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The crowd inside a Minneapolis church hall reflects the U.S. in its full-blown diversity. People of all ages, ethnicities, and races鈥攄ressed in sagging jeans and business suits, yoga pants and firefighter uniforms, hijabs and baseball caps鈥� stream through the door on a bright spring morning.

At a time when the country seems divided into ever-smaller camps, what brings 130 people from different walks of life together in this one place? The answer, it turns out, is as simple as it is complex 鈥攖he experience of trauma, and each person鈥檚 search for answers in overcoming its far-reaching effects.

鈥淢ix it up a bit and find someone who doesn鈥檛 look much like you for a conversation,鈥� encourages the host, Marnita Schroedl, a mixed-race woman with cropped hair. Trauma entered her life early, she explains, when 鈥渕y White grandmother gave my mother the choice of giving me up or being banished from the family.鈥�

Her mother chose her family over her child, who, by age 3, had lived in three foster homes. 鈥淓ventually I grew exhausted of being angry all the time,鈥� she explains. As a result, her life鈥檚 mission became to connect and heal people through her organization, Marnita鈥檚 Table.

This gathering inside the church is called 鈥淭ips and Techniques for Resilience,鈥� and is one in a series presented by the Catalyst Initiative, a project of the Minneapolis Foundation aimed at honoring and fostering culturally authentic self-care practices.

A quick tour of the place turns up demonstrations of bodywork, art therapy, relaxation, and other treatments that go beyond the usual approaches to trauma. A sign taped to the wall reads: 鈥淢editation and mindfulness exercise proved more successful than group therapy to treat PTSD at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration clinic.鈥�

Promoting innovative methods of self-care is central to Catalyst鈥檚 goal of improving health by addressing the effects of trauma embedded deep inside people鈥攅ven if the original source of harm has ended. The trauma can include adverse childhood experiences, racial oppression, sexual and domestic abuse, violence, poverty, war, gender and LGBTQ discrimination, and other forms of acute stress.

An adverse childhood experience, in particular, 鈥渃auses changes in the architecture of the brain that affect everything from physical growth to emotional development,鈥� according to a Minnesota Department of Health report.

鈥淲e all have an innate capacity to heal,鈥� Catalyst director Suzanne Koepplinger says. 鈥淏ut to tap into that, first we must recognize that trauma lives in our mind, body, and spirit. Therefore, the healing must take place in our mind, body and spirit.

鈥淭his is an empowering model,鈥� she says. 鈥淢ost people want to help heal themselves, not be wholly dependent on drugs and hospitals.鈥�

Every Breath You Take

In a packed breakout session at the back of the church hall, mental health consultant and coach Drake Powe describes the long-term effects of trauma as 鈥渆xistential fatigue鈥攖he feeling that you can鈥檛 keep on going. You are worn thin by worry and disappointment.鈥�

He tells his own story of growing up as an African-American in a predominantly White neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. 鈥淚 was chased a lot. I had to always change my route home from school. I was in a constant state of fight or flight. Who鈥檚 around me? What might happen next? Where鈥檚 my way out?鈥�

Powe thought he had put this behind him until debilitating panic attacks started in his 20s. That鈥檚 when he realized how much anger was still coursing through his body. Picking up on an interest in meditation first sparked by the 1970s TV show Kung Fu, he began an eclectic spiritual journey that led him to Buddhism, Sufism, Christian mystics, and Jewish teachings.

鈥淔rom all of this, I learned how to frame things in a way that makes me feel empowered in the moment, which offers a sense of internal safety,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ither you are in charge of your emotions, or they are in charge of you.鈥�

He instructs the group to take deep breaths, holding each for a few seconds before breathing out with a decisive 鈥渁h.鈥�

鈥淚 bet you weren鈥檛 thinking about a lot of other stuff while you were doing this,鈥� Powe tells them. 鈥淭his shows you are more than just your thought process.鈥�

Everyone can benefit from self-care, Powe says. 鈥淢ost people have a retirement strategy but don鈥檛 have a stress-reduction strategy, which is at least as important.鈥�

Expanding Our Approach to Healing

Research shows that  is attributable to nonmedical factors such as our neighborhood, social ties, economic opportunities, personal behavior, family background, and mental state.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we need to build resilience and healing into our daily lives, not only as a preventive strategy to promote well-being, but also a response to the growing health, social and economic gaps in society,鈥� Koepplinger says.

In addition, self-care is often far less expensive than conventional regimens of drugs, surgery, or therapy. She points out that if Medicare, Medicaid, and other large-scale health plans sanctioned these treatments, which have been proven effective in , Americans could save hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

Koepplinger is former director of the , where she established programs to aid Native girls and women caught up in sex trafficking and pushed for state legislation to curb this abuse.

鈥淗ow people cope with adversity looks different in different cultures,鈥� she says. 鈥淢any times, it鈥檚 important to include methods of healing that are culturally relevant to people of particular backgrounds.鈥�

Her own family traces part of its heritage to the Abenaki people of New England and Quebec, although Koepplinger is not enrolled as a tribal member. She endured trauma regularly for many years in an abusive marriage and literally owes her life to a local domestic abuse project and some great local police officers. 鈥淚 was so lucky, and I want to give something back,鈥� she says.

Founded Out of Frustration

The Catalyst Initiative鈥檚 mission is to introduce more people to innovative therapies by highlighting the social, emotional, mental, behavioral, spiritual, and environmental influences that affect our health. 鈥淐atalyst grew out of frustration with the slowness of health care to fully embrace wellness and prevention,鈥� says Gayle Ober, president of the George Family Foundation, which launched the initiative five years ago. Last year, administration of Catalyst shifted to the Minneapolis Foundation.

Other major health care players around Minneapolis-St. Paul have also begun paying closer attention to the particular needs and cultural traditions of underserved communities. Catalyst recently joined a partnership with to introduce self-care and culturally relevant healing practices at two-year and four-year public colleges around the state. The need for mental health services on college campuses is , so this initiative looks beyond conventional treatments by offering seminars and trainings for students and staff on issues such as trauma and adverse childhood experiences.

Additionally, Catalyst awarded grants to 58 organizations serving people of color, Indigenous communities, veterans, LGBTQ communities, young people and rural Minnesotans. The projects range from a Black church鈥檚 after-school program helping kids heal from both historical and personal trauma to programs on three Indian reservations applying Indigenous healing techniques that complement mainstream health care services.

Another grant recipient is NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, a primary care clinic on the north side of Minneapolis, where 91% of patients are people of color and 30% lack health insurance.

鈥淲e鈥檙e on the front lines,鈥� says Medical Director Dr. Paul Erickson, noting that people in the neighborhood die 10 years younger on average than those living in wealthy suburbs a few miles away.

The Catalyst funding allowed NorthPoint to train 40 staff members on the latest data and techniques about self-care health approaches such as stress reduction, exercise, diet, and mindfulness.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 great is that these approaches don鈥檛 necessarily cost anything,鈥� Erickson says. 鈥淵ou can take a walk, meditate, go out to a park, and it鈥檚 free.鈥�

They鈥檙e also just the kind of techniques that the Catalyst Initiative wants to make more accessible to everyone, not just those who have experienced trauma, Koepplinger says. 鈥淪elf-care and culturally relevant healing mean, on one level, knowing when you need to pause, replenish and take care of yourself,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e want everyone to be able to do this.鈥�