Santa Barbara & Ventura County, CA. ANFT Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide, Interdisciplinary Artist, Facilitator. a Native Californian, Elena presently makes her home on the ancestral land of the Chumash peoples in Ventura County, CA. She is a Nahua (Azteca Mexica) indigenous woman of the Americas with mixed ancestry. With an ongoing interest in plant medicine, she draws inspiration from stories of her late grandmother, Maria Rios, to whom folks in the neighborhood came to for basic natural health & wellness services in Sylmar, CA during the 1930's & 1940's. Holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute, she is the author, artist, and illustrator of Mitohtiancalli - The House of the Dancer. Spending the majority of her early adulthood as a Wildland Firefighter, she worked on such specialized crews as U.S. Forest Service Interagency Hotshots. Currently, she is a CWN employee of the Chumash Fire Department. She has experienced and witnessed the healing power of the Native American sweat lodge, and as the child of a Korean War Veteran, she strives to assist in offering opportunities for building support for Veterans, active military personnel, and First Responders through these ways.

FIRST RESPONDERS: Consider exploring this as an integrative Risk Management tool and/or Situational Awareness, Team Building exercise.