This Work Came From Community First
Long before sound and breath were amenities, they were how communities gathered, grieved, marked time, and stayed together. That lineage — rhythm, voice, and ancestral practice — is where Alkhemiyah's work actually comes from.
Shaman Yawna Shakti brings that practice to nonprofit programs, cultural and heritage events, remembrance gatherings, and youth work across Chicago, with pricing structured for community budgets.
Where this work is held
Nonprofit staff and volunteer care
Sessions for teams doing frontline work — housing, violence prevention, health access, family services. Usually 45 to 60 minutes, scheduled around shift coverage.
Cultural and heritage events
Rhythm and voice built into a program that is already about lineage and belonging, developed with organizers rather than dropped in.
Grief and remembrance
Held slowly, with less instruction and more silence. Shaman Yawna Shakti speaks with organizers beforehand about who is coming and what the community is carrying.
Elders and mothers' circles
Fully seated options, shorter durations, and instrument choices that carry well for participants with hearing differences.
Youth and mentorship programs
Shorter, more participatory sessions where young people play the drums and bowls themselves rather than only receiving sound.
Celebrations and rites of passage
Openings and closings for graduations, naming ceremonies, and community milestones.
Faith-adjacent gatherings
Sessions shaped to respect the tradition of the room, with language and structure agreed with the organizer in advance.
Organizers are consulted, not just booked.
Every community context is different, and the risk with this kind of work is arriving with assumptions. Shaman Yawna Shakti asks first: who is in the room, what has the community been through recently, what language works, what should not be said, and whether participation should be active or receptive.
Practical accessibility is planned as part of that conversation — chair-based options, shorter durations, quiet exits, sessions that work for people who cannot get onto the floor, and volume levels appropriate for children and elders.
Alkhemiyah works with community organizations on sliding-scale and grant-funded pricing. If budget is the obstacle, say so directly in your first message and it will be discussed openly.
Bring Alkhemiyah to Your Community
Tell us about the organization, the gathering, who will be there, and the budget you are working with.