Taku Wakan Skan Skan. Something sacred in motion. 

Alongside my community, I participated in ceremony yesterday to honor the summer solstice, praying for peace in the hearts of all beings. To me, prayer is song, it is feeling, it is the creative pulse of life flowing within every breath. I can truly experience prayer when I get out of my own way and allow my own knowing to wash over me. 

I felt inspired to translate my prayers into this .mp3. I've been purifying the doubt and unworthiness that has lived within my line for a long time -- and in its place, a fierce knowing is finally being given space to breathe. Knowing that my life is sacred. Knowing that my devotion to living in truth, becoming one with the real world, IS what makes my life a living offering. Knowing that we all have the potential to be living sanctuaries on this Earth, walking in a good way, honoring the sacred life at the center. 

Listen with headphones for full effect. I encourage you to listen with your heart. Listen, listen.

opening sound: Ready by Alexandra Blakely

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

I'd like to call myself a wolf apprentice... deeply curious about learning the ways and wisdom of these powerful creatures. I'm entering into a wolf mentorship, if you will. 

Here, I share some misconceptions within our perceptions of wolves, why the lone wolf is rare and represents a deep separation from self, and how wolves can inspire us to become honorable leaders — using our immense power and firm principles to serve the harmony of the pack we are responsible to. 

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I'm no longer looking to escape myself, but lean fully into my humanity — in order to experience the sacred within the fabric of existence itself. In order to experience healthy ego development and embrace how my personality harmoniously meshes into the web of life... in order to create more thriving life. God IS the real world.

Here's some logic that makes sense to me - based on my own phenomenology and practice. Full of paradox and contradiction. As life is. 

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Silver Fawn grew up in the Ocala National Forest learning to commune with foxes and allow in the nourishment of the trees around her, touching a relationship with nature that was so ancient and true to her roots as a daughter of a full Cherokee.

She shares her story of growing up unaware of her native people's way, her journey of leaving the woods and entering into the world of science and empiricism, and her initiation into embracing indigenous healing to eventually become a beloved, profoundly attuned, and highly-respected ceremony holder under the altar of the Lakota elder Basil Braveheart. 

Silver Fawn was my professor and mentor at Flagler College in St. Augustine FL, empowering me to understand the mechanics of the mind and supporting my thriving in the academic realm, and Silver Fawn has been my most trusted spiritual mentor and elder whose influence and care I credit so much of my maturation and evolution to. 

On this podcast she shares her teachings about balancing masculine and feminine energies for fullness of expression, recognizing the strengths of feminine leadership, as well as an immensely valuable explanation of the power of forgiveness: what it is, why it is important, and how we can begin to utilize it for our own peace and healing.

What an honor it is have her here. Her wisdom and knowledge has been one of the greatest resources of my life. I pray that her words stir the deepest knowings of your heart. 

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I met Guanyukdahjayte, or Uncle Al, sitting in a Lakota sweat lodge with our community, and I want to thank Joe Fire Hawk for connecting us and encouraging Al to share his wisdom on my podcast. 

Through song, story, and prayer, Uncle Al shares with us what it means to walk the Red Road, which can be described as the Native American spiritual walk of balance and harmony.

He shares his perspective on what it means to live in the "real" world — to live as the indigenous always have, deeply connected to the land and the spirits of it. He shares about the importance and power of healing ceremonies, what it means to enter into the womb of the mother, and demonstrates how to acknowledge the life that sustains us with a constant sense of gratitude and respect. 

I am so honored to have received his medicine, and to share it with you — so that we all may live.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

IG: https://www.instagram.com/embody.faith/?hl=en

Because, as I have spent so much time and energy learning how to be IN my body again, I've recognized that my outer appearance is really the least interesting thing about me. 

In a culture that is hyper-fixated on physical appearance, we pour an astounding amount of energy into smoke and mirrors, which unfortunately has left us underdeveloped in, seemingly, every other way.

As I protect my essence and focus on self-healing that leaves me feeling more and more safe, regulated, and at peace within my body, I am now living in a reality where my worth and value are completely independent of however my physicality is manifesting in the world. 

AND, now, this freed-up energy can be re-directed to the places that will develop me as a human, enhance my livelihood, and support my mission in service to life. 

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It is possible to learn more from one moment of a story—perhaps even told in passing—than from an entire volume of books delineating the nature and meaning of phenomena. Though, both have their specific importance, I believe.

This podcast illustrates a story of a recent lived experience I had: camping on ceremony grounds and fasting during my most recent menstrual cycle.

I not only share the physical events of the experience, but also the significant and subtle aspects of my inner process that demonstrate:

ㅤ♡ how I compassionately faced my resistance and fear while taking action towards a desire,

ㅤ♡ how I lovingly parented myself while navigating obstacles,

ㅤ♡ and how song, creativity, nurturance, and humility supported me in choosing love and maturation within myself.

What I share is vulnerable, raw, and irrevocably true. This is medicine within itself—to practice being seen in all of our humanity, messy and imperfect as it is. 

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Ayolane is my elder in the Tiospaye (spiritual family) we share, and I have sat with him in Lakota healing ceremonies since I was 20. We have shared true God presence together, bare feet on sandy soil and hearts open to all feeling, time and time again.

I see the privilege I have by having a counsel of humble, attuned, and practicing elders available to me. The reflections of these wise beings in my life have been indispensable to my own spiritual development and inner evolution — into more maturity and felt-responsibility towards Life. 

On this broadcast, AyoLane shares his story of healing, finding himself held by the wisdom of the Earth through direct experience and indigenous healing ceremonies. Together we explore some aspects of conscious masculinity, AyoLane sharing his experience with and the importance of rites of passage for men, some characteristics of the sacred masculine and how culture can foster male wholeness, as well as Eldership — what it is not, and what it can be. 

I pray it may be a blessing to you, and that we may all be able to develop into more felt-wholeness. 

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As I heal my own inner masculine, take full responsibility for my own life, decondition oppressive ideologies from my body and psyche, and address my unworthiness wounds that have made me vulnerable to power imbalances in relationships — I am finding myself able to cultivate deeply nourishing, conscious relationships with core masculine beings. 

And, as I deeply revere my own feminine essence, taking exquisite care of myself from a place of undeniable self-respect, I naturally only attract and allow relationships that live and move from that same level of honor. And, now I experience that as I fully take myself and my energy seriously, as I take my own divinity and intuition seriously, there is no other choice for the masculine to do the same while relating to me. Reverence for the feminine begins within, as we all begin to honor our own hearts. 

This episode shares a vision I hold of cultivating right relationship between the masculine and feminine, internally and externally, so that ultimately we all may be able to honor one another's strengths and unique value, protect the Mother of Creation fiercely, and work together harmoniously to create life-serving systems that ensure the livelihoods and futures our children and grandchildren. 

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There, on my solitary meditation cushion, I went beyond my conditioned mind thousands of time to arrive at a spaciousness beyond analysis and comprehension. There, I witnessed the rising and falling of all thought form I previously clung on to to provide me a sense existential security.

As I watched sensation change, change, change, as I witnessed the instability of form, I realized that there is nothing to hold on to. Life is impermanent, death is certain, and I can never truly understand the mystery. And, there lives the foundation of a life lead through true peace, with the highest desire simply being to relieve suffering and support the wellbeing of all sentient life.

Here, I share my experience of meditation, discussing my perspectives on attachment, power, and the ontological fear of the void. 

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu

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As my journey unfolds and I become more audacious—more unafraid to take risks and to embody myself with more liberty—I've recognized that as a human, I don't know everything, I make mistakes, and that I can be wrong. Why fear something that is inevitable—such as being wrong? Such as not knowing? We are born to learn. 

I've recognized that taking full ownership of my life is my key to true freedom, sovereignty, and autonomy. Radical self-responsibility provides me the ability to remain completely honest with the ways my actions affect every aspect of my life, thus gifting me the power to enact the necessary changes I need to make in order to create my life in alignment with the deepest knowing of my heart and spirit. 

In the same vein, taking full ownership of oneself is what I believe creates real, authentic intimacy within human relationships. We all move from distorted perception at times, unintentionally cause harm, and can become more consciously attuned to the needs of those we love. However, when needs are not being met within relationship (romantic, platonic, familial, group and collective), I believe that it is easy to fall into a mental dance of the victim/villain dynamic (when that is not exactly the case). I have identified with both victim and villain many times throughout my relational conflicts, and now I see that these identities have completely disempowered me from sitting with the complexity of human psychology and from attaining objectivity when understanding the situation—thus creating an increased ability for finding solutions that are authentic and honoring to the needs of both parties.

This episode provides my understanding of and insights about radical self-responsibility, using my real life experiences and relational conflicts to illustrate how I have gotten to where I am now: feeling unafraid to pursue real relationships with others because 1. I trust that I have the tools to remain authentic, without abandoning myself, 2. I now see how valuable it is to hear when I can show up better in relationship when feedback is given to me from a place of love, 3. I trust that I will speak up when my needs are not being met, so that I give the other person a chance to show up for me before I assume that they are incapable, therefore losing that source of love when it may be unnecessary, and 4. I'm imperfect, and being human is inevitably a messy process at times. 

Valuable TedxTalks I watched before recording this episode: 

How Radical Responsibility Can Change Your Life - Erika Cramer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3RENEfxVEc

Sovereignty: Radical Self Responsibility on Steroids - Dierdre Karger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZEgdJ0clWY

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As a menstruating woman, time and experience has shown me that shedding is an innate and necessary phenomenon in the process of becoming. And, we not only shed blood, but entropic energy, identities, and belief systems that are no longer in service towards the process of spiraling up towards the light.

This episodes shares my relationship to menstruation as a spiritual practice, including my interpretation and experiences relating to the four seasons of the cycle. And, in a larger sense, this is a deeper conversation that expounds how I see us creating life-serving solutions and enacting planetary healing: inviting the Divine Feminine energy back into our hearts and collective psyche, using the love and nourishment she provides as fuel in navigating grief and transformation as a society.

I get on my soap box a bit. Let's bring passion and conviction back into the conversational experience. Love you.

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Now, I am learning how to witness myself in the mirror, to see myself in action, and recognize my own power, authority, and value. This behavior is a result of deep, intentional inner work that supports the transmutation and alchemy of all energy, stories, and disempowering static that I have carried in my field for many years.

On this episode, I share my experience with a chronically negative body image, my relationship with shame, and what insights and wisdom have helped me shift my relationship to the body towards love, respect, and devotion.

May we be able to see things how they really are.

Article: "What Historical Ideals of Women’s Shapes Teach Us About Women’s Self-Perception and Body Decisions Today." Nealie Tan Ngo. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2019.879.

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Here, Faith shares her story from fear, disempowerment, and dis-ease to confidence, magic, and miracles. She discusses her journey with yoga, psychology, altered states of consciousness, ceremony, menstruality, and navigating the unknown with authenticity and faith. Her story serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of devotion towards Truth and Love.

✼ ҉ ✼ ҉ ✼

00:00 The Value of Reverse Engineering

03:15 Moving Past Fear and Making Creative Contact with the World

05:05 The Before Times: Dis-ease and Dissociation

09:54 Expanding Spirituality and Exploring Identity

13:55 Discovering the Body through Yoga

17:12 Processing Sorrow to Experience Real Love

18:57 The Elephant in the Brain

22:35 Rite of Passage: Receiving the Elders in Ceremony

32:32 Searching for Stable Ground after Graduation

35:27 Confusion Lights the Way

40:02 Dissolving into Meditation

43:19 There is No Choice but to Take Aligned Action

47:31 Melting into the Vibration of India's Ancient Wisdom

53:05 Leave Your Father and Mother and Follow Me

58:40 Learning Biomechanics and Shifting Identities as a Yoga Teacher

01:01:25 Dancing into the Quantum Field

01:08:47 Becoming an Integrated Person in the World

01:10:36 Surrendering to the Alchemy of the Jungle

01:20:22 The Spiral is Always Moving Up

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Metzner, R. (2009). Green psychology, shamanism, and therapeutic rituals. In L. Buzzell & C. Chalquist (Eds.), Ecotherapy: Healing with nature in mind. Sierra Club Books.

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