The Alchemy of Light & Dark
"The eagle that is flying high in the sky should not forget that it should come down one day to see its shadow."
– Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava
My greatest teacher has been my shadow. It is this medicine that has given me the most powerful tools for transformation in this life.
Through my darkest experiences I reached a place of absolute emptiness. At that time I experienced a powerful inner transformation that lasted for over a year. This period of mystical initiation altered my consciousness to the degree that all previous perceptions and beliefs I had about the universe and my place in it were completely dismantled. The most exquisite truth I came to know during this time is that everything is an expression of an absolute resonance of Love.
I then entered a period of intense travel and study, practicing vipassana and other forms of meditation, receiving three Reiki degrees and training martial arts. In 2004 I traveled to the Shaolin Temple in China with 34th Generation Shaolin Master Shifu Yan Zi to train gong fu and learn more about Shaolin culture. The physical training I experienced with Shifus Shi Yan Zi and Yan Lei vastly expanded my awareness of the importance of the mind, body and spirit alignment. I am very grateful for their guidance and teaching to this day, and to the other students of the Shaolin Temple UK who are a constant inspiration to me.
The experiences I had during my initiation had a very strong resonance with Tibetan Buddhism, and so in 2005 I traveled to Dharamsala for a meditation retreat. During that time I was able to meet with Lama Jetsun Dhampa and learn more about the Vajrayana path. In 2005 I was initiated at a Chan Monastery and given the dharma name 'Qin Xi' (Diligent One). I continued to deepen my awareness of the traditions and practices of Tibetan Buddhism by studying with Lama Tsultrim Allione in 2007.
In 2006 I studied with a Cree-Lakota shaman, traveling across Canada and learning about the traditional medicines and ceremonies of the Lakota, Dakota, Cree, Ojibwe and other First Nations people. Among other things, I was able to witness and support a Sundance ceremony, assist in various sweat lodge ceremonies, and journeyed on a vision quest in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. I was given the spirit name 'Dancing Thunderbird Woman' by the grandfathers at the closing sweat lodge.
In July of 2008 I graduated from The Academy of Intuition Medicine in Sausalito, California, as a Master of Intuition Medicine. The two year program allowed me to integrate all the work I had been doing and taught me about holding space for others with the highest integrity.
Since graduation I have taken two advanced healing classes with my spiritual mentor, Denise Bendl. I have also taken a Level 1 Chiron healing course in that time.
Most recently, I have been studying the ancient martial arts of Thailand (muay boran) with former Thai Buddhist forest monk Aekapop Suprapaso. I am currently training modern Muay Thai intensively with Jongsanan Fairtex and my Thai trainer Pii Jaa, which allows me to integrate the deep energetic work into my physical body. I also continue to have peer sessions with one of my dearest friends, Maho Ichimura, a profoundly gifted teacher and energy medicine practitioner. In our work together I am given the space to experiment and discover new tools that I bring to my practice.
"The spirit down here in man and the spirit up there in the sun, in reality are only one spirit, and there is no other one."
- The Upanishads
