From a young age, I have been called to work with women on their healing journey. This has taken many shapes and forms and twist and turns, from working at women’s health nonprofits, completing a masters in reproductive and sexual health and seriously considering medical or midwifery school.
It wasn’t until I found the sacred Noya Rao tree that I really found what I was looking for. The teachings of this tree transformed my life.
It is through song, ceremony and connecting with nature that I most feel at home and alive. The plants gave me the courage and strength to heal and continue to guide me. They remind me to use my voice, nokon joi, my breath, my language. They remind me how stunningly beautiful this Earth is and about love, to truly love myself and those dearest to me, and in turn, to love and care for our Mother Earth.
I hope I can honor them and carry their teachings with me as I support other women on their healing path and help them to stand in their power, listen to their intuitive wisdom and move into spaces where they thrive. The world, and Mother Earth, needs all of us and our unique gifts now.
Korin
My maternal grandmother, Corinne, passed away before I was born, but I carry her name as my middle, Katherine Corinne. The Shipibo-Konibo grandmothers I lived with, upon finding out my middle name, called me Korin. In their language, Korin means golden. Corinne has been a massive mystery for the majority of my life and it’s just these last years I’ve started connecting with her. She is in my blood and without her my beloved mother would never be here nor would I. In reclaiming my grandmother’s name, Corinne, my name, I hope to help transform her trauma and help her heal, for her suffering to transform to the golden color of the sun. For our lineage to heal, in healing my grandmother, I heal myself, my ancestors and those yet to come. To you dear grandmother, I love you and thank you for blessing my mother and I with life.
I would also like to honor my father’s lineage and his strong Jewish roots, which have guided me with wisdom and grace. During a massive upheaval on my journey, it is the ancient Hebrew songs, the songs of my own ancestors, the songs of my bloodline, of my childhood, that really provided me with hope, courage and instilled me with faith, while bringing me to a deeper remembrance of myself.
L’chaim!
Studies
Shipibo-Konibo Plant Dietas - Jakon Rate / Manuela Mahua Ahuanari - 2017-2022
Reiki Certification with Manu Del Prete + Aki Hirata Baker at Minka Brooklyn - 2020
Andean Medicine Training with Willka Yachay - 2019
Transformational Breathwork with Judith Kravitz - Personal Level - 2018
Masters in Reproductive & Sexual Health Research, Bachelors Latin American Studies & Pre-Medicine
Fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and intermediate Shipibo-Konibo, I have been massively shaped by my near five years living in South America, in Valparaiso, Chile, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and of course, the near two years living in the Ucayali Region of the Peruvian Amazon. These lands, the people and their stories, and my lived experiences have profoundly changed my life.
Prior to stepping into my calling as a healing arts practitioner, I worked in human rights and environmental non-profits. Most recently at Amazon Watch, to protect the Amazon rainforest by standing in solidarity with its Indigenous peoples. Through their Amazon Defender’s Fund I solidified funding for the Shipibo-Konibo midwifery project, Bakebitimis, supporting renowned midwife Deila Mahua Perez, and served as its project manager. Before ever setting foot in the Amazon rainforest I worked as a producer in the literary world at PEN America in New York. Justice and equality have been pillars throughout my life, instilled at a young age from my parents, and I am committed to carry this on.
Home is now Berkeley, California and here Muir Beach, Orr Hot Springs and Montgomery Woods are sacred spaces for me. As are morning walks in Tilden, catching the sunset up in the Berkeley Hills or enjoying the butterflies, hummingbirds and roses in my sweet garden.
Endless gratitude to my plant allies, my ancestors and the great Mother Earth. To my sisters, thank you for holding me up, always and forever.
La gratitud que tengo es imensa, gratitud, gratidão, gratitud, Noya Rao!