Question 1

Private Practice

Answer

I view chiropractic as a healing art unto itself and not as an alternative to allopathic or medical care. My application of chiropractic is strongly influenced by osteopathic cranial principles and philosophies as well as my studies and passion for Daoism and Chinese Medicine, integrative movement, plant medicine, and traditional folk healing. We live in a time of disconnection and separation. Both chiropractic and osteopathy have at their core a belief in the interdependence of structure and function, as well as the transformative power of the midline structures in supporting the full expression of life, health and function in bodies. This doesn’t mean people don’t come to me for specific aches, pains or complaints. In fact a large part of my practice for the past couple decades has been involved with pre and post natal care as well as hospice work. I see my role as helping bodies release the habitual patterns they carry so they can live a more fully embodied existence, connected to and expressive of their own sense of Source. Adjusting someone’s spine, releasing the patterns of stored tension and trauma is not about making them feel better, it’s about making them feel ‘more’, to help them incarnate more deeply and move towards their life’s purpose. I believe that in a time like ours with all the challenges we face it is more important to support and restore a person’s sense of connection to their own body, and through that to the greater body Gaia, than it is to simply ‘fix’ their pain and get them back to business as usual. I also work within a supportive referral network of colleagues in various professions. My sessions run 30 min, 45 min or an hour. I do not accept insurance. Sliding scale available for people in need and on assistance.

Question 2

Rising Earth Studio

Answer

Traditional Qi Gong: I studied a medical Qi Gong system for many years before finding the Lotus Nei Gong School. And while that study changed my relationship to my body it didn’t answer my deeper questions. Those questions are what led me to Damo Mitchell and his school which is the curriculum I now study and teach. It’s difficult to write just what Qi Gong is, and certainly hard to convince someone to pursue its study and practice. If you are called to it, compelled perhaps; you will know.

Like a lot of traditions Qi Gong has become very Westernized and diluted in the way it is all too often taught, in a way that many traditional teachers would say leaves it in a state where one shouldn’t actually call it Qi Gong.

So then, what is it? In a Nei Gong practice, or we could say process, it is used as an internal practice to create a cause in the body that leads to a desired effect that the Nei Gong process unfolds in one’s body, mind, and life. To that end Qi Gong seeks to create specific structures in the body, to connect the body along very detailed lines and relationships, to consolidate the Dan Tian, to open and clear the channels, and to begin to cultivate Qi that can be used for personal transformation. This is an internal alchemical practice in the deepest and truest sense of the word. Nothing in all my years of study remotely even touches the places this does. If you are drawn to this practice you should check it out.

No other Qi Gong practice has touched or moved me so deeply. I find in my life, in these challenging times, I need a physically based spiritual practice to ground my body, settle my mind, and cultivate an internal state of balance, equanimity, and harmony. Nei Gong does just that, and now after years of study I have found both the teaching and teacher I need in the Lotus Nei Gong School. I am humbled and honored to be given the chance to pursue this ancient tradition and to have the chance to share these teachings.

The Lotus Nei Gong School has a growing body of online resources including podcasts and online trainings not to mention many excellent text books. Locally, as a certified Qi Gong instructor for the school, I offer individual instruction, occasional workshops, and some weekly and online classes in alignment with that tradition. EarthPrayers Qi Gong: EarthPrayers Qi Gong is a Qi Gong-inspired contemporary movement practice that serves as a mythopoetic prayer on behalf of our world in response to the dire predicament we are in individually, collectively and globally with regard to climate disruption. This embodied practice serves to ground, strengthen, and align the body-mind in service to Gaia by reclaiming the pathways of connection to our larger body, Earth, so that we can live in a more meaningful way and serve as effective agents of change. In this time of the pandemic and the adaptations and change it is asking of all of us I have begun teaching this again as a weekly online offering. Please look in the classes link for more information.

Question 3

Earth Based Practices

Answer

Joanna Macy is my elder, teacher, grandmother, mother, and dear friend. Her presence and work, The Work That Reconnects, has changed my life, my practice, and how I move through the world. I offer community circles based on these practices. In her words: "The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.” Deep Earth Dreaming is a ritual that came to me in a vision that incorporates The Spiral from Joanna’s work into a ceremonial setting where we gather on behalf of all life. This is offered as a workshop so participants can learn the form for their communities healing. Plant Spirit Circles are a chance to sit with plants, trees, and other rooted beings in a way that allows one to encounter them as elders and teachers and not as mere remedies to our ailments but instead as Remedies to Our Ailment!