A friend asked me how many lives I’ve lived. She didn’t mean past lives! She meant in this life. I think I got to 13. But that was five years ago and a lot has happened since then; at least another life or two!
I started learning about and developing relationships with plants at a very young age. My focus toward medicinal uses and wild edibles began in my early twenties. Since that time I’ve been a wildlife biologist, a plant biologist, a noxious weed/education coordinator, a Spanish teacher (everything Spanish and Hispanic has been another obsession since I was 12), and a massage therapist. I’m exhausted just writing all that down. But it’s been an adventurous journey for sure! Lots of international travel and backcountry time and river time.
When I knew I was over the noxious weed world (I’d been creating a conversation about healthy plant communities more than spraying weeds), I decided to go for one of my longtime loves in life, and call myself an herbalist. I created this botanical business and began filling in the gaps of my herbal knowledge - which turned out to be a rabbit hole that I CANNOT believe I haven’t gone down before. Such an incredible dive into plants is the path I’ve chosen and I will spend the rest of my life diving and reaching and climbing through all of those layers - because I can see now that it is an endless and awesome journey.
Still, I knew there was more. I was on a mission to find a teacher and I somehow knew it had to be in Mexico or Central America. Through a series of events that can only be described as an openness to chance and instinctual pursuit, I found myself the work I didn’t even know existed but that my soul must’ve been looking for. Truly amazing.
So! What do I do??! I’ve been a certified massage therapist since 2004. I’m an herbalist and love working with plants and doing what could best be described as holistic wellness consultations. That’s a way of saying, you come to me with some issue and we work together to make your system stronger - you heal yourself, I help guide you. I am also certified in Arvigo Techniques of Maya Spiritual Healing. I will write a whole ‘nother blog post about what that actually is! In short, it’s a gentle yet powerful technique to help you let go of various illnesses of a more spiritual and/or emotional nature. And this winter, I return to Belize to learn Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy, which will allow me to continue these incredible Mayan techniques on the physical body. I feel specifically drawn to women’s reproductive health care - so everything from fertility to endometriosis to fibroids to post partum care, and so much more.
YYYYup! It’s going to be an interesting year! See you soon 2019!
