Yá’át’ééh. Looking for Grounding in these Changing Times?
In 1991, at the height of my professional career, I married into the Navajo (diné) culture as the wife of a Navajo medicine man and began a lifelong quest to understand and follow the teachings of the Navajo Beauty Way. Today I’m passionate about honoring and helping to preserve the stories and teachings of this rich Native American culture, and to help the diné people however I can.
My book and film projects reflect my personal experiences in traditional Navajo ceremonies, including my daughter’s kinaaldá, the four-day Navajo girl’s coming-of-age ceremony.
My upcoming memoir, Changing Woman Speaks: From Lost to Found in the Navajo Beauty Way shares my personal journey into this beautiful diné culture with a trusted mentor who becomes my husband and spiritual guide. Portals of ceremonies and teachings are opened, as my Navajo family and strict medicine men keep me in line. But in my darkest times, when my faith is shaken to the core, it is the teachings of Changing Woman which guide me back to center and balance.
This is a spiritual path I have followed for most of my adult life and find the teachings of Changing Woman to be relevant in every life challenge, and offering hope and understanding of the great changes we are experiencing today.
This book was foretold by my Navajo mentor years ago and explained as my exchange for the teachings. It has been written with much love and respect for the diné elders who have carried the traditions and stories forward into these times. They are the true wisdom-keepers. And I honor them the best I can by sharing my story and praying that it will be received in Beauty.
“Tell me a fact and I’ll listen.
Tell me a truth and I’ll learn.
But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.”
– Native American Wisdom
Coming Soon:
Changing Woman Speaks:
From Lost to Found in the Navajo Beauty Way
memoir by Brenda Kay Beck
EARLY REVIEWS
“The editorial team appreciated your clear relationship with the sacred teachings you are sharing, and your care in framing of those traditions from your perspective as a non-indigenous person. A compelling read.” “The world so needs stories like this. There are so many women who know there is more to this world than they are experiencing but feel disheartened and don’t know what that “something more” might be. Your writing will speak to them.“A compelling read.
The world so needs stories like this.
Finalist, Adult Nonfiction
2025 San Francisco Writers Conference
Changing Woman Speaks: From Lost to Found in the Navajo Beauty Way
memoir by Brenda Kay Beck