Today I want to introduce Marina, the founder of Golden Cor. She’s a mentor, cyclical living teacher, breathwork and yoga practitioner, physiotherapist, and mother. Her work blends science, ritual, and ancestral knowledge to support women in reconnecting with themselves and living more in tune with their natural rhythm.

I met Marina by chance a couple of years ago when she placed a cacao order through Grounded Cup. We stayed connected, and Ive been honoured to continue attending her beautiful medicine women events. Over time, I’ve come to really appreciate the depth and intention behind the work she does.

I've loved watching how Marina works with and holds such deep respect for plant medicine, especially the Blue Lotus flower. So I asked if I could interview her for our blog to understand how she now works with it in both personal and ceremonial settings.

We talk about Blue Lotus, rest, intuition, and how healing can look when we honour both the body and the unseen. I’m really glad to be sharing this - I think you’ll get a lot from her words.

For those in our community who don’t know you yet, could you share a little about yourself and the work you do?

Thank you, Toni, for the opportunity to share and for your beautiful, thoughtful questions.

I’m Marina, the founder of Golden Cor. I’m a mentor and guide, a cyclical living teacher, a Shiatsu Yin Yoga, and breathwork practitioner, a neurosciences-trained physiotherapist, an artist, and a mother.

My work weaves together ancient wisdom and modern practices to create spaces of deep nourishment, connection, and remembrance. I support women in returning to their hearts through ritual, presence, embodiment, and intuitive arts, so they can live in alignment with their true nature and inner rhythm. It’s a path of transformation, and of coming home to the self.

We first connected when you placed a cacao order with Grounded Cup and it’s been so nice connecting ever since. I’d love to hear more about your journey with plant medicines and natural remedies. How did that relationship begin for you?

My journey with plant medicines and natural remedies began long before I was born. It runs deep in my lineage, woven into both my maternal and paternal roots. My maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother were folk herbalists in their own right, deeply knowledgeable about the healing power of plants. They grew their own medicinal herbs, made natural remedies from scratch, and lovingly supported their families with what the land provided.

This ancestral wisdom was passed down to my parents and, in turn, became part of my everyday life. As a little girl in Southern Brazil, sipping chimarrão (a traditional green tea) around the fire with extended family was a cherished ritual. Evening cups of chamomile, carqueja, or boldo tea were the norm, alongside flower foot baths, rosemary smudging, and cleansing with fresh rue. These practices offered not only physical nourishment but energetic protection and grounding, and they continue to live on in my home today, now shared with my own children.

Becoming a mother ignited a deeper call to reconnect with plant wisdom in a more intentional and formal way. I’ve always been a curious and devoted student, so I immersed myself in learning, studying the science behind herbal practices and their effects on the body, mind, and spirit.

I trained extensively with a Brazilian medicine woman, herbalist, and biologist, exploring cyclical living, the rhythms of the moon, and plant medicine for women. This training wove together plants of European origin, those native to the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, and universal allies like the sacred rose.

From there, I began crafting my own natural medicines, sharing them within women’s and mothers’ circles, and guiding others in making their own. My path deepened through presence: sitting with plants, meditating with them, attending herbalism trainings, tea and cacao ceremonies, and plant-spirit journeys. I was also honoured to be trained and initiated as a cacao ceremony holder by my Mayan teachers in Guatemala, and have been serving cacao in ritual ever since.

Blue Lotus has also been a profound teacher for me. I journeyed intensely with this sacred flower over nearly two years, including a dedicated 7-month guided communion. I connected with the plant daily through tea, oil, tincture, essence, and bathing with the flower, allowing its wisdom to gently unfold within me.

More recently, I travelled through South and Central America with my family, deepening my relationship with traditional plant medicines and attending ceremonies with indigenous elders. These experiences have further rooted me in the understanding that plant medicine is a way of being, of listening, of remembering who we are in relationship to the Earth.

You’re a beautiful advocate for Blue Lotus. How do you work with the flower in your own life or in ceremony?

Simply being in the presence of Blue Lotus feels like entering sacred space. When I sit with it in stillness, breathing in its scent, feeling its essence, and tuning into its energy with all my senses, I’m gently guided inward, to the golden centre of my heart, where clarity, insight, dreams live.

I work with the flower in many ways: anointing my body with its oil, sipping it as tea, meditating in its presence. I also take a blue lotus glycerite I was given by my teacher to support me during times of transition, or just before holding space for others or having an important conversation. Sharing this sacred plant with others and guiding them into their own experience of remembrance is a true honour.

You now work with our Blue Lotus Oil too - how does that fit into your daily rituals or practices?

I find Blue Lotus Oil to be one of the most divine, luxurious scents. There’s something profoundly sacred about anointing my body with it. It turns a simple act of self-care into a ritual of remembrance. As I massage it into my skin, I slow down, I breathe deeper, I return to my senses and meet myself in the moment. This ancient practice of anointing becomes a way of honouring my body as a temple. Blue Lotus carries a mystical, sensual energy that gently opens the heart, awakens intuition, and invites stillness. It is a practice I love especially in the evenings after showering, as an invitation for both restful sleep and gentle dreaming.

A lot of your work holds space for others to rest, reflect and reconnect. What role does plant medicine play in that?

We are nature. And plant medicine gently reminds us of this truth. When we sit with the plants, whether through tea, tincture, ritual, we’re not consuming something external.

We’re entering into a relationship, a conversation with living intelligence. Plants have an ancient way of working with us that is subtle, wise, and deeply attuned. They invite us to slow down, to listen, to soften, to rest. Rest not just as physical stillness, but as a state of receptivity, of remembering that we don’t always have to do, fix, or strive.

In my work, plant medicine serves as a bridge back to the body, back to the Earth, and back to the quiet knowing within. Each plant has its own spirit, its own teachings, and when we approach them with respect and curiosity, they become companions on our paths.

You blend science, spirit, and ancestral wisdom in such a unique way. How does that influence the way you approach healing - for yourself and others?

Blending science, spirit, and ancestral wisdom has deeply shaped my understanding of healing. It’s no longer about fixing, changing, or striving to become someone else. Instead, I see healing as a process of remembering - of gently peeling back the layers of conditioning, limiting beliefs, and survival strategies we've learned to wear, and returning to our essence.

For me, this journey is lifelong and cyclical. It requires presence, compassion, and devotion, meeting ourselves again and again with love and compassion. I draw on a wide range of rituals, somatic tools, and neuroscience-informed practices, but at the heart of it all is cultivating a deep sense of safety in the body, building a resilient nervous system, and living in alignment with who we truly are.

This integrative approach allows space for both science and mystery, intellect and intuition, structure and flow, so we can meet ourselves and others with reverence and wholeness.

And finally, is there a message, affirmation or gentle reminder you’ve been sitting with lately that you’d like to share with others walking their own path?

No matter where you’ve been, where you are now, or where you’re going, come back to your breath, meet your breath again and again, as if meeting an old friend. It’s the simplest, most profound way to return to yourself. The breath only ever exists in one place: here, in this very moment. Let it be your anchor, your compass, your reminder that you are already home.

Find out more about Marina and Golden Cor here: https://goldencor.co/ 
Follow her Journey here: https://www.instagram.com/goldencor_/

Discover the  Blue Lotus Tea and Blue Lotus Oil Marina works with here.