For the ones who break cycles and build legacies.
A one-on-one ancestral spiritual development practice
What you are looking for is behind you.
You have been looking forward. Working harder. Achieving more. Waiting for the feeling of enough to finally arrive. Or you have been standing still, knowing there is more for you out there, unable to figure out why you cannot get there.
Neither road is taking you where you need to go.
Because what you are actually looking for is not in front of you. It is not in the next accomplishment, the next relationship, the next season of your life. It is in your lineage. It has always been there. Waiting for you to come back for it.
Bough Breakers is ancestral spiritual development work for the ones who know something is missing and have been looking everywhere except the one place it has always been waiting.
You might be the person who says:
I know there is more for me. I just do not know how to get there.
Or you might be the person who says:
Nothing I do is enough and I am just filling space until I feel whole.
Both of these are the same wound. Both of them are rootlessness. And both of them have the same answer.
You have not gone back far enough yet.
The History Behind the Name
In a sermon by Rev. Mykal Slack for BLUU, an image took root that has never left me. When freedom seekers were making their way toward liberation, they did not just run. They marked the path. Moving through dark woods in the middle of the night, they would break boughs along the way. Just enough to remember where they had been. Just enough to find their way back. Just enough to lead the ones coming behind them through safely.
They were holding their own freedom and somebody else's in the same hands.
Bough Breakers honors that legacy. This work is for those who feel called to go back into their lineage, not to be consumed by it, but to mark the path. To heal what has been carried. To make it possible for those who come after you to find their way through with a little more light.
You were born to be the turning point in your family story. This is where that work begins.
This Is for You If...
You know where you come from but it has not yet healed you. You are still shrinking, still settling, still reaching for things that do not serve you.
You have built an impressive life but it is sitting on a foundation you have never fully claimed and you can feel it even when you cannot name it.
You have tried therapy, spiritual direction, personal development, and all of it has helped and none of it has gone deep enough.
You are ready to stop looking forward for something that has always been behind you.
You know you were meant to be the turning point in your family story and you are finally ready to go back and find out why.
This Is Not for You If...
You are looking for a quick fix or a surface-level exploration.
You are not ready to be honest about what has been passed down in your line.
You want a curriculum to follow rather than a practice to enter.
What Is Bough Breakers?
Bough Breakers is a one-on-one ancestral spiritual development practice centered on people of African descent and the broader African diaspora who are ready to go back into the wisdom, wounds, and gifts of their lineage and finally find the ground that was always supposed to be under their feet.
This is not genealogy. This is not therapy. This is the sacred work of returning to your line so your line can return to you.
Over your sessions together, you will move through inherited grief, interrupted histories, and the patterns that have been passed down long enough. You will reclaim what belongs to you, set down what never did, and begin building a legacy that your descendants will one day be grateful for.
The bough breaks. Something ancient is finally set down. Something living rises up.
What to Expect in Each Session
Each Bough Breakers session is 60 minutes of intentional, unhurried ancestral work. No session will look exactly the same because this practice follows you, not a fixed script. What remains consistent is the rhythm that holds the work.
Check-In (10 minutes) Each session opens with a grounded check-in. What has been arising since the last session? What is present in your body, your spirit, your memory? This is not small talk. This is the work beginning.
Exploration (35 minutes) This is the heart of the session. Together, we will move into the lineage material that is ready to be touched. This may include ancestral mapping, story work, grief tending, pattern recognition, ritual, or guided reflection. The direction is always led by what is most alive.
Integration (15 minutes) Each session closes with integration. What was uncovered? What wants to be carried forward? You will leave with something to hold, something to notice, and something to practice before the next session.
Between Sessions You Will Also Receive: Ancestral reflection prompts to deepen the work and carry it into your daily life until we meet again. These are not homework. They are invitations.
Client Reviews
“I came into this work thinking I knew my family story. Twelve sessions later I realized I had only been holding the surface of it. JeKaren has a gift for creating a space where the deepest and most tender parts of your lineage feel safe enough to show up. I left carrying something I did not even know I had lost.”
Alexia T., Spiritual Director, Atlanta GA"I have done years of personal work and nothing has gone as deep as this. Bough Breakers is not like anything else out there. It is not a course. It is not coaching. It is a sacred container held by someone who takes your lineage as seriously as you do. I am different because of this work and so is the way I show up for my community."
Maria W., Hospital Chaplain, Chicago IL"I did not know how much I was carrying until JeKaren helped me set it down. The grief I thought was mine turned out to be much older than me. And the gifts I did not know I had access to were waiting right there in the same line. This work changed my life and I believe it will change the lives of everyone who comes after me."
Rhoda M., Community Healer and Educator, Oakland CAThe Investment
Bough Breakers: 12 Sessions. One-on-One. $2,000.
This includes:
Twelve 60-minute one-on-one sessions with Rev. JeKaren Bell. A sacred container held with intention, care, and full presence. Ancestral reflection questions to deepen the work between sessions. Scheduling flexibility within the container to honor the rhythm of your life and your lineage.
Bough Breakers Lite: 6 Sessions. One-on-One. $1,000.
Limited Time Offer
This includes:
Six 60-minute one-on-one sessions with Rev. JeKaren Bell. A sacred container held with intention, care, and full presence. Ancestral reflection questions to deepen the work between sessions. Scheduling flexibility within the container to honor the rhythm of your life and your lineage.
For the ones who break cycles and build legacies
For the ones who break cycles and build legacies
For the ones who break cycles and build legacies For the ones who break cycles and build legacies
About Rev. JeKaren Bell
Rev. JeKaren Bell is an ordained minister, certified Death and Grief Doula, artist, and poet with over 15 years as a religious professional. She holds a Master of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry, a Master of Science in Nonprofit Leadership and Management from Arizona State University, and a Bachelors of Liberal Studies in Art and Sociology .
JeKaren has spent her career walking alongside people in the most liminal and sacred passages of their lives. Bough Breakers is the culmination of that work, the place where ancestral healing, spiritual development, and the wisdom of those who came before us meet.
She does not just teach this work. She lives it.
Cancellation and Rescheduling Policy
This work is sacred and so is our time together. If something comes up and a session needs to be rescheduled, please give at least 24 hours notice so that the time can be offered to someone else.
If less than 24 hours notice is given, one complimentary reschedule is available for the duration of the 12 or 6-session container. After that, the session is considered complete and cannot be carried over.
Life happens and grace is always part of this practice. And holding this container well for everyone means honoring the time we have set aside together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to have done ancestral work before?No. Bough Breakers meets you exactly where you are. Whether you are just beginning to feel the pull toward your lineage or have been in this work for years, there is a place for you here.
Is this therapy? No. Bough Breakers is a spiritual development practice, not a mental health service. If you are currently working with a therapist, this work can complement that beautifully.
What if you do not know much about your ancestry? That is exactly where the work begins. Interrupted and unknown lineage is a part of the ancestral story for many people, and it is held with care in this container.
Is Bough Breakers open to everyone? Bough Breakers is centered on people of African descent and the broader African diaspora. If you are not of the African diaspora but you feel called to support this work, sponsorship opportunities are available. Reach out directly to learn more.
How are sessions scheduled? Once enrolled, you will receive a link to schedule all 12 or 6 sessions at a pace that works for you and for the work.
What is the refund policy?Due to the nature of this container, all sales are final. If something unexpected arises, please reach out directly to discuss options.