About Me
My journey back to health
In 1998, I was struck by a car that made a left turn directly in front of me when I was cycling home from work on a two-lane road in Pacific Beach, CA. That accident changed the trajectory of my life instantly from not having any physical limitations to managing chronic pain that resisted years of physical therapy. Other than soft-tissue injuries, bone bruises, and a collapsed ribcage, I had a traumatic brain injury which affected my ability to multi-task, focus my thoughts, coordinate fine motor movements of my left hand, eat, walk, write and see. After years of painful, sleepless nights and several cross-country moves, I was referred by my internist in San Francisco to an osteopath who specializes in Manual Manipulative Medicine and Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. I found a physical therapy clinic whose director introduced me to the Feldenkrais Method®. Osteopathic treatments slowly re-established the structural stability of my skeleton, and repositioned muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves that were displaced for years.
The Feldenkrais Method® taught me how to sustainably use my body without destablizing my skeletal structure by replacing habitual movement patterns that kept my tendons, ligaments and ribs out of place. Years later, I was hired by that same clinic to work with clients whose bodies struggled with chronic pain like mine. When my clients expressed their gratitude for helping them get their lives back, I told them had I never gotten hit by a car, we would have never met. Coordinating my healthcare helped me to understand the interdependence of structure and function throughout my healing journey and regain a pain-free, fully unlimited active life. To do this, I had to think outside the limits of conventional medicine, try other healing modalities, and trust my instincts and body to sense what worked. Through Healing Touch, I found working with the individual energy system directly influences the physical body, emotional, mental and spiritual health which further expanded my thinking about health and wellness.
“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold or silver! It is one mission and we are a team!” ~ M. Gandhi
My Teachers
I completed my Feldenkrais training with Jerry Karzen and Dennis Leri in Berkeley, CA and Maui, HI. I studied Clinical Herbalism and Ayurveda with Sonia Masocco in Albuquerque, NM, completed the Healing Touch Program in 2023 guided by my mentor, Ellen Lenz, and became a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner in 2024. I am indebted to my students, clients and animals for helping me understand how the quality of one’s touch & intention communicates healing more clearly than knowledge, and allowing me to deepen and develop my understanding of the Feldenkrais Method®, Healing Touch and Clinical Herbalism with them.
Physical
Emotional Stability
Mental Clarity
Spiritual
Mission & Vision
My mission is to provide students & clients a safe, supportive, non-judgmental space to creatively explore their healing journeys that feel comfortable for their bodies as complex and intelligent human beings, as we work toward their physical, emotional, mental, and/or spiritual health and wellness.
The realization of one’s untapped potential to heal and gain control of one’s life is the infectious spark that transcends the unconscious masks we create to disguise our original, authentic selves to navigate our busy 24/7 world. Movement and energy, in their simplest forms, are fundamental truths that acknowledge our nature to be truly unbound. This freedom manifests as an insuppressible inner joy and testament to dedicated work, courage to recognize and release beliefs that are no longer beneficial, and self-care.
F.A.Q.s
What do I wear to my appointment?
Whether you have an Feldenkrais or Healing Touch appointment, please wear comfortable clothes that do not restrict your movement or breathing.
How many appointments will it take to feel better?
The number of appointments a client will need varies from client to client. It depends on whether the problem is acute or chronic, and if he/she is able to do their self-care work. Some clients with an acute issue may do well after one appointment. In general, the longer a problem exists, the longer it will take to resolve it. We will mutually decide the best course of action to take, and periodically assess progress.
What's the difference between physical therapy and Feldenkrais lessons?
Conventional physical therapy is based on a model where the patient regains movement as soon as possible. For example, stroke patients who are good candidates to recover their ability to walk are asked to stand and walk. For patients who injured a joint, muscles are strengthened and stretched around an injured joint to prevent reinjury and increase its range of motion. Feldenkrais lessons are based on a holistic view of the body where complex motor patterns are built from simple ones. The ablity to walk after a stroke is rebuilt by using touch to map the image of the student’s foot in the brain’s motor cortex. Students learn to sense their foot before learning how to coordinate how their foot functions with the joints of the leg, pelvis, spine and other leg, all of which support standing upright and walking. In the case of an injured joint, its work is distributed throughout the body so the injured joint does not function in isolation and to minimize reinjury. Using the analogy, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”, Feldenkrais lessons grease the entire system so the balanced wheel doesn’t squeak. All movement in Feldenkrais lessons occurs in a range where there is no pain because the brain is unable learn and make new connections, which manifest as new movement patterns, when it is preoccupied with pain. By only working within an easy comfortable range, the range of comfortable motion will naturally increase.
What do you mean by "empowered"?
Empowering a client is to teach him/her self-care tools to actively participate in their healing journey. Being empowered serves two purposes, 1) clients continue their self-healing at home to keep the momentum of healing moving forward, and 2) clients become more and more independent to direct their healing journey.
Will my health insurance pay for my appointments?
I am not a medical provider and am not associated with a healthcare facility or healthcare provider. Some clients have used their flexible spending plan, health savings or medical savings acount if they have a doctor’s order/prescription or Letter of Medical Need (LMN). The LMN must state a specific diagnosis, the recommended treatment must be named and described in detail, the length and number of treatments must be specified (cannot exceed 12 months), and your healthcare provider must sign and date it.