Liberty Community Plaza in South Whittier offers an array of free to low-cost community workshops. In the month of March, several partners offer wisdom and cultural traditions that nurture the mind, body, soul and community.
Marilyn Mejia-Peña, social worker and founder of Resilience Social Work, led participants in exploring these themes and discovering tools to regulate life stressors. “Our ancestors left us innate tools in our DNA,” emphasizing the importance of understanding our inherited stress responses. Participants perform a “body scan” identifying where they feel different emotions such as anger, sadness, fear and joy. “Emotions are energy, sometimes they get trapped and need to be released,” Mejia-Peña notes. She demonstrates methods to release tensions such as deep breathing and shaking to stir stagnant energy.
Next, the Four Elements are introduced – Fire, Earth, Water and Wind. Amanda Jenae Guevara, founder and CEO of Phoenix Rise Project, burns copal incense and discusses the healing power of fire. She acknowledges the significance of fire in indigenous ceremonial practices and its ability to bring a sense of calm. “Fire warms and comforts you. It centers you. I think of a bonfire bringing people together.” Intuitive Practitioner, Yesenia Martinez invites participants to touch and smell herbs such as sage, rosemary, sweetgrass and lemongrass and learn about their ability to cleanse and protect your space. Guevara reminds participants to, “take this medicine and make it your own,” emphasizing that there is no wrong way to practice rituals and form connections to healing plants.
Later, the Medicine of the Drum session was led by Guevara and Martinez along with Dulce Martinez Salinas and Melina Chavarria. Participants offer tobacco to honor this spiritual practice and learn songs and rhythms, some of which were composed by Phoenix Rise Project’s Rising Heartbeats members.
Herbal Artisan, Irelia Ozaeta, connects participants to the element of earth and caring for the body. She demonstrates the benefits of plants and natural remedies. Chamomile is used to soothe stomachaches, reduce anxiety, and promote a good night’s sleep. Next, Milagros Ruiz and Eliu Chavajay connect participants to water, drawing on ancestral connections to the sacred cacao of Guatemala. To explore wind, world class performer, Martin Espino, invites participants to find their center through sound and silence. He uses bowls, chimes and percussion instruments in an Aztec sound bath.
Reiki healers, Natalie and Ehiliana Guerrero, offer insights into integrating the four elements and holistic practices into daily life. They lead participants in connecting to their energy and identifying blocked chakras. Using watercolor paints, participants illustrate their connections to the crown, third eye, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral and root chakras. Ehiliana Guerrero shares her passion for this work, “I love to see people thrive, being their truest, happiest self.”
The series concludes with reflection and celebration. Mejia-Peña encourages participants to remain connected as they each continue their spiritual and healing journeys. Funding for this program came from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, specifically the Underserved Cultural Communities Unit Behavioral Services Act and Latino USCC which has the,“ultimate goal to reduce cultural and ethnic disparities. in access to care and service delivery.”
One participant shares, “it makes me happy to see the Department of Mental Health value and invest in ancestral healing practices. The information I learned in these few sessions is invaluable and something I will carry with me for a very long time. I’m excited to take what I’ve learned and form my own relationships to these practices that feel new and familiar all at once. I’m grateful this was offered.”
