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This post is based on an intimate conversation from the Dancing Willow podcast with guest Calley Hoffman, founder of Harmonic Earth Sanctuary.
Click here to listen to the full episode.
At the height of summer, when the world is buzzing with movement, I often feel an invitation to slow down, to check in with myself and ask: Am I aligned? Am I being honest about what I truly need?
Recently, I sat down with my dear friend and soul sister Calley Hoffman for a heartfelt conversation that touched every corner of what it means to live authentically, to navigate the deep waters of grief, and to trust the quiet language of the body and the plants.
Calley and I have known each other through many seasons of life from shared laughter behind the counter at Dancing Willow Herbs to some of our most tender, transformative moments. Her story is one of listening. Not just to symptoms or signs, but to spirit, to silence, and to the guidance that arrives in unexpected ways.
The Eczema That Changed Everything
Calley's path toward healing didn’t begin in a place of calm. It began in a city, in discomfort, and with a rash that wouldn’t go away.
While living in Chicago and diving deep into a coaching program, Calley began developing intense eczema. It spread quickly, from her shins to her arms, then her entire body. Panic attacks, sleepless nights, ER visits. Despite eliminating foods, obsessively researching symptoms, and trying to control every variable, nothing worked. Until she stopped trying to fix it from the outside.
A pivotal moment came during a visit to her parents in Durango, Colorado. Her mom asked, “What does it feel like to be in your body right now?” “Trapped,” Calley replied. Her mom followed: “Where else in your life do you feel trapped?”
That question unraveled everything.
Calley realized she was stuck in a city that no longer resonated and a relationship that had run its course. When her partner ended the relationship, she walked through the open door and moved to Durango. Within weeks, the eczema began disappearing and it never returned.
Healing Is Listening
That experience was a catalyst. It taught Calley to listen more deeply not just to symptoms, but to the emotional and energetic messages the body carries.
As she settled in Durango, she began working at Dancing Willow Herbs and enrolled in an herbalism program. It was there, among tinctures and tea blends, that she began building a deeper relationship with the plants through taste, intuition, and dreams.
“I started having clear dreams about specific plants,” Calley shared. One of the first was agrimony, a plant known for helping those who appear cheerful on the outside but carry tension underneath. Later came jasmine and rose, which unexpectedly eased her menstrual pain.
Then elder arrived—through a vivid dream of a grandmother figure, speaking in what seemed like an ancestral language, while pouring elderberry syrup into moon-marked jars. She woke up with the name “Hildemore”, a word she had never before heard or known. After writing down the dream, she researched this foreign word to find that it meant “Elder Mother”. This sparked an enduring relationship with elderberry as both protector and ancestral guide.
A New Chapter: The Harmonic Egg
In 2022, Calley and her mother discovered the Harmonic Egg, a resonant sound chamber that uses frequency, vibration, color, and sacred geometry to support nervous system healing. They were immediately drawn to its integrity and its potential to provide gentle, profound support.
Together, they brought the Harmonic Egg to Durango and created the Harmonic Earth Sanctuary. The egg now sits in a peaceful space downtown, holding people in their moments of unraveling and remembering.
Clients arrive seeking relief from chronic pain, stress, grief, and disconnection. Through the egg’s intentionally composed music and light frequencies, combined with the powerful act of setting an intention, people are finding their way back to themselves.
One client who had endured over a year of severe post-surgical pain saw her pain levels drop from a 30 to a 1 after her first session. Another, navigating anxiety and burnout, came weekly just to ground and breathe again.
Calley’s work with the egg is guided not by the need to fix, but by the desire to hold. “We’re all going through something,” she says. “And when we’re in alignment, our bodies respond.”
Grief, Loss, and the Birth of Cosmic Mother
In 2023, Calley experienced the unimaginable. Eight weeks before her due date, her daughter Stella’s heartbeat was lost. Calley gave birth and held her stillborn child in her arms, an experience that cracked her open and changed her forever.
In the depths of that grief, a new form of mothering emerged. Through the plants that held her, oatstraw, lemon balm, tulsi, rose, hawthorn, passionflower, and blue lotus, Calley created a tea blend called Cosmic Heart under the name Cosmic Mother. It is both an offering and an honoring.
“It was like my nervous system didn’t know how to be anymore,” she shared. “But each time I came out of the egg, I felt like a little piece of myself returned.”
Calley’s grief journey is one of immense bravery and spiritual depth. She continues to share Stella’s story, not just as a remembrance, but as an offering to others walking through unspeakable loss. Her wisdom is that of the cosmic mother: grounded in the earth, connected to the unseen, and rooted in unconditional love.
Blooming Rooted and the Power of Being Witnessed
At the Blooming Rooted Retreat, Calley experienced a transformational moment. In the safety of the circle, surrounded by community and the natural world, she let herself be seen in her grief. After a powerful breathwork session, she shared about Stella. Through tears and trembling, she screamed, releasing the grief from her body with primal sound. And she was witnessed.
When we are seen, when we are held in our rawness and truth, we remember we’re not alone. And slowly, we return.
Closing Reflections
Calley’s story reminds us that healing doesn’t come in neat packages. It often begins with discomfort, arrives through disruption, and unfolds through connection, connection to self, to plants, to spirit, and to each other.
Whether through the language of dreams, the quiet work of herbs, or the vibration of sound, the invitation remains: listen. Your body is always speaking. Your spirit is always guiding. And even in the hardest moments, you are not alone.
Connect with Calley
- Harmonic Earth Sanctuary and the Harmonic Egg: https://www.harmonicearthsanctuary.org/
- Special code for first-time visitors to the egg: WILLOW for $25 off