We Heal Together: Rituals and Practices for Building Community and Connection

by Michelle Cassandra Johnson

A hopeful, wise, and practical guide to help us move  into spaces of individual and collective healing,  community, and relationship building—with practices to shed our isolation, connect, and thrive.

​In times of isolation, heartbreak, and brokenness, reaching out to each other, being in conversation, finding ways to connect with compassion and openness can help us heal, and thrive. This powerful, positive guide coaxes us to go beyond  our individual and collective grief, and courageously re-enter and reclaim our sense of community—which then further strengthens our spiritual practice.  
   Through spiritual teachings drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, mindfulness practices, rituals, resources, and journaling prompts in each chapter, Michelle Cassandra Johnson shows us how we can heal and facilitate healing; reclaim what it means to hold space and build community; find joy; connect to and summon support from our ancestors; connect with nature to strengthen and restore ourselves; and love, alchemize, dream, and conjure in community.
  Examples of practices include journaling on what community means to you; meditation with a ritual object; progressive muscle relaxation; Yoga Nidra; and many more—all adapted for use alone or in a group. Includes simple, evocative line drawings by Vashon Island, WA-artist, Ivan Moy.

Genres: Spirituality, Self Help, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Personal Growth, Psychology, Social Justice

223 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2023

Reviews

[Dom Bordenabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

something i really enjoyed and appreciated about the pacing and structure of this book is that there is space for emotional processing and sharing of experiences, while also sharing practical skills and rituals to practice alone, in community, or as a community leader.

i really appreciate all of the thoughts and experiences in this book!

[Jill Salahub · Rating 5 out of 5]

The trio of books from Michelle Cassandra Johnson are SO GOOD. In particular, if you are holding space for other people practicing with the intention to ease suffering in themselves and the world, read her books. They offer a critical foundation for healing through the definition of shared language, the awareness of how dominant culture distorts human truth, the value of honoring both the beauty and brutality of life, and the presentation of various practices and rituals. I also really appreciated how the author wove her personal experience throughout -- making her so present and real. A bit of serendipity: the bookmark I grabbed to use while I was reading said "save the bees" and had a picture of a bee on it (you'll get the reference if you read the book(s)).

[Odessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It's in those moments of suffering, where our sense of self is shattered, that we are reminded of our true eternal identity. Turning toward suffering sets us free from our own internal narrative and allows us to exist in truly pure beingness. In my experience, doing this work in isolation, turning toward heartache head-on, looking at the reality of death, grieving deeply for the state of the world-it can all feel like too much to process. So we get left; we get stuck in this idea of our small sense of self. Turning toward suffering with the support of others keeps us connected to our eternal identity. Facing heartache head-on and holding the pain of others reinforces the deep internal understanding that your heartache is my heartache."

"Bearing our hearts to one another is a holy act...When we commune with one another with purpose and open hearts and spirits, auspiciousness abounds."

"What if we too saw ourselves as the ritual? What if we saw ourselves and worked to decrease the suffering on the planet as an offering to our ancestors? We are the medicine and the medicinal herb, the mantra, the fire, the universe. We are all the sacred vibration of om, unified together. There is a role for ritual as each one of us contemplates how to show up and respond to what ails us collectively....You are a living, breathing, and moving ritual."

"There is too much for us to respond to, and our hearts can grow weary. Even though our hearts can break and open, again and again, the cycle can become tiresome. What I have learned over time about the wounded world is that for me to stay alive, present to my life, connected to others and the natural world, and be engaged in creating and reimagining a world where fewer wounds occur, I must build the capacity to be with the wounds. I must work to mitigate more cycles of suffering, and remember that the world's heaviness exists alongside all the joy and magic the world creates in collaboration with us."

"Heaviness and joy can exist at the same time. Grief and joy often dance with each other. Heartbreak and joy are good companions. Being present to our wounds and healing isn't mutually exclusive. As we do the work of healing ourselves and the world, it is necessary for us to find and fell joy amid all the suffering. Joy can aid us as we come together to heal. Joy is connected to our ability to find peace even amid heaviness or hardship.
Joy is often experienced when we trust we are held by Source, ancestors, or something bigger than ourselves and where we are-it is less fleeting than happiness, which is often an outward expression in response to external things such as situations, people, and events."

"As I engage in my dharma of making this world better as homage to those who came before me and those who will come after me, if I am not prioritzingn my own healing, do not have the resources I need to heal, or am not engaged in a healing process and practice, how can I create a space for healing? As the feminist, healer and organizer, Omisade Burney-Scott explains,
I do not want to show up in movement spaces, busted up and broke down...I want you to be able to take full advantage of this liberatory space."

"Santosha, one of the niyamas (moral observances) from yogic philosophy, means contentment, and practicing it is key to finding joy and feeling joyful amid suffering. Santosha is about being content or rather accepting what is happening as it is. This does not absolve us of our moral responsibility to change what is happening or intervene to disrupt the unjust things happening in our world, but instead asks us to look at what is happening as it is and to work to allow joy to exist alongside the things happening in the world meant to make us or others suffer and feel joyless."

"I had to go through all the muck that my ancestors assigned me to move through to bring forth work about healing so we can become free."

[Dana Wilk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon reading the first few pages of "We Heal Together," I knew I wasn't just reading a book but rather a text of profound spiritual knowledge that I'll be pouring over, reading after reading for the rest of my life. I recently discovered Michelle Cassandra Johnson's work, but I feel like all of her writing is what I've longed for reading since I was very, very young. The most resonant response to a deep plea within my soul. There are a handful of books on my library shelves that I read and re-read because there's layers that are uncovered with each iteration, as life reveals something that needs to be learned. I find myself referencing the words and ideas within those precious texts throughout decades in my journal writing or in the grow-y goodness of the best conversations. All of Michelle's books feel like this: Her writing is utterly gorgeous in it's wording, bursting with brilliant and staggering insight, and is impeccable in the design and flow of each book. Her writing feels like your best friend saying the thing that's most true in the very most loving way possible. "We Heal Together" responds to who we are and what we can heal into as community which centers the dignity and divinity of each person. The nature of community has overwhelmed and bewildered me for all of my life and the way Michelle guides us with spiritually grounding practice as the pathway to collective healing is like an alchemical illumination. It is truly A WORK OF ART!!!!!!!!

[Div Manickam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Community healing is our key to unlock the loneliness epidemic and to be there for folks with loving kindness.
Thanks for your story and wisdom on healing together 🙏

Highlights from the book 📖

Given all that was happening in our world, it was essential to offer the medicine of a gathering even through a computer screen to say "I see you, I understand, I feel lost, too."



Now feel your body becoming lighter and lighter. Listen to the words I say and allow images to move into your consciousness:

Thrive

Healing

Collective

Dream

Vision

Intention

Freedom

Sunlight

River

Sunset

Community

Together

[Lizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very much targeted towards individuals with a certain belief system which unfortunately was not me. I, personally, was looking for more concrete tools to utilize working with communities and was met with much more spiritual and philosophical practices. While I believe this book could like be very powerful and beneficial for some, it was not for me. I also found it a bit repetitive in some sections. I will say I very much enjoyed the segment on finding joy, this felt more accessible to me and my outlook.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful gift to the world in book form. I've loved all of Michelle Cassandra Johnson's books dearly, but this one I'm in love with. It lands in the heart first and then the intuitive mind confirms that her offering is indeed the format for deep healing. Can't be described, must be experienced ❤️

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Miriam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong, solid and useful. I personally found Finding Refuge more transformative and helpful, but this is still great.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this soulful and heartfelt book. The author explores practices and rituals to deepen our awareness of ourselves and the natural world and become closer to one another and the earth. The practices are described both for one person and adapted for a group setting. There are lots of journaling prompts to incorporate the teachings more deeply. I look forward to putting some of these into practice. Really grateful to Michelle for her healing offering to the world.

[Mikus · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Heal Together is a beautiful book on how the art of rituals, whatever they may be, are a source for refuge and connection in a world so full of suffering. On reflecting on the many ways we connect, either with ourselves, interpersonally, or interconnectedly as a whole. To acknowledge the suffering and harms in the world to counteract them, accept and take skillful action in dismantling and healing from these harms. It is something we all can come back to again and again, as a continuous practice.