Offering healing work is my third career. My background is in math and computers, having graduated with a BS in Math and a minor in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University. I worked for several years as a computer programmer for a firm that worked closely with the National Cancer Institute. After a couple of years, I felt too far removed from helping people directly, so I shifted gears into teaching. I taught English as a Foreign Language in both the Czech Republic and Japan before teaching high school math in Massachusetts.

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What I liked most as a teacher was working with students one-on-one with issues they were facing, whether academic or personal, and felt unhealthfully confined by the standards and regulations of teaching in a school. This propelled me into the world of personal healing, and I left teaching and enrolled in acupuncture school at the New England School of Acupuncture (now part of MCPHS). This education gave me the professional grounding in healing and licensure to work with individuals who were seeking their own personal growth and honoring their own wellbeing.

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My interest in shamanism and indigenous culture has been strong (however outwardly muted) my entire life. While watching an after-school cartoon when I was 8 or 10, I recall an indigenous character spoke about a "Vision Quest." Though I grew up as a white Jewish kid in New Jersey, I had the simultaneous reactions of "I have no idea what that is," and "I know exactly what that is, and that sounds amazing."

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After nearly drowning at age 19, I began my spiritual seeking in earnest. I read books on Buddhism and Native American spirituality and medicine. The more I read, the more sense it made. It felt like I was remembering things that I already knew. Beginning in my late 20s, opportunities to explore the spiritual path widened dramatically. I studied energy work including Reiki, eventually becoming a Reiki Master, Qi Gong, and IET. I learned to read the Akashic Records for myself and others. And I continued to study shamanism.

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I took classes with the Michael Harner Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Dr. Steven Farmer, and regularly attended sweatlodge ceremonies. I have learned directly from various lineages - Lakota, Cree, Winnebago, and Choctaw - but as I am not a member of those nations, I am not in a position to pass on those specific teachings. My teachings are of Core Shamanism, which covers the commonalities between tribal cultures all over the planet. These core perspectives and techniques are available to all people, as we are all indigenous to this planet, regardless of their specific racial, national, and ethnical backgrounds.

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In my work, all of my various teachings come together into one seamless mix of spiritual understanding and guidance. I continue to grow as a person and a practitioner, and I am curious and excited to see how my journey continues to unfold.

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In my free time, I am an avid woodworker, focusing primarily on spiritually-centered projects. More about that work is available on https://www.naturalelementwoodcraft.com/.