In the late 1980’s I began cultivating a fledgeling, tenderhearted, self-guided, mindfulness practice for myself. After a couple of years in the creative cocoon of art school, I longed to be engaged and in service in “the real world”. So at the bold age of twenty I made my way to Central America in search of life experience and an education providing social and cultural context. My world view broadened exponentially over the course of my first year living in this region. I witnessed the bare bones of human suffering and unfathomable heart of human resilience. I was forever changed. This was the path for completing my undergraduate degree in cultural anthropology, but what was unexpectedly unearthed was the ground for daily practice.

Through a simple self-reflection practice, I began to explore my cultural conditioning; uncovering my deeply held biases, beliefs and attitudes. I sat with my fears, grief, shame and longing… some of the roots of my own suffering. I sat with refugees and farmers, human rights advocates, politicians and children. I listened to their stories of loved ones “disappeared”, of families displaced, of whole communities ravaged by poverty, violence and war. I sat with human suffering. It was in those years that I learned to look injustice in the eye, hold space for others, and not turn away from suffering.

This formative experience of being with adversity and developing a contemplative and compassionate practice in the face of my own and other’s suffering has guided the trajectory of my life’s work. In the years since, I have been deeply informed by my work in education, social justice, somatic psychology, mindfulness meditation, classroom teaching and trauma-sensitive mindfulness. I have been counseling, teaching, guiding, supporting and working with groups and individuals for over three decades.

Today I offer classes, retreats and individual sessions at One Red Pine in Freeport, Maine and virtually.