I am an interfaith chaplain, ancestral healing practitioner, and meditation teacher.  I have 8 years of direct practice in supporting individuals directly during the dying time as well as their loved ones. 

 

I also support individuals across life when they are engaging in spiritual inquiry - I support them in identifying their own knowing and path and developing rituals and practices that help support their sense of connection and well-being. 

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I believe in the power of ritual, and I believe we need to have many more events to recognize significant life events, from joy to grief. Thus, I love to collaborate on rituals, small to large. 

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I am a member of the LGBTIQA+ community. I have lived experience in the challenges that are the result of harmful systems and misuse of religion that may be faced as a result. This includes how those environments can impact a sense of belonging, impact having community and family support, can impact a sense of connecting with and sensing the love and connection to ancestors, and how it can also impact being able to connect to faith and spirituality as a result.  Places of safety and sanctuary are important to me. I deeply respect the gender identity and inherent knowing of each individual, as well as who and how they love. I also respect the intersectionality that many of us have, and the impact of holding and experiencing multiple oppressions. 

 

I have advanced degrees in scientific fields, and have years of experience in industry and the academic worlds, so I understand what it is to identify one's path and heart in the midst of those envrionments.  I can provide confidential deep listening for individuals working through inquiry of the heart. 

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My personal spiritual practices are animist and Earth-based. The deepest connection and wholeness I have experienced in my life have come from being directly in contact with the forests and rivers where I live, including hiking, backpacking, and ethical foraging. I also have a strong grounding in Buddhist practice (> 30 years) as well as being a long-time Unitarian Universalist.

I have a Masters of Divinity from Starr King School for the Ministry, and I am ordained through Sacred Well Congregation. I also completed the NYZCCC (New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care) Foundations Program, a 9-month program. I have 1 unit of Clinical Pastoral Education. I am a trained meditation teacher and completed the two-year Spiritual Teaching and Leadership Program of the East Bay Meditation Center. I have completed the training for being an Oregon psilocybin facilitator through Changa Institute, and at Starr King I completed the Certification in Psychedelic Chaplaincy and Companioning.  I also have a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology and a Masters in Biomedical Engineering. I am currently completing the requirement of 40 completed sessions to be a fully recognized Ancestral Medicine Practitioner through the Ancestral Medicine Practitioners Program, after completing all of their other requirements (https://ancestralmedicine.org/).