This Is an Ask
By Ellie Davis
I just returned from Standing Rock where I had the honor and privilege of sharing the healing work I do, Chi Nei Tsang, with some of the Water Protectors. For several years, I have also had the honor of sharing this work with the DIneh Elders of Arizona, still resisting the coal mines on Big Mountain. What I have witnessed in both places is that there is not only the deep trauma passed down generationally and the persistent, consistent trauma handed down by our government, but a willingness to find healing. Chi Nei Tsang is a powerful way for people to face, digest, and transform the wounds of our past, and it is very effective in dealing with trauma. I’ve seen wonderful results with Chi Nei Tsang in both situations.
The resistance camps are still going strong in the Dakotas. I was watching what was happening there and realized the need for someone who lives there to offer deep, non-invasive, beyond the rational release of constant pressure on them, treatment for the people of the Resilience Movement. Then I remembered that I’m organizing a month long teaching retreat in June, 2017 in Crestone, CO for my teacher, Gilles Marin, one of the foremost healers and teachers of Chi Nei Tsang in the world.
When I asked Phyllis Bald Eagle and her husband, Amos Cook, a.k.a. Blackhorse (the Elders with whom I went to camp at Oceti Sakowin and who receive the work I do and respect it) what they thought of the idea of having someone from the camp attend the classes, they were all in, because they understand how far reaching this work goes and what it means to have individuals working in the healing process in the Resilience. It means the roots go deeper and become stronger.
My aim is to offer a scholarship to a Native American person living in the camps in order for them to offer Chi Nei Tsang to the Water Protectors. While I was at camp, I kept asking for guidance to find the right person for this. She came in the form of Laura Hinman, a Kumeyaay woman originally from California who moved to Oceti Sakowin last fall to work with the Water Protectors and she will stay on with Phyllis and Amos at the new resistance camp in Rosebud. Laura is the right person to take this work to the Water Protectors. She is passionate and dedicated to this effort and is also grounded and intelligent. She understands the need for calm decision making and the importance of not being hijacked by anger (which is one of the many wonderful benefits of receiving Chi Nei Tsang; at a certain point you are no longer ruled by old emotion.) Laura is also strong enough to face great adversity and the pain of others, which is a definite boon when you are helping someone come out of trauma. After I talked with Laura about this possibility, she talked with Phyllis and Amos and they all agree that it’s a good thing for everybody involved.
The cost of this (tuition, room, and board) is $4,400.00 USD. Because Gilles also recognizes the importance of this movement and the need for health in it, he is waiving his teaching fee to make Laura’s participation more possible, making the total for her attendance $2,600.00. Your help in this effort would be greatly appreciated. We have a long fight ahead of us and the Water Protectors need to let the adrenaline and cortisol OUT. Chi Nei Tsang is a powerful ally in this effort. Laura’s presence and her ability to help people release past and present trauma will be of great service to all the Water Protectors and their allies for a long time to come. If you feel called to help, please email me: ellie@bloomingbeing.com
Thank you. Mni Wiconi! Water Is Life!