THE JOURNEY
From the beginning…
How I entered the healing arts is a question I have been asked so often that it eventually evoked this chronicle. The answers lie in the multidimensional layers woven through time. . .
It was perhaps by the guidance of grace. Something lead me to enroll in a massage therapy training shortly after high school. The path appeared to open though my interest in sports, nutrition, and anything related to health and fitness. Like many others who gravitate to this field, the archetypal wounded healer was also searching for relief from pain carried in the body which seemed to emerge from injuries and emotional stress. Yet I also can remember as a small child looking into the palms of my hands, often staring, as if transfixed or mesmerized for some unknown reason. Perhaps a part of me had an inclination about my destiny.
I graduated with 1250 hours from one of the most well-rounded massage programs and began growing a private practice right away. Among my most rewarding volunteer experiences in those early years was working with Hospice and HIV/AIDS programs to help implement touch therapies into their services. Helping to bring holistic treatments into the mainstream continues to be a source of inspiration for me.
After exploring a variety of continuing education paths, Structural Integration seemed to be my true calling. I had been “Rolfed” while attending massage school and the impression never left me. Rolfing seemed to offer lasting change in my body in a way that I had yet to find. It also opened my awareness to the psyche more directly than anything else I had ever experienced.
As I recall, the turning point resulted after a particular session I received from Jim Asher, who trained with Dr. Ida Rolf. That event literally pivoted my direction from pursuing a degree in Physical Therapy towards a training in the original Rolf method of Structural Integration.
The developing years…
It was during the Structural Integration training that I first heard the term “kundalini” which began to confirm some of the ways in which Dr. Rolf’s work embraced metaphysics and subtle body energy as much it did the science of physics, anatomy and physiology. This way of working with the body intersected perfectly with my life-long interest in spirituality, philosophy and psychology.
Within the context of this paradigm, other doors began to open more deeply in my own psyche and also my life experiences. The expression, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears” comes to mind. In this case, a Native American shamanic healer (also a trained social worker) and the work of Hugh Milne (the developer of Visionary Craniosacral Work) appeared before me. I apprenticed with both for about 10 years, and steeped in the studies of personal and collective consciousness, phenomenology, and wisdom of the natural world.
Meanwhile, I enjoyed a growing private practice for over a decade in my hometown of Tucson, AZ before transitioning to a traveling, regional practice. One of my most memorable summers was working in Lander, WY with a clientele from the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).
After completing a B.A. in Transpersonal Psychology, I found myself seriously contemplating a graduate degree in counseling in that field. But once again I returned to a deeper dive into the advanced training Dr. Rolf’s work. The next work travel invitation brought me to Hilton Head, SC. My third visit was a permanent move, and Island Soma Therapy was born in 2003. It was here that I began a leadership role of gathering together community within the spiritual and healing arts cultures.
The life of Island Soma…
For many years Island Soma was a thriving holistic resource center where different practitioners offered a multitude of workshops, events, and services. During this time I facilitated drum circles, taught yoga, and ran a weekly meditation group.
In 2010, I began hosting continuing education courses for licensed bodyworkers. That year was pivotal in many other respects. After a car accident two years prior, my pursuit of recovery lead me to seek out a number of experts in my field. Meeting Sharon Wheeler (a savant who trained with Dr. Rolf, and who later developed ScarWork, BoneWork, and one of the most revolutionary approaches to working with the Cranium) was one of the highlights that marked a real turning point — both in my personal healing and in my professional career. Since then I have been deeply involved in forwarding Sharon’s work in the world. (International Website.)
What delivered me through that most difficult time is the same guidance that brought me into this work — Grace. The loving presence of this Guiding Mystery is the same source that emerges with clients during their sessions. Bearing witness to these unseen forces awakening and transforming during a healing process is a humbling experience I feel privileged to be a part of.
The evolving journey continues. I began teaching Sharon Wheeler’s ScarWork in 2016, and Island Soma found a quiet location from 2018-2023.
As of 2024, I am on retreat.