In Season 5, Episode 7 of the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery podcast, Dr. Yuria Celidwen discusses the importance of Indigenous wisdom for planetary healing. She introduces herself as a “truth bearer” from the Maya Bats’ik’op tradition and explains how her cultural background and academic work seek to bridge Indigenous sciences with Western systems. Celidwen critiques dominant Western approaches to knowledge, particularly in contemplative and mindfulness studies, which often extract and commodify non-Western spiritual practices while stripping them of their communal and ethical foundations. Celidwen outlines how Indigenous practices are deeply tied to land, community, and a sense of sacred interconnection among all beings—what she calls the “more than human world.” She highlights the danger of secularizing or individualizing spiritual practices, such as mindfulness, which originated in communal, relational contexts. These Western adaptations often ignore the historical trauma and ongoing marginalization of Indigenous peoples, reducing rich traditions to wellness tools for privileged individuals. The conversation critiques how religious and Hosted by Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.