in shamanism’. If Peru is a little out of your way, there is a chance to meet the shamana Norma right here in Playa del Carmen. She will offer her ceremonies and her knowledge on medicinal plants during September 7 through 30 of this year. If you wish to receive more information, please write to: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it