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Olga Yakymenko never planned on becoming a medicine practitioner.

Born and raised in Ukraine, Olga spent ten years working within the Ukrainian court system before eventually moving to Moscow, where she continued working in the legal field. From the outside, she had built a conventional life and career. Internally, though, she had the persistent feeling that she wasn't doing what she was supposed to be doing.

Then she went to India.

What was supposed to be a short trip turned into six months after Olga threw away her return ticket and called her boss to tell him he could fire her. India opened the door to meditation, spiritual practice, travel, and an entirely different way of seeing her life.

Eventually, that path led her to South America and ayahuasca.

Her first experience wasn't particularly profound. Years later, however, she sat again—this time prepared, intentional, and within the Shipibo tradition. That ceremony changed the direction of her life.

Olga describes an experience of ego death, rebirth, and a clear message that she was supposed to leave her old life behind, move to another country, and work in service to others.

So she did.

With little English, a tiny backpack, and no real plan, Olga came to the United States, eventually settling in Brooklyn and beginning the long transition from the legal world into healing work.

In this episode, we follow that journey and dive deep into Olga's relationship with ayahuasca, Kambo, Bufo, traditional Shipibo practices, Icaros, integration, and the importance of choosing experienced facilitators.

We also get into one of the more unusual modalities Olga practices: hirudotherapy, or medicinal leech therapy—a practice she first witnessed as a child in Ukraine and later incorporated into her own work.

Today, Olga works with ayahuasca, Kambo, massage, and leech therapy and is stepping into a new chapter as a Kambo instructor.

In This Episode

We talk about:

• Growing up in Ukraine and working in the court system
• Leaving Moscow for what became a six-month journey through India
• Meditation, Vipassana, Nepal, Varanasi, and the beginning of Olga's spiritual path
• Her first experience with ayahuasca in South America
• The Shipibo ceremony that completely changed her life
• Moving to America without speaking English
• Building a new life in Brooklyn
• Why ayahuasca became Olga's primary spiritual teacher
• The role of Icaros and master plants within Shipibo tradition
• Why the person facilitating a psychedelic experience matters
• Difficult ayahuasca experiences, surrender, preparation, and integration
• Olga's first experience with Kambo in New York
• Discovering Bufo after roughly 150 ayahuasca ceremonies
• Why she eventually chose to stop serving Bufo and focus more deeply on ayahuasca and Kambo
• The problem with stacking multiple powerful medicines into a single retreat
• Why more medicine doesn't necessarily mean more healing
• Medicinal leech therapy and its history in Olga's family
• Her decision to begin teaching Kambo
• Her desire to bring properly trained practitioners into Ukrainian communities affected by war
• Advice for people curious about plant and amphibian medicines
• What to look for when choosing an ayahuasca facilitator

Olga's story is ultimately about following a path before you can see where it's leading.

From a courtroom in Ukraine, to six months wandering India, to Shipibo ceremonies in the Amazon, to arriving in America with almost nothing and building an entirely different life—sometimes the next chapter doesn't begin with a plan.

Sometimes it begins by throwing away the ticket home.

Connect With Olga Yakymenko

Website: kambo-ny.com

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Every once in a while, Jason will be stepping away from the traditional interview format to share stories from nearly a decade of working with Kambo—people he met, unusual cases he witnessed, and experiences that have stayed with him throughout his years of practice.

For the first Kambo Story Time, Jason shares the story of Solomon Page, a former NFL offensive lineman who played for the Dallas Cowboys.

After years of professional football and repeated concussions, Solomon's health began to deteriorate. He developed severe skin and autoimmune-type issues that eventually affected nearly every part of his daily life. His skin became so sensitive that normal clothing was difficult to tolerate. Sitting, sleeping, exercising, and many of the things he'd once taken for granted became increasingly difficult.

Eventually, after exhausting conventional medical options, Solomon says he was told there was nothing more his doctors could do and that he would have to learn to live with his condition.

He reached a point where he wasn't sure he wanted to.

His wife, Cynthia, wasn't willing to accept that answer.

Her search eventually led Solomon to a holistic practitioner in Dallas—and through her, to Jason and Kambo.

In this episode, Jason tells the story of their first session, why Solomon's breathing caused him to remove Kambo points during the treatment, the phone call he received a week later, and what unfolded over the following months.

It's also the story of what happened afterward: Solomon's eventual decision to train as a Kambo practitioner himself and the completely different direction his life took from there.

In This Episode

• How Jason began serving Kambo through a holistic medical practice in Dallas
• Meeting Solomon Page for the first time
• The physical toll years of professional football had taken on Solomon
• Repeated concussions and the health problems Solomon experienced afterward
• The moment Solomon says he had given up hope
• Why his wife continued searching for answers
• Solomon's first experience with Kambo
• Why Jason reduced the number of points during that first session
• The phone call Jason received about a week later
• Three consecutive Kambo sessions and the changes Jason witnessed afterward
• Solomon's decision to eventually become a Kambo practitioner himself
• Why extraordinary stories like Solomon's shouldn't be mistaken for a promise that Kambo will produce the same results for everyone

A Note About This Story

This episode describes one individual's experience with Kambo. It is not intended to suggest that Kambo cures psoriasis, concussion-related conditions, autoimmune disease, or any other medical condition. Individual experiences and outcomes vary, and personal stories should not be interpreted as medical evidence or medical advice.

Tribal Detox Podcast — Episode 9

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What happens when a lifelong search to understand the mind, body, spirit, and human experience eventually leads you somewhere you never expected?

In this episode, Jason sits down with Elizabeth Dalton, a San Diego–based practitioner whose path has taken her through massage therapy, nutrition, Ayurveda, yoga, Kambo, Bufo, somatic work, and now into a new chapter as a Tribal Detox Kambo instructor.

Elizabeth’s journey began long before medicine work. Growing up in a large, deeply religious LDS family, she struggled from a young age with depression and a persistent desire to understand why being human could feel so difficult. Her original interest was psychology, but life took her in another direction—first into massage therapy, then bodywork, nutrition, holistic health, Ayurveda, and eventually the deeper connection between the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of healing.

Her introduction to psychedelic and indigenous medicines was anything but gentle.

Elizabeth shares openly about her first Bufo experience, complete ego dissolution, difficult integration afterward, and how the experience fundamentally challenged what she had been taught about God, death, and the afterlife. She also recounts an intense weekend involving Kambo and ayahuasca that ultimately helped shape the way she believes medicine should—and should not—be facilitated.

Those experiences became an important lesson: a powerful experience isn't automatically a therapeutic one.

The conversation dives deeply into the old-school approach to Kambo—the large amounts of water, high numbers of points, and the belief that a successful session required a purge. Elizabeth explains how watching clients endure unnecessarily intense sessions caused her to begin questioning what she had been taught.

Rather than asking, “How intense can we make this?” she began asking a different question:

How can we work with Kambo while listening to the individual person and their nervous system?

That question eventually led Elizabeth toward what she describes as somatic Kambo—using the medicine alongside body awareness, emotional processing, and a much more individualized approach.

Jason and Elizabeth also get into the serious responsibility that comes with facilitating medicine: water consumption, electrolyte balance and hyponatremia, preparation, informed consent, practitioner boundaries, integration, and why facilitators have to resist the temptation to believe that more suffering equals more healing.

The conversation also gets deeply personal as Elizabeth discusses leaving the religion she grew up in, redefining her relationship with God and spirituality, navigating a difficult marriage, and learning to trust what actually resonated with her rather than forcing herself into a belief system because it was familiar.

Eventually, all of the seemingly unrelated pieces of her life began coming back together.

The young woman who once wanted to study psychology found herself working with the mind through somatics, the body through Ayurveda and bodywork, and the spiritual dimension through Kambo and Bufo. After years of searching, questioning, learning, and changing direction, Elizabeth describes her next step into teaching as strangely full circle.

In This Episode

• Elizabeth's early fascination with psychology and the human experience
• Growing up in a strict LDS/Mormon household
• Massage therapy, bodywork, nutrition, and Ayurveda
• Her first experience with Bufo and complete ego dissolution
• How medicine changed her understanding of God and the afterlife
• Religious deconstruction and finding spirituality outside organized religion
• Her first Kambo experience during the 2020 lockdown
• A difficult ayahuasca ceremony and the importance of preparation and responsible facilitation
• The dangers of assuming a more intense ceremony is a better ceremony
• Moving away from purge-chasing and excessive water protocols in Kambo
• Hyponatremia, electrolytes, and practitioner responsibility
• Why suffering isn't something we need to “earn” healing through
• Elizabeth's development of a more somatic, individualized approach to Kambo
• The vulnerability involved in medicine work and the privilege of being trusted as someone's facilitator
• Why boundaries and vetting matter in Bufo facilitation and training
• Finding Tribal Detox and returning to Kambo training as an already experienced practitioner
• Integration, surrender, and learning to move with the ebbs and flows of life
• Elizabeth's path toward becoming a Tribal Detox Kambo instructor
• The ceremony that became one of the most significant turning points of her life

This is a conversation about medicine, but even more than that, it's about curiosity, questioning what you've been taught, learning through experience, and allowing your path to evolve as you do.

Connect with Elizabeth Dalton

Elizabeth Dalton — Surya Wellness
📍 San Diego, California
Instagram: @_suryawellness
Website: www.suryawellnesssd.com

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What would you do if everything you'd spent your life building disappeared overnight?

In this episode of Beyond the Ceremony, Jason sits down with Kambo practitioner and retreat facilitator Atlana Groyto hear one of the most remarkable stories ever shared on the podcast.

After building a thriving aesthetics company in Kazakhstan, Atlana's life changed forever when a trusted business partner used political influence to take her company. Facing prison and fearing for her safety, she fled her country and sought political asylum in the United States with just $300 to her name.

Alone in a new country, unable to speak English, Atlana rebuilt her life from the ground up. But beneath the surface, she struggled with depression, addiction, and the realization that the success she had spent her life chasing wasn't bringing her happiness.

Everything changed when she was introduced to psychedelic medicine.

Atlana shares her deeply personal journey through mushrooms, ayahuasca, and Kambo, explaining how each medicine played a unique role in helping her heal trauma, overcome addiction, reconnect with herself, and ultimately discover a new definition of success rooted in purpose rather than possessions.

Today, Atlana serves others through Kambo, private healing retreats, psychedelic integration coaching, and wellness practices from her healing studio in Los Angeles and retreats in Joshua Tree.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Building a successful business in Kazakhstan before losing everything
• Escaping her country through political asylum
• Starting over in America with only $300 and no English
• Depression, addiction, and the dark side of Hollywood culture
• How mushrooms became the beginning of her healing journey
• Ayahuasca's role in helping her rediscover purpose
• Her experience with Kambo and why it became such an important part of her life
• Healing childhood trauma and redefining success
• Becoming a Kambo practitioner and psychedelic integration coach
• The emotional story of helping her own mother heal from decades of trauma and addiction
• How personalized healing retreats are changing people's lives

Atlana's story is a powerful reminder that sometimes losing everything becomes the very thing that allows us to find who we were always meant to become.

Connect with Atlana Groy

Instagram: @amphibianwoman

Website: https://www.amphibianwoman.com

Atlana offers:

• Private healing retreats
• Psychedelic integration coaching
• Kambo ceremonies
• Sound healing
• Yoga and wellness practices
• Personalized healing programs

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In this deeply personal episode, Jason shares the full story behind the version most people have only heard in passing.

From childhood trauma and years of psychological suffering to discovering plant and amphibian medicines, this conversation explores the path that eventually led to the creation of Tribal Detox. It also highlights an important truth that often gets overlooked: medicine can open the door, but it doesn't do the work for you.

Jason and Kelly discuss:

• Jason's earliest childhood trauma and how it shaped his nervous system.
• Growing up with chronic fear, Tourette's symptoms, intrusive thoughts, anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation.
• Why many people assumed his struggles came from military service when they actually began years earlier.
• His time in the U.S. Coast Guard and the events that ultimately led to his discharge.
• Living for years with suicidal ideation, panic attacks, insomnia, nightmares, and the feeling that he was losing his mind.
• The therapist who first suggested Complex PTSD and why Jason chose not to pursue medication.
• The series of coincidences that introduced him to ayahuasca.
• What ayahuasca gave him—and why it ultimately wasn't his primary medicine.
• His first experience with Kambo deep in the Peruvian Amazon with the Matsés people.
• The dramatic changes he experienced after that first session.
• How Kambo became less of a treatment and more of a calling.
• Why he left his original Kambo training organization and began questioning many of the accepted practices.
• The research that changed his understanding of Kambo, including its bioactive peptides and a more physiology-based approach to serving the medicine.
• Why Tribal Detox teaches smaller, more manageable sessions focused on safety rather than intensity.
• The evolution of the Kambo school and the responsibility of training practitioners.
• How Kelly became the mirror that helped Jason recognize patterns he couldn't see in himself.
• The difference between symptom relief and true healing.
• Why integration, honest relationships, and accountability are just as important as the medicine itself.

This episode is our most personal conversation yet. It's a story about trauma, healing, responsibility, and the long road of becoming someone capable of helping others.

Healing isn't a destination. It's an ongoing practice.

Learn More

Tribal Detox Kambo Practitioner Training

https://www.tribaldetox.com/schools

Questions or feedback?

Email: [email protected]

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What happens when you've tried everything... and nothing works?

In this powerful episode, we sit down with medicine woman and facilitator Sterling Zayas to explore one of the most remarkable healing journeys we've heard.

From severe childhood health complications and multiple blood transfusions to a full hysterectomy in her early twenties, years of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and psychiatric medications, Sterling reached a point where she and her family had exhausted every conventional option.

Then something unexpected happened.

Plant medicine entered her life.

What followed wasn't simply symptom relief. It was a complete transformation of how she understood herself, healing, spirituality, and her purpose in this world.

Sterling shares her deeply personal experiences with psilocybin, MDMA, Kambo, and Bufo, along with the lessons each medicine revealed and how they ultimately led her to become a facilitator herself.

This is a conversation about courage, surrender, faith, and discovering that healing often begins where certainty ends.

In this episode we discuss:

• Sterling's lifelong struggle with chronic illness and mental health
• Living through anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts
• Undergoing a full hysterectomy in her early twenties
• Her experience with psychiatric medications and why they ultimately failed her
• The difficult process of coming off antidepressants and benzodiazepines
• Why her parents chose to experience plant medicine before encouraging her to participate
• Sterling's first psilocybin ceremony and the experience that changed her life
• Spiritual awakening, healing, and finding purpose
• The importance of integration after transformational experiences
• Working with MDMA and psilocybin for trauma and emotional healing
• Discovering Kambo and learning to trust the body's innate ability to heal
• Training with Tribal Detox to become a Kambo practitioner
• Her journey into Bufo and what the medicine taught her about God, love, and consciousness
• What it truly means to walk the path of a medicine woman
• Why healing is ultimately a choice to meet the greatest version of yourself

This episode is a reminder that healing isn't reserved for a lucky few.

Sometimes the greatest transformation begins the moment we decide we're no longer willing to stay where we are.

Mentioned in this episode

• Psilocybin
• MDMA
• Kambo
• Bufo (5-MeO-DMT)
• Integration
• Plant medicine
• Spiritual awakening
• Trauma healing
• Mental health
• Tribal Detox

Connect with Sterling Zayas

🌐 Website: https://www.theheavenlypriestess.com

📱 Instagram: @theheavenlypriestess

If Sterling's story resonated with you and you'd like to learn more about her work, you can connect with her through her website or Instagram.

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What happens when the very system that's supposed to help you no longer has the answers?

In this powerful conversation, we sit down with Jesse, a certified bionutritionist and longtime addiction recovery advocate, to explore her deeply personal journey through opioid addiction, postpartum depression, antidepressant dependency, grief, and ultimately finding healing through Kambo.

Jesse shares how years of struggling with mental health and addiction led her to discover a completely different approach to healing. One centered not only on psychology, but on biology, nutrition, brain chemistry, and personal responsibility.

We also explore the often overlooked connection between amino acids, neurotransmitters, peptides, and mental health, and why she believes true healing requires far more than simply treating symptoms.

This is a conversation about hope, resilience, and discovering that healing is possible, even after years of believing you were broken.

In this episode we discuss:

• Jesse's battle with addiction and recovery
• Postpartum depression and returning to antidepressants
• The challenges of coming off psychiatric medications
• The role nutrition and brain chemistry play in mental health
• Discovering Kambo after years of searching for relief
• How Kambo helped her leave antidepressants behind
• The importance of integration and long term maintenance
• Chronic health issues, endometriosis, and unexpected physical improvements
• Grief after losing her husband to addiction
• Navigating recovery while raising children as a single mother
• The intersection of addiction, trauma, and spirituality
• The science behind amino acids, neurotransmitters, and peptides
• Why Jesse became a certified bionutritionist
• How brain chemistry influences addiction and emotional health
• The future of holistic mental health and natural healing

This episode reminds us that healing isn't about finding a magic cure.

It's about giving the body, mind, and spirit the tools they need to remember how to heal themselves.

Mentioned in this episode

• Kambo
• Addiction recovery
• Postpartum depression
• Antidepressants
• Brain chemistry
• Amino acids
• Neurotransmitters
• Peptides
• Bionutrition
• Grief and loss
• Trauma healing
• Integration

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Can your darkest chapter become the very thing that leads you to your life's purpose?

In Part 2 of Kelly's story, we pick up after her recovery from opioid addiction through Ibogaine and follow the path that eventually led to Tribal Detox, Kambo, Bufo, and the work she does today.

This conversation explores what happens after healing begins. Recovery isn't the end of the journey. It's often where the real journey starts.

Kelly shares what it was like rebuilding her life, rediscovering herself, falling in love, helping build Tribal Detox from the ground up, and eventually finding her calling as a Bufo facilitator.

We also dive into how years of serving hundreds of people challenged many of the assumptions surrounding Bufo and ultimately led us to develop a more therapeutic, integration-focused approach to working with the medicine.

In this episode we discuss:

• Life after Ibogaine and addiction recovery
• Returning home and rebuilding a new identity
• Discovering mushrooms and the wider world of plant medicines
• Meeting Jason and the beginning of their relationship
• Building Tribal Detox from the ground up
• Living in Austin while growing a Kambo practice
• Starting the Tribal Detox Kambo Practitioner School
• Building a life around purpose instead of chasing success
• Life on the road during the pandemic
• How Bufo unexpectedly entered Kelly's life
• Training as a Bufo facilitator
• The challenges and responsibility of serving Bufo
• Why not everyone benefits from a full "blast off" experience
• The evolution of a therapeutic approach to Bufo
• Why integration matters just as much as the ceremony itself

This episode is about trusting your path, even when it looks nothing like the one you originally planned.

Sometimes the greatest transformations don't happen because life goes according to plan.

They happen because life completely falls apart and gives you the opportunity to rebuild it with greater purpose.

Mentioned in this episode

• Kambo
• Bufo (5-MeO-DMT)
• Ibogaine
• Psilocybin mushrooms
• Integration
• Tribal Detox
• Church of the Amphibian Arts

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How does a seven-time All-American, valedictorian, and CPA candidate become addicted to heroin and crack cocaine?

In this deeply personal episode, Kelly shares her story for the first time.

From growing up in the small mountain town of Creede, Colorado, to earning multiple college degrees and working at one of the world's largest accounting firms, nothing about Kelly's life suggested addiction would become part of her story.

But addiction doesn't discriminate.

Kelly opens up about the curiosity that led her down a dangerous path, the devastating reality of opioid addiction, and the desperation that eventually led her to discover Ibogaine, a West African plant medicine that changed the trajectory of her life.

This conversation is raw, honest, and hopeful. It's a story about addiction, healing, courage, and ultimately finding purpose in the darkest chapter of life.

In this episode we discuss:

• Kelly's upbringing in Creede, Colorado
• Being a seven-time NCAA All-American and graduating at the top of her class
• Earning degrees in finance, accounting, and taxation
• Moving to Miami and working for Deloitte
• Why success on paper didn't bring fulfillment
• How a relationship exposed her to opioid addiction
• The progression from curiosity to heroin addiction
• The realities of heroin and crack cocaine addiction
• Opioid withdrawal and the physical and psychological grip of addiction
• Why traditional treatment options didn't resonate with her
• Discovering Ibogaine through relentless late-night research
• Her experience at an Ibogaine clinic in Mexico
• How Ibogaine helped her break free from opioid addiction
• The beginning of her journey into plant medicine
• How that experience eventually led her to Bufo, Tribal Detox, and the work she does today

This episode isn't about glorifying addiction.

It's about showing that addiction can affect anyone, regardless of intelligence, success, or background, and that healing is possible.

If you or someone you love has been impacted by addiction, we hope Kelly's story offers both perspective and hope.

Mentioned in this episode

• Ibogaine
• Bufo (5-MeO-DMT)
• Kambo
• Opioid addiction
• Addiction recovery
• Plant medicine
• Integration
• Tribal Detox

Coming Up Next

In the next episode, we'll continue Kelly's journey as we explore what happened after Ibogaine, how she discovered Bufo, and how those experiences ultimately led to the creation of the Church of the Amphibian Arts and the work she does today.

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What happens after the ceremony?

That's the question that inspired this podcast.

In our very first episode, we share the story behind Beyond the Ceremony, why we felt this conversation needed a home, and why we believe the real healing doesn't end when the medicine wears off.

After losing our Instagram account without warning, we realized how easily conversations around plant and amphibian medicines can disappear from social media. We wanted a place where we could have honest, thoughtful, long form conversations without trying to squeeze complex topics into 60 second clips.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why we created Beyond the Ceremony
• How losing our Instagram accelerated the decision to launch the podcast
• The difference between the ceremony and the integration that follows
• Why healing isn't something a medicine does to you, but something you continue to cultivate afterward
• The philosophy behind Tribal Detox and our approach to working with Kambo and Bufo
• How Jason and Kelly met through the medicine world
• Kelly's journey from opioid addiction to Ibogaine and eventually Bufo
• Jason's path through Ayahuasca, Kambo, homelessness, and rebuilding his life
• The unlikely beginning of Tribal Detox, from living in a minivan and DoorDashing to building an international practitioner community
• How training hundreds of practitioners and serving thousands of clients has shaped our understanding of these medicines

This podcast isn't just about ceremonies.

It's about what comes after.

It's about integration, relationships, healing, purpose, spirituality, science, responsibility, and the lifelong process of becoming more fully human.

Whether you're completely new to plant medicines, an experienced practitioner, or simply curious about consciousness and healing, we hope these conversations offer insight, perspective, and practical wisdom you can apply to your own life.

Mentioned in this episode

• Kambo
• Bufo (5-MeO-DMT)
• Ibogaine
• Ayahuasca
• Integration
• Tribal Detox Kambo Practitioner Training

Coming Up Next

In the next episode, Kelly shares her remarkable journey from addiction and recovery through Ibogaine to becoming a Bufo facilitator and founding the Church of the Amphibian Arts.

Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations as we explore plant medicines, integration, spirituality, science, psychology, and everything that happens beyond the ceremony.