By Allessandra Inzinna
Humans are the Earth and all its flora and fauna on two legs. We are not separate from the white oaks of the Atlanta forest or the weeds sprouting out of a driveway. We exist in nature, and in the same breadth, nature exists in us. The metropolitan, capitalistic buzz of the modern world would have us forget that.
Women like Kengela Charriez, the founder of Tribe Meditation, are around to remind you.
Tribe Meditation is a business dedicated to Reiki, yoga, meditation, spiritual wellness, and wellness in general. With partners in Pennsylvania, the Pocono Mountains, and Long Island, NY, the “guides” instruct classes and lead their clients to “bliss and oneness.”
It starts with an aching client.
For Charriez, a master in the energy healing practice of Reiki, nurturing the community is etched into her DNA. Following the path of her grandparents, she accepts clients into her bohemian paradise of a home–adorned with crystals and plants and an altar–and imparts on them the knowledge of her name and the names before hers.
Charriez meets clients from all over both in person and virtually. They seek her out, hoping for relief for issues ranging from emotional distress to lethargy and physical pains. Some just seek guidance in the midst of constant forks thrown in their roads. Some seek a deeper connection with themselves.
“Oftentimes, we go on this hamster wheel of life and we are in so much discomfort and pain and don’t realize it,” she said. “We just wake up thinking it’s normal.”
The chakra system provides a blueprint: The Crown, Third Eye, Throat, Heart, Solar Plexus, Sacral and Root. Charriez finds where her clients have balance and imbalance in the chakras, and determines why those imbalances exist. But the answer can fog up, which is where cannabis comes in.
The sacrament of using cannabis in plant medicine incorporates all the four elements: earth, where the plant grows, water for its sustenance, fire as it ignites, and air as you inhale. When used with the intent to understand oneself, Charriez said that her clients “transcend.”
“I had a client that experienced several realms of existence, as she would try to explain it, and each realm of existence consisted of areas of her life that she needed to focus on. It created a heightened sense of awareness, which it often does.”
People first used cannabis as medicine around 400 A.D., about 5,000 years ago, according to a 2017 study in the National Institutes of Health. Communities embraced the plant’s medicinal value up until 1937, when the first federal restrictions rolled out. The Marijuana Tax Act began an almost century long attack on the plant. But cannabis has inched itself into mainstream favor. Nine in ten Americans support the legalization of medical cannabis, according to Pew Research Center.
Not everyone knows how to use cannabis as a means to understand and “transcend,” as Charriez puts it. So they seek out shamans and guides.
“I say listen to your body. What is it that doesn’t feel 100% for you? Some folks say, ‘I just don’t know, I just don’t feel good.’”
Even beyond cannabis, plant medicine is an integral part of Charriez’s practice. Lemon balm for viruses, damiana for a decreased libido, turmeric for inflammation. She’ll collect herbal teas and present them to her client, allowing them to choose their path of healing for that session. It also creates a connection between them and what they consume.
“When you till the ground and you plant a seed and you watch your cucumber plant grow from nothing to something from just the four elements, then it really means something way more valuable than driving up to the drive thru and asking them for the number whatever.”
Now, there’s no judgment. So many of our lives are bursting at the seams with responsibility and a lack of time. But when Charriez aligns her tea choices for the session, she’s carving out space for you to take back your connection. Once she opens that door, her clients are able to carve their own path to mind, body and spiritual balance.
“When my clients come to see me I tell them right off the bat, listen, you’re gonna love coming here. You’re gonna love spending this time with me, but the operative goal is for you to come to see me maybe once a month, once every two months.” Charriez said. “After a while, you can get on board and learn how to do these things for yourself.”
“[My clients] eventually begin to find themselves and once you find that, then you have answers. And then you begin to understand religion and everything else outside of yourself. Everything else begins to get a lot clearer.”
Founder + Owner of Tribe Meditation, Kengela Charriez has Energy healing in her ancestral soul. She is a soul-lifting Rasta Guided Meditator and Clairvoyant. Kengela is also a Reiki practitioner and is attuned as a Reiki Master Teacher to empower others to become practitioners themselves. She has authored a children’s book, “The Colorful World of Emily” and continues to serve both adults and youth in the community.
To learn more about her work + connect with Kengela, visit tribemeditations.com
