Wild Heart Women’s Gathering is a call to gather as women in the shared rewilding of our true feminine essence. In reconnecting to the earth and sharing our earned and inherited skills, our intention is to further the evolution of our collective feminine wisdom. With dance, yoga, ritual, feasting, song, sensuality and herbal medicine, we send out a primal call to join in this celebration.

Ashley Grandkoski is an acupuncturist, Reiki and energy healer, herbalist, ceremonialist, event facilitator and producer, ecstatic dance DJ and local mom. In addition to her private practice as an acupuncturist and energy healer, she offers a number of events in the community which include elements of dance, ceremony and healing in various formats. She is a regular DJ at Durango ecstatic dance, as well as a guest facilitator at a number of other special events in the community. Through her many projects and offerings, her deepest desire is to contribute to transforming consciousness on the personal and collective level, and bring soul-level healing to the people she works with.

Her Offering: As DJ Asha Akashic, Ashley combines her ability to channel healing energy and hold space for transformation with powerful and ecstatic musical medicine, crafting dance sets that take you on a deep and rapturous journey of embodiment and soul-connection. The music she plays invites you into deeper relationship with self, inspiring clarity, vision and a feeling of heart-centered joy. Her music tastes span a wide range of genres, but often include heart-opening vocals, inspiring lyrics, earthy, tribal and world beats, conscious hip-hop and high-vibe electronic dance music.

Brandy Wade grew up in Boulder, Colorado.  As a young girl, Brandy and her mother (a spiritual teacher and therapist), would talk for hours about the nature of life, exploring and diving into the subtle intricacies of the world around them. It was through these conversations that Brandy recognized the value of listening to her heart and therefore kindled her passion for alternative healing arts. At age 19, Brandy went from being a competitive soccer player to a spiritual explorer as she turned toward nature and yoga. From that point forward, she was guided to various teachers, paths, and modalities shaping the person she is today.

For the past 20 years, Brandy has been a student and teacher of yoga, extensively studying the Feminine path of Hatha, Bhakti, and Tantra Yoga. Some of her main teachers have been Shannon Paige Schneider, Aditi Devi, Sofia Diaz, and Brenda Flemming. She has also had the honor to work with the spirit of plant medicines for 15years  and dance the ceremonial Moondance in Mexico the last seven years, receiving the teachings from Aztec and Mayan grandmother Abuela Mali Nali. Currently, Brandy splits her time between Durango and Salida, Colorado and offers bodywork sessions that incorporate Ortho-bionomy, womb and belly healing,  yoni steams, ancestral healing, sound healing, plant brushings, emotional and somatic therapy, prayer, and song.

Her Offerings:

Crystal Bowl Sound Bath Ceremony

Join Brandy Wade for an hour of Crystal Bowl sound meditation.  Settle into the soothing wave frequencies from the Crystal and Tibetan bowls as well as a myriad of other instruments that will be woven into the soundscape.  This session will support the relaxation of mind, the softening of heart, and the settling of the nervous system. During our time together we will uplift our prayers and intentions to be heard, witnessed, and surrendered to the Divine.  We will shift our focus from thinking to listening as it is in these slower meditative brain wave states where deep healing is available. I look forward to sharing and being in space with you. 

Monday Morning Sadhana Practice  

A subtle body yoga practice that weaves, breath, movement, and bodily alignment.   We will align our bodies to our vertical nature as conduits between Heaven and Earth, circling our breath within the currents of our beings, connecting to the spatial awareness around us, and receiving the grace of connectedness as a whole body prayer.  A great way to close out our retreat space and time together.  

Bubs Buselli: As a vessel of love, Bubs Buselli creates inspired spaces where women discover the wholeness that exists in themselves, their pleasure, and their relationships. Weaving her deep compassion with evocative practices, Bubs helps women touch the edges of tenderness and pleasure and come into more rooted aliveness. Shaped by times out of time in Aspen groves and wild hot springs, Bubs’ dedication and playfulness blend seamlessly to create opportunities for transformation. She detests wet socks and is known to be turned on by the aroma of cottonwood buds. She works as a sex, love, and relationship coach educated in Layla Martin’s tantric approach and is the founder of Heart Song Chocolate, based in Durango, Colorado.

Her Offering: Healing The Sister Wound is dedicated to uncovering, nurturing, and healing the wounds we have collected in our relationships with other women.  Whether from childhood or from a more recent experience, we may have felt hurt, abandoned, or betrayed by other women.  It can be a painful experience to love and trust women in our lives if we haven't addressed these wounds or the social conditioning that comes with being a woman. We will excavate these wounds and work with somatic exercises to help alchemize the hurt with more love.  

We will co-create a connected container where vulnerability is accepted and celebrated.  When you allow yourself to be seen and held in your pain, big transformation can occur. This is an opportunity to drop comparison and judgement and leave feeling full of love for your fellow sisters. 

Crystal Wolfchild: By living in service through love, honor and healing work, Crystal, a Dakota  woman, offers her gifts and stands for a World that works for everyone.

As a visionary leader and innovative makeup artist, Crystal stands for a world of beauty and service. A Sundancer, Mother,  a member of The Mother Earth Restoration Trust, walker of two 100 mile pilgrimages she is also a creative force in the beauty world. Crystal is the recipient of a 2008 First Americans in the Arts Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technical Arts for Makeup, and is a two time Emmy nominated makeup artist for her work on “So You Think You Can Dance”.
Her true passion and why she moved back to Durango, is to create healing for all generations past and future through prayer, spiritual work, education and community.  In addition, a Co founder of TIOSPAYE, a non profit Transformational Experiential/Education Leadership Program. Crystal has co created massive positive change with the completion of 12 Leadership teams and graduated hundreds of people who have experienced the life changing work that TIOSPAYE offered. 
Since moving back home to Durango Colorado Crystal’s talents are currently focused on raising her two children and teaching them about and connecting to the Earth Mother and her relatives.

Crystal and her mother, Della Romero, will be offering an Opening Ceremony ritual and blessing.

Elliott Brinkley is the owner of an herbal apothecary in Durango, CO called Dancing Willow Herbs. She began her professional herbal journey working at Dancing Willow Herbs in 2015. As the head medicine maker, Elliott developed a catalog of knowledge and personal relationships with the herbs that she worked with daily. In addition to her hands on experience, Elliott is a certified Clinical Herbalist with over 1600 hours of training from the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and the Acorn School of Herbal Medicine. 

She is passionate about bridging plants and people through writing, herbal cooking, teaching and providing herbal support for others. As a vitalist herbal practitioner, Elliott focuses on therapeutics that work with the body’s natural processes and support its innate gravitation toward healing. Elliott loves to convey the emotional and spiritual wisdom of plants through leading plant meditations, and classes that allow others to develop their own relationships with the botanical beings. Follow her plant journey at www.dancingwillowherbs.com, @dancingwillowherbsco on instagram.  

Offering: Herbal Medicine for a Rooted Heart

A deep dive into herbs that help us embody our purpose, live in alignment with our authenticity, sink into the pleasure of embodiment and speak from our heart. You will be introduced to a few different categories of herbs for the heart gate, such as shen tonics, herbs for the spiritual heart and aphrodisiacs. We will all taste and experience the herbs together, and discuss medicinal attributes as well as best medicine making techniques for each. Everyone will get to make their own heart opening tea blend to take home. 

Katrina Blair began studying wild plants in her teens when she camped out alone for a summer to focus on eating wild foods. She later wrote “The Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants of the San Juan Mountains” for her senior project at Colorado College. In 1997 she completed a MA at John F Kennedy University in Orinda, CA in Holistic Health Education. She founded Turtle Lake Refuge in 1998, a non-profit, whose mission is to celebrate the connection between personal health and wild lands. Turtle Lake Refuge is a wild harvested, locally grown and living foods café and sustainable education center for the community. Katrina teaches sustainable living practices and wild edible and medicinal classes locally and globally. She is author of a book titled “Local Wild Life- Turtle Lake Refuge’s Recipes for Living Deep” and “ The Wild Wisdom of Weeds: 13 Essential Plants for Human Survival” published by Chelsea Green 2014. Find out more at www.turtlelakerefuge.org

Her Offering: Wild Plant Walk

In the Wild Heart's Plant Walk we will take the time to be together on the land and learn about many common medicinal and edible plants that are at our fingertips to integrate into our meals, tea, and medicines.

We will connect to the wisdom of the plants and open to their communication with us as we touch and taste and enjoy the powerful presence of our plant allies. We will gather and harvest some local wild greens for a green juice to finish out time together. 

Kayla Wexelberg has been a chef for over 18 years and has had a deep love for Culinary Anthropology and the power of energtics in relation to holistic health for most of her life. Her love of dance, movement and eating from the land has guided her through various chapters in life. She now owns her own business Taste Your Roots, a holistic health, nutrition and catering company as well as teaches contact dance and mystical dance both locally and internationally.

Kayla is one of the organizers and visionaries of Wild Heart. Kayla will be heading up our culinary team to bring you incredible nourishment throughout the weekend. In addition, she will be facilitating a Shadow Workshop and our special Sunday night supper: The Deep Feast.

In the Shadow Workshop, we will explore shadow. We’ll sink into areas of our hearts and emotional bodies where old stories and patterns have been hiding. With a set of hands-on tools we will somatically move these shadows through our systems, liberating them and letting go of what no longer serves so we can step into the strong powerful women that we are. The class will focus on emotional release techniques that you can use for the rest of your life. 

The Deep Feast is an eating meditation intended to enhance one’s awareness of nourishing the gates of many bodies. The spiritual, energetic, physical and emotional bodies all find union here as we explore what it is to connect with food far beyond the "standard" nourishment rituals that are practiced everyday. The workshop will include an array of flavors and textures and a hands-on feasting practice between participants. The feast is silent and deeply rewarding, leaving participants full on many levels.

Lily Russo: I feel very fortunate to have been practicing yoga for the past 20 years. It has been a path of health, joy, transformation and empowerment since my teen years. Initially, it was the physical practice that captured my attention, but over the years this led me to study all the other facets including pranayama, meditation, tantra, and yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda, as well as other influential disciplines, primarily Buddhism, the Tao te Ching, and plant medicines. I have participated in over 1000 hours of yoga trainings, and am an affiliate of Shiva Rea’s Samudra Global School of Living Yoga, leading 200 Hour Prana Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Trainings.

As a Sacred Sensuality Guide, Yoga Teacher, Retreat Organizer, Podcaster and Ayurvedic Wellness Coach, my goal is to guide others to embody a path of connection to their higher selves and to all other beings, and be empowered to access the great cosmic source of radiance, creativity, and healing. My deepest passion is connecting with women and guiding them to fully cultivate their natural feminine powers of sensuality, intuition, compassion, radiance and pleasure! Connect with me at www.lilyrussoyoga.com

The vision for Wild Heart Women’s Gathering stemmed from a deep yearning to connect more deeply to sisterhood, my elemental body, and the natural cycles and powers of our wild Mother Earth. During the gathering I will be facilitating ceremony, movement medicine, song, and connection between all guests and the land we will be gathering on.

Her Offerings:

Nourish Yourself the Ayurvedic Way

On our path to more deeply loving ourselves, we must tune in to all the ways we can deeply nourish ourselves. Ayurveda, the Knowledge of Life, is the most ancient holistic health care system on earth. Ayurveda looks at the whole person: physical, mental, emotional, and environmental. In this workshop, cozy up with some Golden Milk to stoke your digestion and nourish your heart, while exploring the ayurvedic approach to nourishment. Learn about specific digestive tendencies, how to eat the ayurvedic way, and ayurvedic self care practices to uplevel your self care routine.

Sacred Body Flow for Emotional Release and Energy Gathering

Deeply attune and honor your body as the supremely intelligent and divine being you are. Mobilize and release stagnant energy and align with the cosmic source of flowing intelligence. This unique movement practice is rooted in Prana Vinyasa yoga, somatic release, tantra, and bhakti traditions. Invoke each of the primal elements that your body is made of and experience a renewed sense of love and connection with yourself. Bathe in the nourishing current of universal life force flowing inside and all around you.

Maddalena Tumminaro from The Wild Women Dance Project: Maddalena has been working with wild feminine dance practices throughout her life and exploring multiple modalities of heart, mind and spirit. She weaves together a unique combination of dance with experimental modalities to connect us with our true desire to move and express our deepest longings and feelings. Her mission is to get us into our feeling bodies through movement, music and safety.

Her Offering: Wild dancer Maddalena Tumminaro will be facilitating an exploration of feminine movement for all bodies and abilities. Dance into your juicy fullness through this grounding exploration in flesh, bone and sisterhood. Come nourish and love on your body, and enjoy a greater sense of empowerment. This year’s focus is cultivating laughter and play through community and movement.

Monica Mesa Dasi is a Tantrik yogini, intuitive, author, mother of three sons, and devotee of beloved Gurus Neem Karoli Baba and Amma. She is a deeply trusted mentor, channeler, plant medicine woman, and an activist that leads the Soul On Fire Movement. 

Monica has impacted the physical, mental and spiritual lives of people around the globe with her message of self-love, the power of daily practice, and the importance to fearlessly claim your mission and be a beneficial presence on the planet. She is a presenter at festivals, retreats, global events and teaches inspiring online courses. 

Monica’s spiritual path and practices have inspired her to launch transformational programs that focus on the Three Gems of Healing: self love, the power of practice, and purpose-based living. These three gems form the foundation of all her Soul on Fire programs. Her message, “love yourself and you love the world” is what she believes will give rise to personal and planetary healing for a more compassionate, healthy, and harmonious humanity.

Monica can be found living in the mountains and by the sea, surfing, serving, loving, devoted to her daily practices, being a proud mama to her sons, and endlessly believing in a world where all beings can be happy and free.

www.monicamesadasi.com

Her Offerings:

Tantra For Women: Sacred Sexuality, Spirituality, and Self Love

Shakti’s are the women of Tantra, who historically initiated the men into the sexual arts. Come learn about this spiritual path that is all about loving yourself, loving the one you’re with, and loving the Divine. The path of Tantra is based in devotion, the art of awareness, unconditional love, and channeling the sexual energy for the benefit of all beings. You are invited to open your heart and mind to the path of Tantra, which can take you on a journey to self realization and epic love. You’ll also go home with a few secrets that you can integrate into your life! 

Tantrik Vinyasa: Awakening the Lover Inside

Self love is the doorway, the portal and the key to living as the goddess you were born to be. This Prana Vinyasa class is dedicated to loving yourself through yoga movement alchemy, music, mantra, and sacred sisterhood. Come as you are, leave the masks behind, and gaze into the mirror of your heart to witness the beloved, which is YOU. 

Nuriya Akers owns and stewards a community gathering space for local teachers to share their gifts and classes, called the One Heart House in Mancos, Colorado.  She loves to devote her music and talents as a vocalist and guitar player towards bringing a message of peace, grace, beauty, and ease to our spiritual embodiment as human beings. Nuriya leads a Sunday Kirtan singing group; is a singer and songwriter with the One Heart Orchestra, a roots reggae band; offers acapella lullabies and music therapy to hospice patients and their families; and leads Heart & Song, Roots & Earth song circles and Dances of Universal Peace. Nuriya is also a licensed massage therapist, body worker, and Reiki master. She leads with a full hearted voice and encourages people singing with her to find their full voice, use it to vibrate the sacred syllables through their bodies, and tune into the harmonic and joy of the Oneness of all life!

Her Offering: Song and Sauna

The women’s sauna has traditionally been a place to offer songs and sing as we cleanse and renew our bodies with heat, sweat, and detoxification. The songs, breathwork, and free toning will support us in release and letting go, forgiveness, nurturance and nourishment of our bodies and spirits. Songs will be chosen from Nuriya’s Sacred Elementals and Heart & Song, Roots & Earth collection.