Listen On Your Favorite Podcast Players
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YouTubeIn a culture shaped by individualism, productivity, and separation, many people feel a quiet longing for something more relational, more rooted, and more whole. In this episode of Deeper with Darshana, Darshana Avila speaks with Monique Castro about Indigenous wisdom as a living framework for healing, belonging, and community care.
Their conversation offers a powerful reminder that healing is not something we do alone.
Healing as Collective and Relational
Monique describes Indigenous Circle of Wellness as a space grounded in collectivist values. Rather than viewing healing as an individual pursuit, Indigenous frameworks understand wellness as relational. Health is shaped by connection to family, community, land, ancestors, and future generations.
This worldview contrasts sharply with Western models that prioritize self-sufficiency and independence, often at the cost of belonging.
Kinship as a Way of Seeing the World
At the heart of the conversation is the concept of kinship. Kinship extends beyond human relationships to include plants, animals, elements, and land itself. When we see the world through kinship, responsibility replaces domination, and care becomes a shared practice.
This perspective invites a fundamental shift in how we relate to one another and the environment.
Growing Up in a Matriarchal Lineage
Monique shares stories of growing up in a matriarchal and matrilineal Navajo household, where women carried wisdom and leadership through discernment rather than control. Decision-making was guided by what supported the wellbeing of the family as a whole.
This early imprint shaped Monique’s sense of leadership, agency, and self-trust, and later created moments of culture shock in college and dating spaces rooted in patriarchal norms.
Two-Spirit Wisdom and Gender Beyond Binaries
A particularly moving part of the conversation centers on Monique’s Two-Spirit aunt, who serves as a matriarch and elder in her family. Two-Spirit identity is described not as marginal, but as sacred, holding both feminine and masculine wisdom.
This perspective challenges modern binary frameworks of gender and offers a more expansive understanding of identity and leadership.
Colonization, Disconnection, and Suppression
Monique names how colonization, relocation policies, and church systems disrupted Indigenous matriarchies and suppressed gender-expansive identities. These disruptions created disconnection not because the wisdom disappeared, but because it was forced underground for survival.
Healing, in this context, becomes an act of remembering rather than inventing something new.
Belonging as a Practice
As a therapist and leader, Monique supports people in rebuilding belonging through strength-based approaches. Rather than focusing on deficits, she invites people to reconnect with what already brings meaning, whether that’s food, music, land, spirituality, or community.
Belonging begins by honoring what is already alive within us.
Returning to the Land
The conversation closes with an invitation to reconnect with one’s own indigeneity through land. Learning about ancestral places, local ecosystems, and natural rhythms offers a grounded path back to wisdom that lives beyond words.
Healing, Monique reminds us, is circular and ongoing.
In this episode, we explore:
- What it means to return to Indigenous ways of healing
- Kinship as a worldview rooted in interconnection with people, land, and more-than-human beings
- Collectivist approaches to wellness versus Western individualism
- Growing up in a matriarchal and matrilineal Navajo household
- Wisdom as leadership rather than domination or control
- How matriarchy shapes decision-making, family structure, and community care
- Two-Spirit identity as sacred within Indigenous traditions
- The role of Two-Spirit elders in family and community life
- Gender beyond binary frameworks
- College, dating, and leadership culture shock for women raised in matriarchal homes
- The impact of colonization, relocation, and church systems on Indigenous identity
- Reconnecting to spirituality outside of religious harm
- Healing as remembrance rather than fixing
- Creating belonging and chosen family
- Land as a living source of wisdom and reconnection
About Monique:
Monique Castro, LMFT (Navajo/Mexican) is the Founder & CEO of Indigenous Circle of Wellness, a thriving multi-site private psychotherapy and wellness practice serving communities across Southern California and virtually statewide. Rooted in culture and community, Indigenous Circle of Wellness centers the healing of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color through therapy, wellness circles, and leadership development.
In addition to leading Indigenous Circle of Wellness, Monique co-founded multiple nonprofit organizations and initiatives dedicated to community care, intergenerational healing, and systemic change. Through Monique Castro Coaching & Consulting, she empowers executives and entrepreneurs to grow values-aligned, sustainable, and impact-driven practices.
Recognized nationally as a visionary leader and change-maker, Monique bridges clinical expertise, Indigenous wisdom, and entrepreneurial strategy to expand access to wellness and cultivate leaders grounded in purpose and integrity.
Connect with Monique:
- Website: https://www.icowellness.com/
- Instagram: @indigenouscircleofwellness | @moniquecastro.coach
Connect with Darshana:
Darshana has supported thousands of people across the world to claim their Erotic Wholeness. Whether you begin with a self paced journey taken from the comfort of your own home or work with her directly for the transformational experience of a lifetime, your path to the pleasure, power and purpose you’re truly made for is just a step away!
Learn more:
- DarshanaAvila.com/offerings for courses and details about her private practice
- DarshanaAvila.com/community to enter the Galgasm community hub full of free resources
- YouTube.com/@darshana_avila for tons of inspired lessons, interviews and more
