Any insight I have gained into the healing arts I attribute to the following:

• The first teachers I have to thank are my body and my firsthand experience. I have had pain and restricted breathing from scoliosis. This pain and "imbalance" has been one of the greatest gifts in my life, and ultimately helped guide me to a deeper embodiment through the study of massage and discovery of my life's purpose.
  
  
  
  
• I thank my parents for raising me in a vast natural landscape, where I was given the opportunity to connect with the body of the earth, and live freely in my body among the elements, a part of nature.
  
  
  
  I thank my mother for giving me this life and this body, so that I could learn from her some of its most important joys. My mother Marilyn loves to dance and she has passed this love down to me. She also knows how to take life into her lungs in the form of laughter. What more important teachings could there be?
  
  My father Joseph still enjoys running up Pyramid Peak at sunrise, diving into the cold water of the upper pond even in the colder months, doing Yoga, and riding his bike to the mailbox when he's not busy building trails along the Continental Divide. Thank you for teaching me through example the joys of physical strength, father.
  
  
  
  
• Michael Shea and Valerie Gora have been two of my most influential teachers in life.
  
  Michael's got the training, scientific research, and intellectual acumen to be a good teacher, but it is his deep compassion, sense of humor, and quality of presence that make 2.5 years of trips to West Palm Beach Florida worthwhile.
  
  Valerie Gora is a lineage holder for Michael's work. Her sense of humor, love of turtles, and passion for the wellbeing of mothers and infants enrich her expertise in embryology and craniosacral therapy.
  
  
  
• Elli Sorensen helped me to see this path, when she released my hip tension through craniosacral work in combination with her many other skills. Having the opportunity to come full circle and offer craniosacral work to her has been a great honor.
  
  
  
  
• Yangsi Rinpoche has taught me much about the power of alive presence and the intelligence of our true nature in his teachings at the Maitripa Institute. The ability to move beyond mental distraction is a key skill in effective bodywork. I am grateful for his generosity in sharing his lineage and teachings.
  
  
  
  
• Dr. Padeen Quinn, ND, was a stellar teacher at East West College of the Healing Arts, and graciously fed my need to understand the nutritional aspects of health and balance. She remains a good friend. She is also the creator of Naturokits Naturopathic Care Packages.
  
  
  
  
• I can credit Todd Jackson with the fact that my body is probably more free of pain now than it has been in about 15 years, thanks to his Monday morning Chi-Kung classes. I also thank all of those people unknown to me who practiced Chi-Kung and passed down the lineage, keeping the form strong, so that I may now benefit from it. Todd also teaches Yoga and is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist.
  
  
  
  
• Kristin Rabai has made a very large impression on me in the two sessions I have had with her. She has an amazing intuitive sense, and on top of that is very lovely and wise. These qualities are enhanced by her considerable practical and hands-on skills. She guided me with gentle strength to many areas of my body, helping me to see undiscovered powers through poetic meditative techniques such as: reving my ovaries, holding clearly in sight the rose of discernment, and being the empress of my own heart. Check her out everyone! She has greatly influenced my approach to bodywork.
  
  
  
  
• Thanks to all the friends and strangers who have donated their bodies to my learning, so that I may be of service.