This is an important moment in time for all of us, including BIPOC and the LGBTQIA+ communities, and we are creating healing spaces that are more inclusive to these groups, as well as training healers from these communities to become teachers of this work.

I created the Creative Healing Arts Center (CHAC) and it became a legal 501C(3) in 2010. Woven within CHAC's structure, as well as my work supporting it, is a deep exchange with Mother Earth and all that she provides. This includes sustainably sourcing sage and selling some of it to community members, with profits deposited directly to the non-profit. Once or twice a year I also gather ocean stones and give these to people to help them connect to Mother Earth. If people want an extra set they buy them and those proceeds are donated to the CHAC also, this supports CHAC's focus on educating community members on how to exchange with and care for Mother Earth. The CHAC nonprofit has been rooting itself for some time and, going forward - starting with creating financial aid resource to provide BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ participants scholarship opportunities to attend Healer Trainings.

I am working with Miss La'ne Sa'an Moonwalker and receiving her guidance as a Southwest Indigenous teacher. I have been studying with Miss Tu Moonwalker (deceased) and Miss La'ne Sa'an for 20 years. I grow many acres of sage in Tres Piedras, NM, and give sage and native tobacco to indigenous people throughout this country and beyond our borders.

I am committed to teaching students to lean into their own ancestry to identify and build alliances within it, including their own local plants and healing tools. The breathing meditation I teach is pranayama and it has origins in India.

Actions are being taken and we are working diligently to make these healing spaces more inclusive for all.

With love and gratitude,

David