Our Team

Elisha Almeida

Elisha was born and raised in Kuwait. Her family comes from Karnataka, India. She feels rich gratitude and connection to her ancestral lineage.

After moving to Canada in 2003, Elisha completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at York University. Elisha’s lifelong curiosity in human behaviour and development led to 12 of years working in the social service sector.

Elisha’s leadership includes facilitating family group work through her co-facilitation in Connect Parent, Women Supporting Women and Nature’s Toolkit. Elisha has also supported youth grief groups through Learning through Loss. Elisha has worked at Burnside Community Centre as a Youth Advisor and Behaviour Consultant to Caregivers at John Howard Society of North Island.

Elisha’s approach as a practitioner is based on trust building, honesty and willingness to work through challenge. Her style is informed by her trainings in alternate healing modalities including yoga, meditation and prayer.  

Elisha weaves deep care for your body, mind, soul and spirit in her sessions. She is a trained yoga instructor, and Ancestral Medicine Practitioner. Elisha has taken her rite of passage ceremonies on the traditional territories of the Saanich, Cowichen and Chemanius first nations in 2019 and 2022, supported by elders of this path. 

In her spare time, Elisha enjoys multi –day hiking trips, crafting food in her kitchen, dancing and writing group sessions with lots of belly laughs.

Elisha believes in the values of depth, tenderness and fun. She is currently ONLY offering ancestral healing sessions via zoom or in -person.

Gary Fort

Gary Fort was born in South Africa and after completing his 2-year conscription in the military he left the country to explore the world. After many years of traveling and searching for the peace that he had ‘lost’, he found his wife in Australia and shortly after they both embarked on a journey ‘back home’ to the inner peace that still eluded him. Gary and Cindy took meditation courses and were eventually drawn to the practice of Yoga. They studied to become yoga instructors in India and returned to South Africa to contribute to the post-apartheid healing. This was the beginning of a long journey of learning to understand the body, mind, spirit connection and how to restore the balance when severed. Gary and Cindy established a holistic center in Cape Town which provided yoga, meditation, counseling, and holistic therapies. They also provided support to local addiction, mental health, and eating disorder clinics.

We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time. -T.S. Elliot-

In 2011 Gary and Cindy moved with their two sons back to Cindy’s country of birth, Canada. They settled in the Comox Valley, which they have called home since. Gary worked at The John Howard Society of North Island as a Drug and Alcohol Counselor, The Behavioral Consultant to Caregivers, and most recently as the Outreach Counsellor for the Child and Youth Mental Health Team at the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Gary is a trained facilitator in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Emotion-Focused Family Therapy, and Circle of Security. He is skilled in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, ASIST Suicide prevention, Yoga, meditation, Reiki, and mindfulness. Gary provides support to individuals, couples, and families with a wide range of issues.

In his free time, Gary loves the ocean, being on his boat with his family, finding an isolated site to pitch a tent, and sharing in the wonders of nature. Gary has a daily practice of yoga and mediation and being silly with his two teenage boys and his dog, Marley. Gary is a Boys Club Network mentor and volunteers at two high schools where he facilitates boys’ groups.

Gary meets you where you are at. He not only meets you where you are on your journey but also in which physical space you feel most comfortable in. Gary follows an outreach model of support, whether it be walking in nature, in the space of acceptance that it holds, in the comfort of your own home, or at a local coffee shop. Your confidentiality is sacred.

“I work for you. You have the pieces of the puzzle in your being. We navigate your inner landscape and gently extract these pieces to create a picture of your life that is clear and transformative. Once we have this picture it acts as a map to your dreams”.