Back in the “Crazy 80’s”

I waited tables at a New Age vegetarian restaurant in San Diego. It was a tiny hole-in-the-wall that was frequented by famous people, groovy families, starving artists and lonely travelers. I was like a kid in a candy shop: learning about philosophy, alternative spirituality and diverse lifestyles. It was then when I first heard the term "energy healing," from my customers and co-workers.

In 1988, I took my first yoga class and it was life-changing. During that class, I connected with my "Higher Self" and was given specific instructions on ways I needed to change my life. Those instructions were enveloped in a deep feeling of love and acceptance. I followed them and have not looked back.

I realized my body had things to communicate. It was there to help guide me toward processing emotion, healing my wounds, connecting with my intuition and making sound decisions.

In this case, it also guided me straight into my life’s work.

I took classes in California with other yogis, energy healers and bodyworkers, but my big break came when I moved back to Minneapolis. I met a football coach who invited me to teach yoga to his team. That was 1991. Few people were doing yoga in the Twin Cities and I had a chance to pioneer something new.

My passion for teaching yoga soon led me to studying and later teaching rehabilitative massage in a massage therapy program. As I learned to identify the human musculature by feeling it under my hands, I also began to realize that the body was communicating to me through energy.

I was reintroduced to the practice of energy healing while in massage school in 1992, when my biological mother was dying. A classmate who worked as an energy healer just happened to rest her hands on my back for a few seconds and I distinctly heard the words “mom, mom, mom” and tears began rolling down my face. That weekend, I went to a used bookstore. A book in front of me curiously fell off the shelf and I caught it. It was called Hands of Light. It's written by former NASA physicist and energy healer Barbara Brennan. I bought the book, read it cover to cover and knew one day I’d attend Brennan’s four-year healing college, www.barbarabrennan.com, which I did and graduated in 1999.

Thereafter, I began to fuse massage and energy healing and worked at the groundbreaking, mind-body wellness center, the Marsh, for a number of years.

In 2000, I was invited to create a special curriculum in Yoga and energy consciousness for the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater actor training program where I served as a faculty member for three years. In 2002, I created a Yoga program and energy consciousness program for the University of Minnesota Gopher Football team and worked with the players for six seasons. My work was featured in the Minneapolis Star/Tribune and Yoga Journal.

In 2009, I took all I had learned about the human body and the human energy field and created physical and energetic anatomy and intuitive development coursework for yoga teacher training programs.

In 2015, I further advanced my studies by completing my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. I’m now a licensed therapist as well as a relationship and intimacy coach.

My varied trainings have given me the opportunity to synthesize different bodies of knowledge and healing modalities to help my clients achieve their healing and wellness goals.