Family & Ancestry
In the Realm of Relationships & Lineage
1: Practice loving-kindness meditation: offering kindness to yourself, loved ones, community and the planet.
1: Practice loving-kindness meditation: offering kindness to yourself, loved ones, community and the planet.Books 📚
- Awakening Loving Kindness – by Pema Chodron: suggests that the best and most direct teacher for awakening loving-kindness is in fact your very own life. Based on talks given during a one-month meditation retreat.
- Lovingkindness: the Revolutionary Art of Happiness – by Sharon Salzberg: inspiring book, longtime meditation practitioner and teacher Sharon Salzberg shows how the Buddhist path can help us discover the radiant, joyful heart within each one of us, drawing on Buddhist teachings, wisdom from various traditions, her personal experiences, and guided meditation exercises.
Podcasts or AUDIO 🎧
- DAN HARRIS LOVING-KINDNESS GUIDED MEDITATION: from the How to Train a Happy Mind Podcast. A loving-kindness meditation for skeptics, a scientifically-proven practice that can positively impact mental and physical health.
- Loving Kindness Explanation + Meditation with Sharon Salzberg: Explore her take on loving kindness, and learn in real-time how loving kindness can be an antidote to fear. Explore how the practice both synchronizes and conflicts with activism. Includes 10 minute meditation.
- Loving Kindness Meditation for Queer Selves on Insight Timer: 20-min meditation nurtures self-compassion using loving-kindness phrases tailored to the needs and experiences of an LGBTQIA2S+ audience. While this meditation is accessible to all people it is particularly relevant to a queer audience because of its use of language and queer-centered experiences.
- Loving Kindness Meditation with Amy Saltzman on Insight Timer: 30-minute meditation – well-reviewed practice.
- Loving Kindness Meditation with Kristin Neff on Insight Timer: 20-min meditation with the well-known author.
2: Explore Family Constellations work – a therapeutic approach that helps people understand and address family dynamics and conflicts.
Books 📚
- Required Reading List for Level-1 Family Constellations Training
- Healing Trauma through Family Constellations and Somatic Experiencing – by Efu Nyaki: Efu explains how she came to develop her profoundly successful system for helping people heal trauma by integrating ancestral tribal wisdom with a fusion of two Western healing systems: Somatic Experiencing and Systemic Family Constellations Therapy.
Podcasts or AUDIO 🎧
- Family Constellations & Ancestral Healing Podcast: you will find information on Family Constellations, Ancestral Healing, and Coaching with informative guest conversations and resources.
Videos
- Rupert Sheldrake on Morphic Fields and Systemic Family Constellations on YouTube
- Shavasti Family Constellations YouTube Channel: with author and family constellations guide John Payne aka Shavasti. Lots of good videos here.
- Efu Naki & Peter Levine – Healing trauma: Somatics, Family Constellations & ancestral wisdom on YouTube
Training 📝
3: Explore potent practices, meditations and rituals for connecting with your ancestors.
Books & AudioBooks 📚
- Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home – by Toko-Pa Turner: Most people think of belonging as a mythical place, and they spend a lifetime searching for it in vain. But what if belonging isn’t a place at all? What if it’s a skill that has been lost or forgotten?
- Ancestral Medicine – by Daniel Foor: an excellent practical guide to connecting with your ancestors for personal, family, and cultural healing. More than just a book. Practices and rituals abound here.
Websites / Resources / Practices 🌐
- Daily Ancestor Rituals – from Ancestral Medicine: Just like developing any relationship, this requires care and attention. These are practices for connecting, deepening, and working with your ancestors in daily life.
- Connecting with Ancestors – from Persephone’s Hearth: lots of resources, rituals and practices here.
Podcasts 🎧
- Dreaming the Ancestors Podcast – with Tara Brading: intimate journey of remembering and reclaiming ancestral stories, feminine wisdom, and earth magic.
Training 📝
- Trainings with Ancestral Medicine: Online recorded and live components. Practical and transformational trainings on animist ethics, ancestral healing, ritual arts, and cultural change.
4: Research your family tree and consider using a DNA sampling service to learn more about your ancestral roots.
Books & Workbooks 📚
- Family Tree Organizer – by Ravelda Secrets: Interested in creating your family tree? Now you can do it in a very organized way. This genealogy notebook will help you during your research.
- Family History Record Book – by Heritage Hunter: An 8-generation family tree workbook to record your research.
- Family Tree Workbook: 30+ Step-by-Step Worksheets to Build Your Family History.
Resources / Websites / Services
- Ancestry.com: Choose a path to explore your story. Whether you want to build your family tree or discover your origins, they have options – including DNA sampling.
- Myheritage.com: reveal your unique ethnic background, and match you with newfound relatives.