2025 brought to me a very intense late-life reintegration and spiritual upleveling as I entered my mid-60s. Sometimes it has felt pretty harrowing with... .....the arising of intense emotions and both positive and difficult memories from the past ....reexperiencing layers of grief from what has not yet been accomplished or reached (life partnership), past trauma, losses of loved ones and opportunities unexplored ...reevaluating shedding of an old trauma-based personal, profes

Shamanic healing is a profound and ancient practice that has been used for thousands of years across many cultures. It involves connecting with the spiritual world to promote physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. This ancient art is rooted in the belief that everything in the universe is interconnected, and healing comes from restoring balance within oneself and with nature. Understanding the origins and methods of shamanic healing can offer valuable insights into ho

Imagine for a moment that in the 20th and 21st centuries there has been a critical mass of leaders of nations around the world who are...

I love humanity. I love Mother Earth. I love to be in service to the healing of this world in cosmically chaotic times. At least once a day, I walk my dog, a Puggle named Loki, in the sweet residential neighborhoods of Del Ray in Alexandria, Virginia where I live. I always greet and smile at passersby. It is one way I acknowledge the goodness that I know is deep within every single human being, no matter their challenges and shadows. Yes, there are people all around the world

Discover the transformative power of shamanic healing with benefits. Experience spiritual growth, emotional balance, & holistic well-being.

How can we even begin to speak of peace? Where is the love that will heal hatred? These questions are always close to me—intoned constantly by my inner voice as I unceasingly quest within for the fire of love that will overcome darkness. Where is the answer? Yesterday, a friend and I ambled along the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River in Washington, DC, the site of thousands of cherry trees, all with their flowers at peak bloom. Many of the trees were a gift in 1912 from the Pe

“ Beloved Condor Spirit and Spirit of Macchu Pichu, I am feeling stuck around manifesting the next step in my mission and purpose in life. Please give me guidance!” I was sitting in front of my mesa—the word used by the Q’ero people of the Andes in Peru for a power-packed medicine bundle. I said more—about what I had done so far, about my ideas and thoughts, wishes and dreams. But I knew once I opened Sacred Space by praying to the 6 directions—East-West, North-South—Mother

In my early 20s, I got myself into therapy. Talk therapy, that is. I had a lot to say and process. It was extremely helpful to have a compassionate witness and guide as I tried to understand the complexities of my complicated relationship with my narcissistic mother (though I didn’t have that word back then). My self-confidence was low, my anxiety high. Frankly, I didn’t know who I really was. This was the beginning of a long journey to heal from family trauma. Therapy was

When Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, in his powerful and inspiring speech to the United States joint chambers of Congress on December 21, 202, noted that Russians must “defeat the Kremlin in their minds,” I resonated deeply with it. I felt its truth going far beyond the way the Russian government continues to manipulate and oppress its own people and deceive them about the invasion of Ukraine. The “Kremlin in the mind” is arises out of a wounded ego sickness that a

All around the world for millennia, human beings have understood the power of the Solstices to magnetize highest visions and elevate consciousness. I have had the privilege to visit powerful sacred sites—some dating back to the Mesolithic ) (10-8,000 BC and Neolithic (10,000-2,200 BC) in places like Ireland and the island of Malta in the Mediterranean—that archaeoastronomers have definitively proven are aligned to the Solstices. I have walked among the stone shrines of the an

I have been asked many times how I healed from the trauma I experienced? How can I be so (mostly) confident and live with a measure of inner peace even when outer conditions are not always easy? Yes, I am happy to say that I am at home inside myself. I no longer suffer from the chronic instability of complex PTSD (c-PTSD) and a radical sense of confusion about my truth, my true self and my authentic self-expression. I have a refuge within that is usually pretty solid. Yes, I

(This blog is part of an ongoing series in which I share intimate details about my life in order to inspire and educate my readers about trauma, healing and spirituality and what it has to do with helping this troubled and beautiful world heal into peace. Please excuse any repetition; I must write each piece assuming my reader may not have read the others.) When your natural, authentic personality and talents are not seen and nourished by those who are your parents or caregiv

So many of us came into this world with a natural empathy—defined as a capacity to feel and experience within oneself other’s feelings, thoughts and even bodily sensations. This gift could have extended beyond our immediate family or homeplace, whether it looked like the standard nuclear setup or not. This meant that we might have been able to feel the suffering and joys of our neighbors, animals and even the Earth. Children like this are often very open and even seem to pos

“Your relentless pursuit of healing shows how much you love yourself.” So said a Dona, a healer I worked with for several years in my 2-decades-long journey to recover from chronic physical pain and the trauma in my life. If I remember correctly, I had lamented to her that I wasn’t sure I could love myself. Her words were revelatory. I still hold onto them. In truth, when I look back on my life, I see how love motivated me on so many levels. From childhood, I retained a felt

I have a radically expanded view of the meaning and purpose of healing and creativity which speaks to something I call Creative Healership for Peace. Healership is deeply spiritual and transformational work. Healing of the kind I have sought out for myself and which I practice on behalf of others and the world, is deeply, personally transformational. It brings us up against wounds that are both individual, ancestral and collective—reaching into this life and others. It is al

Do you feel pain of the world and even how it seems to intersect with the wounds you have carried? Are you feeling weighed down by events...

Have you done a lot of therapy and personal growth work—perhaps years or even decades—and one day, you realize that what you thought was healed or resolved is still active in some way? Or some aspect of it resurfaces? Maybe because some outer event seems to reactivate it? I have heard this lament from friends, clients and students over many years: “I thought I had resolved this! Why do I have to do it again? I’m so tired of this!” I have been in the same boat myself. Starin

Do you want to know what soul loss is? Do you feel you are missing a vital part of your being? Have you heard the words “soul retrieval,” but don’t know what it means? Or do you think you need one? If so, you have come to the right place to explore this very important topic in both human psychology and the soul. Here are two scenarios which will help you understand the concept of soul loss: When you were a child, did you get a message that some talent you had should not be ex

Is your energy low? Do you feel drab despite the sun shining so brightly outside? Do you feel stuck in your head with old stories and...

As our country has been thrown into division and conflict in the wake of November’s election, I am moved to write about the importance of...