About Vanessa
Vanessa Chakour is an author, visual artist, herbalist, holistic arts educator, former pro-boxer, environmental activist, and the founder of Sacred Warrior whose work is a dynamic blend of her vast personal experiences. Her unique approach is rooted in the belief that healing happens through reclaiming an intuitive connection to ourselves, the natural world, and our own “inner-wild.”
BACKSTORY
Sacred Warrior evolved out of founder, Vanessa Chakour's life-long journey of healing and is intwined with her work as an herbalist, environmental activist, writer and teacher. After a series of physical issues at a young age, including chronic asthma and a broken back and neck from a car accident, Vanessa found healing and release of internal limitations through creative expression, athletic training, and meditation.
Immobolized for months after the accident, she became fascinated by what held her back physically. The rehabilitation was excruciating but often the main obstacle was an inhibiting embodied belief or story to examine, uproot and move beyond.
Visual art and writing were instrumental in her process of revealing the source of perceived limitations. The more she reached within through the creative process, the more she was able to uncover sources of internal doubt and shed limiting stories to strengthen and embrace her body. After grueling physical therapy, she continued pushing boundaries to become a personal trainer and eventually train as an amateur and professional boxer, continuing these combined methods to increase awareness and performance.
A personal trainer since 1998, Vanessa studied various approaches to therapeutic movement and began a disciplined meditation practice in 2000 while training as a professional boxer at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn. Through her exploration of these integrated methods and relationship with the natural world, she created Sacred Warrior Training, approaching boxing as an internal and external martial art. A vehicle to reveal innate strength and self awareness. As she worked with clients at the boxing gyms and parks in NYC, she volunteered as a coach and mentor at GEMS and ran youth boxing programs with Harlem Children’s Zone and the Hip Hop Loves Foundation.
Knowing that the health and well being of the Earth and our own health and well being are inseperable, Vanessa’s exploration led her to study herbal medicine and pursue a regenerative lifestyle. She studied and taught with renowned herbalists such as Robin Rose Bennett and Matthew Wood, along with teachers in Costa Rica and Scotland where she curated retreats. She has learned in equal measure from the plants and fungi themselves.
But the real impetus behind Sacred Warrior and it’s mission is Vanessa’s emotional connection to the wild, with an especially tender spot for misunderstood species.
WOLVES & SO-CALLED WEEDS
In 2014, Vanessa began working in partnership with Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem NY, leading plant walks, teaching Sacred Warrior boxing and curating overnight experiences like ‘Reclaim The Wild Woman’ retreats where visitors learned first hand about the vital role wolves and common plants play in our ecosystem. This was a turning point, when the vision for Sacred Warrior began to be realized.
From there, Vanessa went on to develop partnerships in Costa Rica and in Scotland. After studying plant medicine and wildlife conservation with local teachers, Vanessa began collaborating with Hidden Garden Wellness Center and the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo de Limon. At Sacred Warrior rewilidng retreats over the next five years, visitors learned from local herbalists and about the biodiverse ecosystem of Costa Rica and its challenges. Next, Vanessa built community in Scotland with the Ecoyoga Center and Alladale Wilderness Reserve in the Scottish Highlands where she led retreats and workshops with friend and colleague Àdhamh Ó Broin. During the pandemic, they began to teach online courses through Sacred Warrior (stay tuned for upcoming experiences in Scotland).
Today, Sacred Warrior is undergoing a new cycle and has landed on Mount Owen Forest Sanctuary a 268+ nature preserve where Vanessa lives with her partner. Together, with the help of United Plant Savers. they will create a botanical sanctuary and a space for land-based learning.
PRESS, PUBLIC SPEAKING AND BOOKS
Vanessa’s work has been featured in Spirituality & Health, Town Hall Seattle, The Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, Aligned Magazine, Ravenous Zine, Culture Trip, and more. Vanessa’s early work as an activist led her to create events & initiatives on behalf of luminaries such as The Dalai Lama and Hip Hop Legend, KRS One and she has shared her work as an inspirational speaker at the United Nations, Brown University, the Muhammad Ali Center, and Harvard University.
Her book, Awakening Artemis: Deepening Intimacy with The Living Earth and Reclaiming Our Wild Nature was published in 2021 by Penguin Life in the US and UK, and Ullstein Press in Germany. Her new book, Earthly Bodies: Embracing Animal Nature will be published by Penguin Life summer 2024. She is the co-steward of Mount Owen Forest Sanctuary in Western Massachusetts.