About Me
Hi, I’m Jungle Flower! I use she/her pronouns and I’m a trauma-informed workshop facilitator, writing guide, poet, and speaker. I find deep fulfillment in the work I do, and yet it's something I never expected to be doing!
I actually began my entrepreneurial journey as a photographer. I picked up a camera at the age of 16, and continued on that path for the next 20 years.
Everything changed, however, when I escaped a psychologically abusive relationship at the age of 21––specifically when I finally opened up to my friends about what I had been through. Being able to get these stories "off my chest" led to an immense feeling of relief. The relief quickly led to surprise when they, in turn, began sharing their own experiences of the violence they had endured.
The feeling of relief and the new understanding that abuse and sexual violence was way more prevalent than I could have imagined made me feel compelled to do something. I wanted to offer other people the opportunity to share their stories in spaces where they would be met with compassion, support, and understanding. So in 2012, I founded Reclaim Your Voice, a grassroots survivor-led organization, and since then we've been hosting free events for people to work through their trauma. We are a 100% community-funded initiative. In 2021, we received the Mayor's Community Safety Award from the so-called City of Toronto.
Because I knew this cause was bigger than myself, I began taking to stages to share my story and raise awareness about abuse, facing my life-long and paralyzing fear of public speaking. In doing so, I discovered I had a gift for public speaking and a dormant talent for spoken word poetry! It's still mind-blowing to me to know that what was once my greatest fear has become the thing I most love to do! There was so much beauty to be discovered in my life, once I reclaimed my voice. I started Reclaim Your Voice with the intention of supporting other people on their healing journeys, but the community that has grown around this initiative has unexpectedly ended up supporting me so much in mine.
In 2019, I booked a one-way trip to Southeast Asia to write out my memoirs of experiencing and healing from psychological abuse. When I returned home, I created a one-woman show called Jungle Flower Dragon Heart, where I shared those memoirs through storytelling, spoken word poetry, and the self-portraits I'd taken on my journeys through Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The show opened to a sold-out audience and since then I've been invited to speak at universities and colleges across Canada and the US, and to facilitate trauma-informed workshops for their students.
My journey has taken me on an unexpected route, but through following my heart and prioritizing community care, I have landed exactly where I'm meant to be. It is a privilege to be able to find so much joy in what I do, and to be able to operate from this place of joy. My intention is to support the people I work with in connecting with their own joy and inner peace, knowing that there is so much more waiting for them beyond their stories of trauma.
My Journey
My name is Jungle Flower (she/her) and I am a poet, speaker, trauma-informed writing guide and soundbath facilitator based in Toronto/Tkaronto.
After escaping a psychologically abusive relationship, I founded Reclaim Your Voice in 2012, a BIPOC survivor-led organization that creates safe spaces where people who have experienced abuse and sexual violence can gently work through their trauma. In 2021, Reclaim Your Voice received the Mayor’s Community Safety Award from the so-called City of Toronto.
Stepping away from my 20-year career as a photographer in the entertainment industry, I found healing through my work in the survivor community, pushing my way through stage fright to share my story and raise awareness.
Today I work with schools across the country, hosting survivor-centred workshops and sharing my stories and spoken word poetry as a medicine offering for those who need it.
Certifications & Awards
Sound Healing Academy
Practitioner Training
2023
Hoame Meditation Center
100 hr Meditation Teacher Training
2022
Write Your Self
Trauma-Informed Writing Guide Certification
2019
NIA Centre for the Arts
Art of Facilitation Training
2015
Certifications
Awards & Scholarships
2014 Yinnergy Award
2015 VolunteerToronto Legacy Award
2016 Roger Fisher Scholarship
2017 Write Your Self Scholarship
2021 Mayor's Community Safety Award
