In this revolutionary self-help guide, two beloved Native American wellness activists offer wisdom for achieving spiritual, physical, and emotional wellbeing rooted in Indigenous ancestral knowledge.
THE SEVEN CIRCLES:
Indigenous Teachings for Living Well
by Chelsey Luger & Thosh Collins
HarperOne, October 2022
(via Sterling Lord Literistic)
When wellness teachers and husband-wife duo Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins founded their Indigenous wellness initiative, Well for Culture, they extended an invitation to all to honor their whole self through Native wellness philosophies and practices. In reclaiming this ancient wisdom for health and wellbeing—drawing from traditions spanning multiple tribes—they developed a holistic model for modern living rooted in timeless teachings from their ancestors. Luger and Collins have introduced this universally adaptable template for living well to Ivy League universities and corporations like Nike, Adidas, and Google, and now make it available to everyone in this wise guide.
Their model comprises interconnected circles that keep all aspects of our lives in balance, functioning in harmony with one another. They are: Food, Movement, Sleep, Ceremony, Sacred Space, Land, Community.
In THE SEVEN CIRCLES, Luger and Collins share intimate stories from their life journeys growing up in tribal communities, from the Indigenous tradition of staying active and spiritually centered through running and dance, to the universal Indigenous emphasis on a light-filled, minimalist home to create sacred space.
With warmth and generosity—and 75 atmospheric photographs by Collins throughout—THE SEVEN CIRCLES teaches us how to connect with nature, with our community, and with ourselves, and to integrate ancient Indigenous philosophies of health and wellbeing into our own lives to find healing and balance.
Chelsey Luger and Thosh Collins are cofounders of the Indigenous wellness organization Well for Culture, for which they conduct workshops and keynote speaking engagements around the world with universities, non-profit organizations, and corporations such as Nike, Adidas, Google, and Equinox. Their work has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, BBC World News, Shape, Bon Appetit, Well + Good, and the Nike N7 campaign, among other outlets. They live in Arizona with their two daughters.
As grim as the recognition that we’ve lost nearly 3 billion birds—a third of our avifauna in North America, in the past 50 years—may be, there are many places where the tide is being turned. Globally, at scales hyperlocal or hemispherically immense, work is being driven not just by scientists and conservation professionals but also by average people—ranchers in the West, rice farmers in Colombia, Indigenous Dene communities in Canada, poor rural women in India, isolated Polynesian islanders, rural villages in the Carpathian Mountains, and many more. And because birds are so diverse, so ubiquitous, and with their migrations cover virtually every square mile of the planet’s surface, if we can create a planet that works for birds, it will work for everything else, including us. 
When volunteer firefighter Nathan finds millions in cash inside a burning building, he begins to question every decision he has made in his life. Meanwhile local nurse Callie makes a dangerous choice to take a dying patient on an adventure before it’s too late. Just down the road, former heroin addict Andy, devastated by losing his wife and daughter, unexpectedly finds the perfect target for his wrath in a local predator. 
Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She’s also the clone of the original Louise who, along with four other victims of a local serial killer, has been brought back to life by a government project to return the women to their grieving families. But as the new Lou re-adapts to her old life and attends a support group for murdered women, questions surface about what exactly preceded her death, and how much to trust those around her. Understanding the truth may determine what comes next for Lou. 
Mickey Hayward dreams of writing stories that matter. She has a flashy media job that makes her feel successful and a devoted girlfriend who takes care of her when she comes home exhausted and demoralized. It’s not all A-list parties and steamy romance, but Mickey’s on her way, and it’s far from the messy life she left behind in Maryland. Despite being overlooked and mistreated at work, it seems like she might finally get the chance to prove herself—until she finds out she’s being replaced.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/TembeDenton-Hurst-f02c92e477d24008a119272024bb833b.jpg)
Tembe Denton-Hurst