EPISODE 009: Depression, Suicide & Connection with Aki Hirata Baker
In today’s episode, I invite initiated medicine woman & teacher, Aki Hirata Baker, to share her story - the energy ended up taking us to her personal experiences with depression, suicide, and grief. We went deep into these topics as we discussed generational trauma, fear of connection, and the true gift of having conversations around our shadows. Aki was so transparent in this conversation and I hope her vulnerability and honoring of her own humanness has you walking away with a deeper sense of compassion for yourself - for exactly where you are right now.
We dive into:
Depression and the memory of her first time experiencing it herself
Guilt & shame around suicide - and why Aki makes it a point to talk about it
Her advice for avoiding depressive states when transitioning out of the birth & nursing phase of motherhood
Fear of connection (and why Aki is concerned about the human collective)
A look at her spirit-led organization, MINKA Brooklyn - and why she is feeling grief around this
And more
Aki Hirata Baker is an initiated Medicine Woman, Moondancer, teacher, speaker, space holder, multi-modality healing practitioner, and community organizer whose work is based on the anti-racial spiritual liberation principle.
She is a founder of MINKA Brooklyn, a collectively-run healing space that centers the work to heal from all forms of social oppression to restore humanities, and an un-capitalistic approach to the 'business of being well’. Immigrant from Japan and currently based in Brooklyn NY, Aki has devoted her life to studies of mysticism, philosophy, healing modalities and liberation principles.
Connect with Aki here:
Websites: http://soulflowermedicine.com & http://minkabrooklyn.com & http://minkamysteryschool.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/soulflowermedicine/
Did this episode impact you?
I’d love to know what moment touched or inspired you. Let me know in the comments section below, or share the episode on social media and tag me in your stories @pohong.yu!
