About
I grew up in New York where my education focused on the development of the mind. It’s been a long journey to learn to quiet my mind and listen again to the wisdom in the natural world. Today, after many years of work, I am very aware that what I experience through my mind is only a small fraction of my encounter with the world.
My own journey has shown me how simple and also how challenging it is to recognize and transform the individualized, capitalist sense of self that pushed me so hard to achieve, and even sometimes taught me to think that I was better than someone else. On my way, I learned how deeply competition, judgment and a mentality of scarcity are ingrained into my relation with life and how these create loneliness and isolation.
For the past 25 years, I have been holding spaces for collective healing for young people and adults. In this time, I have witnessed hundreds of people reclaim their authentic voices and embody their power. I have shared my work in public and private schools, outdoor education centers, trainings for educators, summer camps, women’s and girls’ circles, conscious movement spaces, primitive skills gatherings, permaculture courses and many different workshops. I have amplified the impact of this work by writing curriculum and training other leaders and educators in transformative education and facilitation.
For the past decade and a half, I have been apprenticed to Carmen Vicente, a medicine woman and spiritual leader from the high Andes. Carmita, as she is affectionately known, carries the mission of bringing the traditional healing ways of her community to the people of the cities, or in other words, the people of the west...us. With her blessing, I hold traditional healing ceremonies and share these ancient altars around the world.
I am a certified Permaculture Design Educator as well as a Clinical Western Herbalist. I hold a BA from Brown University and an MA from UC Berkeley. I am a founding member of the School of Secrets, Carmen Vicente’s initiatory program for women to return to a natural relation with our cycles.
I am a dancer, and for me the body is my channel to spirit, and to deep relation with life. All of my work integrates embodied practice and I have been moved by the teachings of Gabrielle Roth and a number of her students, with whom I have been walking for nearly a decade.
I share my life with my beloved, Robert, my gorgeous stepchildren, Lily, Eden and Takara, and my dearest granddaughter Gaia.
I am passionate about helping those who wish to emerge from the loneliness imposed upon us by a culture of individualism and division to return to an awareness of our relation with the earth, the air, the fire, the water - our source.
Life has blessed me with incredible formative experiences and I am honored to share what I have learned.