Heidi I. Martell

Heidi Martell’s diverse life experiences led her to her true calling as a Cannabis Nurse Navigator. Heidi began this journey following a car accident when she was 18. The next 5 years were filled with surgeries followed by periods of recovery and rehabilitation. During this time, Heidi was completing her accelerated 3-year BA from Harvard, as well as discovering photography as a therapeutic means of exploring physical pain. She continued these explorations while pursuing her MA in photography from NYU. After caring for her grandmother dying from bone cancer, Heidi expanded her exploration of grief and healing to include the study of psychology, as well as the alternative healing methods of Mindfulness Meditation, Kundalini Yoga & Meditation, Reiki, and Pilates—which Heidi teaches to both adults and children. She began working at Memorial Sloan Kettering as a clinical research assistant on an art therapy study with pediatric bone marrow transplant patients. Heidi also became the Project Coordinator of a yoga study with breast cancer patients at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. At this time, Heidi was also learning from meditative & spiritual mentors Ram Dass, Krishna Das, Mark Epstein, & Sharon Salzberg. With these teachers’ recommendation, Heidi received a grant to travel to India for a year to deepen her study of healing through mentorship with masters of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda.

Upon returning to the U.S., Heidi gave birth at home to her 3 biological children and adopted her beloved daughter Luna who was battling liver cancer. As Luna’s cancer persisted, Heidi began studying nursing in order to be able to better care for Luna. She completed her Registered Nursing education at UCSF, where she primarily cared for adult & pediatric stem cell transplant patients. After moving to Texas, Heidi began working at Baylor, Scott, & White over the next 2 years as a Medical-Surgical/Pediatric nurse while she completed her BS in Nursing. She then took a hiatus to care for Luna at home and to grieve with her family upon Luna’s passing. Thereafter, Heidi returned to nursing as both a bone marrow transplant and recovery room nurse. Then, in 2017, one of her sons was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In addition, one of Heidi’s other sons was diagnosed with a chondroblastoma in 2018. Since 2016, Heidi had already been researching cannabis as medicine for both physical and psychological/behavioral challenges. She incorporated cannabis into her sons’ therapy regimens, and their tumors have since dissipated or remained very slow-growing.

After relocating to AZ, Heidi became a multi-specialty, pediatric nurse navigator at Banner Health while simultaneously solidifying her cannabis research and knowledge. During this time, Heidi also became board-certified in Holistic Nursing as well as Nurse Coaching so that she could better collaborate with & provide ongoing support to her patients & clients from an integrative health perspective. Heidi also used this time to also become a certified provider of Compassionate Bereavement Care & Pediatric End of Life Care. In order to more fully serve her clients, Heidi has embarked on studies of psychedelics (entheogens & empathogens), which hold so much promise for myriad health & wellness challenges—ranging from depression, anxiety, PTSD, end of life fears, addiction, OCD, chronic pain, and so much more. She is now currently assisting clients with micro-dosing, macro-dosing precautions, contraindications, & preparation, as well as with essential psychedelic integration coaching. Heidi holds certifications in Cannabis Nursing through Healer Medical Cannabis with Dr. Sulak, the American Cannabis Nurses Association, The Medical Cannabis Institute, and Radicle Health. Heidi has been the recipient of nursing awards for extraordinary patient care; scholarships for outstanding academics, leadership, and dedication; and inducted into the International Honor Society of Nursing. She is also a member of the American Cannabis Nurses Association, the AZ Cannabis Nurses Association, the International Cannabinoid Research Society, the International Association of Psychedelic Nursing, the Organization of Psychedelic & Entheogenic Nurses, and the Oncology Nursing Society. Heidi has worked with pediatric, adult, and geriatric populations and has particular interests in cannabis & entheogenic education related to pain, insomnia, trauma, anxiety & depression, end of life & grief, behavioral challenges, substance use disorders, declining memory, and other common geriatric challenges. Heidi began her career by consulting for California-based CannaKids and is the recommended cannabis consultant & coach of CannaKids’ non-profit SavingSophie.org. With the creation of Colibris Canna Consulting & Colibris Coaching, not only can Heidi provide distance consultations & coaching by phone or video, but she can now also consult & coach in-person with local clients.