Awaken Your Roots - by Lorena Saavedra Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A pacha philosopher's guide to recover agency and belonging through the medicine of nature, cultural connection, and ancestral wisdom

Have you felt disconnected from your family story and traditions, lost for a sense of home and belonging? While circumstance may have forced this detachment, a new path is yours to forge, one that leads you back to what is rightfully yours.

Reclaim your agency and purpose--especially from cultural forces that have caused you to feel deficient, inadequate, and invisible. Lorena knows this path, as her personal wounds related to war, financial hardship, and intergenerational trauma have become portals through which she reconnected to her own medicine. Here, she offers the key to personal and collective healing, helping readers move through anxiety and shame, rediscover their own inner wisdom, and access the tools to interweave their dreams with their deep roots.

Reconciling with our ancestors' traditions and weaving ourselves back into our history is a therapeutic endeavor that deserves to be embarked upon with respect and authenticity. "Ancestral knowledge, at its core," says Lorena, "has communal threads linked to Nature. All of us can come back to these basic roots." With a focus on ancestral wisdom and relationship with nature, Lorena provides an integrated experience for facing the jaguar--a powerful symbol of courage and purpose--through mirroring and embodiment practices. By cultivating personal medicine and sharing it with others, we can all live the life we deserve.

Review Quotes

"In a time of disconnection and upheaval, Lorena Saavedra Smith offers a luminous path back to wholeness--woven from the wisdom of lineage, land, and lived experience. With fierce love and grounded insight, she invites us to remember who we are, where we come from, and the power that lives in our bones." --Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance and Trusting the Gold

"Awaken Your Roots is medicine--a lovingly crafted invitation to return to our roots in the living world. Drawing on Andean wisdom, Lorena Saavedra Smith calls us to tend our wounds from generational trauma--and shows us how. Her work is a song-prayer for wholeness, a ritual of remembrance, a guide to live in right relationship with ourselves and the earth." --Valarie Kaur, bestselling author of See No Stranger and Sage Warrior, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project

"Lorena takes you along on her journey. Navigating the hopes, dreams, and disappointments of a life spanning many cultures, she shows you how to embrace your roots and live from that place of ancient knowing as it is lived in the here and now." --Rev. Konin Cardenas, also known as Ayyā Dhammadīpā, ordained nun in the Suzuki Roshi lineage and president of the board of directors of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association

"Like the threads of a colorful 'manta, ' Awaken Your Roots interweaves poetry, storytelling, philosophy, ancestral medicine, and Nature's wisdom to invite readers to reclaim agency, heal trauma, and embrace purpose in their lives. I highly recommend Awaken Your Roots to care providers of all backgrounds and professions as an invaluable resource for understanding the complex stories of individuals who have been 'replanted' and are searching for healing and self-acceptance in lands and cultures far away from their own." --Jennifer Kreatsoulas, PhD, C-IAYT, author of The Courageous Path to Healing

"These lessons in Awaken Your Roots have helped me understand myself and my spiritual journey. I felt in my body and soul that nature and ancestry were powerful forces in my life, but I didn't know why. Now I see why I have instinctively sought these sources of comfort and wisdom.

"As the daughter of a Latina mother who replanted in a new land and taught me essential lessons from her personal and cultural heritage, I celebrate this book's reminder to access, trust, and lean into the spirit and guidance of our ancestral roots.

"By embracing our whole selves and our complex histories, we can carve pathways to flourishing--for ourselves and for future generations." --Kristina Graff, head of social impact with Yoga Alliance

About the Author

Lorena Saavedra Smith is a pacha philosopher and ecopsychologist. Originally from Perú and replanted to the US, Lorena is a lifelong storyteller and keeper of Andean ancestral wisdom and medicine. With more than two decades of experience in the wellness industry, Lorena draws on a multidisciplinary background to help others find healing through inner wisdom and the healing powers of nature. She's a proud US Navy veteran spouse living in the Washington, DC, area. Visit lorenasaavedrasmith.com.