Cultural Accessibility + Acknowledgement
OUR CULTURAL VALUES
As Western people working within the realm of cross-cultural spiritual healing modalities, we acknowledge the ongoing work of “unsettling” ourselves from the colonial paradigm. We are committed to approaching the topic of cultural appropriation from a place of respect and deep reverence for indigenous ways of life.
The spiritual practices and tools we rely on are born from intuition and our direct relationship with the natural world. These practices are informed by the teachings we have learned from European, Native American, Vedic, Jewish, Buddhist, Amazonian, and Taoist origins.
Our approach to this work respectfully assimilates the wisdom we have learned in order to better inform the modalities appropriate for our own cultural needs. We are committed to engaging with this work and level of healing to encourage a renaissance of spiritual connection in the Western world, which is so needed at this time.
European cultures used to have a diversity of words describing the role that we now most commonly associated with the word shaman—witch, cunning woman, and sin eater, to name a few. Since the rise of Christianity began over two thousand years ago, most of these practices and the corresponding words to describe them have disappeared.
We sometimes describe the earth-honoring, animistic practices we use as shamanic because that is the most descriptive and well-known term we have to describe this work. We are not shamans, and do not claim to have received the training or initiation to identify ourselves as such.
This work is important, sacred, and accessible to all human beings living in the natural world. We acknowledge our privilege as white and Jewish practitioners and are committed to continually examining and dismantling the ways we benefit from systems of cultural oppression. We uphold the value and wisdom we have learned from marginalized indigenous groups and, in doing so, seek to elevate their voices.
All of our practitioners are provided with Resmaa Menakem’s book My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma + the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts + Bodies. We are committed to continually deepening our understanding of inclusivity, equity, and accomplicing. We believe it is necessary for any therapist or coach working with trauma to understand the systemic, cultural, generational, and institutional levels of trauma that we all face in different ways.
If you are experiencing financial hardship, please inquire about our sliding scale options. We want healing to be available to as many people as possible, and we are continually expanding the ways that we invest in that desire.
If you have questions, reflections, or suggestions for us, we would love to hear them.
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