Sapling

Earth Sanctuary Transmute

Preface:

Language: Ojibwe -

“Anishinaabe” [ah-NI-shi-n-AH-bey]. A nation, a people.

“Anishinaabekwe” [ah-NI-shi-n-AH-bey-que]. “Anishinaabe Woman"

Trigger Warning: mentions of varying forms of abu*e.

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Ionic Bond

Given my desire to lead large-scale change, what are the experiences and connections I need to activate my community?

In Sprout, I discussed some of the struggles of people in my community, in my region.

While I sought Solace and Quietness to grow food, compost, and save seeds, it didn’t take long for people to find me.

It took less time for them to tell me their stories. I quickly realized how the mundane, menial tasks often paved the way for the exchange of difficult memories.

Almost all of these personal experiences were somehow linked to intergenerational trauma or childhood trauma.

As I engaged with stakeholders in the region and settler-state, I tried to create ways to support myself in my efforts to support others.

I learned to navigate the paradox:

to gain access to the capital I need from stakeholders while recognizing it is often these same stakeholders who have caused the harm I’m witnessing in my community_region.

Cation

Along this journey, it was my JOY to meet Anishinaabekwe who were certified in Mind-Body Medicine and worked in treatment facilities.

One of them even knew my younger sibling!

They developed curriculum grounded in Anishinaabe ways of Being, and used this curriculum to serve community members in their region trying to maintain sobriety.

I was unsurprised yet ecstatic to learn a core principle of Mind-Body Medicine Certification is training on the gut-brain axis.

It was a joy to talk about the way gut health impacts mental health, and physiological connection between the brain and the stomach.

I finally could talk more in depth with the material I learned through NICABM.¹

Through these conversations, I made deeper connections between the neurobiology of trauma and the brain-gut axis.

Most importantly, it solidified my belief that the nervous system can be successfully rewired to heal and maintain complete wholeness.

I deepened my understanding of connections between foods, physical / nutritional health, and mental/emotional well-being.

I expanded these conversations to other people in my core network. Others who were also using their own access to land to build Sanctuary.

To be transparent, it’s consistently hard to find trustworthy settler_stakeholder communities.

This was difficult even when there were individuals who genuinely tried.

For me, personally, I was relieved to find there are other groups and people who were safe.

I LOVE giving people I meet excellent recommendations and referrals for resources.

Anion

During these conversations, I thought often of people who would come to my door and share their knowledge of local plants, foraging spots, and medicinal recipes.

Even as they were still working through their own issues, many shared freely the foods they would find in the woods, or creative ways to cook over a fire.

Even down to which waterways are drinkable and which ones are not.

I myself became activated by people who showed up with their full Self- sharing knowledge and experiences as we rested, shared, and wove our own lives back together.

So, to activate my community toward change, I needed to network with professionals in adjacent fields, particularly addiction treatment and mental health services.

Further, being outside, plugged into the ground, physically active, gave me the rejuvenation to Be Here Now.

To embody what I am writing here for myself first, so I can speak to others from personal experience.

This is the way.

Thanks to excellent conversations with Anishinaabekwe certified in mind-body medicine, I was encouraged to continue learning about the neurobiology of trauma.

I found myself increasingly curious to know more about the gut microbiome, thanks to the exchanges with these Kwe. I’ve come to yet another epiphany:

Maintaining the ethics of consent and transparency, I can bypass the mind entirely and directly feed the gut-brain axis.

From there, the mind/brain will have the tools it needs to (re)connect to the Heart Center and evolve itself.

The brain and nervous system will have the tools to restructure itself from there.

With the right kinds of community supports, the mind will have the tools to restructure itself as well.

The cultivation of trust is necessary to pull all of this off.

This is where the Heart flourishes.

Electron Transfer

While I gained access to training and certifications in trauma response on my own, I needed to be in conversation with experts in my area/location.

To be in an ongoing exchange with people who were also serving community members with the same struggles as the people who showed up at my door.

These same Dear Ones who, despite their personal traumas, gave considerable time and contribution to co-creating Mother Earth Sanctuary.

I also recognized the ways I was already networked with people who were familiar with growing food, foraging, and harvesting medicines.

Slowly, I learned to do away with binary thinking that placed distinction between ‘helper’ and ‘those receiving help’.

Between ‘healers’, and ‘those who need healing’.

Between ‘advocates’ and ‘survivors’.

In all reality, many of us who need resources still facilitate the movement of resources for others even as we ourselves still experience lack.

… many of us who need healing still facilitate others toward health even as we ourselves are still suffering.

…… many of us advocate or champion a cause even as we ourselves may still be in the thick of abuse.

“For Ghosts who put a spell on you.”

1. National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine. (NICABM).