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Kai's class reconnected me with my ancestors. The way they facilitated the class made it very easy for me to sit with the emotions that were coming up and empowered me to continue learning more about our history as Filipinx folks. The activities that we did to speak to our family about our history with our health really helped me open up to my parents a lot more and bridge a lot of generational gaps that have been missing for most of my life. I carry with me the altar that I set up and the continuation of making food offerings. So eternally grateful for all the lessons and healing Kai's teaching and recipes helped bring into my life!
- Jas
This class has deeply changed my life in magical ways and has deeply helped me connect to my ancestors, myself, my cells, and to our collective story we share. Kai provided tools, rituals, knowledge, wisdom, and insight that filled my belly and soul. The flow of the class is wholistic, thoughtful, and moved with ease and release. This course has brought me closer to my loved ones and myself through yummmmyy food, curiosity, and joy.
-Jewelyn
My experiences in Kai's workshops have been healing on so many levels. One thing that was so special was being able to heal my connection to spirituality. Kai gently led us through grounding meditations and mindful alter practices, which helped me feel connected with my ancestors for the first time. As someone that had never done practices like this, the workshops truly felt like a safe space. It was really unforgettable when in one of the meditations, I felt the embrace of one of my ancestors who I had never even known of until I asked my parents about him later!
- Richella
Taking this course offered an amazing opportunity to solidify the work that I'm doing within food sovereignty, urban agriculture, and all within the context of exploring my Filipino culture. The blend of cultural practices with food as a central connection point was something I've been looking for for a long time. The lessons that I learned in this course continued to stay with me in all aspects of my life.
- Danielle
Whether you’re beginning, in the middle of, or curious about your food culture journey, Kai’s Filipino Food as Medicine class is an engaging, accommodating, and welcoming space to learn, grow, and explore. Specifically, Kai’s hybridized approach (lecture, spiritual practicum tools, and cooking) is easy to follow along with and adaptable to however you’re showing up that day; I always appreciated the intentional thoughtfulness and flexibility that was offered. Cannot wait to see what Kai comes up with next!
-Em
The Filipinx cooking class that kai offered last year was such a highlight for me. As someone who hasn’t been to the Philippines since I was a child and who misses my grandparents’ mango trees, this space was a salve to my homesick heart. Kai provided so much information about medicinal and culinary uses of plants that we grow in the philippines-- some indigenous, some introduced through trade or colonization-- that was new to me. And their recipes were easy to follow and DELICIOUS. I continue to make them for friends and family. maraming salamat, kai!
-Donna G
This class totally blew my mind and reignited my spirit and connectedness to my culture and to the history of our people. Not only are you learning to cook basic Filipino comfort food that may connect you to old memories or to your ancestors, but there is a conscious learning of our ancestral food, history, and the impact it has on us as a diaspora. It is one way to take your power back in this heavily Westernized world.
-Rucci
Kai’s Filipinx Food as Medicine class is nourishment for the mind, body, and spirit. Kai held a warm and grounding space in which folks with a range of Philippine diasporic experiences could genuinely connect and critically reflect with one another. Their lectures — which share important precolonial, colonial, and contemporary Filipinx history and earth-based knowledge — felt like a critical act of remembering that offered me context for present-day Filipinx issues and allowed me to better (re)imagine healing interventions. Their live community classes, meditations, and cooking classes were infused with heart and soul. Kai’s class activated in me a deeper relationship with food, earth, and spirit that I have continued to nurture. This class is an important portal for Filipinx ancestral healing and wisdom — I am so grateful.
-Kristen
What I enjoyed most about the Filipinx Food as Medicine course is that Kai’s teachings helped deepen my understanding of my ancestral history and my spiritual relationship to these foods. They began each class with body scans and grounding meditations that really helped me drop into the present moment and avoid getting sucked into the virtual veil of zoom. Before this course, I never understood just how much colonization has influenced Filipinx dishes, but I deeply appreciated learning and holding space for the complex history and politics that have shaped what we find on our tables today. I loved that Kai connected each dish to the four elements. It really helped me feel connected to the energy of the food I was putting in my body, and overall just felt interconnected to the world around me. Ultimately I walked away understanding that I am never alone and the knowledge of my ancestors flows through these dishes too.
-Deja