Title: Lungta

Location: Portland, OR & Kirkland, WA

Greetings!

Well first let's just get the “I am” statements cleared up:

I Am, and that's enough for me.  I'm still a little clumsy when offering my personal profile for all to sift through and draw conclusions from and of course I don't really believe “I am” all that I've experienced, but I will no doubt commit the spiritual faux pas of misusing this statement to introduce myself to you. That said:

I came into this world through the naval hospital in Oakland California in 1974, the same year that the 16th Karmapa of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage made his historical visit to the bay area.  (I just learned of this visit recently and wonder if some of his extended blessings touched my life, as I have always been particularly drawn to and influenced by the work of his lineage holders Chogyam Trungpa and Sakyam Mipham).  After following my father's movement in the Navy, our family found a permanent home amidst the perrenial beauty of Washington's Puget Sound area where I have spent most of my life to date.   I have strayed from my true home only long enough gather valuable life experience and to recognize that, for me, there is no other place on Earth like it! 

The native geology and plant life are as integral to my being as my own breath and bones, and so I have found a passion studying and utilizing their ethnobotanical and medicinal functions.   This is a personal endeavor that draws me into closer relationship with the world around me, and occasionally offers a tool for clients in my therapy practice. 

I have practiced massage, craniosacral and Bach Flower therapy for nearly 10 years, blessed with mentors from many holistic and alopathic disciplines.  Some mentors came into my life long before I had an inkling of my path.  My first experience with rehabilitation medicine came from a fluke employment agency placement in Harborview's outpatient rehab program for traumatic brain and spinal cord injury.  With no prior relevant experience I coordinated the schedules of P.T.s, O.T.s, speech therapists, psychotherapists, and others as they patiently taught people how to use their bodies and brains again after devastating accidents.  I used every moment as a lesson in human potential, and questioned the therapists endlessly (perhaps to their chagrin).  In the years that followed I worked for chiropractors, naturopaths, holistic M.D.s., and neurologists, including Jonathan Wright, Arthur Ginsberg and Ted Rothstein.  Many may not even be aware that I considered them mentors, but influenced me profoundly. 

My first three years of massage practice were balanced with part time employment in Bastyr University's dispensary, botanical medicine and institutional assessment departments, respectively.  This blessed me with the opportunity to take occassional classes in the psychology and herbal medicine programs, and with one of my greatest mentors to date: Nancy Soliven, D.C., M.D.  Nancy is a craniosacral practitioner and teacher par excellence.  Her faith in human potential coupled with precision-effective treatment has changed the lives of countless medical students and patients. 

My experience working with Nancy through the years has shown me that the healing potential of the human body, if not unlimited, is worlds beyond our understanding.  I have recently joined her and her colleagues Destia Skinner, N.D. and Mark Sanders, N.D. in learning to teach this method of craniosacral therapy.  A very wise tea bag once told me that “to learn, we must read; to know, we must write; and to master, we must teach.”  The greatest advances in my learning have come from teaching people to work with the human body and follow its healing guidance. 

I look forward to the years ahead knowing that there is only more to learn!  I look forward to my newly re-discovered gift of painting blossoming and finding a balanced place in the healing work I do.  I look forward to studying Chinese medicine and advancing my qigong discipline.  I look forward to setting my foot on new dirt in other corners of this gorgeous planet.   I look forward to connecting with many more gifted and passionate healers and artists who can inspire and challenge me to keep growing.  I look forward from a very contented present moment :)

Member Since: Thursday, November 06 2008

Last Visit: 307 days ago.

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