Thérèse Yakshi Charvet is the owner/director of Sacred Groves, a small intentional community and a place where ceremonies, circles and classes are offered. She has lived in the woods of Bainbridge Island Washington for nearly forty years, has been a nurse, a practicing midwife doing home and clinic births in Kitsap County, and was the Midwifery Program Director for 13 years at the Seattle Midwifery School.

Nearly 60 years old now, she runs a Women’s Mysteries School, offering rituals and circles that empower and connect women with the “blood mysteries” of being a woman, the teachings of the grandmothers—inner and outer, ancient and modern. In addition to her “Women’s Mysteries” work, she offers sweatlodges, season’s change rituals, grief rituals, drumming and dancing events, and Compassionate Listening trainings to both men and women.

Influenced by her intense work with women in midwifery practice and grounded by her long-time Buddhist meditation practice, Thérèse began exploring the “women’s blood mysteries” and old goddess religions in the 1980s. She began learning from and with mentors and various groups who were likewise inspired to develop a spirituality that is connected to their bodies and Mother Earth, a mix of wiccan, goddess and Native American spiritual teachings.

Her healing work is inspired by her own personal healing journey that has included experiences with many bodywork modalities, group and individual therapy, dance workshops with Gabrielle Roth, women’s circles and rituals, community rituals and drumming events.

Most importantly, she regularly connects with Mother Earth and Great Spirit by sitting quietly on her land and in the vast wilderness of the Pacific Northwest where she has backpacked and hiked for her entire life.

She has had training in a number of touch techniques and natural treatments. She has synthesized all of these experiences into an eclectic healing art, and offers herself as facilitator of ceremonies, circles and classes, counselor, guide and healer for women, men and couples.

Professional accomplishments in her past include being a founding member and first President of the Midwives Alliance of North America, a founding member and former President of the Midwifery Education Accreditation Council, a member of the Board of Directors for the Midwives Association of Washington State and a delegate to the International Confederation of Midwives. She is currently a certified facilitator for The Compassionate Listening Project, an ordained minister through the International Assembly of Spiritual Healers and Earth Stewards and the owner/director of Sacred Groves.

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