Connection, healing and community at Ascension

Published 10:13 am Sunday, January 19, 2020

By Danielle Puleo

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Danielle Puleo photo

When we think about health, our mind tends to go right to physical well-being; making sure our bodies are in tip-top shape to accomplish the daily feats we face. Seldom do we stop and think about our mental state or our inner self in a non-physical sense.

Shree Fulcher, owner of Ascension in Kill Devil Hills, never had plans to open a yoga studio or practice reiki or even learn how to heal people. After reaching a breaking point where her physical body was in need of some healing, she started to realize her being as a whole needed some mending.

“I came from a background where it was necessary to heal; I wasn’t going to move up, or ascend, unless I did,” Fulcher said in an interview with The Coastland Times. Her path to healing led her back to her roots here in the Outer Banks. After Fulcher spent time traveling, learning and fixing the parts of herself that needed some work, she felt a calling to give her time to other people that were struggling.

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One night after a meditation, Fulcher received a phone call from a friend offering a space next to her warehouse in Kitty Hawk. This is where Ascension was born. “I started in Kitty Hawk and we immediately knew we would grow out of the space very quickly,” Fulcher said.

After introducing Ascension to the surrounding area, Fulcher looked for a new location. Around that time, the former location of The Pit was on the market. At first, the price was more than what Fulcher could afford, but she had her mind set on the property.

“One day a ‘For Lease’ sign went up, and it was a taste of possibility,” she said. Not long after, Fulcher and her crew went in and transformed the building into a calm, rejuvenating atmosphere, with a healing room, an apothecary, a workshop space and everything metaphysical.

Ascension now offers readings, reiki, various workshops, yoga and merchandise, along with free programs that are centered around inclusivity. “One of our missions is to have healing and yoga be very inclusive and to feel possible for everyone,” Fulcher said.

On the second Sunday of the month, Fulcher and her team host “Soulful Sundays,” where reflexologists, hypnotherapists, psychics, massage therapists and reiki practitioners all come together and offer their services for a dollar per minute. This community event is open to everyone from noon to 5 p.m. Fulcher said she encourages people to simply walk in and see what it’s all about.

Throughout the month of January, Ascension is offering free yoga classes three times a week. There is also a free meditation every Tuesday night, with rotating themes. “It’s important for folks to feel like they have a community where they are included,” Fulcher said, “even if that means the only thing they have to give is their presence.”

Fulcher believes healing is something everyone can connect with. “Healing isn’t something only broken people do,” she said. “Since were all healing and all recovering, it doesn’t matter if for you that looks like yoga and someone else that looks like a reiki session or coming into the shop and having a cup of tea and starting a conversation with another person. Whatever ways you want to heal or connect or are ready to evolve, we hope to provide that.”

To learn more about the programs offered at Ascension, visit www.ascensionobx.com.

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