I was born and raised in the mountains of Caucasus in Russia. I have very early memories of my grandmother making herbal teas, remedies, and tending the garden. We used to spend summers with my dad foraging for herbs, berries and mushrooms in the woods in remote mountain ranges. We never used medication, and when someone in the family was not feeling well, natural remedies and herbs were the first resort. I had a special fondness for herbs and loved to play with them from very early in my childhood.
When I moved to US in 2001 and started building my new life, for a while I didn’t see how I could channel my passion for healthy lifestyle and knowledge of natural remedies and herbs into a career. I was just learning about the many health problems that Americans were treating with pharmaceuticals. I observed that the average quality of foods that people were consuming was very poor, that many have completely lost the ability to understand the body’s need to be in balance. I started feeling the desire to share what I knew about health cultivation.
In 2006 I came across Academy of Healing Nutrition and took their Holistic Health Coaching course, which was based on the principles of Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, and Weston Price Foundation research on traditional diets of longevity cultures. I was feeling at home with these concepts and knew that this would be my life path. While studying at the Academy I got exposed to the Taoist teachings on radiant health, longevity, and the concept called The Three Treasures for the first time. These philosophies resonated deeply with my beliefs and inspired me to continue exploring these ancient secrets, seeking teachers to learn from directly. My first teacher was Nam Singh, and later I studied with Max Christensen, Jeffrey Yuen and Ron Teeguarden.
After graduating I started working at the Academy, eventually developing four of my own teaching modules on food energetics and cooking with the seasons, tonic herbal elixirs and holistic women’s health. At the same time I started developing my health coaching practice.
As a tireless learner, in the last 11 years I‘ve been busy taking nutrition, herbal medicine, alchemy, kinesiology, energy healing, spirituality, consciousness and shamanism-related classes and participating in various conferences and gatherings. In 2008 I enrolled in the East West course to seal my commitment to the path of an herbalist and healer, and attended my first seminar in 2009. I am so grateful to have met Michael and Lesley Tierra and all the teachers in the course who devote their lives to bridging the gaps between the herbal systems and nurturing the tribe of intelligent, Earth-loving, TCM-savvy herbalists. Viva Planetary Herbology!
In the recent years I have created a life that I don’t need a vacation from: traveling and teaching in the Unites States and Europe, seeing clients for nutrition and herbal consultations, coaching and mentoring long-distance. My next goals are to finish the East West Professional Herbalist training at the Advanced track in 2017 and become certified in craniosacral therapy – my newfound love.
Healing is a fascinating multi-faceted process and I am committed to learning and exploring the depths of natural healing arts while sharing my gifts through consultations, healing work and teaching.
Apart from my natural healing side of life, I put a lot of my energy into learning, practicing and enjoying a Brazilian partner dance called Zouk. 😀