Hi, I'm River (Helen Pattinson)

I support women on the edge of change. Brave souls ready to blast out the cage of people-pleasing and self silencing, sharpen their teeth and claws, and step into their unapologetic power, so they can do the thing they’ve secretly always wanted to do.

A certified Dancing Freedom™ facilitator, yoga teacher and shamanic guide, I have been guiding transformational dance journeys and rituals on Vancouver Island for 14 years. I bring to my offerings deep reverence for the earth, a love of movement, and a fresh splash of rebelliousness. 

​May what I do flow from me like a river. No forcing, and no holding back. The way it is with children. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Immersed in shamanic medicine and nature-based ritual for the past 22 years, I began training with Dawn Russell, Lorraine Grayston and Leo Rutherford in the UK in 2004. Later, working alongside my mentor Acahk Miskinâk Iskwêw (Corinna Stevenson) in Sayward, BC for 10 years, learning the way of nature-based ritual and rites of passage. Elizabeth-Claire Burr continues to guide and mentor me through somatic healing practices. In 2023 I completed a year-long Grief Ritual Facilitator Training with the Dark Woods of Grief, and in 2025 trained with Mariah Moser as a Relational Somatic Therapy practitioner.

​I hold a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art and a Masters Degree in Arts & Ecology, and one of my favourite things is drawing with a stick of charcoal. Born and raised in the UK, I fell in love with the wildness of West coast BC and followed my dream to make Vancouver Island my home. I love meandering barefoot through the forest with my pup, and swimming in the river by my house.