Indigenous Medicine FAQs

What is Indigenous Medicine?

In this context Indigenous Medicine here is defined as:
the knowledge, materials, methodology, processes, skills, tools, actions, protocols, qualities and values used by the original peoples of an original land, and their descendants, to create, maintain and sustain balance within individuals; between individuals and all the living systems of the land; and between individuals, the living systems of the land and all levels of existence.

It is important to understand that every culture has their own words to represent the different types of Medicine people. Medicine people are male, female, two-spirited and non-gender defined.
I am a mixed blood, mixed culture ‘all-purpose’ Indigenous Medicine Person. If I lived in my Traditional cultures, I may be referred to as a Noaidi or Stregharia. I have sometimes been referred to as ‘bush doctor’ or ‘witch doctor’ or ‘healer’ or ‘shaman’. I refer to myself as Sandi. I use the language of Indigenous Medicine practitioner because it is, for me, at this time in human history, an honoring of my Ancestors, an honoring of the lineage of Medicine people from which I descend, who have given me the term to use, as I stepped further into my medicine ways.

Why ‘all-purpose’?
This means that through my lifetime I must learn all the Indigenous Medicine Ways, of the varying Traditional Medicine systems of my lineage. I am designed to serve all people (including human) – individuals (including other Medicine People), partners, families, communities, societies, global and universal realms.
The Indigenous Medicine service I offer is a synthesis of all the information from the Elders I have trained with – physically and spiritually. It is important to understand that Indigenous Medicine is based in universal principle, meaning it works with the laws of the structure, origin, and operation of nature, of the universe.

Why would I choose an Indigenous Medicine Journey?

Do you feel…

  • Lost and don’t know where to turn
  • Not sure what to do/how to proceed next
  • Unsettled, restless
  • You or your family is cursed
  • Something is bothering you from your past life
  • A part of you is missing

Do you have…

  • an illness that isn’t making progress
  • a crises occurring to you or someone you know
  • a sense you are here to do something, there is more to life
  • patterns of overwhelm or trauma repeating

Today people choose an Indigenous/Integrative Medicine Journey for two purposes:

  1. personal development
  2. restoration of health and wellness

and five general reasons:

  1. address all aspects of an illness (imbalance) across one’s full being
  2. effect a full recovery from an illness (physical, spiritual, mental, emotional)
  3. learn how to manage a ‘difficult’ living situation – illness, stress, life crisis, life transition
  4. improve how to manage/function on a day to day basis, with all demands of life
  5. desire to have a solid sense of self, life and to live their full and true potential

Please note: These five general reasons are often not exclusive of one another, one often leads into another.

What are the different Indigenous Medicine services?

When we combine Indigenous and Integrative Medicine, we weave best traditional, therapeutic and mindfulness practice into one. The overall goal is to facilitate vital health of all aspects of life in balance and harmony with all.  Services include (and are not limited to):

  • bodywork: bone setting manipulation, massage, acupressure, energetic/vibration, sound/toning, exercise/movement
  • discussion:  spiritual, mental/cognitive, emotional, ethno-nutrition, brain health, trauma resolution; management – self, stress, food, illness, family; restoration of balance – whole being; word medicine; nature’s medicine tools; creative endeavors
  • creation: life creation, dream manifestation, soul direction, developing self discipline
  • life transitions: development of ritual/ceremony for individual, multi-faith, significant life experience, life experiences, life celebrations
  • nature’s medicine:  ethno-botanical, food, juices
  • self evolution: developing processes for self reflection, self inquiry, self motivation, self monitoring, self management, self realization, stepping into action, soul journeys
  • readings: Elder’s, body, spiritual
What is an intake session?

All journeys begin with an intake session. It is our opportunity to:

  • get to know one another
  • acquire details about your current situation and life story that will help me help you
  • determine whether or not we are a good fit for one another
  • if this approach will work for you

You will complete an intake form. We will have a discussion session – where you will tell me your story, why you are interested in getting help, what your current concerns are and what your goals are (if you know). We will open the doors and windows to all parts of your internal being and to external influences. You will receive guidance and universal teachings to help you help yourself. We will develop what our approach will be.
At the end, you will be given exercises to complete before we have our next session. This provides you the opportunity to put what you have learned, what we have discussed into action in your daily life.

At the end, you will be given exercises to complete before we have our next session. This provides you the opportunity to put what you have learned, what we have discussed into action in your daily life.

Why is the intake so long?
You have lived a full and complete life before you have arrived on this doorstep. Your story of where you are today, and how you arrived here, can take some time to tell. We spend time opening doors and windows to all aspects of your being because if the story is only told with the conscious mind – then we have a limited perspective. A part of our unspoken purpose together is to help you expand your consciousness and have a better relation with your full self and the world around you. Therefore, we need a good amount of time to see the story you tell with your conscious mind, and the movement of energies within and surround you that influence the story you are telling. By taking our time with this, we set you on a firm foundation from which to grow, evolve and fly.

How long is an Indigenous Medicine journey?

Our time working with one another varies in length from person to person. Sometimes we accomplish all needed within 2 – 3 sessions. For chronic situations we may work together for 5 or 6 sessions. For complex trauma or complex pain/illness/stress situations we will work together for a year or more, until you want to stop or you to achieve your goals.

Follow up sessions are 45min to 1.5hrs in length depending on your unique situation. In the first few sessions we discover what your abilities are, what you need to learn to get to where you want to be and what Medicine tools and processes will best fit your unique nature. Your success is dependent on your follow through with exercises between sessions, your ability to speak your truth and your willingness to ask for help when you experience difficulty completing actions.

This journey is yours – nobody can do the work for you – it is up to you to do your work. I will be by your side every step of the way as you build your resilience, your resources and your strategies.

'Healing' – Restoration of Balance/Imbalance Resolution:

This is a journey of health and wellness, discovering the roots and cause of imbalance for what you are currently experiencing. Imbalance may be found within any aspect of your body, mind, spirit, or emotions. We will use approaches uniquely useful to you and your life. We will provide you teachings to help you understand what is happening, to maintain balance within you in all circumstances. You will learn to be resilient – flexible and adaptable with the changes life brings.

Who appeals to this service?

  • You are currently experiencing a physical, spiritual, emotional or mental imbalance (‘illness’)
  • You have tried many different things, maybe get better for a little while and then ‘fall back’ again
  • You have tried many different things and are not seeing any change
  • You have tried everything else – and – see this service as a ‘last resort’
  • You have a history of overwhelm and trauma – and – have not received the help you need; or have received help and now feel stagnant/non-moving; or have received help and want more change that you haven’t been able to achieve
  • You have a chronic illness, neurological illness, or chronic pain condition that nobody seems to understand, and you are not making forward movement
Life Creation

This is a co-creative journey where we explore all dimensions of you. We assist you to know what your Spirit is calling you to and provide teachings to assist you to follow through on that call. We speak to visioning, to your creation of your life, to your daily practices that help you be all that you are, to reach all your goals and aspirations. We assist you to move through the conditioning of your mind, into the fullness of your potential to achieve your dreams – even the ones you don’t yet know are deep inside of you.

Who appeals to this service?

  • You are doing well in life – and – feel something is missing
  • You feel a pulse, a push deep inside you – you may feel you are to ‘do something’ or you may feel you do not know where to turn – and the pulse keeps pushing you
  • You are attracted to many different things and don’t know what to choose.
  • You may not be designed to choose just one thing!!
  • You have been working/serving in an area for awhile and want a change.
  • You are experiencing a major life transition, feel like you are handling it okay, and want to move forward.
Mentoring

This journey is for entrepreneurs, health practitioners and traditional Indigenous Medicine Practitioners. This is ‘old-style’ mentoring – operating from interconnected reality and unity. We have the potential to learn from all our life experience and choose where we are operating from.

Who appeals to this service:

  • you are looking for traditional teachings and do not have Elders you have connected with in your area
  • you are mixed blood, having some of the same lineage or trying to find a way to merge teachings from all your lineage
  • you are interested in understanding processes you may have been introduced to in a ‘new age’ or western perspective, and do not fully comprehend or apply
  • you are interested in being solid in your ‘intuitive’ abilities – your ability to communicate
  • you are looking to upgrade your service to others
  • you are starting out in the health field and just developing how you want to serve
  • you are a new health practitioner and did not have ethics teachings, or teachings on how to operate a business
  • you are encountering things you don’t understand in your practice
  • you are looking to operate in a fully balanced way – balancing self, life demands, growth and service
  • you are finding that you are drained and exhausted at the end of a day of service
  • you find yourself blaming others for your exhaustion or your fatigue, or blaming others for ‘taking’ your energy
Charging Money, Investment and Options

The commodity of exchange of the current day is money. Some people say you shouldn’t charge for Traditional Medicine services.
Traditionally, a person would never show up on a Medicine person’s ‘doorstop’, without an offer in hand – to exchange for the discussion or services being requested. Sometimes the person would be sent away to gather more or something else before the discussion occurred or services were provided.

All services are offered for $150 Cdn per hour.

Recognizing Disparity
As mentioned previously, I serve people of all ages, all cultures, traditions and religions. I provide a BIPOC friendly and LGBTQIA+ friendly environment.

In recognition of social and economic disparity, I offer co-creative payment plans for people in need. This allows people to participate in the services when they need the services, without waiting until they have money. Feel free to contact me for more information.