"Maybe you are searching in the branches for what only appears in the roots." -Rumi
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I am the daughter of immigrants, #migrationisbeautiful a Costa Rican mother and Italian father who fled war, starvation, and political unrest to raise me and my two brothers on an urban farm in the San Francisco Bay Area with a menagerie of pets, a prolific garden, and loud family parties with so many cousins, arroz con pollo and accordion music. In kind, I raised my own daughters at the heels of their elders, with a collection of goats and chickens, and prepared tamales with them as an act of devotion to our ancestral heritage. #comidaesmedicina Thirteen years of Catholic school (where I was taught by conservative nuns and radical hippies) laid a foundation of deeply connecting with Christ, practicing simple rituals like lighting candles during prayer, creating my own sacred art and altars and my love of justice. Some of the projects I have been blessed to work on have been building homes for families in Mexico, creating spiritual youth programming, co-founding a Slow Food chapter, and working with at risk teens at the YMCA and trafficking survivors in Kathmandu. . |
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A lifelong artist, I have explored dance, music, drama, visual art, design and writing. As an adult I experienced the healing power of intuitive art, storytelling, somatic bodywork/psychotherapy, and holistic health practices. This period of my life brought me to an indelible awareness of the trauma embedded in my nervous system as a result of generations of toxic patriarchy. It also left me with an equally profound awareness of our ability to heal when provided with the right support. Through somatic, holistic and creative practices, I experienced a return to my body/thoughts/ feelings, a clearer sense of personal sovereignty, stronger boundaries, greater purpose, and an increase in health and vitality.
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Spectral Bird - intuitive drawing 2009
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The shift I experienced was so profound I began studying trauma (especially the work of Peter Levine and Gabor Mate among others), psychoneuroimmunology (a big word for the mind/body connection) and attunement (the safety and healing that happens when we are lovingly witnessed). From there I went on to get training in expressive arts facilitation with Gloria Simoneaux of Harambee Arts, life coaching with strengths-based coach Kate Pintor, Women's Circle Facilitation with Woman Within International, Non-Violent Communication with Newt Bailey, Freirean Pedagogy through Youth Speaks' First Sound Institute, and youth E.Q. facilitation from Soul Shoppe.
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