Welcome to the balam sanctuary
At The Balam Sanctuary, we offer more than retreats. We hold space for soul remembrance, community healing, and trauma-informed transformation. Rooted in the belief that true healing happens in safe, supported spaces, our approach blends ancestral wisdom, modern therapeutic principles, and peer-led support to guide individuals through meaningful journeys of self-discovery.
Founded by a daughter of Mexican Immigrants, shaped by both urban and ancestral landscapes, Balam Sanctuary honors the sacred medicine paths of our grandmothers while meeting the needs of a new generation, especially those of us raised between cultures, seeking to reconnect with what was lost, stolen, or forgotten.
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At The Balam Sanctuary, we believe healing happens in safe, supportive, and sovereign spaces not through force, but through presence, choice, and community.
Our retreats are grounded in peer support: we don’t place ourselves above you, we walk beside you. Our facilitators hold space with humility and compassion, honoring that each person is the expert of their own healing journey. You are witnessed, respected, and supported every step of the way.
We also honor a trauma-informed approach, meaning we prioritize emotional safety, informed consent, cultural humility, and nervous system awareness in all that we do. We understand that healing is not linear—and that true transformation unfolds when you feel safe enough to soften, explore, and remember.
Whether you're entering ceremony, a circle, or quiet reflection, you'll be met with care, not pressure. You’ll be given tools, not rules. And most importantly, you’ll be reminded that you belong—not just in the space, but in your body, your story, and your spirit.
Our model pairs beautifully with traditional therapy, many of our guests attend while working with a therapist or coach. We see our work as a complement to therapeutic care, offering experiential and embodied practices that deepen integration and restore connection to self, spirit, and others.
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We don’t just use ancestral tools we honor the lineages behind them. Our plant medicine retreats are guided with reverence for the Indigenous traditions from which these medicines come, including ritual, prayer, and ceremonial frameworks. We seek to be in right relationship with the land and the medicine, acknowledging that they are sacred ways of life.
From the stories of our abuelas to the wild herbs that grow on our ancestral soil, we believe that healing includes remembering who you are and where you come from as reclamation. This is especially important for children of immigrants and bicultural souls who have been taught to forget.
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Women’s Retreats, Monthly Circles, and Mentorships that awaken your intuitive power and feminine knowing through movement, mindfulness, storytelling, and sisterhood.
Plant Medicine Retreats that offer a safe, respectful space for inner exploration and spiritual connection. We kindly walk with you through preparation, ceremony, and integration
Integration Circles & Workshops that blend traditional ceremony with accessible tools for modern life.
At The Balam Sanctuary, we listen to the land.
We don’t heal alone, we heal together.
We don’t forget where we come from, we remember, and we rise.
Come home to yourself, rooted in reverence, held in community, guided by spirit.
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Valeria Martinez
FOUNDER | FACILITATOR
Valeria Martinez is a trauma-informed holistic practitioner and space holder with deep roots in the earth and ancestral healing traditions. Her work bridges sacred medicine, cultural reclamation, and modern integration.
After healing from PTSD through plant medicine, somatic practices, and community-based care, Valeria devoted herself to creating trauma-informed spaces for transformation.
Valeria has trained in crisis psychedelic support and trauma-informed care.. She apprenticed in Ecuador and Mexico with Nahuatl and Mexica elders, carrying forward the teachings of her ancestral lineage from Chalchihuites, Zacatecas. As a mystic and intuitive, she weaves energy work, ritual, and plant medicine into all that she offers, honoring both the spirit and the science of healing.
Valeria is an active contributor to systems-level change. She served on the City of Denver’s Natural Medicine Workgroup, offering feedback on the community-centered implementation of Prop 122. She has also presented at PsyCon and partners with organizations like BIPOC Psychedelics, sharing her vision for a community-rooted, culturally responsive approach to psychedelic care.
Valeria’s vision is to bridge the divide between our identities, our ancestral wisdom, and the Earth—so that we may remember we belong, and that healing is not only possible, but inevitable when we walk together.
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Cal Duran
FACILITATOR
Cal Duran is a multidimensional healer and creative . A two spirit woven human, blessed to have teachers and elders bridging from Peru, Guatamaya, Tibet and these lands. Sound healer and earth keeper, he strives to help the collective embrace this earth, with remembrance through sacred mycelium and integration through sound, offerings and prayer. He holds honor with the importance of remembering our bodies , minds, hearts and souls through the vibration of the plants, fire and earth , and the duality of life and death through ritual, ceremony, and song.
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Sammy Millan
FACILITATOR
Meet Sammy! A Reiki Master, Intuitive Card Reader and Curioso/Shaman from Puerto Rico whose essences is truly pure love and light. Sammy’s journey into the realm of healing began eight solar returns ago as whispers in the wind guided them to a path in mysticism, they draw upon the rich tapestry of Caribbean Curanderismo, teachings from Spiritual Guides that he has had the pleasure of working with and traditions from their upbringing. As a multifaceted healer, Sammy’s gifts let him weave intricate rituals along with calling upon your spirit team to aid in healings with the help of sound, crystals, smoke and intentionally made spiritual waters infused Reiki. Sammy takes you on a healing journey that guides you between realms of light and shadow to make you feel whole again.
Sammy is known for his feather sweepings and blessings, but also offers cord cuttings, limpias and ancestral guided healings to name a few. They invite all who seek healing to journey into the depths of their sacred sanctuary, where the magic of transformation awaits those who dare to embrace the light within.
Testimonials