Ocean Nayeh
I am a mother, musician, scientist, embodiment facilitator, nature mentor, massage therapist, and both student and teacher of connection and healing. I was raised and molded by the oceans of California, the temperate rainforest of Alaska, and the high mountain deserts of Colorado. My work in the world is to create spaces of healing, connection, empowerment, and creativity.
Music
The music that flows through me is a genre of its own, a fusion of soulful folk, hip-hop, medicine, and roots. It is the poetry of my soul transformed into melody, the wisdom heard in the silent spaces of nature, and my alchemical process of turning darkens into light. They are my stories woven through lyrical rhythms, transmitting my prayers into a vibration for collective healing.
Embody
My body has been my doorway to healing. In my younger years, I was always in my body as a gymnast, surfer, snowboarder, dancer and climber. However, even though I was technically skilled in my body, I was not free within it; I was not free to express and live my true self. It wasn’t until I suffered deep loss and went through a dark night of the soul that I discovered the body as a tool to navigate and heal from trauma and find inner wholeness. I am dedicated to helping others learn to free their body and understand its capacity to heal trauma, find freedom, and restore wholeness.
Nature
Nature is my teacher and inspiration for all that I do. The ocean was where I first felt her, In those silent moments between the waves. However, at that time, I did not consciously know the depth of our connection. I was still lost in my youth, in my thoughts, trying to fit in, be accepted, and find myself. It wasn’t until I moved to Alaska, where I spent my days hiking and riding the big wild mountains, that I was able to hear her speak. It was here that I first started the process of understanding my connection with all things. Later, in Colorado, I studied nature mentorship, survival skills, permaculture, and wilderness therapy and started to deepen my connection with nature and self. When I moved to Austria, I founded and ran a nature connection school for eight years, where I also started developing and teaching programs to help bridge emotional education and nature connection/sustainability for youth.
Ceremony
In Alaska, I experienced my first native American Sweat Lodge with the Kwanlin Dün people in Canada. This was life-transforming and awakened in me a remembrance of something greater. Later, in Colorado, I was influenced by native American culture and ceremony. It was here that I experienced my first vision quest, a ceremony where one spends four days and nights fasting in nature. This ceremony was one that continued to call me throughout my years and was very powerful in helping me navigate through the darkest moments of my life. Grief work/ceremony has also been a powerful tool in helping me to heal from loss and trauma. I am currently working with my elders to bring these ceremonies to Austria, where I currently live.
Gratitude
I am grateful for the water that clenches my thirst, the earth that feeds me, the wind that cleanses me and the fire that keeps me warm. For the mysteries of life and The One, called by many names. I am grateful to my ancestors for all their work, their pain, and joy that made it possible for me to live here now. I am grateful to all indigenous ancestors and wisdom that has helped me come home: to the Tataviam people, the indigenous land caretakers where I grew up in California, the Tlingit and Haida people, the indigenous land caretakers where I grew up in Alaska, the Arapaho and Utes, the indigenous land caretakers of Colorado and the Lakota Kwanlin Dün people, whose ceremonies and wisdom I have benefited from. I acknowledge that I benefit from your displacement and colonization. I am grateful to my mother for her continual love and support,to my sons for teaching me about love, for all my teachers and their teachers, the shoulders whom I stand on, for my friends and community, for the darkness and the light. I am grateful for this precious life.
Connection and Collective Healing
In its essence, I believe all things are connected. This is the foundation of my work. My vision is to help create a sustainable and beautiful world where all beings are honored for their unique gifts. To achieve this, it is pertinent to address the healing on the individual, collective, and planetary levels. Therefore, I engage in my work with the understanding that when an individual feels connected and whole, it ripples out into the family, the community, and the collective, healing the planet one breath, one action at a time.
EDUCATION
A.S Biology ( College of the Canyons, Valencia, California)
B.A Marine Biology (University of Alaska, Juneau, Alaska)
B.A Traditional Eastern Arts (Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado)
M.A. Somatic and Emotional Education (Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona)
Licensed Massage Therapy Certificate ( Boulder School of Massage Therapy, Boulder, Colorado)
Yoga Science and Teacher Training 1,000 hr (Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado)
Reiki Level 1 & 2 ( Valencia CA)
Nature Mentoring (Featherlight Skills, Boulder, CO)
African Dance (Boulder, CO)
Nerosculpting Level 1 & 2 ( Boulder, CO)
Tending the Five Gates of Grief (Francis Weller, WA)
Permaculture Training (Naropa University)
To check out my other work focused on youth and schools, check out: SchoolofConnection.space