A seasoned humanitarian, international educator and somatic therapist of Mediterranean-Lakota descent, Dr. Ruby focuses on Transgenerational Healing and Historical Trauma Recovery. Her Somatic Archaeology© helps those recovering from chronic pain, repetitive familial patterns, historical amnesia, cultural trauma, grief, addictions and despair. Freedom Lodge, her non-profit group, works to heal Native wounds, reclaim Native heritage and mend the Sacred Hoop of Life.
This post is a short edited excerpt of Dr Ruby’s personal and professional journeys and the influences of Mother Earth, her experiences, practices, dreams and “the grandmothers”. Hear her full interview on The Gifts of Trauma Podcast.
My life has been a magical journey, full of remarkable experiences.
When I was 13, while riding my horse home from work, it stopped abruptly in an aspen grove where a deer stood, quietly staring at me. She said, “Please don’t eat us, it’s not your way.” I’d never had an experience like that before. I rode home and told my mother I was going to be a vegetarian. I haven’t eaten a piece of meat since that day. At that time, I also became curious about healing. First it was healing colour vibrations. I filled bottles with different colours and asked my family to drink them to see if they felt different. Of course, they thought I was crazy, so that didn’t happen.
At 16, I started doing massage therapy. Oddly, while the people who came for a massage would leave feeling much better, they would come back the next week with the same problem. I’d relieve it again, and the next week they’d come back. It was still there. Why can’t they let it go? I wondered. Realizing their issues went deeper than their tissues, I started asking them to focus on the problem area and pay attention to their sensations. When they did, they always had an emotional release that allowed that trapped energy, that story, or whatever it was, to let go.
I’m part Lakota or Sioux, part Italian and I have some Spanish blood too, but I identify most with the Native part of me, the indigenous ceremonial ways and beliefs. So I began to do sweat lodge ceremonies and Sundance ceremonies with Grandpa FoolsCrow. As I began to transform, so did my approach. I started working with people differently, working with their energy, and gaining insight into the deeper concepts of what was going on. It was a beautiful awakening.
Massage was my income and life for many years. When my kids were young, I was the director of the Colorado School of Healing Arts where I spent many years teaching and practicing massage. Many people came in with trauma but there was no way to address it with massage at that time. However, by using what I had discovered earlier, and asking our clients to tell us how it felt inside, we developed Trauma Touch Therapy. Every physical symptom has an emotional counterpart, so when emotions arose, we would manage them.
I had three children and worked in massage therapy until my youngest graduated, but I had bigger goals. After the children left home, I was able to pursue my dream. I began by rebuilding Trauma Touch Therapy into a bigger model I called Somatic Archaeology. My book, My Body, My Earth: The Practice of Somatic Archaeology, poured out of me in three months.
When I took this work out into the world and told people about embodied historical trauma, they looked at me like I was crazy. So I decided to apply for a job as an Indigenous program coordinator. The funders wanted a solution to what ailed indigenous women from Alaska to Mexico, and a program that would help embolden them. That’s a lot of different people, tribes, religions, cultures and languages, so I wrote a proposal showing how Somatic Archaeology addressed their commonalities. They loved it, I got the job and began to apply my approach with Native women.
When you do a lot of Somatic Archaeology, you clear away the debris around you, shake off the past and become more fully embodied. Being sober and centered changes how you receive information, and if you don’t have a lot of burdens to carry, you have more dreams and a more active spiritual life. I have also meditated for an hour daily for 20 years, which deepened my spiritual connection and awareness. It’s one of the best things I’ve done for myself.
A few years ago I had a visionary dream in which about 200 people were standing in a cave holding hands and chanting, Khonmadi. Khonmadi. Khonmadi. I was holding hands and chanting with them, and when I woke up the word Khonmadi was right in front of me. I looked it up, but couldn’t find anything. Then I looked in The Woman’s Book of Myths and Secrets by Barbara Walker, which said Khonma was a Tibetan word from Mother Earth, the heartbeat of Mother Earth. And so my new project is called Khonmadi, the Heartbeat of Mother Earth, because what I was shown in that dream was our capacity to mother our Mother Earth.
A few weeks later, I was at a conference of global Indigenous leaders to interview them for my book, Khonmadi, the Heartbeat of Mother Earth. I made little mock ups, so they knew why I was interviewing them. The first elder was from the Ohtani or Olmec people, indigenous to southern Mexico. He said, “No, it’s spelled wrong. It’s Khamadi. That’s the word we chant in caves to bring vision to our people.” I was completely shocked because I’d never heard this word prior to my dream. Next, I spoke to a woman from New Zealand who said, “Oh no, my dear, the word is kumari… the sacred sweet potato that Mother Earth gives us for sustenance.” A South American Shaman said, “Kumari is the Big Bear who holds up Mother Earth.” Oddly, at this time we were all in Big Bear, California. Then I interviewed a Bushman from the Kalahari in Africa who said, “You know we are the Komani clan, don’t you?” I didn’t know. This elder also said, “To have Konmani in your dream means that you will be a solution to what ails Mother Earth.” And I dropped to my knees and started sobbing, because my dream had become alive, it was just so profound for me.This year we will begin travelling to sacred spots on Mother Earth, where we’ll gather and chant, “Khonmadi, Khonmadi.” We’ll start in the US and see where it goes. I’m excited! It’s like doing Somatic Archaeology for Mother Earth. And with everything that’s going on in our world, I feel timing is perfect.
The Gifts of Trauma is a weekly podcast that features personal stories of trauma, transformation, healing, and the gifts revealed on the path to authenticity. Listen to the interview, and if you like it, please subscribe and share.
