Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the Indigenous roots of the land on which the Yoga Center now stands. We recognize this land is part of the territory of the Tewa People, the Nambe Pueblo, as well as nomadic territory of the Jicarilla Apache.  As residents we offer our gratefulness to all the ancient ancestors that came before us as well as to those for whom this place continues to hold meaning today including the Diné (Navajo) and Cochiti, Taos, and Hopi Pueblos among others.    

Oga Po’geh, meaning White Shell Water Place, is the Tewa name for Santa Fe. The white shells in this name refer specifically to a shelled species that originates from the ocean on the California Coast. This name demonstrates the long history of trade and people coming together on this land that has occurred for millenia... and before that our animal brothers and sisters gathered at the water... and before that, the water came; flowing through this high desert country as a sacred giver of life.  

We find our part in the history of this gathering place as a Yoga Center that brings people together around holistic well-being. Like Yoga Center’s labyrinth, we stand as a place to gather and center ourselves in mindfulness and healing so that we may walk the path back out bringing health into our communities. We celebrate the healing we do and look forward to how it can extend to support the well-being of the land we share and all its inhabitants; whether they have four legs, two legs, wings, fins, roots, or are flowing.  

We take conscious and delighted action in being a center that brings people together around health and mindfulness that includes land acknowledgement as a daily practice for our highest well-being, but also as a way to align with and honor Indigenous traditions that ask us to more consciously care for the Earth through connection with the land and kinship with nature.  We widen our circle of care to include all beings with which we share this land.  We do this by taking time to thoughtfully consider the consequences of our choices and actions in the world.  

With gratitude to Kimberly Caputo-Heath for crafting this statement.