My ancestors were Scandinavian and German immigrants to the USA in the 1860’s. I have lived in many places. I was born in Minnesota USA, and my family moved when I was very young to the beautiful and sunny coast of California where I formed an enduring bond with the ocean. A move to Texas in my late teens put my soul in touch with native plants studies and propagation at the Green Hills Nature Center in Dallas, leading to studies in Biology and Botany at the University of Texas at Austin. Heading to the Northeast US, my then-husband and I chose Vermont as the place to raise our children, and I still live here as a very happy single homesteader, enjoying rural life in a small village and all four seasons in their full glory!
New in 2019 ~ The land I live on and steward, which was tended with benevolence and grace for centuries by the Abenaki indigenous peoples, is becoming a botanical (and animal!) sanctuary through the United Plant Savers Botanical Sanctuary Network. I will begin monthly guided herb walks open to the public this summer, to share these beautiful woods with others…this is a dream I’ve held for a very long time and am very happy to make it a reality.
Traveling has been important to me since an early age. Once my children went to college, I began to travel for months each winter to Asia, from 2002 to the present. I enjoyed the freedom of being a yogini immersing myself in the healing cultures of Thailand, Nepal, Laos and India. In November of 2007, I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training in Chiang Mai, Thailand with Jonas Westring and Sara Avant Stover, and since then have become a Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500-hour Yoga Teacher through teaching and learning for 12 years.
Along the years, I have studied, practiced and been trained in Hatha yoga, Tantric and Zen Buddhism, Ayurveda, aromatherapy, herbalism, child development, feminine empowerment, SunDo Mountain Taoism. A deep bow of gratitude to the people and countries where these traditions were born and where they are a still a part of the living culture. I am thankful for all my teachers: Susan Piver, Sarah Powers, Dr. John Douillard, Cate Stillman, David Crow, Deb Soule, Ann Manatt, Chameli Ardagh, Master Hyunmoon Kim, Sara Avant Stover, Rev. Taihaku Priest, the Sunbridge Institute in New York, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Rishikesh, India and Val Morin, Quebec…and my very first teacher, my own beautiful breath.
Summers, in the beautiful Green Mountains of Smugglers’ Notch, Vermont, at home in Central Vermont, and at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in the Laurentian Mountains of Val Morin, Quebec, I continue to learn and practice yoga, massage, Ayurveda, meditation and hiking with a diverse community from all over the world.
I am also a 500-hour professional massage therapist through the Kripalu Institute for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA. In Asia, I have received over 125 hours of formal international Thai Yoga Massage training and practice at ITM in Bangkok, The Pai Lady Spa and with the amazing Pi Pon Thonboru in Pai, Northern Thailand. I work with private clients at my home, Spring Song Forest Farm and Sanctuary and also summers at Smugglers’ Notch Mountain Massage, Vermont.
My first love and my college degree is in Botany and Biology, which I taught along with many other subjects as a grades teacher at the Green Mountain Waldorf School in Vermont, and am also the wild plant priestess and creator of Three Leaves Botanicals, a handcrafted soap and massage oil company, selling to my local community at Farmer’s Markets and massage centers.
Studying Yoga Health Coaching, with Ayurveda expert Cate Stillman as mentor/coach, has brought together all of my passions and experiences, and I am deeply grateful and honored to bring my unique combination of life experience and healing to the world through Inner Sanctuary Self Care. Welcome!
Join me here and remember who you are… the High Priestess of your own beautiful breath, spirit and life!