Opening Our Hearts: Cacao Ceremony with Krista Rooney
As we gather in sacred circles at Love in Resonance, we are honored to welcome Krista Rooney from From the Roots Up Healing Service to guide us in a ceremonial cacao experience that promises to open hearts, deepen connection, and bring soulful resonance to our Fall Equinox retreat weekend.
Why Cacao Matters
Ceremonial cacao is so much more than chocolate—it’s ancient plant medicine, revered by Maya and Aztec cultures for thousands of years. Unlike processed chocolate, ceremonial cacao is raw and rich in nutrients like magnesium, iron, flavonoids, and heart‑supportive antioxidants. It’s also packed with mood‑uplifting compounds such as theobromine (a gentle stimulant), anandamide (the “bliss molecule”), phenylethylamine (the love molecule), serotonin, and dopamine—all of which support emotional clarity, connection, and joy.
When combined with mindful ritual, cacao becomes a heart‑opening tool—encouraging vulnerability, creative insight, and deeper communion with self and others.
What a Cacao Ceremony Looks Like
Inspired by the style of School Yoga Institute’s ceremonial approach, the flow typically includes:
Gathering in a circle, setting intentions
Receiving and blessing your cup of cacao
Mindful sipping, often accompanied by meditation, chanting, or breathwork
Heart-sharing or creative expression as the cacao’s effects emerge
Closing with a circle of communal reflection
This ritual invites a gentle yet potent activation of emotional and intuitive awareness and fosters a filled-to-the-brim sense of presence, healing, and connection From the Roots Up Healing Service.
Krista Rooney’s Sacred Guidance
Krista Rooney brings a deeply grounded, heart-centered approach to ceremonial cacao and more. As a Peruvian Mesa Carrier, Traditional Usui and Holy Fire Karuna Reiki Master, intuitive channel, and indigenous-rooted healer (Cheyenne River Sioux and Quechan descent), she embodies a holistic path grounded in both ancestral wisdom and modern therapeutic practices From the Roots Up Healing Service.
Her offerings through From the Roots Up Healing Service include cacao + despacho ceremonies—designed as prayers in motion, imbued with intention, reverence, and Spirit. She also weaves sound, reiki, movement, and traditional cleansing elements into her rituals, creating a deeply layered healing experience.
Krista’s work is equally about vibrational embodiment and community weaving—her ceremonies often include sound immersion inside Tibetan bowls, oracle guidance, smudging, and sharing circles to support integration and intention setting.
Why This Ceremony Will Elevate Our Weekend
At the Fall Equinox retreat, our cacao ceremony isn’t just a ritual—it’s the energetic container that opens our time together. Here’s how it shapes the weekend:
Seeding presence and intention: Opening the weekend with cacao fosters deep embodiment and heart-field alignment, setting the tone for everything that follows.
Deepening connection: As cacao invites emotional softness and openness, the ensuing circle experience cultivates trust, vulnerability, and soulful connection.
Honoring transition: The equinox marks a moment of seasonal shift—cacao supports grounding that transition with ritual, intention, and community.
Amplifying embodied healing: Krista’s fusion of sound, energy medicine, reiki, and cacao invites participants to integrate on all levels—physical, emotional, spiritual.