Who are my teachers?

Who are my teachers?

Growing up as a feral child, without religion and Bohemian parents, I had little real aspirations or role models other than rockstars. 

It is safe to say that it was hard for me to see the ‘middle way’.  Instead, I sought out a way to escape conformity by embracing the news of the Hare Krishnas the day I went to get my ticket to freedom in California - my driver’s license at 17.  Krishna informed me that the purpose of coming to earth was to step out of the wheel of karma and strive for enlightenment.  I had wondered why nobody had ever mentioned this before in my sphere of life, and thus went running into the philosophical arms of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, aka Osho before he passed from this plane.  I trusted and devoured all pertaining to Eastern philosophies and committed myself to pure heart and selfless services practices. 

With dedication, I led a life of oneness consciousness in pursuit of exposing the ego and all the shadow work that goes along with that in a holistic lifestyle. After years of becoming fluent in hypnotherapy, I tried EFT on my PTSD.  It was radically effective.  I felt different the next day, as if cements blocks that had been occupying my nervous system had dissolved. It was palpable to such an extend that I went on to study with Sonya Sophia and her School of Living Arts.  Sonya Sophia was a Gary Craig purist and a pioneer in group work.  I accompanied Sonya To Burning Man in 2007 and organized the first 3 tapping events, occurring at 7 am in Black Rock City, where your schedule is a choice and no money is exchanged.  We had 5 attendees the first morning, 50 the next group circle and 150 on our last day that is how the word spread in each of those participants camps of the effectiveness of the tapping.

Now Sonya is one of the favorite attractions at BM, with 500 people gathering daily to tap with her on varying topics.  I took over her weekly circle in Austin when she departed, giving me the unique opportunity to get fluent in group work, receiving the original Cert 1 from Gary Craig, the founder of emotional freedom technique. 

In 2005 I traveled to Big Bear to Journey of the Heart, a weeklong gathering of shaman from different cultures from around the world, each sharing their gifts and keeping a sacred fire burning for that duration.  I learned from Hawaiians, the Bushmen of the Kalahari, Native Americans, Southern Italian folklore, Norwegian mysticism and many individual powerful seers and healers.  I brought my brother as we sat across from a powerful African healer.  He looked at me and bust up - “What are you doing sitting over there, you should be sitting here with us!” -I got self conscious, as I knew nothing of the world of healing and energy, although I had received plenty of reiki and always responded to it well.   

Fast forward to my introduction of EFT and Russian devices called the Skenar that helped the body reorganize it’s energy, which gave many of my back problems spectacular recovery. In that time I met a healer named Francis, who was performing “miracle healing” with people suffering from serious diseases.  I studied with him for 6 months and combined my EFT sessions with the Skenar and energy work. After receiving Reiki I & II I had a big wave of the divine feminine enter my life in the form of 1. Sonya, 2. plant medicine and then….3. Hawaii.  I listened to her call in the height of my real estate career and headed to the Big Island of Hawai’i from Texas. 

Here, I met my kumu, my Hawaiian hula teacher, who taught me the language of love that the ancient Hawaiians have been living and practicing for generations. I was more or less brought from the male dominant eastern philosophical teachers to earth based teachings, with a very alive connection to Gaia, the elements and the mana of our planet. The dramatic call and response I experience with nature, the trust I have, is harder to put into the hands of mortals.  The unseen world is so much bigger than us. I ended up relocating to the Big Island, where my main activities seem to be making prayers at our 13,000 ft glacier lake, the water’s closest to the heavens, making offerings to the new earth as it flows down the mountain near us, witnessing rainbows at every turn and frequently swimming with wild dolphins - someone has got to do it while it is free and abundantly available on that island!

There are many and few people who inspire me.  Coming from a traumatized childhood in this life, I have had a wild passion for psychology and all forms of healing modalities, an energy detective of sorts. I have experienced and also witnessed miracle like recoveries and been an advocate for many therapies, especially body-mind energy medicine techniques.  In being asked who my teachers are, it has come down to 3 primary ones for me:

1. My German grandmother Annuschka.  My grandmother was my gift of unconditional love in this life.  I got to live with her when I was 6 and her nurturing love had a profound impact on me. She was uneducated and simple, yet her adoration and praise of me created such a sense of safety, that I felt completely accepted. I do not remember her ever saying “No” to me nor criticizing me.  She fed me 3 meals a day and tucked me into bed.  I truly do not remember many people or teachers praising me for anything in my life.  I have found that there is no greater compliment that someone can give you than feeling safe with them.
   
   
2. Pele, Goddess of Fire.  I say this, because she seems to be the Goddess who invoked me to come to her island.  I have tried to live so many places on that island, however, she insists that I stay close to her flow and be an ample witness. I have experienced the strongest highs and lowest lows in that jungle, yet I have simultaneously discovered she has only walked me right up to my worst fears…she shows you your worst fears and also gives you plenty of ammunition for new creations, pressing for the new ways to emerge.  I feel she has chosen me as one of her agents, being a triple fire sign myself. The fire of creation is the other side of fear.
   
   
3. Myself.  I have learned first hand, that I do take the risk to try everything and that I am my own greatest teacher, through trial and error.  I have experienced several self-initiations during vision quests. Perhaps, at the end of the day, we all are, we are here to be inspired, to learn and to in turn inspire with how we integrate our own teachings into our lives. I always say, the proof is in the pudding, after we define our own truths for ourselves, our responsibility is to walk our talk, in only the authentic and absurd way that only we can as unique individuals and make some punk rock choices to reflect how we are pimping our matrix.  I attempt to live my heart’s courage to have as free of a life as possible.  I believe this is the self-mastery we are
   looking for.
   
                                 

Certifications & experience:

Sonya Sophia School of Living Arts, Master EFT Practitioner

Gary Craig Cert I EFT

SKENAR training

Unified Yoga teacher

Access Consciousness 

Reiki I & II

Rose Yoga Personal Development Mindset Coach

Rose Yoga certified Heart Opener 

Studied with Shamanic energy healers Francis from Ireland and Marek from Poland

GypsyRoseChariot.com & MagicwoodStudios.us