Greetings! I am originally from San Francisco, now an Oakland resident, and have been practicing different forms of bodywork in the Bay Area since 1996, at community health centers and in private practice. My hands perpetually run warm to hot, which my partner and his son refer to as my Class 1 mutant power*.

I currently teach massage classes at McKinnon Body Therapy Center. I am also a teacher in undergraduate interdisciplinary education at the California Institute of Integral Studies, with a focus on cultural studies, social ecology and social change.

Learning and practicing different forms of bodywork has been a profound, fascinating joy in my life for the past 25 years.  I am immensely grateful for the amazing teachers and community healers I have been able to study from and train with. It is an honor to be rooted in these lineages and to keep growing with this continually unfolding path as a source of embodied education and connection, truly a lifelong practice.

* see the X-Men series.

Education

Body Therapy Center

1996-97:  320 hours of state certified therapeutic massage training and practice

1997: certification in Reiki I & II

1997: 48 hours in Movement and Manipulation

1999: 24 hours Cranial-Sacral Integration

Chi Nei Tsang Institute

 1999-2003: 265 hours training, certified intermediate Chi Nei Tsang practitioner

Quintessence Healing Arts

2003-04: 180 hours mentorship program in Chi Nei Tsang and Healing Taoist practices

Deep Bodywork

2014: 28 hours Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Disorders of the Temporo-Mandibular Joint

2015: 28 hours Advanced Techniques for Acute & Chronic Back Pain

2016: 28 hours Healing the Knees, Psoas and Deep Visceral Work

Academic Degrees:

University of California at Berkeley

 2003 B.A. Religious Studies

California Institute of Integral Studies

2007 M.A. Social and Cultural Anthropology

 Professional and Volunteer Work

Santa Cruz Needle Exchange Wellness Program 1996-97: massage therapy

Hospice by the Bay 1997-2000: massage and energy work

Golden Gate Chiropractic Center 1998-2000: therapeutic massage and physiotherapy

Community Health Institute 2000-2001: massage and Chi Nei Tsang

Quan Yin Healing Arts Center 2004-2005: massage therapy

Private practice in massage therapy, somatic education, and Chi Nei Tsang 2000-present

McKinnon Faculty 2017-present: Introduction to Swedish; Anatomy & Physiology; Touch, Health & Common Conditions

 

 

 

Ongoing gratitude for my teachers and mentors:

Johanna Putnoi, Michael Murphy, Rosie Spiegel, Gilles Marin, Tiffiny Fyans, Perry and Johanna Holloman