Founder Robyn Soulier-Ritchot discusses the journey behind Eagle Medicine Coaching

By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Nature can only thrive within reciprocal relationships, where they need to be sustainable. Some know this as symbiotic relationships. And specifically for trees, during the spring months, the starch, sugars in the roots of a tree start to thaw and slowly make their way up to the tree’s branches. But where do the nutrients for these mighty trees within our own Homefire come from? … In order to survive and thrive in its natural environment, the tree is interdependent on life all around it. During the autumn months, after the tree’s leaves have gathered nutrients from Grandfather Sun, the wind, and rain, the leaves begin to transition into another stage of the tree’s life…They become part of Mother Earth once again, in different ways, eventually becoming part of nature’s life cycle, soil, providing nutrients for all life that lives upon Mother Earth.

Robyn Soulier-Ritchot is the founder of Eagle Medicine Coaching & Consulting. Her journey of transformation came when she started to see that looking inward nurtured her emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. “Loving myself has been a lifelong journey and the biggest impact of my life,” she said. And similar to any tree in our own backyard, it takes medicines in the form of patience, grace, compassion, and understanding for any person to come to know things differently.

Eagle Medicine Coaching is an Indigenous social entrepreneurship based on helping people break free from limiting beliefs about themselves and reconnect with their gifts to create meaningful, purpose-driven businesses and lives.

“In order to move forward with anything in life, a part of you has to [lay to rest]. You have to surrender and trust. That part of you that still lives with doubt and fear and not trusting the processing can’t come with you to this new version of yourself, or the new level of you in your life,” Soulier-Ritchot shared as an understanding of how she came to create Eagle Medicine Coaching.

“Everything is energy, so when we come to a place and we start prioritizing ourselves and our well-being, and we are honest with ourselves, then we can identify those things that are blocking potential opportunities and abundance. I don’t just teach these practices or offer tools and strategies; I’ve embodied them in my own healing first. Everything that I have applied and what I learned in the time being with Eagle Medicine Coaching, came from me being my greatest client.”

Growing up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Soulier-Ritchot found herself not wanting to be conditioned and limited to becoming a product of her environment, “I was [an Indigenous] kid living in West Central Winnipeg. No one talked about our future, no one talked about our goals, no one asked us about what we wanted to be doing in life because what we were surrounded by was dysfunction, chaos and survival – that was my normal. I didn’t see a future because this was what I was constantly around. But I knew at a very young age that I didn’t want to be a product of my environment…and that’s why I initially created a free online program through Eagle Medicine to allow Indigenous youth to reconnect with their gifts and medicines. I’m doing this work because I know what it feels like to grow up without role models or mentors. I stepped into this path to contribute to future generations, to give back to my community, and most importantly to build a legacy I envision through the work I’m creating with Eagle Medicine.”

The more time and space that Soulier-Ritchot continuously gifts herself, the more healing she contributes to her journey, and in turn how she can walk beside the people she supports with becoming successful, purpose driven entrepreneurs and people. “The more I go deeper into myself and identify what are my values, who am I, not only as a professional coach, [but also] as a mother and a community member,” she said, while reflecting on, “what is the legacy that I want to leave behind in my business and for my children?”

For Robyn, Eagle Medicine is, “so much more than professional development, it’s personal before it gets professional. I say this a lot in my workshops: [We have been] taught to disconnect from ourselves and our spirit. We need to get back to that place within where we are reconnected and grounded in self. Because that’s the place where we create. And when we are disconnected from ourselves, what are we really creating?”

And that tree again – the foundation that supports the integrity and development of the tree, is rooted in the same understanding for Soulier-Ritchot in how a business flourishes: a foundation created on self. “What makes a business flourish? – a foundation created on self. Because if I am messed up and not taking care of myself, how does my foundation look? Pretty cracked…If I am not taking care of myself and doing all the things I need to flourish and thrive, [if something is wrong] right away we want to understand this. We figure out a solution, so we need to look at that within ourselves. We need to sit with that in order to understand [what is going on]…A lot of things I take into consideration with that reflection component, introspection – that honest truth of self, even the hard things, getting curious about the things we were conditioned to believe were shameful or that we should feel guilty about…The medicine only comes through when we sit with the discomfort – getting comfortable with the uncomfortable,” Robyn shared while emphasizing the questions she asks herself when she wants to be curious about why she feels stuck instead of moving forward. “Why do I not feel worthy? Where does that come from?… So, I started getting curious about my trauma…why do I talk to myself like this? Where does this come from?”

Sustainability within our own lives starts with self, loving ourselves, being kind to ourselves, compassionate, showing grace, and walking gently. The Eagle Medicine continuous to nurture us emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually in understanding that, “you already got here…you survived, and you are here now. You have the ability to do whatever you want to do…Transformation can happen overnight…your story is going to attract your ideal client. Your story is going to attract the people that you are destined to serve, not because you want, because you are meant to.”