Meet Lilia Morales of East LA/ Boyle Heights

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilia Morales

Hi Lilia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Yes. I started my wellness/ healing journey back in 2015-2016. I was in San Francisco State University as a first time college attendee from my family. My parents are “immigrants” from Mexico. I had no proper guidance and felt very lost during this process, and because I had never healed any ancestral trauma or my past stuff, I had A LOT of anxiety and depression at the same time. This caused me to drop out of Uni and I eventually went back home to LA in 2015. Coming to LA I met my first yoga teacher at Peoples Yoga, his name is Larios. Larios also did Reiki, which is healing energy modality. I went to him for a few sessions and it encouraged me to learn this healing modality for myself and to share to my community eventually. Reiki really allowed me to drop into my healing in a very powerful way and it made me realize how beneficial this could be for our East LA community. In late 2016 my good friend Ron opened his studio for me in Chinatown to start seeing clients. I saw over 50 clients for the next years at the Studio. Stepping up as a wellness practitioner in my community was nothing short of magical, the doors the universe opened to me through this and the amazing connections/ friendships/ wellness collaborations I’ve experienced have truly been life changing and rewarding, not just for me but for the people around me as well. In 2019 I left the studio because it closed its doors since my friend Ron and his partner Jill one of my best friends had a baby. In 2020 Covid happened and I ended up going to Hawai’i with my best friend Cady. We had a once in a lifetime experience, where we got to travel with 10 other folx to Maui, Hawai’i. Mama Maui, as we call it, opened the door to us in beautiful ways, we connected with some of the sovereign Kingdom families where we learned so much about haiwaiis history and how it’s actively fighting for their land back from the government. hawai’i is not legally a US State, it was stolen from its people. We learned a lot about patents, the treaties and the injustices happening there and we helped a lot, but there’s only so much we could do since it wasn’t fully our fight. While in Hawai’i I also did a full spectrum doula training which was also very life changing, because I learned about how to take care of womens bodies prior birth, during birth and especially during postpartum. I learned so much sacred wisdom through this and it’s something I am especially passionate about. I came back to LA in 2021 and continued my studies around womens health. In 2022 I learned from a teacher from Mexico two trainings on Traditional Mexican Medicine sobadas for women, which focuses on womb health. and in 2023 I also learned from my friend and teacher Vivian traditional chinese medicine: the healing art of fire cupping. I took almost 4 years off from seeing new clients (Throuhout this time I was still seeing my regular clients) to add more tools to my wellness box & I’m very grateful for all my teachers and incredible wisdom. When I told my dad about the doula training and the fire cupping he told me my grandma Julia, his mom, who passed in 2015, also did these modalities in Mexico. She was a healer and a partera in Mexico assisting women in births. I followed in her footsteps unknowingly. With the permission of my teachers and the guidance of my spirit I felt called this year, 2024 to open the books again to old and new clients and I’m happy to share that I am again since April 5th, 2024 of this year sharing my offerings with the LA community. it’s been amazing so far

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road, I have struggled a lot, but looking back I see how it was all part of the growth process to gain and have the wisdom and experience to share and help my clients from all walks of life. The healing journey is often portrayed as love and light, which to some extent it is but I describe it as well as the old you dying and you literally having to bring yourself back to life, slowly. it’s not an easy process but it’s SO worth it when you see how much you’ve healed, how healthy you are, and how much you’ve created from this new you. I had to heal a lot of ancestral trauma which wasn’t easy because my family is not one to openly talk about their past hardships and that’s how I learned that to truly heal we must know where we come from, even the heavy stuff because sometimes we carry stuff that isn’t even ours. through knowing these past hardships I was able to change the narrative for myself and the next generations. I lost a lot of old friendships, I was in toxic connections before I knew better, I almost faced homelessness a few times, I had to put my health and purpose first before anything else, even if it didn’t make sense to the outside world. but at the end i’m happy I did because i truly shifted my foundation in a way that I set myself up for success and I am now seeing the fruits of my hard labor: energetically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am known by my community for doing Reiki and being a wellness practitioner. currently aside from my healing sessions, I am working on seasonal offerings where I create seasonal unique pieces for our temples, whether it be our body or our homes. This Fall 2024 I will be dropping my Earring Collection that has been in the works since I came back from Hawai’i and these ear rings/ statement pieces are for the goddesses/women to feel empowered, loved, and seen in all their beauty.

What sets me apart from others is that I am creating from my heart, everything I do is with the intention to build a new earth, collapsing old patriarchal paradigms and empowering not only women but our brothers and children as well.

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Our relation to the earth and to ourselves/ each other matters the most. We truly do create our realities with the words we constantly speak therefore bringing mindfulness and awareness to how toxic culture is prevalent in todays society, it is one of my main goals to exercise and practice and embody conscious communication and conscious creation. Everyone finding their purpose also matters the most to me as well, we’d all be less miserable if we knew our purpose right out the bag, but since we don’t, as of now, that is one of my missions and intentions/ prayers as well, for people to remember why they’re here so we can consciously create from our hearts and higher selves.

Pricing:

• Reiki Sessions $90
• Fire Cupping Sessions $90
• Birthday Ceremonies $222
• Earring Collection Drop 8/8 prices vary: $15-$77
• Womb Sobadas are donation based. $22-$55

Contact Info:

• Website: https://communitreesanctuary.glossgenius.com/
• Instagram: @starofdaseea
• Other: https://msha.ke/communitreesanctuary

Image Credits
some pictures are from photographers: Oscar Rios Gomez and some are from Adam Petrishin. Most pictures were taken by me, Lilia Marlen Morales