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The Origin Story

Ayyur (pronounced Eye-YUUR | they/them) and Kulkiran (pronounced Cuul-KEER-ren | they/them) first met in 2018 as colleagues at another local private practice, Integrative Empowerment Group (IEG). In early 2020, the two dove deeper into their personal and collective healing and liberation work from the trauma of being multi-marginalized and living in an oppressive world while surviving late-stage capitalism during a global pandemic. They each serve as a divine mirror of the world and model of the work.  Through their lifelong personal journeys and experiential trainings in specialized healing modalities, the pair launched this anti-oppressive mental health private practice to answer their mutual calling to provide a liberatory healing space for multi-marginalized individuals within the community to thrive towards post-traumatic growth. 

The name "Shine and Shadow" comes from the Punjabi meaning of Kulkiran, or "the rays of light that shine on the family," and  the Berber meaning of Ayyur, or "moon." Much like the complementary dynamic between the sun and the moon, the pair both serve as a divine mirror and a model to also liberate others from the impact of systemic oppression through befriending the shadows of our psyches and by embodying our divinity, or the inner light within that's driven by Love. Their shared purpose is to advocate for the respect and dignity of our humanity, to cultivate an abundant, just and equitable world, and to protect the wholesomeness of life for sustainable belonging within and between us all.