Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylee Gies.
Hi Kylee , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Sacred Dwelling, a small healing arts center for tending inner landscapes, was birthed out of tragic beauty. My son,Oliver, had a tragic accident in August of 2016. He passed over two weeks before his fourth birthday. The impact of Oliver’s Earthly death shattered the hearts of my family and my entire being from the inside out! I have been on a very deep spiritual journey with my son by my side. While entrenched in the first three years of my grief journey, I had a vivid dream of a yurt with people sitting in a circle. The people were tending to their heartache together through song, meditation, and ceremony. It has become progressively clear that one way I work through my own grief is to be of service to others. In 2020, we put a 30 ft. yurt up on the back property where the sacred work happens and people gather. I continued educating myself to strengthen my skills as a Grief Doula and supportive resource where the confluence of cultivating a business, trusting divine guidance, and gathering community converge as one. Holistic healing opportunities has been evolving ever since. Sacred Dwelling provides wellness events, workshops, day retreats, along with creative grief support services in various forms.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The balance between creating Sacred Dwelling, dealing with my own healing journey, and being fully present for my family has not always been smooth. No way! LOL. Struggles rise and struggles fall. Some more turbulent than others, for sure. I have been challenged to trust in the unknown. To surrender to something greater than myself, believe in the process, and ask for support when needed. This process has certainly tested my endurance and dedication to stick with it when things are turbulent and unclear. Doing any kind of work related to the word ‘grief’ can feel like swimming up stream due to cultural taboos and paradigms. People either think about showing up for a long time or they finally jump in because their life depends on it. It has been a potent education to stay true to the integral foundation of the business while meeting all of the financial, marketing, and unwanted caveats that ebb and flow as Sacred Dwelling continues to evolve as a small business.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Throughout the last nine years, I have been fortunate to transform my pain into purpose. I have a deeper understanding now that grief is not something that requires closure. It is a powerful force that lives within us and has its own ‘life’ force in a plethora of ways. It asks us to lean in, to feel it fully, and then to alchemize our being through healing ourselves. Grief requires, and sometimes demands, methods of integration so that one can embrace painful turbulence and invite consistent becoming while doing our best to live a balanced life full of joy and sadness together as one. Out of my personal sacred process, I have had the incredible opportunity to sit with others one on one and in diverse group forums guiding as a companion, educator, facilitator, witness, creative resource, and compassionate force of love and understanding as a Grief Doula.
Creativity became a companion and outlet for me to self-actualize my grief. It provided opportunities to create meaning and agency, to process, and to release the deep struggle within. Expressive Arts Therapy (EAT) is a central component to my Creative Grief Support Practice. So, what is it? It’s an integrative, multimodal approach that emphasizes artistic experience as a tool for self-discovery, self-expression, transformation, and community-building. It focuses on the integration of the physical, mental, emotional, and social aspects of being human.
Using creativity and ritual therapeutics in my practice is one of my specialties. I love building elaborate interactive living altars for all types of events. They adorn the space while providing a road map to the experience. The altars consist of nature items from our property, locally grown flowers, thrift shop treasures, and other materials. Another area I love to exercise creativity is with my clients. It makes it more playful and explorative, which promotes using the imagination, curiosity, insight, and understanding for the person who is working through something. This could include wordplay, nature exercises, somatic movement, art, writing, integrating mindfulness, and so much more. It encourages people to make meaning out of their circumstance and move forward with strength and conscious awareness.
Like Einstein said, “Creativity is Intelligence having fun”.
Art is life. Art heals.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
It has been my humbled honor to follow divine guidance on this path and accompany others on their authentic journeys. I am deeply grateful for the support I have received from teachers, mentors, family, friends and complete angels that have helped me along the way. Especially, my sweet boy, Oliver.
I wouldn’t be where I am now with Sacred Dwelling or in my personal healing process without the endless support of my husband, Ryan and living children Skyler and Maya. The women’s circle I belong to that meets monthly. The exquisite healers; Jessica Ryan, Alysia Trombley, Kathryn Cook, Elise Wright, and anyone I forgot that I went to for body work. There are specific friends and family members who have not left my side. I am so appreciative of their capacity to hold space for me, uplift me when I was struggling, and celebrate the evolution with their loving presence. I am grateful for the Creative Grief Studio, Paul Denniston’s Grief Yoga/Movement Program, and The Compassionate Listening Organization. I received certifications to facilitate from these incredibly helpful and educational programs. I appreciate the practitioners that come to Sacred Dwelling and offer their gifts. Lastly, I am deeply grateful for my teacher’s in Guatemala, in the Namgyal lineage, at Clear Sky Retreat Center, and various Aikido Dojos, They came before the loss of Oliver and set me up with a solid foundation to walk through the fire with vulnerability, skills, and resilience. Aho.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sacreddwellingllc.com/home
- Instagram: sacred_dwelling
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sacreddwelling
Image Credits
Soul Photography with Asmita Runge
