126. Vanessa Chakour with Amanda Carter Gomes: How Nature Guides Us Toward Healing

When Vanessa Chakour was growing up, she experienced a series of physical traumas — chronic asthma, a car accident that fractured her back and neck, and sexual trauma. On her path to recovery, she pursued various approaches to therapeutic movement from martial arts to yoga, exploring the traditions that honor mind-body connection.

Now twenty years into her journey to reconcile her daily routines with a yearning for a greater purpose, Chakour shares her learnings in her new book, Awakening Artemis. She combines the story of her own healing journey with practical, plant-based knowledge, and remains rooted in the belief that healing can happen through connection to ourselves and to the natural world. In the 126th episode of Town Hall’s In the Moment podcast, Vanessa Chakour talks with writer Amanda Carter Gomes about finding self-awareness, confidence, and forging true connections with loved ones.

Vanessa Chakour is an herbalist, visual artist, rewilding educator, former pro-boxer, environmental activist, and founder of Sacred Warrior — a multi-disciplinary and experiential “school” offering plant medicine, wildlife conservation, and meditation through courses, workshops, and retreats with a diverse group of teachers. Sacred Warrior’s Rewilding Retreats are in partnership with the Wolf Conservation Center in New York, The Jaguar Rescue Center in Costa Rica, and Alladale Wilderness Reserve in the Scottish Highlands. Vanessa has shared her work as a speaker at the United Nations, Brown University, and the Muhammad Ali Center, and as a visual artist, in galleries from Tribeca to Chelsea. She lives in Western Massachusetts and teaches around the world.

Amanda Carter Gomes is an editor, writer, producer and the founder of online publication, The Fold. Amanda spent much of her early career working in marketing, event management, video and photo production for clients in the private and non-profit sectors. 

Buy the Book: Awakening Artemis: Deepening Intimacy with the Living Earth and Reclaiming our Wild Nature

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