ABOUT ME
i’m Erin (she/they) and i’m a healing practitioner, movement + mindfulness instructor, writer, and group facilitator. a plant lover, dancer, and avid reader. a bisexual babe committed to the practice of healing and liberation. a white person descended from celtic (irish + scottish) and germanic (including PA dutch) peoples.
i support people of european descent in connecting with and building relationships with their ancestors and the natural world. relationships grounded in integrity, reciprocity, accountability, and love. rooting into the wisdom and practices of their ancestors. facing the harmful legacies of white-bodied supremacy and settler colonialism. breaking cycles of violence and choosing healing and repair.
i’ve been a practitioner of ancestral connection, guided imagery, and energy healing since completing my master’s degree in integrative health studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2017. there, i studied ancestral medicine with Kimmy Johnson and Atava Garcia Swiecicki, guided imagery with Leslie Davenport, and Usui Reiki with Angela Omulepu. i’ve been studying herbalism since 2016, beginning with Atava at Ancestral Apothecary and, more recently, with Annie & Shannon at Rooted Home Herbalism. i’ve been an antiracist group facilitator since 2019 and have facilitated antiracist groups with Decolonizing Wealth Project, Thrive East Bay, Genesis Healing Institute, and Political Healers. i’ve been a movement instructor since 2019, beginning at Hipline, and, more recently, at Mambojaz Studio.
i moved back to the land of the Conestoga-Susquehannock peoples in 2021, the land that raised and shaped me, currently known as Lancaster, PA. i feel a lot of gratitude to this land, as well as to the land and communities that shaped me as an adult, particularly new york city, or Lenapehoking, land of the Lenape, and oakland, CA, or Huichin, land of the Ohlone.
scroll down to learn more about my story and healing philosophy.
“We can only be experts in our own process, in our own stories.”
-Atava Garcia Swiecicki (mentor + friend to ECS)
(a piece of) my story
i’ve never been skilled at summarizing my story and experiences into a short, digestible blurb. i’m more inclined to long, meandering sentences. as a healing practitioner, it’s always felt important to share about my own healing experiences. to be vulnerable in my storytelling. how can i expect others to trust me with their stories if they don’t know mine? even still, i’ll do my best to bring the highlights forward and leave you with some curiosity and wonder.
the pieces of my childhood that shaped me the most are my parents’ divorce, always being near water, being raised by a single mother, evergreens, surviving an abusive father, playing soccer, my experiences of chronic depression, being taught to value the arts at a young age, growing up in a small, mostly white town, and my friends. it was a solidly okay childhood, filled with both difficulty and beauty. i wasn’t ready to face the more difficult aspects until my mid-20s. i scratched at the surface with therapy, a yoga practice, and craniosacral massage and then dove in head first when i moved to huichin/oakland, ca to study integrative health.
it was my saturn return and everything (dramatic pause) changed. this is when i was first introduced to my ancestors. not when i was seeking them, but when i needed them most. memories of childhood sexual abuse rose to the surface. a devastating break up. the loss of a close friend. everything truly changed and instead of feeling alone and lost, i was guided and held by my ancestors, community, teachers Kimmy & Atava, nettles and other herbal allies, dance, the ocean, and my therapist.
i graduated with my masters in 2017, used leftover student loan money to go on a 2-month solo ancestral trip through europe (life-changing), and continued my learning with Kimmy through co-teaching with her, and with Atava through working at her school of herbal, folk, and indigenous medicine, Ancestral Apothecary.
anti-oppression, decolonization, and liberation were woven into the ancestral healing and consciousness practices that both Kimmy and Atava taught but it wasn’t until 2018 that i started to honestly examine how white-bodied supremacy shapes me, my family, and ancestors. i found a thoughtful group of antiracist white people in an accountability group with thrive east bay and have continued the life-long (and generational) process of disentangling myself from white-bodied supremacy. most recently, i’ve been participating in an amazing white accountability group with kirkridge retreat and study center.
so here i am. an ever-evolving person committed to the path of personal, generational, and collective healing and liberation. rooted in the ancestral medicine and wisdom of my lineage. rooted in the beauty and magic of plants and the natural world. continuing to learn how to navigate the world as someone who feels things deeply. continuing on the many spirals of the healing path i find myself on and honored to support others on their healing journeys.
some other things that feel important to share: i’m a leo sun, aries rising, pisces moon. while in oakland, i organized with SURJ Bay Area and, most recently, have been organizing with Lancaster Stands Up. i’ve completed trainings with Resmaa Menakem & Carlin Quinn, Alixa Garcia, Sandra Kim, Kazu Haga, Sharon Blackie, and others.
my healing philosophy
my work with clients and students is always a collaboration. i am not an expert and our work dynamic is not a hierarchy. every person i work with has something to teach. i trust that everyone knows what they need and that we are all capable of healing. my role is to hold space for inquiry. to ask questions and support folks on their journeys. to always meet my clients and students where they are.
i believe healing is a process, not a destination. it's life-long and multi-generational. it is messy, non-linear, and scary. it's beautiful and expansive. it is all of the things. ultimately, healing is the process that brings us closer to who we are and who we're meant to be. disentangling ourselves from who we were taught to be and from who we had to be to survive. healing is the journey of coming home to ourselves.
i believe healing is a radical act. i believe it's a powerful choice to seek connection rather than avoidance. i believe that when we look inward with honesty, accountability & compassion, we can bring healing to ourselves, our ancestors & show up rooted for collective liberation.
i believe that we cannot address personal and collective healing without naming systems of oppression and their impact. the ways in which white-bodied supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonialism shape us. the ways in which we benefit from and are harmed by these systems. acknowledging that at the root of these systems of dominance is pain and disconnection. part of healing is reckoning and tending to the ways in which these systems express themselves within us and our lineages. understanding that healing is not a solo project (despite what the wellness industry tells us). healing is rooted in our relationship with ourselves, the earth, our communities, our ancestors, and the collective.
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