The Origins of Karuna Communitas
Karuna Communitas began with a shared question: how can we create compassionate, community-centred pathways to healing that are safe, ethical and accessible?
The idea took shape through conversations with fellow students on the University of Exeter Psychedelics programme. As we shared experiences and recommendations around medicine retreats, recurring concerns emerged. Legal retreats outside the UK, where such work is permitted, are often prohibitively expensive for those who may benefit from them most.
We also noticed that many retreat models focus almost exclusively on the experience itself. Preparation beforehand, integration afterwards, and meaningful community-building are often limited or absent altogether, despite being central to lasting change.
In response, we formed a group to explore a different approach. We asked what it might look like to create a not-for-profit organisation offering affordable, community-focused, legal retreats grounded in care across the full arc of the experience, where and when legally permitted.
We believe that much of the healing lies in the power of the group. Context matters deeply. Intentional preparation helps nurture mindset, trust, and shared purpose, while cultivating a sense of communitas before a retreat even begins. Integration is equally vital. After transformative experiences, people are often left to make sense of profound insights on their own. With thoughtful integration practices and ongoing support, these experiences can lead to meaningful and lasting changes in everyday life.
The name Karuna Communitas reflects this ethos. Karuna points to compassion expressed through action. Communitas speaks to the deep connection that can emerge through shared experience beyond hierarchy or status. Together, they form the foundation of our work.
Our Mission
Karuna Communitas exists to create and sustain a not-for-profit, community-led model for safe, ethical, and accessible transformative experiences.
Our mission is to reduce suffering and support ongoing wellbeing by prioritising preparation, integration, and community as essential elements of any transformative process. We aim to make these experiences more accessible, particularly for those facing financial, social, or structural barriers.
We do this by developing cooperative and reciprocal models of care, fostering long-term community connection, and supporting ethical, trauma-informed practices. Rather than offering one-off experiences, we focus on building supportive networks that help people integrate insight into their lives and relationships.
At the heart of Karuna Communitas is a commitment to compassion, inclusivity, and shared responsibility. We believe that when healing is held within community, it becomes more sustainable, more ethical and more deeply transformative.