I live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, in the Greater Victoria area (North Saanich). I have lived between Vancouver and Vancouver Island most of my life, and have developed a love for our mountains, oceans and old growth forests. We’re so fortunate to be surrounded by this magnificent beauty which offers so much opportunity for different kinds of healing.

For 25 years I worked as an RN in various settings including ICU, spinal cord injury, renal dialysis, and community health. During this time I was fortunate to work with some of the best life-saving acute care medical interventions, and saw many good outcomes in this regard. However, I also became increasingly aware of the glaring gaps in care left by our Western medical model.

Since 2008, I have apprenticed in and learned Buddhist siddhi yoga and healing practices. These teachings come from a Himalayan Buddhist oral tradition, which utilizes a blending of healing methodologies from Indian, Chinese, and Tibetan systems. Our main areas of focus are in the strengthening of mind skills to enhance use of chi (19 different qualities in our system) and shen for healing purposes, and working with the “shaping” of kamma. In 2013 and 2017 I studied foundations of Tibetan Medicine/Sowa Rigpa. In 2016, I undertook a Western herbal apprenticeship at Fireweed Farm and School in Saanich, with a focus on our Native plant medicines. I feel privileged to now also be studying the East West program since Spring 2016. I am particularly excited to be learning how to apply the well-established and effective Eastern herbal paradigms/structures while integrating both Eastern herbs and local Western plant medicines into my practice. My heart felt gratitude goes to all of the instructors at East West!

I have many areas of interest in herbalism. An area of concern that began to stand out for me some time ago is antibiotic resistance and our growing inability to deal with infectious disease in the Western model. My hope is that we can further research in this area of herbalism that is already gaining more widespread recognition. I also feel strongly about offering alternatives and supporting a culture of hope amongst those affected by chronic disease, who are so often denied support in the mainstream.

My website: www.buddhasalchemy.com