Transcript for
Creative healing practices to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Jem Stone (00:00): 

Always starts with our connection, so it is our unique journey towards a collective well-being. So for practitioners, I’d really encourage them to connect themselves, and it’s through their own unique connection that they are then able to share that connection and it’s, again, that passing of knowledge. 

Announcer (00:23): 

Welcome to the Emerging Minds Podcast. 

Rosie Schellen (00:29): 

Hi, I’m Rosie Schellen, and you’re listening to an Emerging Minds Podcast. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge we’re on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Peoples. I would like to thank and acknowledge their ancestors, elders, knowledge holders, and future generations for their enduring cultural practises that have cared for this country for more than 60,000 years. Today, you will hear a conversation between Dana Shen and Jem Stone, as they share how Indigenous knowledges, centred in connection to Earth, spirit, and self nurture and support the social and emotional well-being of children. 

Dana Shen (01:05): 

Welcome, everyone. This is Dana Shen, an Aboriginal cultural consultant, working with Emerging Minds. Before we get into learning a bit more about Wayapa Wuurrk, I wonder if you could talk a little bit about yourself first. 

Jem Stone (01:16): 

Absolutely, Dana. Thank you. First, I’d just like to acknowledge that we’re sitting on Wurundjeri Woiwurrung lands, and pay my respects to the ancestors of this land, the elders, past and present. Also acknowledging the Boonwurrung People on the other side of the river, and acknowledging the care and connection to this land since the beginning, and also paying my respects to all the young ones that are coming up on this land. So my name’s Jem. 

(01:42): 

I’m a First Nations woman from the Boonwurrung Nation. I also have mixed heritage from all around the globe. I’m a wellness practitioner, background in yoga, rebirth in breath work, practitioner and trainer, also Wayapa Wuurrk practitioner and trainer, also trained in We Al-li, culturally-integrated, trauma-informed practises, and cultural consultant. 

Dana Shen (02:04): 

Beautiful. And, Jem, what brought you to this work? Why all the modalities and the healing work? 

Jem Stone (02:10): 

Look, like many people, I came through my own healing journey. I started to explore different ways to heal, and I just kept training in all different things, because regardless of what I did, I just felt like there was something else that I really needed, and then I found Wayapa Wuurrk, and it just gave me that missing piece of the puzzle that I was seeking. 

Dana Shen (02:36): 

Thanks, Jem, for that introduction, and that is a beautiful segue into my next question, which was that I would really love to hear a bit more about Wayapa Wuurrk, what it is and what it does, and I’m really, really curious about that piece that it filled for you as well. 

Jem Stone (02:36): 

Yeah. 

Dana Shen (02:52): 

So yeah, I wondered if you could take us broadly through it. 

Jem Stone (02:56): 

Absolutely, I’d love to. So Wayapa Wuurrk is the first internationally accredited Aboriginal wellness modality, which we’re really, really proud of. Wayapa actually translates to connect, and Wuurrk translates to country, or to the earth in the languages of the GunaiKurnai People and the Gunditjmara People of Victoria. And it was created back in 2014 by Jamie Thomas and Sara Jones, and it’s just been a beautiful gift to the world. It is about putting Earth as a starting point for our well-being, which is what makes it really unique out there. 

(03:33): 

Like all Indigenous perspectives, we need to connect and care for Mother Earth in order to gain our own well-being. There’s about 300 practitioners now, not only in Australia, but also, we have a couple of international practitioners now, which is wonderful, because this isn’t culture, this is actually Earth connection, so it is absolutely relevant for everybody on the planet. 

Dana Shen (03:56): 

And in terms of the Earth’s connection, are there particular principles or ideas that kind of come from that, that really underpin what Wayapa Wuurrk is about? 

Jem Stone (04:07): 

Yeah, absolutely. So we have what you could call Four Pillars. So Wayapa creates Earth mind, body, spirit, well-being, and so the Earth was the part that I had missing from every one of the other modalities that I was trained in. So Earth is always that first starting point. As I said, we care and connect to country, and to the Earth in order to gain well-being for ourselves, as well as collective well-being. 

Dana Shen (04:36): 

And you talked a bit about how it filled something for you, like it was that missing puzzle piece, or it filled that space. What, in particular, was it that was filled for you in doing this particular work? 

Jem Stone (04:48): 

Again, as I said, that Earth component that was missing, but Wayapa has 14 elements, which is just an incredible story within itself. We find ways to connect deeply to these elements, and the elements are actually every part and every cycle within the Earth. That’s not only outside of us, that’s also within us. So Wayapa is about aligning with those natural cycles in order to gain well-being for ourselves and collectively, as well as for Mother Earth. 

Dana Shen (05:19): 

And obviously, this is a really big programme, and I know that you can actually do training in this, but I wondered if there were just a couple of those 14 that you could talk us through just in a little bit more depth. 

Jem Stone (05:32): 

Absolutely, I’d love to. So I’ll start with the first one. In Wayapa Wuurrk, it’s the Creator element. And what I love about Wayapa is that it is all-inclusive for absolutely everyone. So with the Creator element, we’re really able to connect with whatever the Creator means for us. 

(05:51): 

So obviously, we know that everybody has a different creator that they connect with, with all different, but in Wayapa, we just acknowledge that connection, we acknowledge that energy of that Creator energy running through each and every one of us, as well as running through everything around us. So we connect with the Creator as our first element. Another element I love is the tree element. We acknowledge in the tree that continual reciprocal relationship we’re in with trees. We breathe in what they breathe out, they breathe in what we breathe out, so we are in constant relationship. 

(06:31): 

We need each other, but we also acknowledge with the tree, the two directions the tree grows. Oftentimes, the root system is as big as what the canopy is, and it’s a really beautiful way we can bring that into trauma work. Oftentimes, with people, when they’re starting to do that deep work, they really need to put those strong foundations, that root system down and that grounding before we see anything flourish on the outside, so we recognise as well that the tree is a home to so many different animals. Trees have gifted us so many things, fruits, building materials. So tree is a really important element for us, and just knowing that every single culture around the globe has got deep connection with trees. 

(07:20): 

There’s birthing trees, there’s scar trees, directional trees, tree of life. It’s absolutely everywhere. So it’s really something that every single culture on the planet has deeply connected with trees. And then, I’ll share our 14th element, which is the child. And when you see these elements together and you hear the whole story, it actually becomes full circle at that point, because the child element is about recognising that each and every one of us has the child within us. We’re constantly learning, and also how we’re receiving that knowledge. 

(08:00): 

So we share in Wayapa about the importance of passing on knowledge and intergenerational well-being. We hear so much about intergenerational trauma, but Wayapa reminds us that we all have access to that intergenerational well-being. So being able to connect to our own lineages is another invitation of Wayapa, that everybody has the ability to connect with their own heritage regardless of, even if it’s a great mystery, we really do hold that intergenerational well-being within us. So that child goes through that process. We think about initiations and things like that. 

(08:38): 

We don’t often see them in the world anymore, but it’s about taking those steps, receiving the knowledge, being nurtured, being supported, and then being able to take that knowledge out into the world, and that’s where that child becomes the creator of the next generation. So it really keeps that full circle with the child becoming that creator. 

Dana Shen (09:01): 

It sounds so beautiful, Jem, and so much of it is, not only do you talk about the connection with country, you talk about connection with culture, you talk about connection with ourselves and their own well-being. Now, you’ve already given me some wonderful illustrations of what this is all about, but I wonder, could you talk a little bit more about another element or part of it that really supports social and emotional well-being in people? 

Jem Stone (09:30): 

Well, just connecting to the Earth in general, that in itself, as I said, is that starting point for well-being. A big issue that we’re seeing a lot is that disconnection people are feeling in the world. They’re feeling disconnected from themselves, each other, and the world around them. So to give them that starting point, that we are all indigenous to the Earth, first and foremost, everybody is indigenous to Mother Earth, and we all have a place. We all belong, and we all have purpose. 

(10:04): 

So a lot of the despair that we see in the world as well is because people are lacking purpose and belonging. So to truly be able to guide them back to that connection, remembering their place as Earth People, they’re actually able to reignite their spirit in a way, so they know that they have purpose, and they know what their path can be in caring and connecting to the Earth so that She can care for us. 

Dana Shen (10:31): 

So I wondered, in your experience, how has this benefited children and families? 

Jem Stone (10:36): 

Dana, it absolutely benefits everybody in so many ways, but particularly I love sharing with children. They have not yet become disconnected, and hopefully they won’t have to with Wayapa, to this innate knowing that’s within us all as Earth People. They live in curiosity, they live in wonder, and they just get it. Whereas by the time we become adults, a lot of the time, we’re disconnected from that curiosity of the child, so we are able to help children bring language to that connection through Wayapa. We’re offering it now in the early years learning space, and children are just able to connect with that wonder that’s already within them. 

(11:24): 

They’re able to connect to each one of these elements, which all offers teachings. Our land element, which is the kangaroo, reminds us to rest, and a lot of the centres are letting us know that that’s particularly powerful, especially at rest times. So the kangaroo can only move forward, never backwards, but in order to keep going, it needs to stop and take rest at least a couple of times a day. So that’s been really powerful for children in the centres as well. And what’s really beautiful is in Victoria, it’s now on the early years school readiness funding list. 

(12:02): 

So it means that centres are able to access that, and we’re able to go in and offer this programme within the centres. So not only the children benefit, the educators do as well. So it means that it’s creating that language and those experience throughout the whole centre, which again, is another principle of Wayapa, because it’s about what knowledge we’re passing on. What are we sharing with our children? So that’s been a really powerful way, as well as we have a programme for mums and bubs. 

(12:33): 

So to truly uplift those mothers, to remind them that regardless of any situation in their life, they are really the knowledge keepers, and the people passing down the knowledge to the next generation, which is truly one of the most important jobs on the planet as well. So it’s helping mums connect, pregnant mums connect to their baby, connecting to themselves, as well as everything around them, those natural cycles that we’re never ever separate from. We often forget that those sun and those moon cycles are not just happening around us, but they’re happening within us as well. So when we’re able to align with those things, we’re aligning with life itself. So those babies are receiving this connection, and this love, and care for Mother Earth, and then going into the early years, then Wayapa goes into schools, into high schools, universities, corporate spaces, drug and alcohol rehabs, prisons. So absolutely everywhere, this knowledge is shared because it truly is relevant for every single one of us on the planet. 

Dana Shen (13:43): 

You’ve already started giving some little kind of tips and thoughts about how as human beings, we can apply that connection, but I also wondered, one of the core groups that we’re speaking to here are practitioners, that are working with children and families. And so I wondered, are there other tips, ideas that you think that they could bring into their own practise, whether it’s personal for them or whether it’s how they work with others, that could be helpful? 

Jem Stone (14:12): 

Absolutely. So Wayapa always starts with our connection, so it is our unique journey towards a collective well-being. So for practitioners, I’d really encourage them to connect themselves, and it’s through their own unique connection that they are then able to share that connection, and it’s again, that passing of knowledge, and we can do that through grounding. It really doesn’t take much to put our feet on the Earth, and take a few deep breaths and just connect. Just feel that energy as we are connecting to the Earth. 

(14:51): 

We need to also remember to stop and wait for Her to reconnect with us. That’s where that deep listening comes in, and that true reciprocity with energy, and we know that that’s offered up to us in every moment. 

Dana Shen (15:09): 

So it sounds like one of the key tips is really about how, as individuals, do we have a relationship with this Earth, and we can find all sorts of ways to do that, and one of them is putting our feet on the ground, and just being with it, and noticing how that gives us back. Just noticing, “How does that do that?” And would it be true to say, Jem, that that could mean that you could go outside, you might hold a leaf in your hand, you might touch a tree? Are those sorts of ways of doing things, approaches that could be used too? 

Jem Stone (15:40): 

Absolutely. But I also think it’s just becoming aware that we’re always in relationship to the Earth. So recognising is that wind’s blowing, it’s also reminding us to breathe. We’re constantly, again, amongst those cycles, they’re happening within us as well, and obviously, being in the natural world is healing within itself. We know that everything is energy. 

(16:07): 

We need to give in order to receive. And we have a bit of a joke in Wayapa to say, “Have you hugged a tree lately?” But the beautiful thing is science is always catching up with Indigenous knowledge. So science now tells us the benefits that we receive with being in trees, or sitting under a tree, that beautiful regulation that we get in our nervous system. So again, it’s just connecting with all those elements, but knowing that we’re always connected. So everything we are doing to be doing it consciously and with that knowing, that we’re always connected means that we’re constantly receiving those benefits of connection in all that we do. 

Dana Shen (16:51): 

So this sounds particularly important in terms of how, as practitioners, we even regulate our own bodies and how we respond in the world. Is there a particular tip or trick that you think might be useful for practitioners in how they relate to the people that they work with? 

Jem Stone (17:09): 

The starting point for well-being is always with connection, whether that’s with the Earth, whether that’s with each other, whether that’s with ourselves. We need to use embodied practises. What I love about Wayapa, it is an embodiment of all the knowledge that’s shared. So we have a movement practise of those 14 Wayapa Wuurrk elements. So what that’s truly doing is allowing us … 

(17:33): 

Once we’ve shared the knowledge in our workshops, it allows our participants to be able to embody that knowledge through a movement practise, which looks a little bit like Tai Chi. It’s a really beautiful practise, but it’s not about alignment or form, it’s about just finding ways to embody that. And I think the most important thing that any of us can do is stay grounded. So that would be a great tip for practitioners, first and foremost, grounding themselves to the Earth and connecting. 

Dana Shen (18:05): 

I really appreciate the work that you’ve done in early education. Have you also worked with older children as well? 

Jem Stone (18:12): 

Yes. We work with children of all ages. And there’s one particular story that comes to mind of a practitioner that was working with an 11-year-old girl, Aboriginal girl, who had been in 80 different foster care homes. So needless to say, she had experienced so much abuse, she’d also experienced distrust of the world, of people. And when she started to connect with Wayapa, it gave her a starting point to truly be able to learn to trust that these elements within the Earth cycles are consistent. 

(18:55): 

They’re always there, they always show up. She was able to connect and realise that she was part of something bigger than herself, so she began to heal. And for the first time in her life, she felt a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and was able to have enough courage to continue to move forward. So obviously huge amounts of healing in that story. We have many similar stories in all different spaces like that, but absolutely, it just nurtures the child. And when I say the child, it nurtures the child in every single one of us. 

Dana Shen (19:36): 

Jem, you used the term embodied practise. I wonder if you could explain in more detail what that means. 

Jem Stone (19:43): 

Yes. So it is when we begin to integrate the knowledge that we receive through this practise. So an embodiment or an embodied practise is actually allowing that integration, so it’s no longer just knowledge that is … Unintegrated knowledge is really just philosophy, so it allows us to drop into our bodies and become present, and to regulate, using that knowledge within our body to regulate and to ground. 

Dana Shen (20:15): 

And you’ve talked about integration. In particular, are there any examples around that in relation to working with children? 

Jem Stone (20:22): 

Absolutely. So it allows children to, not only articulate the state of being, but then, to utilise those elements in order to self-regulate, and the educators or the parents are able to co-regulate with them with this sharing. 

Dana Shen (20:41): 

COVID lockdowns has such a big impact, and I know it had a huge impact on families and children as well. I wondered if there was anything in particular that you think is helpful for children and families from Wayapa Wuurrk in that context. 

Jem Stone (20:56): 

So coming out of lockdown, we found that children, families, and educators were so hugely impacted, and this is why with Wayapa Wuurrk, it truly meets everyone exactly where they’re at. So recognising that we all have unique experiences, Wayapa meets us exactly where we’re at, to be able to move forward and grow that connection from there. 

Dana Shen (21:21): 

Thanks so much, Jem. And a final question now. We know that you do a range of different programmes, and you are training people, and you’re training lots of people that are doing this work. Could you talk a little bit more about the training? 

Jem Stone (21:35): 

The training runs over seven days, and we now offer that either online or in person, and it is such a beautiful journey. We actually call that week the Wayapa Bubble, because we really do create this incredible bubble of connection, so it’s a journey. It truly is a journey of reconnecting for everybody who experiences that. And as I said, it’s for absolutely everyone. We have Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners, so it’s just a beautiful way that we can all, not only connect to the Earth, connect to ourselves, but we can connect with our own lineages and just find deeper ways that we can all integrate that knowledge, that we are Earth People, and that our starting point for that lasting well-being is always with care and connection to the Earth. 

(22:32): 

All those spaces I said, universities, there’s just an amazing thirst for this knowledge. People have been so disconnected and don’t even realise how disconnected they’ve become, so it’s almost like remembering things we didn’t know we’d forgotten. It just really hits us in the heart, and I think it is a science and methodology, but the difference with Indigenous wisdom is that science is connected to our heart, so people really feel this one. So another thing that I absolutely love about Wayapa Wuurrk is that call to action. So we can be Wayapa. 

(23:07): 

We can live a Wayapa way, even if we never do the movement practise, just by living consciously and connecting to those elements, as well as caring for Mother Earth in our own daily lives. It’s not enough that we … Many of us look outside of ourselves for other people to fix things, but it’s about taking that vision to what we’re doing in our daily lives, and remembering that even those very small steps can have a huge impact. So imagine if everybody on the planet lived the Wayapa way. The world would be a whole lot nicer place to be. 

Announcer (23:45): 

Visit our website at emergingminds.com.au to access a range of resources to assist your practise, brought to you by the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, led by Emerging Minds. The centre is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, under the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program.