Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s six years ago, during an early morning rush hour of people dropping off their kids at school, going to work, or just going places. The result is the kind of traffic that moves forward an inch per minute. It doesn’t bother me, every day is the same in LA. So instead of testing how […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s six years ago, during an early morning rush hour of people dropping off their kids at school, going to work, or just going places. The result is the kind of traffic that moves forward an inch per minute. It doesn’t bother me, every day is the same in LA. So instead of testing how […]
Reading Time: 5 minutes As a young child, I didn’t need to watch the news to learn about the weather. My mom was my weather channel. “I feel pressure,” she would say, placing a hand on her head and legs to show where she felt it. That meant a thunderstorm was coming. On Wallmapu, our territory, storms can turn bad […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes What happens to all your energy? And why does it feel like death? Someone commented this on a video I posted on Tiktok: “Before and during I am fine but after it feels like death.” This person was referring to how they feel after their menstrual cycle, but most people living in survival (aka […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes That look, I had seen it before: a startled deer, trying to decide whether to stay still or run. Body tense and big wide eyes asking; Is this dangerous? Am I safe? I zigzagged my way through rows of students on their backs. Even under the dim lights, I could tell they were all relaxed, all […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes I’m just going to throw you right into this. Imagine for a moment that you’re hanging off a cliff. Your feet, dangling in the air, rocks crumbling under your fingertips, your grip so tight your knuckles are turning white. Looking down, all you can see is darkness. Then, you turn your head and see that […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes An analogy to help you see how this society misunderstands our instincts. And how it affects you. In my yard, there are a lot of lizards. Every morning I sit with my coffee and watch them jump from one rock to another. Then they stop and do these little push-ups. Don’t ask me why but […]
Reading Time: 2 minutes From not fitting in, hiding identity, and domestic violence; to new beginnings. Last week I turned 33. Do you ever look at older pictures of yourself and wish you could talk to your younger self? When I look at pictures of myself as a child, she feels like a daughter. I want to crouch down […]
Reading Time: 3 minutes Whenever I think of my abuelita, I think of her soft healing hands. Her whispers to the plants like she was sharing secrets with them. Her knowledge and cure to everything from a stomach ache to a heartache. My relationship with our plant relatives started early. And as much as I wish I could say […]
Reading Time: 4 minutes My shoes clung to the floor as I walked through the bar. Every day I would come here, blaming it on the 2–4–1 happy hour and a sweet deal on tacos. But in reality, it was a way to escape. To numb and forget. I’d seen it before in my family, using alcohol […]
Hello, my name is Mandy Martini Chihuailaf (Mist spreading over a lake).
I'm a Mapuche writer and teacher. Creator of SLG, an online school and community that has helped members in over 35 countries heal from the effects of stress and trauma using Indigenous knowledge and wisdom.
My goal is to help you get more out of your one life on this Earth.
Plus, you being here supports my work and makes it possible for me to help our community in terms of contributing to legal fees, shelters for survivors of violence, rebuilding efforts, and food scarcity.
Chaltü may, thank you, for being part of this full circle.