Healing

Vickie Downey of the Tesuque Pueblo spoke to a small gathering of friends near Vision Mountain and addressed the topic of ancestral healing. She said that many of our young people today carry the burdens of previous generations without knowing the history of trauma and grief. We have a responsibility to care for ourselves and then reach out to support the healing of others.

My friend Francesca helped organize the meeting.

Eva Boyd also spoke.

Tawnya's Song

Jim Boyd sang a touching tribute to his niece Tawnya who recently passed after fighting 'that bad sickness' cancer. Shelly Boyd and her family asked me to post Tawnya's Song in the hopes of getting more than 10,000 hits before her birthday next Monday (as of this morning, the video had a little more than 8,400 hits). Of course, after losing my aunt to that sickness, I agreed to help. I understand that for many people, telling the story is a healing experience, and now their family wants you to hear the story.

Won't you support their healing by watching the video and sharing it with your friends?

Whitefish

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in a unique gathering of people. A diverse group of naturalists, trackers, and wilderness educators came together at the Walking Bear Resort in Whitefish, Montana to explore a collective spiritual question. As my friend Jon Young says, people are beginning to re-connect to nature in meaningful ways, and as a result, they often encounter a "wall of grief."

It is ironic that by encountering the profound spirituality of nature, we also begin to feel the distress of a world living in disconnection from nature. Jon organized the weekend to explore ways of healing the disconnection and grief within ourselves and within our respective communities.



Therapists and practitioners presented ways of moving through grief from a variety of healing traditions. For my part, I had the opportunity to lead a soul dance as one of several healing modalities. We gathered in a large yurt with enough room for 28 dancers.



My friend Tim Corcoran from Twin Eagles Wilderness School addressed the group.



Connecting with both new and old friends was perhaps the most meaningful part of the weekend. Will Scott and James Stark of the Regenerative Design Institute flew into Spokane, so I had the opportunity to share the drive with them. We had an instant connection that I will remember for years to come.



Kathleen and Will.



Richie Booth from the Tracks and Tales Nature School.



Graham, Richie, and Jon.



Tim Ryan is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation. He works to restore traditional native skills.