Session : Welcome Circle, Closing Storytelling Circle

Owner : Svälja Whole-Being

Creator & Organizer : Svälja Community Conference

Rebecca James Alsum is the owner of Svälja Whole-Being, the creator and organizer of the Community Conference, and a storyteller and visionary. She is on a path of creating spaces where healing and deep inner wisdom can blossom through connection of one’s heart. Through many years working in advocacy and community support, Rebecca has been devoted to empowering people to find healing centered within themselves, through the re-discovery of their own deep wells of wisdom and love. She seeks to nurture deep relationships, holistic listening, meaningful communication, and connection to Spirit.

Rebecca holds a BA in Sociology, is a Certified Sexologist and Sexual Wellness Coach, a Certified Qigong Trainer, and an RYT 200 yoga teacher.

Workshop : Connecting to Self: The Key to Engaging Authentic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Chris Davila is an experienced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professional with a strong background in higher education and nonprofit work. A gay, cisgender, Mexican American and first-generation college graduate, Chris has lived in Duluth for 18 years, serving in roles such as Academic Excellence Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Director of Diversity and Inclusion at the College of St. Scholastica, and DEI Specialist at Life House.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Teaching, along with certificates in General Business and Human Services, and is a certified Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). His background in teaching shapes his relationship-centered approach to DEI work, emphasizing the importance of creating environments that are welcoming, challenging, and supportive of learning and growth.

Movement Practice : Mindful Slow Flow Yoga : Rest is Resistance - Rest is Sacred

On Exhibit : Irrevocable Wholeness : collaboration between Painter Sarah Brokke and Poet Kyle Leia Heyesen

Kyle Leia Heyesen is the founder of Svälja Yoga and a longtime teacher specializing in Trauma-Conscious Yoga. With an MSW and 20+ years in the field, she’s dedicated to diversity, inclusion, and supporting trauma-impacted communities.

She holds multiple yoga certifications, including a 300-hour from Yess Yoga, and integrates mindfulness, CBT, and trauma-informed practices into her teaching. A trauma survivor herself, she credits yoga as a key part of her healing and served as the founding Board Chair of Recovery Alliance Duluth (RAD).

Kyle has taught in studios, universities, and treatment programs—including a trauma-conscious yoga initiative in partnership with the 6th Judicial DWI Court. A published poet, she often weaves poetry into her classes to support healing and connection. She is also the poet behind Irrevocable Wholeness—a collaborative project with artist Sarah Brokke, which will be on exhibit at Svälja Whole Being’s Community Conference.

Session : Thriving Horizons Storytelling Circle

Movement Practice : Resonant Breath & Meditation

Movement Practice : 10 Step Tai Ji

At his core, Ed is a storyteller, spirit doula, and healer, guided by curiosity, love, joyful learning, and his own journey of healing and spiritual reconnection. With a background in violence prevention and peacemaking, his work centers on nurturing individual and community connections to spirit, healing, and wholeness as a path to thriving—now and for future generations.

Ordained in 2022 as a Rinzai Zen Priest at Anko-in by Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi, Ed (Koshin) Heisler is passionate about sharing spirit and wholeness practices. His core practices include Zazen, Kado, Ten Step Tai Ji, Okyo, Shodo, Reiki, and everyday storytelling that links us to ancestral and spiritual wisdom.  

Workshop : Metta (LovingKindness) Mediation

Julie has been a seeker in healing modalities for decades, both for her own healing journey and learning how to support others. She has explored multitudes of modalities on multiple continents, compiling a well-resourced toolbox. In 2022, she earned my Holy Fire III Reiki Master certification, and she holds certificates in trauma healing, embodiment, qigong, dreamwork, psychedelic guiding, sound healing, and meditation teaching. She is most proud of her experiences from her own healing journey. She has had a multitude of "peak experiences" through different modalities and continues to work toward integration of these insights.

Her experience as a speech-language pathologist and work in assistive technology have taught her the importance of communication and interconnectedness, along with the necessity of individualization. She has been supporting people as they move toward chosen potentials as humans and professionals for over twenty years.

Keynote : Open to Heart and Spirit

Katrina Tobey has spent her career creating innovative, community-based healing programs for underserved and vulnerable populations. Her work includes youth suicide prevention, domestic violence advocacy, treatment programs for people convicted of sexual offenses, and support for mothers recovering from addiction. She believes education is vital to building safer, healthier communities and is a respected presenter in academic, therapeutic, and community settings, including with Spring Forest Qigong.

Since 2005, Katrina has practiced Spring Forest Qigong, aligning with Master Lin’s vision of “A Healer in Every Family.” She has helped shape teaching programs since 2007 and has co-presented with Master Lin on Forgiveness, Emotional Healing, and Intensive Healing. In 2015, she was honored with the Qigong Master designation and now serves as a Master Teacher, Certified Instructor, and faculty member of Energy Healing International.

Spring Forest Qigong guides Katrina’s work as a Psychologist, Family Therapist, and in her Mothering roles. She is deeply grateful to Master Lin and the Spring Forest community for their healing mission.

Keynote : Open to Heart and Spirit

Master Glenn Tobey, M. Div., M. A. in Management, is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Duluth, Minnesota.

He has almost forty years of experience in the Human Service field and has worked in both urban and rural settings, and values the collaborative community-based model.

He has also taught at the college level, and conducted numerous SFQ workshops and trainings in various community settings. Glenn continues to teach and to share his knowledge and wisdom of Spring Forest Qigong which is at the center of both his professional focus and his personal passion. 

Glenn is a member of the SFQ teaching team. He teaches Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Instructor Certification, and other workshops.

Movement Practice : Qigong

Workshop : Connecting to Self: The Key to Engaging Authentic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Seth holds a MA in Spiritual Formation & Leadership and a BA in Philosophy & Religion. He is currently in Svalja’s 300 hour YTT with anticipated graduation in 2026. He is a Certified Qigong Practice Group Leader through Spring Forest Qigong. Seth is also a Rule 114 Facilitative Mediator through the Conflict Resolution Center.

Seth is the Executive Director of Damiano Center and works with people experiencing housing insecurity, poverty and all that comes with these realities.

Workshop : From Birth to Death: Honoring Fear as a Path to Healing

Session : ONE SONG

Session : Dances of Universal Peace

Kristy Marie is a certified Dance Leader for the Dances of Universal Peace, a Sufi guide, yoga teacher, and bodyworker with over 20 years of experience. She has taught in the 250-hour YTT program at Svälja Whole-Being for six years, where she leads a meaningful conversation on death and dying. At Svälja, she also holds a monthly dance circle with the Way of the Heart Crew and facilitates a monthly grief ritual.

For the past two decades, Kristy has studied death and dying with teachers including Bodhi Be, Jerry Grace Lyons, and Ram Dass. She draws inspiration from authors such as Stephen Jenkinson, Pema Chödrön, Joanna Macy, and especially Francis Weller. The deeper she explores this topic, the more vital it feels to regularly engage—in community—with conversations and practices that embrace death, dying, and grief.

At the Svälja Community Conference, Kristy will guide a session of Dances of Universal Peace, leaving participants with a simple practice to foster unity in any gathering. She will also co-lead From Birth to Death: Honoring Fear as a Path to Healing with Rebekah Dunlap.

Movement Practice : Embodiment Flow Yoga

Kate brings 20+ years of yoga and fitness experience to her classes. A professional actor, singer, director, and educator, she now counsels executives on career strategy for a boutique firm in Duluth, MN. Kate’s enthusiasm for mindfullness, health, and wellness ranges from studying kettlebells with a former KGB trainee in NYC to Keening, the vocal art, and practice, of mourning the dead. She has studied yoga around the world and once “whirled with dervishes.”

Kate teaches with energy and athleticism. She is also passionate about the benefits of a Yin Practice for all movers and shakers. You can expect an encouraging and inclusive class, creating a connected practice at every experience level. She is also an avid runner, community builder, and bonafide Shakespeare nerd.

Movement Practice : Qigong

Krista loves creating opportunities for children to connect with their own true, beautiful essence and providing tools for the expression of self.  Through her years of working in education, she has witnessed the power and life that young people will harness for positive interaction with themselves and their communities, creating a ripple of life and love.

Krista has found Qigong as a powerful practice for healing and spiritual development within her own life journey.  Krista’s relationship with nature in all its forms has also been an integral part of her life path and has provided her with experiences of grounding, healing, peace and love that are essential to her daily life. 

Krista  holds a MA in Education/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, is a certified Qigong practice group leader through Spring Forest Qigong, and is certified in Trauma Conscious Yoga.

Workshop : From Birth to Death: Honoring Fear as a Path to Healing

Rebekah Dunlap is a member of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. Her work is rooted in supporting families through the childbearing years, drawing from her experience as a public health nurse and doula. She has accompanied many people through the tender, powerful moments surrounding birth. She brings that experience into this conversation about life's thresholds. With her focus on birth and early life, Rebekah offers reflections grounded in her experience as a nurse and birth worker. She is honored to contribute her voice to this shared space, offering reflections on life's transitions.

On Exhibit : Irrevocable Wholeness : collaboration between Painter Sarah Brokke and Poet Kyle Leia Heyesen

Workshop : The Power of Your Soul is the Power to Know

Emily Christenson is an artist, naturalist, and shamanic practitioner living in the boreal forests along the North Shore of Lake Superior. A lifelong intuitive and creative, Emily has spent decades exploring the connection between Spirit, healing, and the sacred power of creativity. She holds a BFA in drawing and painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and exhibited her work nationally and internationally before turning her focus fully toward spiritual healing. Following a series of life-altering initiations—including a profound near-death experience—she deepened her studies in evidential mediumship and shamanic practices, training with internationally respected teachers. Through her work as a medium, healer, and artist, Emily invites others to reconnect with their inner creative soul, trust their sacred knowing, and experience the living presence of Spirit in everyday life.