Comuna Conversations: Sara Dubeau on ancestral knowledge, ceremony in community, and reconnecting our health with nature’s wisdom.
Sara on a Comuna Travel trip to Oaxaca, Mexico in partnership with Tierra Sagrada. Learning from local Indigenous plant medicine specialist and conservationist, Sonia.
Originally published in December 2019, and updated March 2021.
This post is about a 20-minute read. So brew yourself a nice beverage, get cozy, and allow this beautiful conversation to nourish your soul.
Sara Dubeau is a natural healthcare practitioner, retreat facilitator, and speaker with over 15 years of experience in holistic medicine and the healing arts. She’s an advocate for health education, modalities, and experiences that reconnect us with our innate healing capacity and inner guidance. Her work is centred around the expression of health through our physical vitality, and also, our ability to live in alignment with our highest self-expression. She runs a private practice called Dynamic Medicine, is the co-creator of Unite Wellness creating transformative weekend retreats, was a co-leader on the Comuna Travel Spiritual Journey to Oaxaca, Mexico in partnership with Tierra Sagrada, and is co-creator of the Ceremonia Sessions.
Sara and I met over 8 years ago, working at a local restaurant in Canada’s capital as one of our many individual side-hustles, where we’d often find ourselves in deep talks behind the bar. In between service and polishing glasses, we formed a kindred bond connecting over our many passions and ideas on life — from holistic healthcare to creative evolution.
Dr. Jonas Salk was the inventor of the first effective vaccine for polio, but beyond that, I love exploring his work because he inspired a new era of evolutionary thought. Among his many teachings, he called for the development of a new educational system that would at its centre, create “a new way to unfold the potential in each human life through a mutually enhancing relationship with our experience and our environments, serving a purpose transcendent of ourselves and our own time.” I’m a big believer in evolution, change and adaption — if we’re not evolving, we’re not living. Salk also widely wrote on the idea that “Solutions come through evolution. They come through asking the right questions because the answers pre-exist. It is the questions that we must define and discover,” and in that, he urged people to find true health in the answers to one of his favourite questions, “what makes your heart leap?” — How beautiful is that?
Ioana Todosia (IT): Could you share a little bit about how you trace your journey back to your earliest life, and how this manifested itself into your current life and work — creating this link between healthcare, natural medicine and the healing arts, sustainability and facilitating wellness retreats?
Sara Dubeau (SD): Great question!
I grew up in a tiny rural community in Quebec, Canada and later moved to a large city when I was 14 years old. Since then, I’ve travelled the world, lived in a number of sprawling metropolises and yet, still feel very at home in nature. In fact, some of my earliest and fondest memories are endless hours spent in forests and fields, contentedly observing industrious bees, collecting tadpoles and climbing trees. When I was outside with my bare feet on the ground, I felt grounded and calm. My Mom introduced me to herbal medicine and had a prolific organic garden that supported our family, and many of our neighbours. There was always more than enough abundance to go around. Reflecting on this time I recognize how these childhood experiences have shaped my beliefs: that we are inextricably linked to one another, and our environment; that nature has an innate capacity to heal itself, and us, and that it functions, as we do, according to intelligent design.
I’ve always possessed an insatiable curiosity, a keen intuitive sense and a desire to lead a purposeful, heart-centred life. My interest in, and subsequent study of, mental wellness, holistic modalities and the phenomena of trauma was initially a personal interest. I had crippling anxiety as a child and suffered from depression and panic attacks in my teens and early 20s. I also observed significant mental health challenges in those around me, many remaining unresolved with conventional treatment, and instead, worsening. It caused me to question: Why do we become unwell? How do we heal, and what does it truly mean to embody health, live a fulfilled life and become empathic, evolved human beings?
What I learned allowed me to recover my own mental health and later sparked my desire to become a natural healthcare practitioner. Working with a system of medicine that seeks to employ modalities that engage our innate healing capacity and treats us as intelligent soul-spirit beings with evolving consciousness and a wise physical body. This is what I am here to do!
Sara living her best rural Canadian childhood. Somewhere in Quebec.
IT: Expand a bit more on sustainability, and what that means to you, as a healthcare practitioner.
Sustainability has become one of those buzz words, but the perspective I take is that sustainability means we can’t separate ourselves from our environment. So much of our health is connected to the state of our soil, our food, our air and our water. If we are truly focused on our well-being, we must consider our environment as an extension of ourselves. At the moment, we are collectively failing at being good stewards of this earth. As a species, we attempt to have dominion over nature vs having respect, reverence and recognition that we are an inherent part of an ecosystem.
It’s becoming very clear that the way in which we treat the earth, its many inhabitants, and one another is a function of how we feel about ourselves and our inner life. The heart-breaking mess we find ourselves in, I believe, is reflective of our collective, wounded spirit, distorted beliefs and unbridled fear. There are consequences attributed to every choice we make. We wield our power with each and every decision and purchase we make. Therefore, the real shift must ultimately come from within each of us. We need to wake up and remember that we collectively live on this beautiful planet that sustains our life. We can make better decisions simply by being more cognizant of where our food, clothing and goods are coming from. Who does it affect? Does our purchase undermine or elevate a person, a community, or the living environment on the other side of the transaction? This is why transformative experiences in nature can be so important. There is something that ignites within us when we fully commune with nature, connect profoundly with another human being, and gather in community. When something touches our heart, we are reminded of who we really are, what our responsibility is to this earth, and each other, and are called to do better.
IT: What thoughts on the world and our place in it, today, inspire you?
SD: I think that we are being called to remember who we really are. Systems we have upheld for a long time are eroding. This will bring more chaos but in its wake lies the immense opportunity for something new to emerge. We are being called to live differently — to evolve. We need to think at a macro-level while also taking responsibility for ourselves at a micro-level. We possess individual power but we need to claim it and recognize that we are responsible for how we use it. What inspires me is witnessing the emergence of a new consciousness and reclamation of ancient wisdom. Revolutionaries, rebels, teachers, creatives and healers are everyday people. They are shaking things up, challenging our dogmatic beliefs and archaic systems, and demonstrating what is possible, and what we can create. They are leading the way through their imperfect example and beckoning us to join them, in blazing our own path. All of this inspires me to rise up in my own work, be braver, more visible, use my voice to share what I have learned and hopefully leave having contributed something to this world we share.
IT: As you’ve spoken to so beautifully, it’s impossible to separate us from nature. We also know so much about nature’s wonders because of scientific discovery. But, do you think there’s a deeper story to our intuitive connection with nature that’s become forgotten or goes beyond scientific questions?
SD: I do believe there is a deeper story, yes. Ancestral knowledge was born and is sustained by intuitive knowledge and our intrinsic relationship with nature. Perhaps, our intuition is our conduit to a higher form of guidance embedded within us. An inner compass, so to speak. For a very long time, our intuition was never questioned, it was understood to be an intrinsic part of our makeup. Even in the 19th century, our scientific methodology was greatly influenced by the Romantic movement which advanced a number of themes: that the whole is more valuable than the parts alone, and that man is intimately connected to nature. Scientists like Goethe, for example, felt that understanding nature is very much a function of taking impressions and responses via the Gemüt (his term for our gut, or intuitive sense organ) so that one “becomes what one perceives.” In the act of participating in life, our inner life is transformed and knowledge expanded. It was a time in human history when our greatest scientists and innovators valued their creative in-sight as well as their intellectual knowing. These principles directed their scientific inquiry and understanding of the world. In our more recent, technologically accelerated times, we have separated a single aspect of our knowledge, the intellect, and placed it on a pedestal as the one and only authority. Unfortunately, this hyper-focus on our intellect has completely devalued our other innate ways of knowing, created a one-sided and skewed view of how scientific inquiry should be conducted, and disconnected us from our guidance. I do think we are reclaiming and reintegrating this knowing because we are beginning to recognize that without it, we have been soul-spiritually adrift for quite some time.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
IT: Share a little bit of background on how you came to be connected to Oaxaca and co-leading a spiritual retreat there.
SD: Ah.. well, the simple answer is, I was introduced to Oaxaca through a dear friend and she connected me to Tierra Sagrada and the communities in La Sierra Norte. You and I have always known that we would create something together and the day the opportunity arose to collaborate, we took it. With that said, how we find ourselves somewhere is often not as linear as we’d like to think. Truthfully, when I reflect on what brought me to Oaxaca, my work, and co-leading a spiritual retreat, the path was a winding one. I can see now that it was a series of choices and opportunities, times that I faced fears and risked being vulnerable, relationships and connections that were fostered… and a whole lot of serendipity (or divine guidance if you align with that concept).
IT: What about Oaxaca is so profound to share with others? And why is now an important time for people to re-connect with traditional wisdom and ceremony?
SD: It actually struck me during that first visit to La Sierra Norte in 2018, in ceremony. I was asking myself — because I was so humbled and grateful by our experience — How I came to my work, and collaborating on a retreat with you (my brilliant friend), entrusted with sharing the beautiful life force that is Oaxaca, invited to experience a sacred indigenous ceremonial site, amidst the magic-filled mountain communities of La Sierra Norte, and be guided through a transformative experience by an inspirational soul (Oscar). It all blew my mind, really, and just as quickly I received my answer. I had a moment during our ceremony where a sense of belonging, acceptance and calm recognition came over me and a phrase came in; “You were meant to be here right now. Don’t you see?” It was very humbling and also instilled in me immense gratitude and responsibility. I was flooded with so much emotion and released it through laughter and welcomed tears, because I realized that for a long time I have held a deep subconscious belief that to make my own path I needed to earn each step, through my own effort and sacrifice. I realized at that moment that yes, I may have envisioned what I desired, and made decisions that brought me to this moment, but I couldn’t have conceived how I would find myself here, living my dream, feeling so wholly myself and brimming with gratitude for this opportunity, and for my life. It was a gentle reminder that I am not alone. I am accepted as I am. I can trust that there is guidance if I am open to receiving it. Many indigenous communities of Oaxaca are living according to their sacred, ancestral knowledge. They have retained a deep connection to their land and its inherent wisdom. Their essence permeates their food, their artistry and their healing ceremonies. Everything in Oaxaca is medicine.
Since that initial experience in Oaxaca, in collaboration with Tierra Sagrada, we’ve grown into co-creating the Ceremonia Sessions. They’re a unique opportunity to experience Oaxaca’s culture in an intimate and immersive way, online. Women of these communities are generously opening their culture and wisdom to us. We have an opportunity to be educated, and to be present with what is being shared, in order to elevate our own understanding. After a period of suppression, many of the elder healers (curanderas), matriarchs and wisdom keepers we are collaborating with, have reemerged and proudly reclaimed their medicine, their sacred ceremonial sites and their knowledge — joining the global shift that we see happening. They possess profound tools to aid us in our collective global healing, and in Oaxaca, it’s incredible to see how all of this knowledge has been preserved. As I mentioned previously, we carry heavy emotional burdens. It’s manifesting in our deteriorating physical bodies and skyrocketing rates of mental illness. We are soul-sick. Ceremony provides an opportunity to be guided in a profound spiritual process, to release what no longer serves us, hear our inner voice and creativity speak, and heal in the presence of community.
Comuna Travel Spiritual Retreat to Oaxaca, Mexico in partnership with Tierra Sagrada.
IT: What about working with people, motivates you?
SD: While we each need to do our own inner work, we heal in relationship with others. I know that part of my job this time around is to be a connector and help build community.
IT: In a world that needs to hear the voices of young people more than ever — how do we create space for young people to access and articulate their sense of power and purpose, vulnerability and agency as citizens? What role do you think inter-generational relationships play in this?
SD: We are seeing a rise in this very thing with the “child activist.” While I do think that our younger population deserves to have their voices heard and possess more wisdom and insight than we tend to give them credit for, I’m sometimes concerned that they feel that they need to grow up too fast and take on the burdens of the world. This is valid, because previous generations have failed to take care of their futures, and they now feel this call to step in and take action. While youth is striving to be heard, the “old” in our society is being forgotten. Notice that they are no longer our elders. We no longer seek their counsel or have reverence for their wisdom and contributions to our society (because they have made contributions). We are phobic about ageing and with that, we begin to push the elderly aside and out of view. I actually founded a series of multi-generational salons for this very reason — to have a diverse spectrum of voices heard and to spend time with people who weren’t my own age! It was an opportunity to learn from one another. To reclaim the supportive network of the village. These gatherings were so moving and I’m so proud of what we accomplished together. I think more opportunities to gather in this way can serve, inspire and educate us all tremendously.
IT: What’s a fear that you have, currently? What do you do to remedy it?
SD: Extreme polarization and mob mentality are rampant. It’s common to see many defaulting to a consensus vs. engaging in critical thought, and there’s a quick tendency to pick sides while closing the mind. There’s this desire to characterize someone as either “with us” or “the other” and “not one of us.” This line of thinking has created a sharp divide in our societies and made it easier for people to turn a blind eye to injustices, support hateful acts and allow violence to escalate. When this mentality meets wounded, traumatized and emotionally suppressed people, it’s a powder keg.
My remedy to this reality is that I focus on what I am able to do. I recognize what’s within my power to change and do my best to release my grip on what’s not. I work at not allowing my fear to dominate my state of mind. I am not blind to what is happening, I fully acknowledge it. However, I do actively choose to focus on those who are living from a place of kindness, compassion, connection, understanding, forgiveness, creativity, joy, and love.
I witness them in the world each and every day. Just as important, I also work at being honest with myself about my own shadows and blind spots. I’m willing to be wrong and change my mind in the face of new information, knowledge or experiences. Living this way isn’t easy, but we need to be willing to acknowledge the sides of ourselves that we don’t like and want to hide. Shining a light on these aspects of ourselves provides an opportunity to make our darkness conscious and integrate it. Otherwise, we are just spiritually by-passing life.
IT: How can we stay present to what is happening in the world, while continuing to seek hope and joy, without becoming paralyzed by the despair and sense of fear all around us?
SD: By understanding that there will always be evil, pain, destruction, and loss in the world. We will never be able to fully extinguish it. It’s a part of life. However, there is also joy, beauty, creation, connection, renewal, kindness and love. It’s a functional polarity of being alive. Our strength comes from not turning away, not by-passing things we don’t want to see with platitudes of “love and light”. We need to acknowledge that this darkness exists, in the world and within ourselves. We can’t change anything we aren’t willing to look at. Fear is natural when we don’t have control. But feelings of despair or becoming paralyzed is because we don’t recognize that we are more powerful than we realize. There will be times when we will need to speak up and stand in our strength (even when it feels difficult). To be able to do this, we need to question our own belief systems and be open to change. We need to be willing to do our own inner work so that we can become better humans and citizens.
There is a whole lot of love, and kindness and hope in this world if you choose to look for it. It just isn’t shared on the 6 o’clock news (these stories don’t fuel agendas, divisions, nor point us back to our own power…) So the key is that we must be willing to still move through this world with open eyes, open hearts, open minds. Hold those you love close. Look for those that seek to make our world better. Work at living your life from a place of integrity and love and sovereignty.
IT: What’s a travel experience that you’ve had that has shifted your perspective of yourself, your work, and of others?
SD: Most recently was Oaxaca, but the very first trip I took on my own to Australia at 20 years old, completely changed me. It was the first time I was on my own and truly responsible for making decisions for myself. I can recall asking the universe for a “life-changing experience so I can grow.” I received what I asked for, just not in the way that I had intended. It was one of the most difficult years of my life but it was also one of the most defining. It alchemized so much within me and I emerged from it with a greater sense of who I was, and who I wasn’t. It was also the first time that I had ever been outside of Canada and the ocean felt deeply resonant at the time. After that trip, I vowed that I would make travel a constant part of my life.
IT: Why do you think it’s important for people to step outside of their comfort zones and at some point in their lives, have a transformative cultural experience?
SD: We don’t learn in echo chambers or by staying within the confines of our comfort zones. I speak with so many people who are suffering and want something in their life to be different. In order for things to change, we must change. We have to literally become a new person. So when it comes down to taking action, we meet the resistance and have to decide if we are willing to let go and embrace something new. Often people subscribe to their fear as if it’s the truth. They allow the discomfort they feel when they step outside of the familiar to govern their life. What they [people] don’t realize is that our fear and our discomfort is our gate-keeper, but the door is open. We simply need to give a nod and keep walking. Our freedom and greater self-realization are on the other side.
With a transformative experience, like through travel and cultural exchange, we are forever changed. It may be that we develop a greater capacity because of how we respond to adversity. Perhaps we wrangle our fears and decide to call on our courage and as a result, discover something unrealized within us. Maybe we meet people who have a different perspective or live a very different reality, but with whom we feel connected at a heart level and recognize as kin. Sometimes we are faced with something that leaves us raw and vulnerable but finally able to stand in our truth. It could be an experience that reminds us that we are a small spec in the midst of a vast universe, but we are still wholly loved. Whenever we can, we should seek experiences that help us transcend our limited view of who we think we are and what we think we know.
IT: You’re so multifaceted. Although your career has evolved in the holistic healthcare space, you’ve also worked in the restaurant industry, and have been developing a life centred around so many different avenues of exploration. You’ve created inter-generational women’s salons, hosted weekend retreats, and have a great taste for fashion, design and music… Why is it important to surround yourself with many different types of experiences?
SD: Wow. Thank you for that! You’re right, by nature I’m an explorer. I don’t fit into a prescribed box and in many ways, live an unconventional life. I’m curious and multi-passionate so these experiences enrich my life. They’ve all contributed to my path and my growth and I’m so grateful that I’m free to pursue them.
I encourage people to try different things and foster diversity in their life! It fuels our imagination and inspiration and creates a tapestry of experience we can pull from. And who knows, you may discover something new about yourself!
IT: Do you have any spiritual practices or rituals, that keep you grounded on your life path and moving towards where you want to go/want to achieve with your work?
SD: Absolutely! Prioritizing my lifestyle habits is ritual: nourishing my body, incorporating movement and spending time in nature. I’ve developed a morning mindfulness practice that includes breath-work, essential oils and journaling. It’s important for me to get quiet so that I can hear my soul speak and actively visualize what I want to cultivate and bring into my life. I appreciate the Lovingkindness Meditation — it’s a kind of prayer that begins with directing love and compassion towards yourself and then extends that same energy out in ever-expanding circles to encompass everyone in the world, like a big ripple. It puts me in a different state of mind. As part of my gratitude practice, before I open my eyes in the morning, I’ll lay my hands on my heart and belly and thank my body for continuing to allow me to live this life. I’m paying more attention to my intuition, asking questions of my higher guidance and in that, I’m working at honouring the downloads I receive more consistently.
IT: How do you live a passionate life?
SD: We have to choose to live a passionate life. This means, living in alignment with what truly lights us up and being willing to clear away what hinders that. Not sure what you are passionate about?
Be curious, be open, be courageous. Cultivate time to play and rest. You won’t discover your passions in a chronic state of fight or flight, “busyness”.
Get still and listen. Be reflective and ask really good questions- and see what happens when you follow the answers.
Be willing to fail, be willing to grow, be willing to be wrong, be willing to work on your mindset.
Question your own beliefs and expose yourself to different experiences and points of view.
Become aware of how you may have been conditioned to think and feel. Be willing to practice radical self-honesty and honour what comes up by following that with inner work.
Develop a capacity to connect with, live by and trust, your inner guidance. This is your compass.
Become comfortable with people misunderstanding you or not approving of the choices you make for your life. Remember that their reactions are about them. While this can be difficult and hurtful, understand that you don’t need approval or consensus to live your life and those that love and see you will support you.
Choose to lead a life that lights you up even if it is unconventional.
Don’t be afraid to pivot. Recognize when it’s time to seek your next level of expansion even if it means change and a lot of it.
Practice gratitude, the energy of receiving. When the universe knows you are open and can be trusted with more, it will send it.
IT: What does success look like to you?
SD: Having the freedom to live in alignment with who I am meant to be, cultivating loving relationships, and being of service to others and this world. I embrace the idea of monetary abundance because it provides an opportunity to give back in a way that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise.
IT: What are you mulling to explore next?
SD: You know something is always brewing with me… I want to continue to develop opportunities for people to gather and connect in community. I’d like that to be in person as well as online (because the positive side of the internet is that we can connect to others across the world). I’m creating content for a few online programs at the moment (I just said that out loud!). The intention is to take all of the knowledge that I have accrued and organize it into an educational platform and space where people can learn from each other in community. I’ve spent years as a practitioner working with people in private consultations and while this can be powerful, I feel called to shift how I provide care. The retreat in Oaxaca is the beginning of more of this kind of work. It aligns with so much of what I feel called to do and how I can serve. I would also love to build into my work more of an element of mentorship, and philanthropy. It’s time for me to give back in more meaningful ways and am considering how to best do that. For the last 7 years, I’ve also toyed with the idea of a podcast both audio and visual. I learn so much from each and every person I meet and one of the ways that I’ve received mentorship is by hearing from those who put value into the world. I love when I’m with someone and we bypass small talk and immediately go deep into intimate, soul-stirring conversations — I want to create more opportunities to have those conversations in my life. AND, my husband is a Canadian filmmaker. I have a film that I would like to bring into the world as well. Ultimately, I’m trusting where I’m feeling called to explore because I know that it’ll bring me to the next step in my growth and evolution.
IT: When you hear “home”, what does that mean to you?
SD: For me, it’s a feeling of belonging. A place you find first, within yourself. Then, a place where you feel truly seen, loved and supported in relationship with others. Home is an environment that supports and is reflective of who I am and what I’m working to unfold.
IT: Borrowing from the wisdom of Dr. Jonas Salk, “what makes your heart leap?”
SD: When I remember how fortunate I am to be gifted this life. When I get a tingling, expansive feeling in my body and I know that it’s telling me, “This is where you are meant to be. Yes, explore that. Yes, take a chance. I know you don’t understand why… but trust it.” When I am in that place it’s scary, but exciting, because I know it’s going to stretch me. When I’m in a state of pure presence and feel a deep connection to another human being in front of me, or even a place, it feels so wondrous. When I know that somehow I have made a positive difference in another person’s life. I seek out these kinds of experiences — they are what makes my heart leap.
Ioana Todosia of Comuna Project and Sara Dubeau.