“The principle thing in this world is to keep one’s soul aloft.”
~ Gustav Flaubert ~

 

I’ve probably re-written this page a thousand times by now. I shed layers of skin seasonally and explore the depths of heart and soul regularly, so change is constant and normalcy is elusive, perhaps even an illusion at best. Sometimes I birth spine-tingling revelation, and sometimes I am buried by muck and skulking shadow. The older I get, the closer I get to crone, and the closer I feel to home. Home. Another new definition for me lately. Moving from Boulder to Asheville rocked my world, and I don’t mean the soothing, gentle kind of rocking, but the kind that drops you from the treetops with no cushion in sight. That was exactly 4 months ago, and today I am not the person I was then. Today, I pray that I am better.

Today, I still mother a 13 year old girl and a 15 year old boy–man. They continue to hold the bulk of my attention and I cling to every minute I can while pretending I can let go. Active mothering time is shrinking, and I still have so much to learn. As a wife, I’ve been with my partner for 20 years now. I continue to laugh at the same jokes he’s been telling since we met, which is actually quite unbelievable and eye-rolling to some. Today I dance and teach SoulSweat™, today I consult as a Death Doula, today I am licensed to provide occupational therapy, and today I support and write for Pockitudes, a pocket-sized gratitude journal invented by my creative, genius husband. Today, I am grateful to be alive and for all the evolutions I’ve had around the sun and up the spiral of living, learning, healing, and transforming. Spiritually, I am so grateful for my guides and helpers, my teachers and mentors, my ancestors and angels. I have been shaped, influenced, transformed, motivated, inspired, challenged, held, moved, and evolved by events big and small (see below), and by all the people, relationships and communities I’ve ever been a part of. May this kind of growth and connection never end, for what is our purpose if it isn’t to connect with, teach, heal, learn from, create with, and be present for each other.

I welcome you here, and am grateful to whatever path that may have brought you here. I spend more time lately writing at Pockitudes if you’d like to read there, as well as Facebook, and my personal Instagram.

Events, big and small, in the last 30 years. I have:

• healed from addiction and depression.
• worked with babies, children, and adults as a sensory integration specialist and occupational therapist.
• become intimate with personal loss and grief.
• unwound authoritative parenting styles and embraced peaceful parenting.
• processed, metabolized and healed from limiting beliefs through movement, music and dancing.
• companioned and worked with the dying, their families, and provided death education.
• facilitated grief groups.
• created and held sacred space and community circles for death and dying, personal growth, education, and like-minded curiosity.
• learned Earth medicine practices working with sacred tools, stone and animal guides through Pixie Lighthorse.
• learned to utilize Comfort Touch® acupressure for the ill, dying, and elderly
• created ritual and ceremony for personal use, and for the dying and their loved ones.
• practiced pure, active, grounded and reflective listening for anyone that needs sacred time, space, support, and guidance.

Education

• Bachelor’s of Health Science in Occupational Therapy – University of Florida
  Nationally registered (NBCOT) and licensed in Colorado, Florida, and North Carolina

Certifications

• LifeStyle Redesign™ Health Coach – AOTA
• Sacred Passage Guide™ End of Life Doula & Coach Certification –
  Conscious Dying Institute
• Level I & II Certifications – Earth Medicine School
• Soul Sweat™ Instructor Certification – Alchemy of Movement
• Certified Group Fitness Instructor – National Exercise Trainer’s Association
• Licensed Zumba instructor

Training and Volunteering

• Conscious Transitions: Living with Dying training through the Living and Dying Consciously Project
• Comfort Touch™ Acupressure training with Mary Rose
• The Way of the Shaman® Shamanic Journeying, Power, and Healing The Basic Workshop in Core Shamanism – The Foundation of Shamanic Studies
• End of Life Doula Volunteer at Balfour Senior Living
• Sacred Death Care training with Karen Van Vuuren and Natural Transitions
• Hospice Volunteer and Grief Group Facilitator at TruCare Hospice
• Hospice and 11th Hour Volunteer at Agape Hospice
• Boulder Shelter for the Homeless Volunteer
• Boulder Humane Society Volunteer

Wander Wonder Discover began here :).