Avá Renée Sloan, MA, BSc, ATR

It was the desire to share healing with others that initially led me to complete an honors degree in psychology at Queensland University of Technology. Irritated at the dualism of the biomedical model and sensing there was more to healing than psychology could offer, I moved to an ashram in the foothills of the Northern Indian Himalayas to study yogic philosophy within the wisdom of the Vedas. Eventually, I began teaching yoga and meditation. From India I moved to Sri Lanka to support in the establishment of a community mental health program in Colombo. In 2016 I relocated to Melbourne, and began to slowly weave the wisdom gained from eastern philosophy together with what I had learned within my studies of western neuropsychology. In doing so, I founded Laprana, a holistic integrative health practice that is now based between Hurstbridge and the inner north east of Melbourne. Feeling called to deepen my knowledge about health, healing and whole-ing, particularly from the world’s indigenous cultures, I travelled around the world on a journey of healing, learning and inspiration. Time spent in various indigenous communities has allowed me to witness the peace and well-being that seems to naturally arise when we live in harmony and sacred reciprocity with Great Spirit. These communities have also illuminated the power of the creative and sacred to heal and transcend. Upon returning to Australia, I completed a Master’s degree in Therapeutic Arts Practice at The Melbourne Institute of Experiential & Creative Arts Therapies (MIECAT) and later completed a Certificate of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy with Mind Medicine Australia. My spirit has strengthened over the years, as I’ve continued to deepen my relationship with meditation and the earth-based wisdom of my own Celtic ancestral roots. Experiences in medicine ceremony and ineffable states in meditation have provides me with ever-deepening tools to support others on their journey of healing, whole-ing and the integration of expanded states of consciousness into the body-mind. Laprana’s mission is to support the individual/ collective intention of awakening and expanding human consciousness.