Moving Through Trauma
— In times when you have experienced a recent health challenge or medical diagnosis, I can be a facilitator to help you move through your grief and loss in a ceremony.
These experiences hold potency and much can be gained from taking the time to acknowledge and mark them. To take care of yourself when you are undergoing a change is key to bringing in compassion and self-love as you navigate it. These touch stone points can occur anywhere on your journey- it could be right when you've been diagnosed or near the end, or anywhere in between. For example, one of my clients had a double mastectomy because she had ductal carcinoma in situ. Before the surgery, she decided that she would like to have a healing ritual at her home, so that she could prepare herself and say good-bye to both her breasts. Together, we created an altar in her bedroom of items that represented what she was feeling at the time, as well as some that I brought to the ceremony. She picked a song that was important to her, read a letter that she wrote to herself about the loss and we added other elements in too, that were nourishing for her as she prepared for this important transition in her life. It was a transformative session for her.
My experiences in working in the health field over the years, not only as a massage therapist, but as a crisis intervention counsellor/mental health advocate, and working with various levels of trauma, from health diagnoses and surgeries, to healing from sexual trauma, has given me a perspective that allows me to hold space for someone in a safe, sacred and empowering way. With my somatic experience trauma training, it has deepened the lens through which I am able to create and listen to what you may want for yourself in a ceremony. I was also a lay chaplain with the saskatoon unitarians for 6 years, which allowed me to create and lead ceremonies for weddings and funerals, but also smaller rituals of handfastings and blessings. It is through this leadership experience that I also gained the ability to draw on creating a ceremony that is most tailored to your needs- what will nourish you and help you to find peace or resolution, or whatever other vision that you have for the ceremony. I also have taken a doula end of life training which provides me with that knowledge base too, of offering support in the palliative sense. Ceremony is important to me, personally, as I feel it gives us a doorway into making something that we experience more meaningful. It is about pausing, marking the time and situation, giving space for it, with intention, and moving on. I often lead earth based spirituality ceremonies throughout the year in large groups such as Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, which have enriched my life and feel like it is a gift that I can give others.
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