Eva Maria Weidmann-Hansen: Being Present in Softness and Compassion

With a deep love & curiosity for wild nature, Keith’s Cacao Practitioner, Eva Maria Weidmann-Hansen, utilizes Ceremonial Cacao and other plant medicines to help others explore the profound power of slowness, grounding, intuition, deep listening, imagination, and peaceful being, through a deep connection with the land under their feet and the plants in their garden.

Tapping into Plant Wisdom

"There is so much wisdom all around us," she says, if only we dare open ourselves up to listen to it. For Eva, medicine is anything that guides us home – back to that place of love and compassion that allows us to honor this amazing planet we live on. Each plant has unique properties that work on both a physical and a spiritual or soul level. When we work with both the physical and spiritual aspects of the plant, that’s where magic can happen. 

The way to do that is by opening ourselves up to listen to what the plant's spirit is communicating and to our own intuition. This requires us to slow down, calm our nervous system, and quieten our minds and bodies. Only when we do that can we start hearing the whispers of this wisdom that is all around us. 

Some of the wisdom is clear and direct. We know, for example, that a particular plant is good for some specific ailment. But since body, mind, and spirit are connected, it is important to be quiet and still enough to understand why we became ill in the first place and also how a plant can help with that root cause on a soul/spirit level. 

And so, Eva's work involves deeply connecting with the energy of the plants through meditation and dietas to allow the core medicine of the plant to be revealed. When we do that, she explains, when we open ourselves up, often what happens is that all the things we haven’t listened to, start popping up. We live in so much noise within and all around us that we can’t really listen clearly to ourselves, to the wisdom of our hearts, or to nature around us. Part of the healing process is what we call shadow work – the allowing of that which has been suppressed to rise, to be cleansed and transformed. Ceremonial Cacao plays a crucial role in this process of sitting still, opening up, and listening. 

Warming up Inside with Cacao

Cacao arrived in Eva's life at a time of grief over her father's passing. It was winter in her soul, and Cacao came just in time to help melt all that had frozen within her, allowing the river of emotions to slowly and gently flow into an inner spring. Cacao did not take away Eva's grief, but it transformed her relationship with it. It allowed her to be with her grief in a different way, completely changing the flow and the direction she was taking in her life. 

Ever since, Cacao has been at the center of Eva's life, both in her own practice and in her sharing and offerings to the world. Although she likes all plants and appreciates the wisdom and medicine of each and all, just like with people, there are some she resonates more with and is closer to. Cacao, for Eva, is a master plant, teaching her how to be present in her body in the moment.

Cacao as Master Facilitator

Eva works with different plant medicines to help people deal with anxiety, depression, and various physical ailments. She helps people connect with the plants and their energy so they can learn directly from the plant rather than through her. The plants are used in a number of different ways besides sitting with them in meditation, including teas, infusions, and steam baths. In all cases, Cacao facilitates a deeper connection with the specific plant they are working with.

In her 1-to-1 sessions, Cacao is often combined with nature therapy, sound, and meditation to support the other person to go deeper into themselves, release what doesn’t serve them, and receive more of what does.

When facilitating Cacao circles, she creates a space where everybody has a voice and can contribute and support each other. Sometimes, they all brew and bless the Cacao together as a community before entering a place of stillness that then leads into singing. Initiated by Eva, everyone is encouraged to join in as a way of empowering themselves to find their voice and expression or just sit and receive.

Being and Remembering

As one who has been working with many types of plant medicines for years, Eva singles out Cacao for its ability to ground her in the present and in her body, bringing softness, kindness, and compassion for herself and others. It also reminds her to not take herself too seriously! That she doesn't always have to be doing and contributing. Sometimes, it is enough to just be and sit in her own yumminess! And for that, she considers  Cacao to be a master plant – a master teacher. 

"Cacao plant medicine helps us remember ourselves. It allows us to remember a loving way to be in life with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth. And for that, I am so grateful: to be able to have this life in this way and be able to share this type of medicine." 

You can keep following Eva's journey with Keith's Cacao on her website, Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Intrigued by the use of Cacao as a Plant Medicine? Read more on our blog Cacao & its Place Among Plant Medicines, Entheogens, & Psychedelics

Find out how you can join our growing global family Keith's Cacao Practitioners here.