Discover Vibrant Well-being!
I have been facilitating people’s wellness journeys since 1996. I am passionate about personal growth and transformation enabling us to feel more connected with ourselves and others, creating greater peace and harmony within our bodies and minds, within our relationships, and throughout the world.
I am a wife and a mom to two boys and have lived on Cape Cod in Massachusetts since 1998.
My Journey
My love of exploration began when I was a youngster. Growing up in Baltimore, I was bitten by the travel bug while adventuring with my family across much of the United States and western Europe before I was 14. I was insatiably curious about other languages and cultures, and I especially loved ancient artifacts and edifices such as Mesa Verde, Stonehenge and the Roman Colosseum. During these two extended trips, which deeply bonded our family, my parents awakened in me a hunger for adventure and the desire to step out of my comfort zone, a natural impulse to seek out how people around the world live and lived in bygone times, and the desire to test my ability to think on my feet and find solutions to problems that arise along any journey.
Along with my love of outward exploration, I had a rich inner world. I was a sensitive, intuitive kid, always aware of how people around me were feeling. I would feel extremely uncomfortable when family members would fight, and I often retreated to the quiet "safety" of my room. Today I am known as an empath, but in the 1970s and ‘80s, I felt very alone in sensing disturbing feelings or energy that didn’t feel right to me. I didn’t know how to deal with what I was feeling, so I learned to disregard my discomfort in order to get along in the world.
At Dartmouth College I nourished my passion for ancient cultures by majoring in Classical Studies, which included ancient Greek and archaeology. I was thrilled to awaken not only to the realization that our modern European-American civilization owes so much to ancient Greek and Roman language, principles and architecture, but that those ancient cultures held perennial wisdom that felt meaningful to my 20th century life.
After my first year of college, I worked for the summer in Glacier National Park in Montana. Living amongst the majesty of incredible mountains, I started to feel a sense of awe, and it seemed to me that some kind of divinity must exist. Did I dare use the word God? Coming from a secular Jewish family, I wasn’t sure. But for the first time in my life I felt deeply that there must be an overarching force in the universe.
That summer I also happened to read a book called The Tao of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff, which deeply impacted me as an introduction to the ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism and the art of living in balance.
After college I lived for a year in Kyoto, Japan and taught English. I felt deeply peaceful living amongst the ceremonial sacredness that wove through daily Japanese life: the precise making of sushi rice, the beautiful presentation of food on a plate, the age-old tea ceremony, Shinto shrines on street corners, and the lighting of incense at one of the numerous Buddhist temples throughout the city.
After returning to the States, I was given a book about acupuncture and was surprised to discover that the practice of this ancient healing art, which originated in China, felt deeply resonant with what I had been seeking. Becoming an acupuncturist seemed bizarre, so I decided to think about it while interning for the summer on a small farm in Maine. While there, I came across another seminal book, this one by a woman who called herself Peace Pilgrim. Peace Pilgrim left her job in Philadelphia and spent years walking alone across North America with no possessions save the clothing on her body, handing out pamphlets about creating peace. I was deeply struck by her teaching that peace in the world can only be attained when people achieve inner peace, and that our most difficult hurdles are our relationships with family. I dedicated myself to seeking inner peace and to support others in doing so.
In the ensuing months, the pull towards acupuncture school persisted, and I began my studies at The Traditional Acupuncture Institute (TAI) in Maryland the following spring. I was thrilled to find my tribe in an atmosphere of self-inquiry, emotional intelligence, and devotion to healing and personal growth.
The acupuncture master’s degree program was the greatest challenge I had yet undertaken. For an intense two and a half years, I was asked to explore ever deeper levels of my being in order to be able to help others. We were taught the skills and knowledge base of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, but our true focus was helping people evolve into their best selves, body, mind and spirit.
After graduation, I was itching to move somewhere new, but I had no idea where. During a yoga teacher training program in Massachusetts, I met a fellow student whose husband was a chiropractor on Cape Cod, and she asked if I might want to come work in her husband’s office. I visited and had a strong sense that that was the place I should be. I moved to Cape Cod, and within four years, I had created a thriving acupuncture practice, met and married my husband, completed a three-year training in Chinese herbal medicine, and given birth to our first son. Our second son was born 4 years later, and the adventure of family life began, including the challenging juggle of motherhood and working outside the home.
From my childhood, I knew that family could be both stabilizing and crazy-making. Remembering Peace Pilgrim, I was committed to cultivating and sustaining excellent relationships with my husband and children. My husband and I had gone to a couples’ retreat before we got married, and the simple communication strategy we learned there was (and still is) invaluable in getting us to connect and work through issues that arise.
The Five Elements of Chinese medicine were also extremely helpful in understanding the personalities and needs of my husband, children, and myself.
As I regularly heard my patients and friends relating struggles with their partners and children, I started feeling called to help other families connect in the ways that seemed to work in my household. I completed several trainings in mediation, especially resonating with the one based on Nonviolent Communication principles. I integrated this work into my practice.
Once my younger son turned five, I started to hear the call of the wider world once more. After taking the family on two extended trips to Europe, which included home swaps in London and Crete, I planned and led a weeklong group trip to England for 11 women, and the following year I became an independent travel advisor with an agency in New York City.
Helping people plan trips was a delightful balance to my acupuncture practice, but I knew inside that something was still missing. It was only when the COVID-19 quarantine happened and I took a break from practicing acupuncture that I gave myself permission to truly dream my path forward. During those months of shutdown, I was finally able to have the space to articulate my passions for contributing to the world at this point in my life.
I now weave together the strands of my passions to support others in freeing themselves from old patterns and emotional baggage that keep them from living their most nourishing, inspired, peaceful, satisfying lives. I work wholeheartedly with people who are ready to dedicate themselves to shining the light on their inner landscape of thoughts, feelings, needs, and dreams, to heal emotional wounds, and give themselves permission to create the life they are yearning for. I still maintain a small acupuncture practice in Chatham and work virtually with people through online programs, retreats, wellness consulting and holistic life coaching.