I live with c-PTSD, and my healing journey has been a sacred walk—sometimes painful, but always transformative. As a survivor, I have faced the depths of darkness and worked through the layers of trauma, finding strength in the process of healing. It has not been easy, but every step has brought me closer to my true self. My story is one of growth, of learning to reconnect with my spirit, my body, and the land.
I have also walked alongside others who face addiction and mental health challenges, bringing my heart and experiences to help guide them through their own healing paths. My teachings come from many places, but the deepest lessons were learned from my Anishinaabe Elder, with whom I have apprenticed in the old ways. My time at Gwekwaadziwin Miikan, a land-based healing organization, taught me so much about the power of the earth and the medicines that grow from it.
The earth-based, Indigenous ways of being have always felt like home to me. My spirit aligns with these teachings, and they are the foundation of how I heal and help others. My spirit name, Gimiikwewin Nimkii—Beauty in the Storm, reminds me that even in the chaos and struggle, there is beauty, and it is always there waiting to be seen.
I’ve learned to honor the sacred connection between my body, mind, spirit, and the earth, but it hasn’t always been this way. For a long time, I lived only in my head, disconnected from my body due to the impact of trauma. This disconnection led me to experience life without fully inhabiting my body, leaving me with a sense of emptiness. The turning point in my healing journey has been the process of reconnecting these parts of myself. Working with the land, my Anishinaabe Elder’s teachings, and incorporating earth-based healing practices, I’ve begun to restore balance. This journey has been profound, not just in healing my body, but in reclaiming my wholeness. As I’ve learned to listen deeply to my body and its wisdom, I’ve found a new path to living fully, grounded in spirit and guided by the land. My spirit name, Gimiikwewin Nimkii—Beauty in the Storm—reminds me that true healing is not only about overcoming the challenges but also embracing the beauty in the process.
“We approach our lives on different trajectories, each of us spinning in our own separate, shining orbits. What gives this life its resonance is when those trajectories cross and we become engaged with each other, for as long or as fleetingly as we do. There's a shared energy then, and it can feel as though the whole universe is in the process of coming together. I live for those times. No one is truly ever "just passing through." Every encounter has within it the power of enchantment, if we're willing to look for it.”
― Richard Wagamese
Psychedelics have been part of my healing journey on and off for several years. They’ve opened me, unraveled me, and brought me back to the deepest parts of myself. But what continues to move me the most is the knowing that I don’t always need to ingest anything to reach those realms. That state of being—of beauty, connection, insight—it lives inside me. It always has.
Create Your Own Website With Webador