About
Sacred Dwelling
Is the land and space we cohabitate with and lovingly care for and tend to. My family and I live on five bountiful acres up on the hill above the Sky Valley between the towns of Monroe and Duvall, WA. My husband and I live here with our two children. Homesteading is central to our lifestyle. Annually, we co-create a garden full of food and sustenance with the grace of the ecosystem. I love flowers and find much peace in working with natural landscape to create sacred aesthetic spaces throughout the land. There is a myriad of trails on the property where people can walk and enjoy the surrounding foliage and Cedar trees. Each season brings abundant wildlife and natural life-death cycles to witness and to be a part of. One can easily experience the beauty and sacredness of this space. The gracious offering is palpable once you spend some time here. We are truly blessed to be stewards of this
'Sacred Dwelling'.
What is the meaning of Sacred Dwelling?
Human beings are intrinsic seekers, repairers, and healers. Everyone who comes here is bringing their own authentic dwelling place deep within their own being. The workshops and events taking place here are intended to offer a safe supportive environment so people can learn about themselves through diverse modalities; physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mindfully. We need each other in order to grow and to share our personal dwelling place within community. Sacred Dwelling honors this universal source within all of us and welcomes ALL people.
The land is the foundation,
where other sacred dwellings reside. We have a 30’ x 60’ Marquees Stretch tent that is used in the warmer months for outdoor community wellness and healing events. The tent has a magical feel to it when you are under its protective wingspan from the sun and the rain. The stretchy material can be setup to create different expansive or smaller tent shapes and sizes. From a womb like cave feeling to a rectangular open space. The tent also retains acoustics quite well and does not disappoint, especially for those experiencing a sound bath or music throughout a workshop.
Yurt nestled in the woods
We have a 30’ Pacific Yurt nestled in the woods. The yurt is a dwelling that provides an indoor 'open floor' dry space. It is a round house or lodge that naturally evokes sacred circles, which represents unity, infinity, connection, wholeness, and inclusion. The dome symbolizes the connection between earth and sky. The yurt sits in our back woods surrounded by trees and natural habitat. One can clearly hear the birds, the crickets, the frogs, etc. as if they are right beside you. It can feel like you are sitting outside in the elements while you are warm and cozy near the wood burning stove. The sound of the rain lulls you into a calm state. Many people speak of how incredible the acoustics are while being immersed in a sound bath.
In the summer of 2017,
a few friends and I, from a local yoga studio, put together a day yoga retreat (Blessëd Roots) to host on our land. We had a few yoga classes and vendor booths including local artists, along with wellness practitioners offering massage, cranial sacral therapy, vision boarding, etc. The beauty and the growth of the day among community inspired me to co-create more. After four years of hosting yoga retreats in the summer months and coincidingly navigating my grief journey, I felt the calling to professionalize my offerings. The name Sacred Dwelling came to me in a dream. We are now hosting community wellness and healing events which includes, but not limited to; yoga, sound baths, writing and grief workshops, local art vending, and new aligned offerings as they present themselves.
How did Sacred Dwelling come about?
We moved here from Mount Desert Island, ME with our first son, Oliver in 2013. We were starting our family and decided to move back to WA to live near my husband’s side of the family. After working most of my career path in the arena of International Education, I decided that I would not be in the traditional workforce anymore and would expend that energy being pregnant, birthing, and raising our children. Best decision I ever made! It’s the most challenging job I have ever had, but worth every identity or ego crisis that came about. It also gave me the sacred gift of time and presence with my son Oliver, who 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.One way I am working through my own grief is to be of service to others. The importance of a supportive community, wellness opportunities, along with expressive heART grief therapy began to awaken a new purpose for my life as a bereaved Mother.
About Kylee Gies
I grew up Northeast of Pittsburgh, PA in a small town called Natrona Heights (a.k.a Natty Heights). I have always had a love for the Quaker state full of green rolling hills. It has a down to Earthiness of the mid-west and at the same time beholds the ‘keystone’ to the East coast. I went to Skidmore College to receive my undergraduate degree in Anthropology and Early Childhood Education. Beautiful Upstate New York was home for six years until the traveler in me needed to explore. I ended up teaching Kindergarten at an international school in Panajachel, Guatemala for six years. When I wasn’t teaching, I worked for a company called Where There Be Dragons as a field instructor for adventure learning abroad programs for teenagers and young adults.
My life was changed forever in exponential ways living in Guatemala as an expat. Eventually, I returned to the U.S.A to go to graduate school For a M.A. in Intercultural Relations at Lesley University, Somesville, MA. International Education was my passion and life’s work in the world. I felt called to work with International Students and to help them navigate a multi-faceted foreign experience as they pursued their higher education degrees.
I worked at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, ME for five years as an International Student Adviser. The international students and college have such a special place in my heart. The experience taught me so much about relativity and diversity in life and how to navigate what is exhilarating and sometimes uncomfortable with curiosity and grace.
Beyond my international education career trajectory, I have a beautiful family; a loving supportive husband, two living children (Skyler 9 yrs., Maya 6 yrs.), and one angel boy (Oliver, 11 Earth yrs.). For twenty-five-years, I have practiced yoga and have found personal refuge, teachings, and solace on and off my yoga mat. I have equally been a Buddhist practitioner and find life to make complete sense within this paradigm and philosophy. I am blessed to have met venerable teachers and like-minded community to explore mindfulness and meditation. My other love is the martial art of Aikido. The word "aikido" is formed of three kanji: ai – harmony, unifying, ki – energy, spirit, dō – way, path. I practiced for ten years until I started having babies. These practices are my foundation and have kept me tethered to the Earth, especially through turbulent times in life. Nothing prepared me more for the death of my son than these ancient meaningful teachings.
A part of me died the day my sweet Oliver (Oggy) transitioned back into The Great Mystery. I have been on a very deep spiritual journey from complete darkness into the light again like a phoenix rising from the ashes with my son by my side. I believe 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 is asking 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 living a life full of joy and sadness together as one. Our wounds are a custom invitation to walk our unique path of healing.
I am fulfilling my personal calling to be of service to others as a Grief Doula. Others will inevitably walk the bereaved path. My speciality is companioning bereaved parents, especially Mothers, on their grief journeys. I welcome all forms of grief that needs tending to with love and compassion for death, loss, suffering, and grief are a natural part of the life cycle. I am able to support others by meeting them where they are at in the present moment and move at a person’s pace toward making meaning out of grief. I provide experiential opportunities to explore and to grow with expressive heART therapy, ritual, ceremony, and Earth Psychology in individual and group settings.
I received certification as a Creative Grief Support Practitioner with The Creative Grief Studio in Fall 21'. I also received certification to be a Grief Movement Guide with Paul Denniston's Grief Yoga and Movement program in Fall 22'. In October 23' I finished Eckhart Tolle's and Kim Eng's School of Awakening program; 'Becoming a Teacher of Presence'. These continued experiential education programs have further resourced me as a Grief Doula. I have been offering; grief workshops, day retreats, sacred grief circles, ceremonies of passage, along with seeing clients one-on-one. Please see my offerings. I am honored to be of service to your heart and walk with you side by side on your grief journey.
