About Your Guide
YOUR GUIDE
KAREN BAKKE
FOUNDER & OWNER OF SACRED PEAKS RETREAT
PSYCHEDELIC GUIDE | PSILOCYBIN FACILITATOR | HEALTH AND WELLNESS COACH
Owner/Facilitator: NMO-00114
I am a Licensed Psilocybin Natural Medicine Facilitator with Elemental Psychedelics and a Credentialed Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Guide from the Center for Medicinal Mindfulness.
I specialize in psilocybin facilitation, cannabis-assisted psychedelic therapy, microdosing protocols, yoga therapy, and integration coaching.
I am also certified as a Psychedelic-Wilderness First Aid Responder, trained in trauma-informed care, harm reduction, and research-based dosing strategies.
I bring decades of personal psychedelic journey experience coupled with dynamic expertise as a Health and Wellness Coach. I specialize in gut-brain optimization with leading-edge wellness solutions that support clients in achieving vibrant health through customized, multi-modality practices that blend modern neuroscience with ancient wisdom tradition practices.
Center for Medicinal Mindfulness
Mindfulness-Based Psychedelic Guide
Elemental Psychedelics
Licensed Psilocybin Facilitator
Wilderness Medical Associates International
Wilderness and Rescue/Psychedelic First Aid Responder
Psychedelics Today – Foundations of Breathwork & Psychedelics
Florida State University
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) Anthropology, Psychology
Wellcoaches
Certified Health and Wellness Coach
Sundara Integrative Yoga Therapy
Certified Yoga Therapist
Sampoorna Yoga
Certified Yoga Teacher
Shiva Rea
Embodying the Flow & Yoga Trance Dance
Richard Freeman – The Yoga Workshop
Essentials Immersion Ashtanga Vinyasa
Jin Shin Jyutsu
Level 1 – Basic Seminar
The Four Winds Society
Healing the Luminous Body
A LIFE OF INTEGRATION:
MY PATH TO GUIDING
Becoming a Psychedelic Guide and Psilocybin Facilitator was a natural convergence of lifetime fascinations — plant medicines, sound healing, wilderness-immersive psychedelic adventures, and a lifelong inquiry into human potential and consciousness.
It is the path where everything I’ve studied, survived, and surrendered to comes together in service to others.
My journey into psychedelic realms began over three decades ago in the crucible of grief and a deep spiritual longing. These initiatory experiences cracked me open and served as a portal and provided relief, insight and a curiosity to revisit these realms as often as possible.
From early childhood, I experienced significant loss — the deaths of friends and family opened me to existential questions that modern psychological approaches couldn’t answer.
During college, I began to explore psychedelics with zest and shared LSD trips with all who would partake. After graduation, I set out on a six-month backpacking journey through New Zealand’s South Island and Australia’s East Coast, guided in part by many illuminative days with LSD. My integration took place in the wild: pruning apple trees on a farm overlooking Ruby Bay, hiking the Abel Tasman Trail, and sleeping in the mossy heart of emerald rainforests.
I was incredibly fortunate to be living among breathtaking wilderness where I could seamlessly integrate my journeys in relative solitude.
In the absence of the ‘default world’ distractions, I learned to listen closely: When to stir the unconscious—and when to rest in the stillness of integration.
FROM FRAGMENTATION
TO EMBODIMENT
Upon returning to the states, I fell right back into old patterns.
Long after the lessons and clarity started to wane, I continued to use these powerful medicines in an attempt to recreate the insights and a sense of being ‘home’ that drove the initial, life-changing experiences.
But like many seekers, I eventually ran into a wall. The epiphanies faded, and I found myself chasing the original magic.
Without integration, the very medicines that had once opened me up began to overwhelm my nervous system, unearthing trauma faster than I could process it. What followed were panic attacks, anxiety, and many years of treatment-resistant depression.
A near-fatal accident and concurrent traumatic brain injury increased the severity of the mental health challenges I was facing, and after cycling through several psychotropic medications, and experiencing limited therapeutic value, I recognized that I needed to be at the helm of my healing process.
In 2008, I entered a residential yoga teacher training program, where I was initiated into Yogic technologies that soothed my nervous system, uncluttered my mind, and activated innate healing intelligence.
Over time, contemplative practices, time in nature, and years of personal exploration began to illuminate a deeper path. These practices awakened a steady and insistent calling that eventually led me back to the original source of my own healing—the profound mushroom journeys that had reshaped my life decades earlier.
Recognizing the depth and responsibility of this work, I pursued formal training and professional licensure so that I might humbly steward and offer these journeys in service to others. My intention is to hold a space rooted in compassion, safety, and deep respect for the intelligence of these medicines.
At Sacred Peaks Retreat, each journey is approached with reverence for the unique path each person walks. I believe that within every individual exists a profound capacity for healing, insight, and transformation. My role is not to direct that process, but to support and witness it as it unfolds—honoring each person’s exquisite path toward healing, empowerment, and liberation.
SACRED PEAKS SETTING
THE SACRED SUITE
Tucked into the mountainside at 7,500 feet, Sacred Peaks Retreat is a private sanctuary where wilderness, wildlife, and wonder converge. This tranquil, secluded space is perched among pine forests and boulder fields, offering expansive views of Boulder, Bear Peak, and the Green Mountain Range.
Step out onto the flagstone patio or soak in the sky-deck hot tub and you’ll be greeted by sweeping vistas, crisp alpine air, and star-filled night skies that stretch into eternity. Frequent visits from deer, foxes, bears, hummingbirds, add to the enchantment — especially in the golden light of summer.
What made this experience so meaningful was the beautiful harmony between thoughtful preparation, a safe and welcoming space, and a deep connection to nature.
It felt powerful, lasting, and full of little moments I am still unpacking. Genuinely profound!
– SD, Spring Hill, KS
I’ve been hearing my spiritual call for years, but for some reason, I didn’t answer it till I was in contact with Karen.
I felt she was the one to help me understand and explore my inner universe.
With the help of the sacred plant, we did 2 journeys, they were very different, but at the same time, perfect for me.
I was very pleased with the experience, the music, the words, the silence, and the end. It was made for me!!
Thank you Karen for all that you give and your guidance.
– Joel B., Boulder, CO
There aren’t enough wonderful words or adjectives to describe how beautiful my experience was with Karen at Sacred Peaks retreat.
I’d done so much personal work to try and free myself, but I was stuck with these trapped childhood traumas and triggers that were making my life difficult. I had always wanted to try psychedelics but I live in Florida. My husband and I had an upcoming trip to Colorado and he found this place, which turned out to be more perfect than what I could have dreamt up in my wildest dreams.
I was hesitant because I feared reliving the traumas and I also have trust issues. One zoom meeting with Karen, and I felt comfortable with her knowledge and professionalism, along with her heart being in the right place to help people heal.
When I arrived I was greeted with a warm loving embrace and felt so at ease and safe (priceless). I believe Karen’s vision and thoughtful creation of this tranquil and sacred space immersed in nature, helped me to surrender totally to the process and to trust in the healing possibilities of the medicinal mushrooms.
The medicine took me deep beyond ordinary awareness to my inner child and I was able to release trapped emotions without reliving them. Karen was gently guiding me through the process the whole way, along with her trusted “ co- facilitator” dog Tulsi. It was crazy how intuitive he was and knew just what to do at certain times. I could probably write a book on this experience because it was so beautiful and freeing and transformative. I rank the experience up there with holding my children after birth for the first time. I will be forever grateful to Karen for all the ways she guided me through the whole process and gave me a safe place to heal naturally. She truly is a gift to this world.
– Mary P., Tampa Bay Florida
As a daily cannabis user, I questioned how a cannabis Journey could be effective for me on a different level. I found out very quickly that using cannabis in an intentionally healing way is a very different experience.
Karen provides a very safe, comfortable space where I felt I could relax into the journey without stress or anxiety. The music she curated to guide me along the journey was perfect. We incorporated breath work into my session. I really didn’t have any expectations of breath work as I had never tried it, so I was really blown away by how powerful it is. It took the journey to the next level both somatically and visually. I feel like the breath work allowed me to access trauma that I had stored.
Once the session was over, Karen helped me process the journey in a compassionate and professional way.
Her insight and guidance was invaluable for me to understand how to work with this trauma.
I look forward to continuing my magical journey with Karen to expand my growth and healing.
– Tracie M., Longmont, CO
As a newcomer to the psychedelic experience, I was a bit nervous leading up to my day—both about the physical sensations and what might surface psychologically. I was also timid about having someone present for an extended time as I processed internally, and possibly verbally.
The setting for Sacred Peaks Retreat is just far enough from Boulder to feel immersed in natural beauty with views and rock outcroppings, and conveniently a bit removed from the city. Karen’s professionalism, combined with her caring and attentive nature, immediately put me at ease. She gently guided me when it was time to settle in and let the medicine take its course.
Throughout the journey, Karen was fully present—laughing with me, and asking thoughtful questions when the timing felt right. The day was pleasant and comfortable, and I wasn’t ready to leave when it ended.
In the days following, I felt very tired but also calm, with a clearer sense of the changes I want to make in myself and in my life. I’m already looking forward to returning to Sacred Peaks Retreat and have recommended her to others.
– Emelie G., Boulder, CO