The healing power of  “Morning Altars”

Melissa is a certified Morning Altars teacher who studied with Day Schildkret, the creator of the Morning Altars practice. Unlike its name suggests, this practice is not in correlation with the common conceptualization of an altar as a platform used in religious rites, ceremonies and worship. But, rather it is a nature-based creative process that invites a slowing down and a return to mindful, calming presence through the act of making temporary art with natural materials.

The Morning Altars practice follows a 7-step guided process designed to support reflection, emotional processing, and connection to the natural world. This practice can be deeply therapeutic, offering a non-verbal and embodied way to process emotion, transition, grief, gratitude, and change. By engaging the senses and the natural world, Melissa can guide you through all or some of the steps to help you create space for reflection without needing to “figure everything out” cognitively. It allows inner experiences to take form, be witnessed, and then be released.

Melissa offers Morning Altars as both a private, individualized therapeutic journey and as a group, couples or family experience, depending on what feels most supportive of you. In individual sessions, the practice can be woven into depth-oriented therapy work to support emotional processing and insight. In group settings, it becomes a shared, sacred space of creativity, connection, and collective witnessing.

What can therapy integrated with Morning Altars can help you with?

• Practice mindfulness and/or meditation
• Emotional processing and release
• Grief and Loss
• Honor a lost loved one
• Celebrate success/welcome change
• Clarity and Inner Reflection
• Create/embrace balance in your life
• Grounding and Nervous System Regulation
• Deepen connection with others (group, family, couples modality)