Magen Alexis Brings Wiwipson Swing Therapy to MacEwan’s Indigenous Students
Swing therapy sessions at MacEwan focused on spiritual well being
Magen Alexis at the kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre Photo credit: Maria Pereira
Indigenous students at MacEwan University now have the opportunity to experience Wiwipson Swing Therapy. The traditional healing practice guided by Magen Alexis, Relative in Residence at the kihêw waciston Indigenous Centre. The sessions, held on Thursdays invite students to reconnect with ancestral practices and balance their spiritual well-being.
Alexis, who has worked at MacEwan for nearly nine years, learned the ceremony from her mentor, Dr. Darlene Auger of Wabasca First Nation. The practice originates from the traditional baby swing, Wiwipson, and was adapted for adults as a form of healing from intergenerational trauma and disconnection.
During her first experience with the swing, Alexis described feeling a powerful transformation. “I went into the stars. My spirit had moved me into the stars and I just felt safe. I felt this immense warmth love and I just wanted to stay there.” She said the experience “opened up an opportunity for [her] to heal something that was deep within [her] that I didn’t realize.”
For Alexis, bringing the ceremony to campus represents a full-circle moment of resilience and gratitude. When she sets up the swing, she feels immense joy and thinks about her ancestors—especially her grandmothers—who were not allowed to express their identity freely. Through Wiwipson Swing Therapy, she aims to offer students that same sense of peace and connection, emphasizing how the deeply generational and multi-layered nature of Indigenous healing practices help to prepare the way for future generations.
