Sara at heart is a storyteller. Her passion for life and the belief in the magic of our ever evolving human condition is the foundation from which she contributes. She understands that the intricacies of each individual’s story are the seeds that can grow into a beautiful garden but we must first unpack some of the muck those seeds were planted in for them to germinate and bloom.
Raised in a Doukhobor community rich in oral tradition and mentoring, Sara explored her connection to the natural arts. She learned about plants, sound, creativity and the physical and subtle energy bodies. She also learned about the shadow side of communities and has grown to understand mechanisms of coersion. To her, Doukhobor roots mean she has a strong sense of community and an inherent desire to explore the human condition.
She has lived in a number of countries in Europe studying Russian Pedagogy in Moscow and Central European Politics and Art History in Prague. She has an undergraduate degree from SFU in Sociology and has completed an intensive 3-year training program as an Ontogonic Body-Mind Practitioner and an extension year in Ontogonic Hypnotherapy.
Her career trajectory has been as varied as her interests, this laid the foundation for Sara’s unique set of tools and whole person approach to the work that she does. She began with community development in her own community, and expanded to capacity building in other areas. Eventually Sara developed programs for local youth leadership and became involved in international youth and elders conferences growing in diverse cultural awareness. Sara always looks for ways to build community and is an advocate for young people. She has a quirky passion for life.
Why Body-Mind Therapy?
Sara has been practicing TEP, a form of myofascial release part-time since 2011. It was just before that that she experienced the transformative capacity of body centered therapy. Her clients are often surprised at the depth and capacity of this work saying that it is profound in both cultivating awareness of their body and healing.
Body-mind therapy is what has brought Sara through her own healing journey and has helped her heal from family and cultural trauma. When we come from cultures that we identify with strongly we also have a collective trauma that our personal work touches. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between the personal trauma and the cultural trauma slowing down the healing process. Because of Sara’s personal experience in this she has become adept at helping individuals distinguish between personal and collective trauma fostering greater awareness in which part is ours to do and which part is not.
Sara believes deeply in what she does because she knows it works. It has changed her baseline from deeply sorrowful to mostly joyful. She has more capacity for love, compassion and connection because she knows what it is like to be muddling around in the darkness and being fearful of standing at the edge of who you thought you are and stepping past that to allow something else to unfold, despite the fear of not knowing what that might be.
The Joy of Creation
Sara has many interests and enjoys creating. She is passionate about woodworking and writing poetry. From time to time you may find her performing spoken word. Currently she is exploring visual art and has dabbled in sonic composition. Sara says the notion of outer space is where she draws inspiration from so sometimes you will find her drinking tea while watching the live feed of the International Space Station or Star Trek.
“The First Emanation”
by: Sara Kinakin (wool & copper)
