I walked away from my Western life to sleep on the floor of an ashram. Dissatisfaction had become a normal state of being. I was deeply embarrassed by this. As I canvassed my home I perused every object, and breathed its beauty. My thoughts were about how grateful I was to have a living museum in my house, what a treasure it was to live in a spiritual temple that I created. I was ashamed by my soul’s ambivalence, when it responded so what . Consciously, I counted each and every blessing. I...

In my culture, I was bestowed the title of Holy Mother . In traditional ceremony, my divined name is Mother of the Universe . I am a proud and powerful Mama, Big Mommy, Mommy and Mother. But, I need to talk about fathers. My Precious Little Daughter, was frequently the opening line to emails sent to me by my dad. Over a year ago my father, an African Medicine Man, realized that he only had a short time to live. He was desperate to get to my oldest son to perform ritual before joining the...

The level of aggression I witnessed while living in an Ashram in India was shocking and often funny! With my residual ACES anger often bubbling beneath my skin, my daily mantra became, "No matter what anyone does to you; you CANNOT, WILL NOT fight in an Ashram!" We don't realize that many spiritual communities are filled with ACES survivors from all over the world that have no other hope left for healing. These are courageous people who have sought help for their pain and anger and have...

We are RESILIENT! Once we learn to regulate an overactive stress response, ACES survivors are well experienced to work under stress, make sound decisions and overcome ANY and ALL obstacles. WE LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY!! We must learn to mitigate the harm and leverage our strengths! During the 2018 ACES Conference in San Francisco, I had the incredible opportunity to present my work on Historical Trauma. In our journey to healing Historical Trauma and ACES, we must use a Relational Approach...

Holly Figueroa and Steward Health Choice Arizona Cultural Competency & Tribal Services hosted an amazing conference and Native American celebration on November 16 in Flagstaff!! The program opened with prayers by Uqualla, a dynamic Medicine Man from the Havasupai Tribe. We heard from several keynote speakers on topics designed to facilitate healing among Native American communities. Albert Pooley of the Hopi and Navajo Native American cultures emphasized the importance of loving the...

RYSE Center in Richmond, CA was born of out of young people of color (YPOC) organizing to shift the conditions of violence, distress, and dehumanization in which they suffer, survive, succeed, dream, and die. We center the lived experiences of YPOC, we lead with love and sacred rage to cultivate healing and build movement, and we take risks as an essential part of transformation and justice, of liberation. We do this in a physical space that feels safe, welcoming, and affirming; that is...