It was 2016 and "June gloom" in Los Angeles. I followed the instructions carefully: park your car by the grocery store, make sure you're not being followed, go to the first gate and click the buzzer, say your name and someone will watch you from the security camera, then follow the ramp to the second gate, repeat, then turn left and knock on the first door you see and someone will come and get you.
After I'd picked a seat around the oval table, I looked around at the other women, women who'd gone through the same thing- escaping their abuser and finding their way into that building - and I thought:
"How on Earth did I get here? How did any of us get here?"
Now, I'm not saying this is true for you, but when I was living with trauma, it turned me into a magnet for bad stuff.
Bad relationships, bad decisions- you name it.
Marrying an abusive man was just the final straw.
For over 8 years, I'd in and out of therapy; tried different medications, meditation, did yoga every single day and read all the self-help books.
Anything I was told to try, I tried.
And at my best, I felt good enough to fake that I was fine.
At my worse, I couldn't even leave my house.
Day after day, I would just lay there trying to remember if I'd showered or not.
And I was so tired of it all.
Mari mari, hi there. My name is Mandy Martini Chihuailaf, Mist Spreading Over a Lake, and I'm an Indigenous teacher of the Mapuche Nation.
After surviving sexual assault and domestic violence - and getting stuck in the never-ending cycle of coping that is taught in this dominant culture - I returned to my people's kuyfi kimün, ancient knowledge, that has been passed down for generations in my family.
Letting my body finish the survival cycle so that it could heal, made trauma (and all the symptoms) a thing of my past.
It opened the doors for me to: leave my abusive ex and start my life over from nothing (except some trash bags of stuff in my car and my dog).
Healing from trauma made it possible for me to start this program that has now helped people in over 35 countries around the world do the same, while at the same time help me support my people and start projects on-and-off reservation to help our community.
What I teach inside SLG is based on Native science: knowledge passed down longer than Western science has even existed, from healers in my family, our Elders, knowledge-keepers, and over 14 years of my own research and experience.
Which is why, even those with a background in Western science (that has a long history of waving off Indigenous people and our knowledge), has turned to SLG and found help 👉
Can you think of something you could do instead?
Spending quality time with your loved ones, building a garden, helping your community... being happy and healthy?
You're not asking for too much.
- JULIETA T.
[Pijao descendant]
New York
- VICTORIA LISE
[Cherokee]
Ute Territory (Colorado)
** Going through financial/life hardship? You could qualify for a scholarship.
* Enrollment comes with SLG 30-Day Peace of Mind Guarantee.
Most people inside SLG, like most in this world, work very hard to survive in this culture, and some are even single parents (both mom and dads) with no family or community support, that's why one of the priorities was to make it easy to digest and learn- in your own time and tempo.
Plus, this will be the one thing in your life that will actually help you to not get overwhelmed.
Our Elders and family members used to (and still do) arrange talking circles in our ruka (huts) to allow members of the community to come together and not only support each other, but help reinforce our knowledge and practices.
These live talking circles through Zoom are our "modern" version of it.
** Going through financial/life hardship? You could qualify for a scholarship.
* Enrollment comes with SLG 30-Day Peace of Mind Guarantee.
** Going through financial/life hardship? You could qualify for a scholarship.
* Enrollment comes with SLG 30-Day Peace of Mind Guarantee.