BIPOC lives matter.

I wanted to offer a few thoughts in light of the circumstances surrounding police reform and racial issues in the US and around the world. It’s a volatile time, but it’s also rooted in generations of strife and activism. Because it’s so much a part of our general consciousness at this particular moment, it’s a really good time for all of us to orient ourselves within our communities and recommit to our principles. Here are mine:

• I am not an anti-racism expert but I am committed to being a student for as long as it takes.
• This past week, I’ve renewed my commitment to donate to BIPOC organizations, support minority-owned businesses, and send support to non-profits in and for the homelands of my ancestors and lineage teachers in places like Peru, Tibet, West Africa, and the Philippines. 
• I’m passionately interested in and devoted to healing trauma of all kinds for all people who are open to it, as well as for our ancestors and the land itself.
• Given the rampant misuse and commercialization of shamanic work and indigenous cultures, I am aware of and concerned about cultural appropriation. I’m always learning about all of the issues and nuances here and I will be braver about discussing this in my talks and writings. 
• I see shamanic healing and animist practices as a way to re-member another paradigm, a way of relating to the earth and each other that is healthier, kinder, and more holistic than the way we tend to do things in our culture.
• The two threads of intention in everything I do, whether stated overtly or not, are decolonization and love. Decolonization is the process of unlearning what the powers-that-be have been teaching us for generations: division, domination, shame, misogyny, and the systemic dynamics that leave us in states of want, burnout, and dis-ease. And love is our greatest medicine. We can offer it to ourselves, people, other-than-human beings, and the earth through healing, ceremony, and other practices in our day-to-day lives.

I believe this healing is the work I’m meant to do and I’m humbled and grateful to be a part of a much bigger movement in this direction.

I support Black Lives Matter and the voices of our BIPOC family.  I am learning to do better. I hope you’ll be with me as we heal and move forward together.