SACRED DISCERNMENT: Healing is more than a Trend

All healing modalities have their place. Each one offers something meaningful, something that can support us along our path. But without a grounded starting point---a true connection to ourselves and an understanding of what we're truly needing---healing can be overwhelming, disorienting or even disheartening. Its easy to fall into the hope of quick fixes, I wanted to get the work done because I had things to do, but real healing isn't something we rush through. It is not linear, its not clear, clean or easy...healing was never meant to be quick its messy, hard and may feel like it breaks you into small pieces. Healing asks us to slow down, to listen deeply and to gently face the parts of ourselves we've been taught to avoid. When we bypass the shadow---the pain, the patterns, the pieces we don't want to see---we end up feeling incomplete, like something is missing but we can't name what. True healing isn't about escaping what hurts. Its about reclaiming all the parts of us with compassion, understanding, and connecting to our inner wisdom.

Discernment is such a vital part of the healing process---because not every modality and not every practitioner will be aligned with what you truly need. We're living in a time where powerful methods, like psychedelic assisted journeys, are rising in popularity and often promoted as quick routes to an initiation to self awareness and trauma release. And while these experiences can offer deep insight and healing for some, they are not without risk. These are not casual experiences and they should never be treated as trends. Without the right foundation, preparation, and skilled support ---especially for those carrying unresolved trauma---such journey's can destabilizing, even re-traumatizing. Healing in these spaces requires more than curiosity; it calls for readiness, safety and a practitioner who truly honours the depth of the work. Clients deserve to know this. They deserve full transparency not just promises of breakthroughs.

I have known of a few friends who have experienced the journey of psychedelics and they had that spark of life again that I hadn't seen in years. However, this was a practitioner who had FULL awareness and knowledge of her trauma, was well informed on how it had affected her life and the patterns that kept her in her shadow state of mind. Nothing was helping her move past her trauma. She was and is a very capable practitioner and has helped many people with her modality. So she was informed and knowledgeable about the direction and method she felt she needed to use. But, from what I understand about healing, I don't think psychedelics deal or delve into ancestral lineage, nor does it healing those lineages. What this means is the trauma she experienced in this life was transformed but those unhealed lineages will now be passed down to her children and her children's children. We cannot side step one life, and not deal with previous life times of trauma without it reverberating out in other ways. I would not want to be in the shoes of any practitioner where someone experiences a catatonic state that requires a medical intervention.

With the recent surge of interest in the use of psychedelic healing, it is often considered as "the next breakthrough in trauma work and spiritual growth. But before these substances became popularized in wellness circles, and retreats they were---and still are---sacred tools used in Indigenous ceremonial traditions. Medicines like auyhuasca, peyote, San Pedro, psilocybin mushrooms are deeply rooted in spiritual practices, guided by elders, and shamans who hold ancestral wisdom passed down through generations. These ceremonies are not a casual experience, they are intentional rites, steeped in relationship with the land,, spirit and community. There are not manuals or certifications that replace the lived knowledge that these elders carry---wisdom that cannot be replicated through modern training or intellectual understanding alone. Their depth in spiritual connection, knowledge and wisdom of these elders has absolute no comparison or connection to new age or mainstream wellness in our society today.

When these traditions are removed from their cultural roots and repackaged for the mainstream, much of their original power, safety and spiritual structure is lost. Whats offered now is altered versions---sometimes facilitated by individuals with minimal training or little connection to the medicine's cultural lineage. Without the depth of preparation and integration that the traditional ceremony provides, clients may be left vulnerable, confused or energetically overwhelmed. These journey's can open profound layers of the psyche, and without proper containment, the can re-traumatize rather than heal.

This isn't about gate keeping---its about honouring where these medicines come from, and the sacred responsibility that comes with using them. Before you step into any psychedelic experience there are deeper questions we need to ask: Who is holding this space? Where does their training come from? Are then honouring the tradition---or extracting from it? This form of healing needs to honour the whole picture: the medicine, the container and the spirit of where it all began.

I'll be offering a Munay Ki Fire Ceremony & Anyi Despacho September 21, see details on my website Munay Ki. I was taught these ceremonies from a Mesa carrier that had direct training from the Q'ero elders.

Also available in my services

One Day Spa - See details under "Workshops & Events" menu. or click on workshops

Indian Head Massage

Stay tuned for my upcoming Sensitives Workshops at the Witch Experience in Saskatoon October 31st & November 1st.