JASHANA KIPPER

Jashana was born in the land of the Iroquois, (officially the Haudenosaunee), in North America or Turtle Island. She was inspired by the ways of the indigenous peoples who had lived for thousands of years nestled in their environment. In her schooling, she recognized early on that she was being trained to be a cog in an industrial machine and began to search for ways of empowerment to not conform to that system. To that end, she studied Anthropology and Environmental Science along with Social Ecology. Her doctoral thesis made a strong case for the development of ecovillages even though the term had not yet been coined. She spent her twenties trying to stop a war in Guatemala where the indigenous peoples were under attack and failing that effort realized she needed to be part of creating the solution. She was then an early explorer of intentional communities and lived in a variety of them including Findhorn in Scotland, and Auroville in India and also created one in Hawaii that lasted for 10 years. Along the way, she attended almost every personal growth training available including Holotropic Breathwork with Stan Grof, The Work that Reconnects with Joanna Macy, 5 Rhythms with Gabrielle Roth, Skydancing Tantra with Margo Anand, The Work with Byron Katie, Psychosynthesis and Ecovillage Design Education. She travelled for 2 years leading workshops in South America but now focuses on the ‘industrialized peoples’ to find their roots again.