Melissa Billington on Transmuting Ancestral Trauma: Turning Poison into Potion

Conversations with Kara-Leah

Melissa Billington is a talented yoga teacher, creatrix, inspiratrice, and also a dear friend of mine.

Born in Virginia, Melissa is the 13th lineal descendant of Pocahontas and she shares how she has worked to transmute her family’s ancestral trauma into healing. We also explore why and how Melissa has chosen to take her yoga off the mat and more widely into the world, particularly through water walks, praying for the water, and stand-up comedy.

Oh, and make sure you stick around until the end for a bonus performance from Melissa!

About Melissa + links

For a more detailed bio go here: https://melissaelvirabillington.substack.com/p/who-am-i

PocaHauntUs - Shapeshifting History into HerStory: https://youtu.be/sYHN1r976XE

First song gifted to Melissa in 2014, released by Ojibwe elders in 2018 with encouragement for all women to sing to the waters: https://youtu.be/KC2FHciQ0sU

Learn more about the Indigenous-led prayerwalks for water: http://www.nibiwalk.org

A blip of Melissa's ecologically-focused stand-up material: https://youtu.be/1VF1e-f21M8

Melissa's Instagram (that chronicles the walkabout, including the Missouri River Water Walk): https://www.instagram.com/melissaelvirabillington/

Melissa's Blog "a : muse musing is (more than) amusing": https://melissaelvirabillington.substack.com

Melissa's MYOGA Freedom modules: https://www.youtube.com/@myogafreedom

Credits Audio • Luke Bowman Music • Sexy Urban Beats by PenguinMusic Photo • Pete Longworth Graphic Design • Tara Spice