Desert Mothers of the Well
Loto Wellness Collective is guided by Desert Mothers — women who have walked through seasons of unmaking and emerged with Wisdom, tenderness, and discernment.
Historically, Desert Mothers were not clergy or elites. They were women of prayer, presence, and deep interior authority. They lived close to the land, close to God, and close to one another. People sought them not for answers, but for orientation — how to live authentically, gently, and awake.
This ancient lineage continues here.
At Loto, Desert Mothers are not gurus or performers.
They are Well-keepers — tending spaces of rest, remembrance, and embodied Wisdom.
They host not from expertise alone, but from having been changed.
This is hospitality rooted in depth.
A Shared Well, Not a Pedestal
Loto is not built on hierarchy. It is built around a shared Well of Wisdom.
Some Desert Mothers host retreats.
Some co-host ceremonial circles.
Some guide somatic practices, sound, water, prayer, art, or silence.
All are united by a common posture: presence over performance, depth over spectacle, care over control.
Each Desert Mother listed below has been invited into this circle through relationship, trust, and shared values centered around Love. Some you may meet once. Others may walk alongside you across seasons.
Meet the Desert Mothers
Desert Mothers
Loto Wellness Collective
2026 Well-Keepers
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Deeply rooted in Salida, Colorado (fourth of five generations of her family to live there), Jennifer is the Founder of Loto Wellness Collective and the first keeper of the Well around which this community gathers.
Her work was not born from strategy, but from necessity — shaped by seasons of burnout, over-functioning, and the slow unlearning of what it means to be strong. Through her own wilderness journey, Jennifer discovered that healing does not arrive through effort or perfection, but through presence, rest, and embodied remembrance.
As a Desert Mother, Jennifer hosts spaces of restoration that honor the whole person — body, soul, and nervous system. Her leadership is informed by contemplative Christian mysticism, somatic practices, and years of lived devotion to listening: to God, to the body, and to the Wisdom that emerges when women gather without pretense.
Jennifer is not interested in creating followers. She is committed to cultivating conditions where women remember their own inner authority, learn to trust their bodies, and draw freely from the shared Well of consciousness.
Loto is her offering — a place to pause, to soften, and to become whole in community.
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From Detroit, Michigan, Ileana’s presence is shaped by years of working in close relationship with the body, the breath, and the elemental intelligence of water through the practice of Janzu. She understands water not as a technique, but as a teacher — one that softens defenses, restores trust, and invites the nervous system back into safety.
As a Desert Mother, Ileana brings a quiet steadiness to the well. She knows how to listen beneath words, how to support surrender without force, and how to hold others as they remember their own capacity to float, receive, and be carried.
Her hosting is gentle, attuned, and deeply relational.
She does not rush the water — or the woman within it.
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Pam blesses through nourishment and a well-set table. She shines brightly for her faith and love of people, which is why she is lovingly known at the House of Loto as Abuela Sol.
Her love of the culinary arts is rooted in the understanding that food is never just food — it is memory, care, safety, and communion. Pam approaches the kitchen as sacred space, where attentiveness and love are practiced through preparation, timing, and generosity.
Pam tends the well by tending the table. She knows how to create meals that are beautiful and invite people back into presence with themselves and one another. Her hosting is warm, decorative, and deeply relational — shaped by listening as much as by cooking.
Through her care, eating becomes a return.
A remembering.
A way of being held.
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Based in Ft Collins, Colorado, Erica Cowan serves as a Desert Mother at Loto through the careful, ethical stewardship of sacred medicines.
A Registered Nurse, Erica brings clinical discernment, embodied presence, and deep respect for the nervous system into ceremonial spaces. She works alongside her husband, Jamie Dierks, a licensed Nurse Practitioner, together serving as Keepers of the Sacred Medicines and medical team for Loto retreats and ceremonial gatherings.
Their shared work is rooted in safety, consent, and attunement. Erica understands that sacred medicine requires more than access — it requires pacing, trust, and the ability to respond wisely to what arises. Her presence allows the ceremonial container to remain grounded and well-held, so others can surrender without fear.
Erica’s role at the Well is one of protection and integrity.
Through her care, sacred medicine is approached not as an escape, but as a supported passage — held with humility, skill, and reverence.
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From Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Ara Covarrubias Díaz is a ritualist and creatrix whose work invites women into deeper relationship with themselves through movement, voice, natural alchemy, and ceremony.
As a contributor to the well, Ara co-creates spaces that feel both playful and deeply transformative — where vulnerability is honored, the body is welcomed, and ritual becomes a pathway back to presence. Her approach is intuitive and heart-led, rooted in the belief that healing does not require fixing, only permission to soften and be seen.
Ara’s contribution to the well is one of remembrance.
Through circle, sound, and embodied ritual, she helps others reconnect with their inner magic, their sensuality, and the quiet wisdom already living within.
What It Means to Be a Desert Mother at Loto
A Desert Mother is someone who:
Leads from lived experience, not abstraction
Honors the body and nervous system as sacred ground
Understands rest as resistance and remembrance
Holds space without forcing outcomes
Practices listening — to I AM, to the body, to the Collective
Knows how to stay when things get quiet, tender, or true
Each Desert Mother carries her own medicine. Each draws from the shared Well.
Together, they create containers where women can exhale, soften, and remember who they are.
Desert Mothers arrive as guests first.
Some as collaborators.
Some guests later feel called to host.
This is not a closed circle — but it is a considered one.
If you feel resonance here, trust that awareness.
The Well reveals itself in time.
Come sit at the Well.
There is room.
Becoming Part of the Circle
Collaborators
Some collaborators are not keepers of the Well — but waters that flow into it.
They arrive for a season, a project, or a particular offering, and their presence shapes the experience in lasting ways. Their contributions are honored not as roles, but as gifts freely given and received.
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Brenda Renderos is a writer and editorial contributor to Loto Living, offering words that invite reflection, honesty, and interior spaciousness.
Her writing attends to the subtle places — the questions beneath the questions, the pauses between certainty and becoming. Through her contributions, Brenda helped shape the magazine as a place not for answers, but for presence: where readers are invited to slow down, listen inwardly, and stay with what is emerging.
Brenda’s contribution to the well was one of clarity and quiet depth.
Her words created room — for tenderness, curiosity, and truth to unfold without force.
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Currently a Salida resident, Jade’s story spans continents, cultures and lifetimes’ worth of transformation. Born in South Korea to two military parents, movement was the rhythm of her childhood. Home was everywhere and nowhere, shaped by landscapes, people and the sense that life was always shifting beneath her feet.
Her flower farm, Cherokee Bloom, is an embodiment of her journey. A micro flower farm rooted in regeneration, reciprocity and belonging. This is a space where soil is nourished, stories are honored and flowers become messages carried in bouquets, offerings and bridal blooms.
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Crustal Dominguez is a multidisciplinary artist and the creator of the DOMI Way — an intuitive, embodied approach to creativity rooted in presence, play, and permission.
As Loto’s 2025 Artist in Residence, Crustal co-hosted Artful Communion, helping to shape spaces where creativity became a form of devotion rather than performance. Her work invited participants to release perfection, soften self-judgment, and return to creating as an act of relationship — with God, with the body, and with one another.
Crustal’s contribution to the well was one of liberation.
Through her presence, art became a shared language of belonging, and making became a way of remembering what is already alive within.
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Mary Elise Chavez collaborated closely with Jennifer to design the branding for Loto Wellness Collective, translating its spirit into form.
Through visual language, Mary Elise helped shape how the Well is experienced before a word is read or a space is entered — through color, texture, pacing, and design that invites the body to soften.
As a contributor, Mary Elise brought discernment rather than decoration. Her designs reflect a deep attentiveness to the soul of Loto, allowing the brand to feel coherent, spacious, and quietly grounded across digital and physical spaces.
Her contribution to the Well was one of visibility and trust — making the unseen felt, and the intangible tangible.
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Bette Dickinson is an artist, writer, and long-time companion in the contemplative life. Her work carries the quiet authority of someone formed through prayer, patience, and sustained attention.
In co-hosting Infinitum’s monthly virtual prayer days alongside Jennifer, she helps tend shared spaces of intercession, listening, and gentle faithfulness across distance and time.
Bette’s contribution to the Well is one of steadiness and depth.
Through her presence, prayer becomes spacious rather than urgent, and creativity becomes a way of staying close to God without striving.
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Anne-Marie Northrup oversees on-site event logistics for many of Loto Wellness Collective’s retreats, tending the unseen systems that allow everything else to unfold with ease.
As Jennifer’s identical twin, Anne-Marie brings an intuitive understanding of the rhythm, values, and discernment guiding the work — often anticipating needs before they are spoken. Her presence creates steadiness behind the scenes, ensuring that details are handled with care so Desert Mothers can remain fully present to the people they are holding.
Anne-Marie’s contribution to the well is one of order and protection.
Through her attentiveness, retreats feel grounded, supported, and spacious — allowing the sacred to move without interruption.
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Eleanor Axcell served as Copy Editor for Loto Living print edition in 2025, tending the language with patience, clarity, and care.
Her work happens in the margins — refining tone, honoring rhythm, and ensuring that each piece of writing remains faithful to its original voice while becoming more legible and spacious for the reader. Eleanor understands editing not as correction, but as collaboration: a practice of listening closely to what wants to be said and helping it arrive intact.
Eleanor’s contribution to the Well is one of integrity and coherence.
Through her quiet attentiveness, the magazine speaks with a steady, trustworthy voice — one that invites readers to linger, rather than rush.
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There is a special magic that exists between identical twins. Having shared the womb, Anne-Marie and Jennifer also share a deep connection with each other and the Spirit that guides their collaborative efforts.
God has been giving them shared prophetic visions of a future House of Loto, a monastic retreat experience and luxury wellness center.
🪷 Identical twin sister to Jennifer and daughter to Pam, Anne-Marie utilizes her event planning and project management skills to lead day-of production for retreat experiences.
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LaToya Moulton is a life coach and editorial contributor to Loto Living, offering words shaped by reflection, lived experience, and gentle truth-telling.
Her contributions invited readers into deeper self-awareness and spiritual honesty.
LaToya’s contribution to the Well was one of sincerity and resonance.
Her voice created moments of recognition — where readers could see themselves reflected and feel less alone in their unfolding.