It all started when...
My medicine journey truly began when I decided to go on a trip to Peru in 2008, after experiencing an emotional breakdown while on a long meditation retreat. Despite being a meditation teacher, community leader and spending many years doing long Vipassana retreats, I realized that the traumas I endured as a child and while growing up were still there. I experienced a debilitating sense of grief every day and had difficulty maintaining healthy relationships and emotional stability no matter how hard I tried. I pretended to be ok but there were places inside of me that felt so broken, and I couldn’t seem to uproot these painful patterns no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t know how to heal myself anymore, so I began praying for a new approach.
It was during my darkest hour in 2007 that a dear friend reached out and introduced me to Ayahuasca. She was a clinical psychologist who led private groups up in the mountains of northern California. My first ceremony changed my life forever and I immediately planned a long trip down to Peruvian Amazon. It was deep in the jungle when I found my spirit, opened my heart, and discovered my connection to the Shipibo indigenous community. I found my home and a very powerful medicine lineage which has now become one of my root traditions.
My first trip was life changing and my trauma was finally healing at the core. I became passionate about plant medicine and its incredible effects on the mind and the body. I began working with Ayahuasca regularly and studying with Indigenous Shipibo healers over many years. In 2014, I spent a year in the jungle with my Shipibo guides, doing plant diets and apprenticing with many experienced healers. I have participated in hundreds of Ayahuasca ceremonies over the years. I have led large groups since 2015 when I founded Lotus Vine Journeys.
I have seen and personally experienced many transformations over the years, and it's been a joy to share this work with others. This organization was born out of compassion and my sincere intentions to be of service to the world. We are a unique organization that blends plant medicine, Buddhism and now Harriet Tubman! Buddhism and Shamanism are ancient wisdom traditions, and both are dedicated to helping us restore our basic sanity and goodness. At Lotus Vine Journeys, we combine them for maximum growth and insight. Within the Buddhist tradition the meditation practices that we do are designed to clear away the blockages so that we can see who we truly are. In Shamanic practices we can locate the blockages and uproot them very quickly. Time is of great importance now and we must transform our greed, hatred, and delusions sooner rather than later. When we combine these two great traditions with the help of our ancestors, we have power tools that can be skilfully used to rapidly accelerate our own awakening. This work is powerful and for those who feel called I welcome you.
“The Spirit of Harriet Tubman and other great Bodhisattvas are always with me and reminding me that we are so much more powerful then we know. ”
More About Spring
Spring Washam is a well-known meditation teacher, author and visionary leader based in Oakland. She is the author of two books, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage and Wisdom in Any Moment and her newest book, The Spirit of Harriet Tubman: Awakening from the Underground. Spring is considered a pioneer in bringing mindfulness-based healing practices to diverse communities and is one of the founding teachers at the East Bay Meditation Center, located in downtown Oakland, CA.
Spring has completed years of formal teacher training at Spirit Rock Meditation center including the two and a half year training for “Community Dharma Leaders” and then a six-year residential retreat teacher training led by Jack Kornfield at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and Insight Meditation Society. She has led insight meditation retreats since 2009 and is a member of the teacher’s council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in northern California.
She has practiced and studied Buddhist philosophy in both the Theravada and Tibetan schools of Buddhism since 1999. In addition to being a teacher, she is also a shamanic practitioner and has studied indigenous healing practices since 2008. She is the founder of Lotus Vine Journeys, an organization that blends indigenous healing practices with Buddhist wisdom in South America. Her writing and teachings have appeared in many online journals and publications such as Lions Roar, Tricycle, and Belief.net. She currently travels and teaches meditation retreats, workshops, and classes worldwide.
Spring's website: www.springwasham.com
Video Teachings
Please enjoy some of my favorite video teachings. Each video focuses on a different theme. I hope you enjoy them! Learn more on my YouTube channel.
Podcasts and Interviews
The One You Feed
This interview includes conversations about The Wolf Parable, Spring's book, A Fierce Heart: Finding Strength, Courage, and Wisdom in Any Moment, how she became a meditation teacher, how self-compassion is at the heart of Buddhist teachings, how being with ourselves in difficult times is an act of mercy, how a synonym for mindfulness is remembering, Spring's first ayahuasca ceremony, what ayahuasca is, the risks of using entheogens, the debate in the Buddhist community about this approach, whether you need to go to the jungle for this type of healing, how we often need multiple approaches to healing ourselves, and how feeling like you are innately good changes the whole path.
Buddhist Geeks
This podcast features a discussion about the integration of Buddhist contemplative practice with the Peruvian plant medicine ayahuasca. Beginning with Spring's dharma journey and the way that silent practice no longer served her deeper healing journey, and how that ultimately brought her to the jungles of Peru. The conversation then turns to healing ancestral trauma, and how a deeper collective healing process underlies each of our personal journeys. Spring shares an interesting perspective on how these “medicines of the earth" can be understood as collective wisdom rising from nature itself at a crucial point in our time on this planet.
10% Happier with Dan Harris
Dan Harris is a fidgety, skeptical ABC newsman who had a panic attack live on Good Morning America, which led him to something he always thought was ridiculous: meditation. He wrote the bestselling book, "10% Happier," started an app -- "10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics" -- and now, in this podcast, Dan talks with smart people about whether there's anything beyond 10%.
Embodied Philosophy - Chitheads
In a cultural climate exhibiting profound levels of anxiety and depression, stress and alienation, apathy and moral malaise, Embodied Philosophy recognizes the need for what we call embodied philosophical living. Embodied philosophy is not philosophy of the intellect alone, but is an integrated, non-dualistic living wisdom.
Audio Talks
I put together a collection of some of my favorite dharma talks. I hope they inspire you in your practice! For full collection check out Dharma Talks