Why the “Woo Woo” Works for Children of Immigrants

The talk about “decolonizing therapy” is such a popular buzzword nowadays but what does it exactly mean? How might this be related to all you "woo woo", otherwise, mystical, spiritual, & artsy lovers out there? 

In order to answer this we must go back in time, and I mean way back to our ancestors during ancient civilizations. From the artistic hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, to the elaborate sculptures from ancient Indian temples, it is clear that "woo woo" was a way of life for our ancestors. These intelligent civilizations were not only able to build ecstatic monuments and feed their families, but were devoted to their cultural indigenous practices from rituals, worship, music, art, dance, circles by the bonfire, and deeply valued spiritual beliefs.

"Woo woo" is a label created by colonization itself to degrade indigenous practices. "

You see, when colonization’s desire was to dominate lands and peoples, a clever tactic was to label sacred indigenous practices as inferior, devil worship, and scientifically ineffective to enforce their own school of thought. In fact, it is only recently that "modern science" is beginning to discover the healing benefits of ancient practices like yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda in a recent study conducted by Tillu and researchers in 2020.

Colonization has disempowered our forefathers and mothers from our roots, resulting in diaspora, which means "to cut from the root". Over generations, this manifested as forced diaspora through wars, trauma, & arranged marriages, to voluntary diaspora like immigration, or job & educational opportunities. Whether forced or voluntary, our roots have been spliced. 

To think of this as a plant being traumatically cut out from it's roots and placed into another pot due to unwanted contamination. What would be the quality of life for that plant? It makes sense that children of immigrants today feel unsettled in their "roots", and often experience anxiety, depression, identity crises, & loneliness as lived experiences. This may not only be due to environmental factors from family, jobs, & social situations, but an energetic, intergenerational, & ancestral component, in that our entire existence was created upon migration. The diaspora are like a bridge between lands & cultures but ironically, fully belong to neither. 

The “Diaspora”, which is to cut from the root…are like a bridge between lands & cultures but ironically belonging to neither. In order to decolonize, we must reconnect, remember, and awaken the roots that have been severed.

A recent study by Karasz and researchers in 2020 observed that South Asians diaspora populations tend to express their mental health trauma through physical manifestations, such as body pain, gastrointestinal & digestion issues, sleep dysregulation, and hormonal irregularities in women, otherwise called somatization. Our bodies can act as our "home" when home & belonging has been disconnected from us. 

The South Asian diaspora expresses trauma through physical manifestations such as digestion and gastrointestinal issues…Healing the diaspora must be a holistic approach in that the infamous eastern Buddhist belief states the mind, body, and spirit are inseparable.

In otherwords, to freely engage our bodies and spirits. Dance, play, sing, laugh, cry, storytell, create music, and utilize our 5 senses, be in nature…because these things are natural, human & ancestral roots, not “woo woo”at all. By bringing back these indigenous practices in therapy & healing, that have been otherwise labelled as woo woo to disempower, may we remember, reclaim, empower, & reawaken ourselves to our roots so that we can navigate multicultural experiences and redefine what coming back home means to us.  

And if you ever find your brain in moments of colonized skepticism, listen to your heart, your spirit, the ancestral blood that flows through your veins, your DNA…and you will intuitively REMEMBER once again.  
Maybe you love how all this sounds but it seems so far fetched, new, and are just words right now. It's natural to not feel quite embodied yet. Healing  & reclaiming doesn't happen overnight, it is a journey. 
You've taken the first step just by reading this!
If you desire to dive deeper into your healing, I can support you through individual psychotherapy, couples therapy, & women’s circles. Book a consult with me below!

Sources: Karasz, A., Gany, F., Escobar, J., Flores, C., Prasad, L., Inman, A., Kalasapudi, V., Kosi, R., Murthy, M., Leng, J., & Diwan, S. (2019). Mental Health and Stress Among South Asians. Journal of immigrant and minority health, 21(Suppl 1), 7–14. : 

Girish Tillu, Sarika Chaturvedi, Arvind Chopra, and Bhushan Patwardhan.The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.May 2020.360-364.