A Little More About Me:

I like to say I was raised by a forest, creek and the night sky. Our childhood home sat in the midst of an enchanted woods. I spent my free time, wandering the forest, listening to the creek,  looking up at the night sky with wonder and awe.

Then in adolescence, struggle set in. I lost touch with the naturalness of the earth and my body, I developed an eating disorder and social anxiety. Both symptoms, I see now, of a spiritual longing that I was unable to name as I felt exiled from my sense of self, community and the planet.

Early awakenings

In my late teens I discovered meditation. I was raised Catholic so in a way meditation felt like prayer. I felt ready to surrender, to return to the natural freedom I knew as a child.

One day in the middle of Catholic mass, it just let go. My sense of exile turned inside out, in its place the vast interconnection of the universe and all being. I felt like I belonged here and so did every thing else.

Responding to the Cries of the World

I spent my college years deeply engaged in environmental activism and social justice. I earned a BS in Earth Science and Gender Studies. This included two summers in South Africa studying Environmental Justice. As well as working as a counselor at the Centre County Women’s Resource Center in State College, PA.

Feeling the call to be a healer I enter a Chinese Medicine Program in Portland, OR. But, I continued to feel that the suffering of late-stage capitalism, oppression and environmental degradation was a spiritual crisis, and so in 2010 I decided to move to Great Vow Zen Monastery.

Thinking I would stay for one year, I ended up ordaining as a Buddhist Priest, becoming a leader in the community, leading retreats and offering spiritual counseling. In 2020 I became a fully authorized Zen teacher, receiving dharma transmission from Chozen Bays, Roshi and Hogen Bays, Roshi.

In the course of my training I have spent over 3 years in silent meditation retreat. Dream-work, creative process and ceremony have been important in my Zen practice and spiritual development and I enjoy sharing these modalities with others.

I was part of the leadership team at the Monastery for over 10 years, and served on the Board and Board Committees for 7 years. I understand the unique pressures that leaders face when they have few or no peers on the job with them. I see the service of leadership to be a dynamic spiritual path, and enjoy working with other leaders in my Spiritual Counseling Practice.

I continue to deepen my practice and integrate psychological modalities that are based in mindfulness, meditation and dharma principles. I trained in Process Work Psychology and Dream Work at the Process Work Institute in Portland, OR, and completed Level 1 IFS training through the IFS Institute. I continue to deepen my training in IFS as I feel parts-work is so beneficial for those on a meditation path and I am also training in Hakomi a Mindfulness + Somatic Psychotherapy.

I continue to deepen my Zen practice through retreats and daily meditation. I am interested in the Shamanic Bones of Zen (a concept from Zenju Earthlyn Manuel), and reconnecting with the Earth-based practices + animism of our ancestors. In addition to Zen, dream-work and psychology I also enjoy painting, creative arts, astrology, the tarot and am a humble student of this great Earth + Cosmos.

I currently live in Columbus, OH with my beloved partner/co-creator and our cat-guru Sasha Kitty.

we are part of a collective, so our awakening is planetary!

My Vision for planetary awakening

As individuals our spiritual lives matter. Setting forth on a path of healing and awakening is a revolutionary act towards love and liberation. Meditation and mindfulness bring us back into basic sanity, and allow us to truly live and flourish with all beings and this changing planet. Planetary healing and awakening begins with us.

My intention is to be a guide for those who wish to enter the healing and awakening process in their own lives, for those who want to bring healing into their families and communities and for those who wish to contribute to the evolution of consciousness in our societies and on our planet.

I enjoy working with healers, leaders, creatives, spiritual seekers, small business owners, activists, parents, retired-folks and those in helping professions.