Congratulations to Mojohito Richerson von Tchudi, our October student of the month!

A partially homogenous life as the son of progressive academic education philosophers, with its customary international travel and bouts of expatriateship went marvelously awry when the professionally-bored young man deviated from the prescribed path of desk-job-to-pay-rent and began to engage fully in rooted-nomadic life of a somewhat serious spiritual seeker hell-bent on a naturally healthy lifestyle.

I traveled internationally, and attended the most progressive of state-run educational institutions where – devoid of intention – I lived comfortably among vegans and gender-ambiguity. Formal education was focused around the radical idea that people ought to have access to the public airwaves – community radio, theatre, animation, cinematography. Eventually, I found myself sitting at a desk job on the 21st floor of a San Francisco financial district high-rise, enduring epic bouts of telephone tech support, where I, aghast, was the supporter. It was out of desperation that I discovered qigong, yoga, kung fu, and a cleansing whole-foods diet. I stopped using the microwave.

But all this wasn’t enough. I knew that in order to break the habit of consumer capitalism, hopeless suffering, degenerative disease, and social malaise, I would need to radically change my life; divorce myself for the first time from the advertising-laden comforts of urban society.

I moved as far from anything I had previously experienced, to an intentional community and rural mystery school known as Heartwood Institute. I studied Asian Healing Arts and Whole Foods Nutrition with master Paul Pitchford, and eventually recruited as a Teaching Assistant. I entered the East West course in August 2007 as a natural extension of the comprehensive, assessment-based modalities I was now practicing in the classroom and Wellness Center.

After Heartwood’s closure in 2008 my wife Heatherlee and I joined my extended family in Chico, California, where, finally rooted, we are beginning to farm and homestead. Our immediate plans include the formation of a community healing clinic based on the principles of TCM and Ayurveda, deep nutritional healing, herbal remedies, therapeutic touch, healing movement, and the profound beauty of a mindfully simple lifestyle.

I am prolific on the web, and you can follow my day to day activities on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/mojohito), befriend me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/mojohito), read articles and essays on my blog (http://mojohito.ro), see my curio collection (http://mojohito.com). Also, check out our clinic Grass Roots Vitality & Herbs (http://wholefoodshealing.com/), and learn more about the beautiful spiritual partnership I share with my wife Heatherlee (http://richersonvontchudi.com).