Eliana Xadáni Pérez -Nuñez

Hello! My name is Eliana. I am a Southern California native who grew up in big cities. I was exposed to all different types of art and culture as a child. As a neurodivergent individual, living in a fast-paced environment was challenging at times despite its beauty. Understanding who I was, I am thankful my parents gave me space to play in nature and creatively express with slow and mindful intention. When I have access to supportive arts and environmental education alongside humanities and stem enrichment I feel empowered to live with an open heart and be myself in my truest forms. I grew up in academia with two educators for parents. Through parental exposure and personal exploration, I have experienced learning in many forms, from grassroots organizing to prestigious university exposure.  Both of my parents are creatives, so artistic expression has been a major part of my life path and has become a very important part of who I am. 

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Despite all efforts to grow into stability as a second generation Mexican-American, I was still subjected to oppression rooted in racism and ableism, resulting in finding myself in incredibly inequitable schooling environments. Having experienced the spectrum of what education, a required and main pillar of life for all children between the ages of 5 and 16, looks like for youth of all different backgrounds and levels of privilege or lack thereof within the United States, I am pursuing a bachelor's degree in Education, Democracy and Justice with a double minor in STEM education and Sustainability Studies.

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Nature is a place where I find most peace and deep connectedness to myself and the world at large. I have a year and a half of experience as an English tutor, helping youth, peers and adults with their writing and communications skills. I participated in weekly training centered around andragogical approaches to social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development during this time. I have also worked as a Park Aide for the California State Parks System for two years, where I welcomed visitors to the park while making nature accessible by providing general information about the park. I also worked on a team of three to develop and facilitate the Junior Rangers free environmental education Program, allowing for children in a large city to roam free in nature and simultaneously learn about the natural sciences. In addition, I worked at a nature preschool for a year focusing on the development of the whole child – physical, cognitive, emotional and social – through use of a play, place, experiential and emergent curriculum in canyons within inner-city locations.

I aim to decolonize outdoor education as a means to provide equal access to get children back to their roots, hold space for their prospective cultures, and ultimately, allow for a sense of wonder and curiosity towards the natural world to flourish within those who I teach. I hope to support the deep understanding that we are all a part of nature, emphasizing the ways in which nature can serve as a primal lens to unite us all in the beauty of the natural rhythms of life and our collective hearts as humans on this earth, while celebrating each person's uniqueness as beings in the modern world.

Music and dance are a major interest of mine. In more intimate practices with these tools, I love taking from cultures and observations and expressing my relationship to the world through producing, singing, rapping, contemporary, and street style dancing. I sing from a place of universal love and compassion for the planet as a whole. Within action oriented projects, I hope to continue speaking on self growth and singing from a place of love within my heart in a way that inspires listeners and allows people to feel seen. In future projects, I hope to learn more about global political happenings to spread snippets of digestible awareness on international injustices in order to urge listeners to organize within our own communities in order to reclaim our collective and individual power as feeling, thinking, breathing,  hoping, loving, and dreaming unique individuals on this earth. I believe that we must take care of ourselves and our communities, and speak on / shift to more localized means of supporting ourselves in order to shift away from those that are doing great harm to the world by weaponizing education and stripping ourselves of learning how to accessible and easefully live happy, healthy, exciting, soft, and peaceful lives. 

In addition, I offer fire cupping services, an intentional and spiritual offering to those feeling called to receive aid in self-care, allowing for relaxation, rejuvenation, and regenerative energy to take over and work through the individuals I treat. I have four years of shadowing experience with this art, and 6 months as a practicer of this healing modality. 

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May we all find peace in our hearts, the compassion for all that makes us human, the drive to make the world a better place, and a passion within ourselves to be ourselves in all ways, all day.