Facing Dementia: Journeying Through Time and Healing Generations

hands holding a brain

When we receive a diagnosis, our first instinct is often fear — fear of loss, fear of limitation, fear of the unknown. But what if that moment could become a portal, an invitation to understand ourselves and our lineage more deeply? In Episode 2 of Facing Dementia, Laurin Wittig and Dr. Michelle Greenwell continue their profound conversation about living consciously with the precursors to dementia — and this time, they step through time itself to explore ancestral healing, shamanic journeys, and the energetic threads that weave our past into our present.


Retracing History Through the Shamanic Lens

Laurin’s shamanic exploration began as a way to connect more deeply with her inner wisdom. Through meditation, visualization, and guided journeys, she found herself travelling through her ancestral DNA — revisiting moments and generations long before her birth. These experiences are sometimes called Time Line Therapy or ancestral regression, but at their heart, they are about listening to the stories imprinted in our energetic field.

In shamanic practice, it is believed that time is not linear but fluid — the past, present, and future coexist in a continuous spiral of energy. When trauma or emotional pain occurs, that energy can become stuck in the field, carried silently through generations. Laurin’s journey has been one of recognition and release, of understanding how patterns of silence, fear, and illness can ripple through family lines until someone — a “pattern changer” — steps forward to transform them.

“I began to see how the choices and struggles of my ancestors may have shaped not only my health but my beliefs and habits,” Laurin shares. “By travelling back through my DNA, I could witness those experiences and bring light where there had been shadow.”


The Science of Time and Memory

Interestingly, science is beginning to echo what spiritual and energy medicine traditions have long known. The emerging field of epigenetics explores how emotional and environmental experiences can alter gene expression — not by changing the DNA sequence itself, but by turning certain genes “on” or “off.” This means that the trauma or resilience of one generation can literally affect the biology of the next.

Dementia research has shown that stress, inflammation, and emotional suppression can increase vulnerability in the brain’s neural pathways. But equally, neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to reorganize and heal — offers hope. Our thoughts, emotions, and habits can reshape our neural networks and influence how our genes express. In other words, healing our stories can change our biology.

When Laurin explores her ancestral patterns, she’s not just engaging in imagination or metaphor — she’s potentially altering the very energetic imprint that informs her body’s functioning today.


Peace Through Pattern Change

As Laurin travels through these ancestral timelines, she encounters both sorrow and peace. There are moments of grief for what her ancestors endured — famine, displacement, fear, and loss. Yet, through acknowledgment and compassion, she begins to transmute that energy into understanding and forgiveness. This process creates energetic peace — not only for herself but for those who came before her and those who will follow.

When we release the emotional charge that has been locked in our lineage, the tension held within the body, mind, and spirit begins to ease. The body relaxes its defensive patterns. The heart opens to new rhythms of connection. The spirit finds its natural alignment. These subtle shifts create profound change in our well-being — improving clarity, emotional balance, and even cellular communication.

This kind of peace doesn’t come from forgetting or denying what has been. It comes from fully seeing, feeling, and then transforming it. Through this work, Laurin steps into her role as a pattern changer — someone who consciously alters the trajectory of inherited energies.


BioEnergetic Wellness and Living Forward

At the Greenwell Center, we often speak about how BioEnergetic Wellness tools can help the body integrate change at a cellular and energetic level. When fear, grief, or overwhelm are present — as they often are with a dementia diagnosis — the body’s energy field constricts. Circulation decreases, the nervous system becomes overactive, and healing slows down. BioEnergetic tools such as the Injury Recall Technique, chakra balancing, and assemblage point alignment help to reset the flow of energy, inviting coherence back into the system.

In Laurin’s journey, this included balancing her assemblage point — the energetic center that influences how we perceive and engage with life. When out of alignment, a person may feel disconnected, foggy, or emotionally unstable — symptoms that can mirror early dementia experiences. Restoring the assemblage point to its natural alignment can bring back clarity, vitality, and peace.

Through these sessions, Laurin has begun to release not only the emotional impact of her diagnosis but also the tension of generations held within her DNA. “It’s like stepping into a brighter version of myself,” she explains. “I feel more connected, more grounded, and more open to what’s ahead.”


The Role of Ritual and Tea in Healing

Each Facing Dementia episode features a tea ritual to anchor the conversation in presence and nourishment. For this episode, the featured blend is Releasing the Warrior from the Cape Breton Tea Company. Infused with the spiritual essences of Juniper Berry and Black Pepper, and linked to the Wood Element, this tea embodies courage, renewal, and growth.

As you sip this tea, you are invited into ritual — to take a deep breath, feel the warmth of the cup, and connect with your own inner warrior. Juniper clears away energetic stagnation, while Black Pepper ignites vitality and willpower. Together, they remind us that transformation begins from within.

💫 Affirmation: “I release the past and step into my inspired future with strength and grace.”

This simple act of mindful drinking becomes a metaphor for Laurin’s journey — a conscious moment of choosing nourishment, expression, and alignment over fear and resistance.


Transforming Fear into Empowerment

Facing Dementia isn’t just a podcast series — it’s a movement toward compassionate awareness. By sharing Laurin’s story, Dr. Greenwell invites listeners to look beyond the diagnosis and into the energetic story it tells.

Dementia, like many chronic conditions, challenges us to rethink how we care for our body and mind. It asks us to slow down, listen deeply, and engage with practices that bring coherence — not chaos — to our energy field.

When we choose awareness over avoidance, self-care over self-doubt, we begin to change not just our personal story but the entire field of energy that supports life around us.


A New Paradigm of Healing

Through Laurin’s courage and the conversation she shares with Michelle, we are witnessing the emergence of a new paradigm — one where science and spirit meet, where ancestral memory and bioenergetic wisdom work hand in hand to guide us home to wholeness.

As we face dementia together — with curiosity, compassion, and courage — we begin to remember that healing is not about going back to who we were, but about becoming more of who we truly are.

One way to begin this journey of discovery is through a movement class to discover the ways in which the body might be restricted, weak, or unbalanced. The online Movement and Music class is an easy way to engage with the power of the programs at the Greenwell Center for Holistic Health, or you can choose an in-person class. Tai Chi Cape Breton has the schedule on the calendar, while Wine Country Tai Chi Society can offer you classes in West Kelowna and Peachland, BC. These initial first steps to realize where tension is in the body can be transforming and life saving. Reach out to find your perfect class or a one-on-one session that reveals your priority challenges looking for support, whether that is in body, mind, or spirit.

Reminder for World Mental Health Day on October 10th

Join Us for World Mental Health Day 2025

You’re invited to join CanBeWell.org and IASK.org for the World Mental Health Day 2025 event: Mental Health in the Workplace—a global gathering of presenters offering simple, powerful tools to support balance, clarity, and resilience both at work and at home. Just as explored in the Be Well with Dr. Michelle Greenwell podcast episode with Laurin Wittig, Facing Dementia, small, mindful practices can create profound shifts in our energy, focus, and emotional well-being. This year’s presenters will share techniques you can use every day—whether before a meeting, during a break, or at the end of a busy day—to reduce stress and restore harmony. By participating, you’ll discover how bioenergetic wellness and specialized kinesiology can empower you to care for your mental health, strengthen workplace relationships, and bring a renewed sense of purpose to your professional and personal life. The Journal publication created for this presentation is full of tips and tools to inspire you and your family to live well with mental health at the forefront.

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