6 week program: Story Medicine WISDOM SEEKING GROUP
Indigenous cultures view stories as medicine, and believe that old stories hold wisdom and relevance for our lives today. They recognize that stories are not just entertainment or historical artifacts, but are powerful tools for healing, growth, and connection to the land and our ancestors. When we come into relationship with old stories in a traditional way, we are changed by them.
By engaging with stories in a sacred manner, we are invited into a deeper relationship with the stories themselves, as well as with the land and our ancestors. This can help us to see things from a different perspective, and to gain insight and wisdom that we may not have access to otherwise. In the same way, if we only understand stories through a colonized lens, we miss out on their deeper meanings and significance. This can limit our ability to connect with the land, our ancestors, and our own intuition and ways of knowing.
By recognizing the power of stories and engaging with them in traditional ways, we can tap into a vast tool for understanding ourselves each other, and the world around us. Ultimately, stories have the power to
connect us all. By engaging with them in a respectful and sacred manner, we can access their medicine and wisdom, and use them to support our personal growth and healing, as well as the well-being of our communities and the planet.
The Story Medicine process is a 6-week program that is aimed at helping individuals discover the wisdom and relevance of old stories in their lives today, to facilitate growth and healing. The program utilizes a range of experiential processes, including embodied mindfulness, expressive arts, writing, and active imagination journeys. Participants are encouraged to engage with the stories in a personal and reflective manner, to gain insights and understanding that can be applied to their current life situations and the world.
About the Teacher:
Dr. Renda Dionne Madrigal is a Licensed Turtle Mountain Chippewa Clinical Psychologist, a Registered Drama Therapist, the President of Mindful Practice Inc, and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner with over twenty years of experience in the field. She has been featured on the cover of Mindful Magazine and was recognized as a Powerful Woman of Mindfulness in the August 2022 edition.
She is a mentor for the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior Mindfulness Awareness Research Center Teacher Training Program, a Stanford Certified Applied Compassion Educator/Consultant, and faculty member at the Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles and California Indian Nations College.
Dr. Renda Dionne Madrigal specializes in embodied narrative and mindfulness-based practices, which combine mindfulness, somatic therapies, and storytelling to support insight, healing and growth.
In addition to her work as a clinician, Dr. Dionne Madrigal is also a writer, with an MFA from the American Indian Institute of the Arts (May 2023), and a performer. She has appeared in Indigenous plays written by her daughters and enjoys writing fiction featuring Indigenous female protagonists who save the world. Her book, The Mindful Family Guidebook, has been listed as a Best Book of Mindfulness 2021 by Mindful Magazine. Dr. Dionne Madrigal is currently working on her next books, Story Medicine, and thriller-fantasy Silenced, featuring Indigenous women saving the world.