My calling stems from early childhood when I found my home in nature, with the spirits, the trees, the animals, the plants and I knew on a deep soul level there was an experience I could have within nature which didn’t exist in the modern human-made world. At the age of 7, I learned I could transport myself into the physical and energetic space of another human at will. To make our family Sunday drives go quicker, I would practice teleporting myself while riding in the car – jumping in and out of the fields of people as we passed them. To me this was my little “game” but also very intriguing and not at all strange, I felt we all could do this. Somewhere during childhood and adolescent, I learned these things were not commonly understood or cherished and little by little, as many of us do, I began to filter my experiences. I also took the route of trying to discover God in the box religions, thinking and believing that perhaps I had it all wrong and needed to find my answers in someone else’s doctrine. At the age of 19, I took God out of the box and rediscovered the essence of what spirituality felt like to me personally. The only “practice,” for lack of better term, I could find that mirrored my intrinsic beliefs were that of the Native Americans. At 22 years of age, I received my spirit name – Dakota, one who fights for the people, first from a vision than from a Lakota Elder. My Shamanic Calling stems from those early experiences which formed the basis and the container for all that I do. My entire life has been built from an innate sense and obligation to fulfill my sacred purpose within the Divine. I have never had a “normal job” nor have I ever had to circumvent my life to match my spiritual beliefs. Instead, I created a life of experiences that enveloped and maintained a central core of spirituality as the main conduit in which all else stems from. I have always known deep down that I am a Shaman however it has only been in the past year that I have felt I could humbly take the title.  The work I have done in my career has consistently stemmed from a Shamanic point of view with strong influences of bridging heaven and earth. I have worked tirelessly at the relentless ego from years ago to come to the place where I now find myself which is to accept my Inner Shaman from a deep sense of gratitude and humbleness. Where my calling leads me to now is evolving. I have recently closed my office in Charleston so that I can focus solely on our retreat center, my teachings, and my writings. I desire to continue the work I already do but from a deeper place than I have been and yet with room take it even more profoundly. I see myself utilizing the role of a Shamanic Minister to be of service and as an adjunct to my current position as a Soul Coach for individuals. I also see it as a foundation for building a community, both virtually and in real life. I see Gaia Wisdom School as being a safe container for soul evolution through Shamanic Breath Work, Medicine Wheel Retreats, Meditation and more. By drawing together like-minded people to share in the various transformative processes which have also served me on a personal level. It is important to me that whatever I do, that it is with extreme intention, integrity, and that it matches the lifestyle I have created for myself personally. I cannot bring to my clients that which I don’t currently embody into my own sacred purpose or beingness or even day to day life. My sincere prayer for the work I do is to be a safe space, an open channel, a humble healer, a wise truth seeker, and a continual student. That I will never be in a place of thinking I know it all, or no longer need to grow, or think of my clients as “less than” or treat my relationships with them as a hierarchy that so often happens when people become “teachers.” At the same time, I will always strive to be the teacher who teaches through example, through feeling and depth, by merely being a witness to the process for someone as they reconnect to their Inner Shaman, and through deep sharing, reflection and integration. I take with me not only the training I am doing at Venus Rising but also the work I have done with George Pooley, Hopi Medicine Man and Paul O’Halloran, a very gifted Shaman from Ireland and Dr. Ted Baroody, founder of Holographic Health. These three men have my most profound respect for the wisdom they have shared with me, for taking me under their wings and for seeing me as their Soul Sister. I tuck under my belt the 30 years I have had in this field and the teachings that my clients have imparted on me. I put into my toolbox the gifts and treasures that I discovered in childhood – the magic of nature, the ease of connecting with the Spirits, the unlimited freedom of knowing that anything is possible. And at the foundation of all of this is just my essence as Dakota Earth Cloud Walker, a Shaman and a human, a teacher and a student, a warrior, and a healer.