
For most of the last 20 years, Tom has lived in community, engaged in a practice of shamanism that arose organically. His path came in answer to a prayer, inspired by a voice, and continues to evolve. Tom’s connection to the voice—the source of his creativity—is cultivated in much the same way one would develop any deeply valued relationship. His determination to be present to truth, and experience it in life, is at once practical and mystical. This experiential approach is the driving force of his shamanic path.
Through writing and teaching, Tom shares a perspective found in ancient spiritual traditions, indigenous practices, quantum physics, and matters of the heart…a universal thread of knowledge available to anyone who will listen with a deep desire to know and understand. As Tom relates, “The truth is not hidden and is everywhere for us to find.”
Tom’s connection to the elements—fire, air, water, earth and spirit—is deeply rooted in an ancient memory he shares through writing, storytelling, ceremony and sacred art.
Tom’s relationship with fire—expressed in a ceremony of beauty and power—draws people into the light of their own wisdom and authenticity.

His ability to create safe, sacred space, and listen, allows others to find their true voice—the voice that speaks their name—and reclaim the sacred memory of who they are and why they are here.
The power of ceremony, vision quest, shamanic breath work, meditation, sacred journaling, and other transformational tools, have shaped the course of his life’s work on the shamanic path. Tom practices what he teaches.
Reclaim the Sacred is a body of work, a vessel of sacred knowledge, that touches the heart and awakens the desire to reclaim or take back the language, practices and authentic ways of being which inherently belong to one’s self… and the profound realization that everything is sacred.
With more than 25 years in chiropractic and the healing arts, Tom has an intimate understanding of the role the mind and emotions play in creating the conditions expressed through the body.
Dis-ease in the body reflects an often unrecognized spiritual crisis hidden by unconscious patterns of belief and denial. The opportunity for deeper reflection and healing work is a personal responsibility and conscious decision.
Bridging ancient shamanic practices with universal laws, Tom addresses the need for deep healing so crucial in our culture today. There is a growing hunger for this kind of work.
In 2000, Tom moved his family to Durango, Colorado. Here he found a great corridor of ancient energy extending from the mountains to the desert that connected Tom to his own native heritage and provided an unbounded opportunity to explore deeper realms of shamanism.
Standing between earth and sky, Tom surrendered and learned to trust his own intuitive knowing.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but the Native energy here in the Four Corners of Southwest Colorado, and my own Gabrielino Tongva tribal lineage, was calling me long before we moved here,” recalls Tom.
Listen to a podcast interview of Dr. Tom on KDUR
“Witnessing my friend’s decline, and ultimate death, catalyzed a crisis in me that was completely unexpected. It drove me into the woods—before sunrise, after sunset, and often all night. I slept on the ground, ran barefoot, exposed to the elements. I felt called out by something primal, intangible, unseen. Rain, deep snow, cold—it didn’t matter. I would make an altar, build a fire, kneel and pray, journal and cry. I raged and begged, asking big questions—and I wanted answers. I wanted the truth. I wanted to know how to live, how to be true to myself, and I learned—when God talks to you, listen, and take good notes..”
Tom was powerfully moved by his time in the sacred space of the fire circle and was compelled to continue his ritual. After several years of deep work, he began to get a clear message that it was time to invite others to share the experience of the fire. Over the last decade, his fire ceremony has become a beacon of light, revealing a unique kind of energy medicine where spiritual healing, shamanic medicine, guidance, and wisdom can be found. Tom calls it going to work “in the deepest sense.”
Simple in nature, the fire ceremony teaches the profound lesson of being present and aware to elemental forces that are powerful and transformative—to pay attention and, above all, to listen.
“I listen to the fire as if it were speaking to me,” he says, “and in the silence clear messages come into my mind—different from my thoughts. My gift is to listen in a way that makes the intangible, tangible—putting into language what is difficult to express—drawing the mundane and the sacred together in a way that can be understood and appreciated.”
Who I Am and What I Teach
I am a mentor, guide and teacher, working in a shamanic way at an elemental level with energy, nature, spirit and the human condition. This is my calling, my sacred purpose.
The work of reclaiming the sacred in your life is the work of forgiveness, surrender, trust, and gratitude, creating the condition for peace, which lays the foundation for your greater work to unfold.
The activity of prayer and the art of blessing are potent tools to utilize on your path, giving you access to your power and the contribution of your gifts, your medicine.
Together we go to ground to unearth the deeper wisdom within you. Through deep listening and reflection, ritual and ceremony, we discover what you most need to learn, helping you to remember who you are and why you came. I guide you to find your way to the place where your deepest purpose lives. Together we walk the path for a little while until you know your way.
This is the Hero’s Journey, realizing your spiritual mission, strengthening your connection to the Creator, finding the grit and passion to carry on in service to humanity and fulfill your soul’s commission.
The Language of Fire Ceremony
Against the darkness, in the hours before dawn or at the approach of night, the fire beckons. In silence the fire draws us near to listen for wisdom and truth.
The language of fire is the primal tongue of creation.
For thousands of years humanity has gathered around the fire. What did they talk about? What did they learn?
A relationship with the fire is based on trust. We come to the fire humble and defenseless, without pretense, trusting.
The fire teaches us to listen. It speaks of the illuminating qualities of Light and a total commitment to transformation.
When we listen to the fire, it knows we are listening. Only then does it speak of things deep and intrinsic to the spirit, the human condition, and life on earth.
Watch a fire and notice that it burns with an intensity all its own, releasing its light with a total commitment to transformation.
The fire reminds us to burn with an intensity all our own and in this way release our light.
Transformation comes with the realization that our purpose lies solely in our relationship with our Creator, a relationship intimate and personal, and born of Light.
The fire helps us to awaken, to remember what was never forgotten and find what was never lost. Seeded deep within us is the memory of who we are and why we came.
At the fire we remember what is most important in this life and the purpose we came to fulfill.
For this reason, we come to the fire.
Contact Dr. Tom Garcia
email: tom (at) drtomgarcia (dot) com
Thank you for adding my email address manually. It helps to cut down on those nasty spam bots.