ABOUT
THE LAB FOR
SACRED LIVING
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to support healing, empowerment, liberation, regeneration, and cultural preservation for indigenous communities with whom we work, for the land, and for all participants, in service of a flourishing earth.
We accomplish our mission by facilitating preservation of traditional ecological and healing knowledge, promoting cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exchange, and creating avenues of support for indigenous knowledge keepers and their communities.
OUR VISION
We envision a world of Sumaq Kausay, the Andean principle of the good and beautiful way of being for individual and collective wellness.
This is a world where indigenous communities and their wisdom lineages are preserved and empowered to thrive, within ecologies of care built on respect, integrity and love, for self, community and planet.
By practicing sacred reciprocity, there is an integration between the contemporary and the ancient, where modern modalities of healing for self and community are anchored in traditional knowledge, equipping all of us with the skills needed for these times.
Together, we work tirelessly to dismantle the structures and legacies of oppression and build a viable and regenerative future for all life on this planet.
OUR VALUES
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We recognize the sentience of all life on Earth, mindful of the place that we as humans occupy in this web of relations. Our relationships are based on reciprocity and abundance, held within a decision-making structure that allows those with direct experience and/or impact of the issues to be a part of the decisions. We make choices that bring mutual benefit to all parties involved, to bring us closer to the vision of a good and beautiful way of living for individual and collective life.
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We believe in the power and possibility of repair in all our relations, weaving an ecology of care based on love and accountability, deeply rooted in trust. We understand that relationships require maintenance, renegotiations and self-reflection so that we can stay in right relationship and reciprocity. We nurture a culture of open communication where everyone is heard and held, recognizing that all relationships are valuable and indisposable. We engage in the ongoing practice of solidarity, and remain open to feedback from all communities we touch.
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We are creating a space where all people can step fully into their power and claim their place of belonging in the web of existence based on deep care, self-responsibility and the desire to heal. By reclaiming our agency and power, we reject the narratives of our insignificance to create the sacred life we long for. Working with ancient and contemporary technologies, we support each other to exercise our agency in ways that support the power, visions, and development of one another. We question and transform relationships where one person’s empowerment relies on the disempowerment, control, or coercion of another.
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We value the medicine of play, pleasure and joy, and the spaces it offers for exploration, experimentation and imagination as we weave new stories of self, community and our collective existence.
OUR PROJECTS
We are extremely honored and privileged to partner with Indigenous lineages of wisdom stewards, who generously share their traditions and cultures. In turn, we are committed to doing our part to support the generational continuity of this wisdom and the thriving of their communities. Our projects are driven by this commitment. We seek to accomplish our mission by facilitating strong relationships between traditional healing practitioners and students in the United States and South America.
OUR STORY
The inauguration of the Lab for Sacred Living is a result of years of collaboration between American herbalists studying traditional healing modalities, and indigenous communities of the Andes and Amazonian regions of Peru who provide traditional health education and practice. Since 2017, we have brought American herbalism students to Peru to learn about traditional indigenous medicine, as well as taught courses and provided health and healing services in California. In five years, we have:
Brought 95 participants to indigenous communities in Peru to learn about traditional indigenous medicine, resulting in roughly $209K dollars paid to indigenous healers for their services.
Taught courses on traditional western & indigenous herbalism and spirituality to over 200 participants in California and across the US.
Facilitated over 300 integrated dietas, an adapted practice to traditional Amazonian healing modality, for participants.
Facilitated the donation of over $35K dollars to indigenous communities for pandemic relief aid, housing and infrastructure, and other basic needs.
For these indigenous communities, sharing their traditional medicine practices and their crafts has supported their livelihood and the preservation of their culture. Yet, they still face high levels of poverty further exacerbated by the impacts of climate change on their livestock, water sources and food systems. As a result of centuries of degradation of their ancestral lands, displacement and resettlement of their communities, and fragmentation of their community relationships and traditional livelihoods, indigenous peoples and especially indigenous youth throughout Peru are under pressure to leave their lands and communities in pursuit of urban life.
In the aftermath of Covid, and as the impacts of climate change become increasingly severe, these communities are at a tipping point. The Q'ero community with whom we work, who pride themselves as indigenous wisdom keepers of the Peruvian Andes, are facing a drought that threatens their water supply, while abnormally low winter temperatures have created the largest die-off of newborn alpacas they have experienced ever. As their main sources of livelihood take these major tolls, and in the face of mining interests on their land, they are looking to mitigate impacts and restore the ecosystem which would enable them to continue living on their ancestral lands and preserve their cultural traditions.
Guided by our principles of reciprocity and solidarity, we at The Lab for Sacred Living are committed to providing support to the indigenous communities with whom we have worked for years. We aim to provide support that is informed by the leadership and direction of the communities, and which respects indigenous ownership and sovereignty.
