Being a “Healer”A
I am a healer. It’s a word I stumble over. Yet, I’ve heard it used to describe myself. As I am called frequently to teach yoga strictly as a therapeutic modality, I am increasingly humbled by what is being entrusted to me. In my Reiki practice, too, as a teacher and practitioner the word “healer” is said so nonchalantly, so freely. When I was studying to be a yoga instructor, I was continually reminded that our art is simply to be a conduit of the Divine. We are the channel, the way that the teachings reach others. At first, a combination of humility and...
Read MoreSvadhyaya: Inquiry and EducationA
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. – Mahatma Gandhi When I was a child, my parents impressed upon me that education was valuable and absolutely essential. Not only was school incredibly serious, I watched my father, an MD in Family Practice, continue to educate himself through additional trainings, certifications, books and articles. My mother, also in the medical field, is an avid reader and scholar. Our home was over (over-)stuffed with books on such diverse topics as Occult studies to North American birds. Although my parents likely saw quite a...
Read MoreEating Disorder Recovery on Healing Arts Radio!A
Way back in August 2012, I was asked to discuss my own journey in healing from an eating disorder as a guest on Healing Arts Radio. Danielle Stimpson, a Shaman and Reiki master, in addition to being my friend and colleague, also recovered from an eating disorder using a mix of non-traditional modalities. Her radio show features different guests each week who introduce healing practices, many based on ancient systems, that can help all of us. Please enjoy listening to myself, host Danielle Stimpson and two co-hosts, who stopped by to lighten the mood during the discussion of this serious...
Read MoreAhimsa (Non-Violence) and the SelfA
I have always had a deep, loving relationship with animals. I grew up in a home with a dog, cats and a variety of smaller companions. Soon, I began to be recognized as a young visual artist whose renderings of animals showed their inner, emotional world––depth that was not considered a part of animal lives. It was no surprise to my family when I announced, at age thirteen, that I was a vegetarian. I have not eaten any meat since then. Raised in a Christian (Episcopalian) household, I was fairly certain that God’s commandment, “Thou shall not kill” applied to all living...
Read MoreQuestion: What is the Sound of 300 Viols?A
Answer: Pure Divinity! I was fortunate enough to attend the Viola da Gamba Society of America‘s 50th Anniversary Conclave this July in Newark, Delaware. There, among other highlights, I performed English composer Ralph Vaughn-Williams (1872-1958) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis with three-hundred of my closest viola da gamba friends! Thanks to NPR journalist Jeff Lunden, who spent three days with us (and played tenor viol), we were featured on Weekend Edition! Please listen, read and enjoy the story Gathering Of The Viols: The 50th Annual Viola da Gamba Conclave. Definitely scroll...
Read MoreOn Love…A
Holy Fire by Alex Grey (1987) As a music graduate student, I remember learning about the medieval concept of courtly love. In the following excerpt, Bernart de Ventadorn (1145?–1180) illustrates the plight of the troubadour, a wandering mistral singing in Provencal, one of the languages of medieval France. When I see the lark beating Its wings in joy against the rays of the sun That it forgets itself and lets itself fall Because of the sweetness that comes to its heart, Alas! Such great envy then overwhelms me Of all those whom I see rejoicing, I wonder that my heart, at that...
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