Looking back on my life, I realize I have been seeking out spiritual practices & healing since I was 21. I met my first Shamanic practitioner in 1996 (an Australian voice Shaman) & the experience changed my life. I somehow went on to meet a different & very intense Shamanic practitioner from all over the world every 2 years well into my 30’s... Each experience was profound. But I never knew I would later pursue a training in Shamanic practices with incredible teachers myself at age 40.

I first learned Reiki while living in Eugene, OR, and became a Level 3 practitioner by 1999. Reiki was a meaningful addition to my life & would prove influential as I was guided along my path. I loved living in Oregon for almost a decade, enjoying all the amazing organic food & farming, incredible nature, hikes, eco-communities & vast array of healing arts & healthy living I was exposed to. Herbs, tinctures, essential oils, healthy eating & organic lifestyles were the norm! I dabbled in Kundalini Yoga for 2 years & was inspired by the yoga & chanting led by Snatum Kaur Khalsa at the studio in Eugene where we both lived. I visited a Sufi community in N. CA & was exposed to their Energy medicine practices. I also took a Quantum Physics course while at the Univ. of Oregon (taught by Amit Goswami) which I loved, and which greatly impacted my outlook on life. I was clearly seeking more knowledge & spirituality… Because of this, I was also very fortunate to go and spend 5 days with Deepak Chopra at his clinic in southern California in my early 20’s. He opened my eyes to the concept of Synchro-destiny, Ayurvedic medicine, & diving deeper into the Spiritual quest for health & wellness.

Nevertheless, life would continue to be a winding road… By 2005, I moved back East to be near family & decided to become a Licensed Massage Therapist, graduating from The Muscular Therapy Institute/Cortiva in Boston, MA (2006). Once living back East and practicing massage professionally, I really began using various forms of Energy Medicine techniques.

My Experiential Journey:

All of these modalities—Massage, Reiki, & Energy Medicine (essentially using kinesthetic sensation, intuition, color/visualization, & even tools: rattles, drums, crystals, singing bowls, now tuning forks— to clear blockages), all felt natural to me; like painting or playing a musical instrument while in a deeper meditative state… It was then I knew I was truly meant for the healing arts!

In 2010, I began a deep dive into yoga asana to give my own body some loving attention & to follow my own inner spiritual quest... This all led me to incredible destinations, teachers, yoga trainings & retreats, in Thailand, Bali, other parts of Indonesia, Nicaragua, & for many years Nosara, Costa Rica, attending the Nosara Yoga Institute (750+hrs 2011-2014) led by Don & Amba Stapleton (originally from the Kripalu ashram and who later helped start The Bodhi Tree.) I had found my path! Putting all of these holistic practices together: massage, reiki, yoga & a healthy lifestyle, made sense to me & were enough, both offering them as my profession & practicing them in my own life.

But suddenly, by 2015, yoga & all of the health & nutrition & healing modalities I had deeply enjoyed (even colonics!), didn’t feel like enough anymore... There was more work to be done. Shadow work. Uncovering all of the unhealed parts of myself & exposing the deeply ingrained dysfunctional patterns (inherited/ancestral, personal, & cultural) for more complete healing. This was beyond the mind or theory, beyond just a healthy & physical lifestyle, this included all of that, but with an emphasis on the roots of the emotional, mental & spiritual blocks.

Enter Shamanism once again.

Juan & Guillermo, Andean (Q’ero) Shamans, performing a despacho ceremony for Pachamama with all of us, high up in the sacred Mountains of Peru

I first found out about Alberto Villoldo & The Four Winds Society after coming across his photo and a blurb about Shamanism & the Light Body school (in a magazine of all things) in early 2015. A feeling came over me... I had to look up his website! Next thing I knew I was enrolling in my first class with The Four Winds (created by Alberto Villoldo & Marcela Lobos) taking place a few months later in Joshua Tree, CA. Later I saw all the exceptional books he had written. From there it was a 2 1/2 year journey, first through The Wheel (The Four Directions), followed by many Masters classes, 2 detox programs called “Grow A New Body” at Los Lobos in Chile, as well as, a sacred ceremonial hiking trip through the Mountains of Peru with Alberto, Marcela, & the Andean Q’ero Shamans who they’ve known for a long time & who work with the school. Alberto has studied with the Q’ero for 35+ years, & these particular Shamans are the grown children of his original teachers whom he began learning with all those years ago… The message Alberto was given many years ago by the Q’ero Elders was that, with their help & permission, he needed to bring these teachings to the West. It was only when the people of the West understood the healing ways of the Ancients & how to really love Mother Earth, Pachamama, could she, and we all, be healed. Together, their work to bring these teachings to light— & to so many people all over the world, is a great gift. One I have been so grateful to be a part of.

Ultimately we all (with assistance from source) heal ourselves… But we also all need support & assistance from others as we go! Being supported, witnessed, holding space for ourselves & others is very important. And, it is only when we become advocates for our own health, and begin to seek out the right modalities and practices for us, that we can really begin to move towards more embodied living. And when this happens, the world inside of us, and outside of us, changes for the better! We become more congruent. The Andean Shamans call it living in “Ayni,” in right relationship with ourselves and everything all around us. All of it is a process to be sure… One which takes a bit of determination, courage, patience, perseverance, and above all: commitment. Yet the rewards are great! And necessary. I am honored to share this work with my clients.

Although previously just working on the physical body felt natural to me, before I was ready to share this more in-depth Shamanic energy work with others, I needed to embark on one last important adventure… In the Spring of 2017 I traveled to Koh Phangan, Thailand, to attend an all women’s spiritual retreat, ‘Shakti Spirit’ (created & facilitated by the beautiful teacher Monika Nataraj) centered around dance, ceremony, & divine feminine empowerment. Having grown up in the States, I felt like I really needed to reclaim & reconnect with my deeper inner feminine. This opportunity was a unique & incredibly powerful immersive month of creativity, learning, & remarkable beauty, alongside truly nurturing women in a supportive atmosphere. The teachings, the ceremonies, & the location were all inherently magical. I was loving this adventure so much that after the course finished, I decided to stay a little longer to integrate & soak up the community of yoga, healers, amazing food & beautiful Thailand adventures surrounding us!

It was during this time, however, that the Universe sent me an unexpected trial, one which would put all of my newfound inner learnings & self reliance to the test…

Not long before flying back to the U.S., I was heading somewhere alone when I suddenly lost control of my motor scooter after hitting some potholes. I was thrown from the bike, on a back country road during a torrential downpour at dusk. I was scratched up pretty badly & could not stand up. I was wearing a cotton dress & not wearing a helmet, & I was truly lucky things were not much worse. Suffice to say, the next few days were a mis-adventure, as I found myself alone in the back of an ambulance & soon heading by speedboat (in the night with kind strangers) strapped to a board, to a bigger island to have surgery on my ankle (which had been dislocated & broken significantly in 2 places). All I had for the next week was what I had on me at the time. With no internet access for the first 48 hours, no one knew where I was… I was navigating alone & discombobulated, without many people around me who spoke English while only knowing very basic Thai. Staying very present & trusting myself became essential. This experience had a lot of twists & turns, but luckily, a very fortunate ending. I feel so grateful to all of the miraculous helpers who showed up & all the acts of grace that appeared. In the moment, navigating it all overseas, was beyond my wildest imagination! There was a lot of surrender, trust, greater appreciation & self reliance that came out of the whole experience. I must say, on a deeper level, it forever changed my life (ultimately for the better) by making me appreciate life on a whole new level. The healing road to recovery was not easy, it took a fair amount of time, but it slowed me down & brought me to a deeper place, with a much richer appreciation for myself, others, life itself, & these beautiful bodies we all inhabit… The gratitude I was left with from this brush with mortality & chaos was immense.

In Spring 2018 I returned to working professionally as a massage therapist (at a local yoga studio & spa), while doing professional Shamanic Energy Medicine & Reiki treatments out of the front room of my house. Experimenting with tuning forks during these sessions, led me to discover Eileen McKusick’s profound & effective work known as Biofield Tuning! I was amazed how much the system of Biofield Tuning (an innovative modality using tuning forks) seamlessly fit in with (& deeply supported) the clinical holistic work I had already been doing… I absolutely loved it! Soon I took Foundations & then her Practitioner level training, becoming a Certified Biofield Tuner in July 2019 (followed by an advanced level training taught by Eileen as well).

In the Summer of 2019 I decided to take the plunge: officially opening up my business as Mystical Alchemy Medicine, finally practicing all of these different modalities under one roof, at my own office space.

Ultimately, so much of my own joy & healing continues to come through being a therapist & practitioner working with others on their own unique life journeys… It all feeds my soul & spiritual connection as I continue along my path of ongoing healing, growth, & adventure. Indeed, life sure is an interesting, multilayered, and unexpected wild ride! 🌟

It is from all of this, that I happily bring you my work & continued dedication

at Mystical Alchemy Medicine.