At 11 years old, my mother was diagnosed with a terminal cancer and I witnessed a very aggressive expression of conventional medicine. Repeated rounds of chemotherapy, radiation, debilitating side affects, hospital food, with an unfavorable prognosis. Intuitively, I knew this was not the way to heal. Losing my mother was the first heartbreak of my life. It was also the source of my greatest purpose.
Fast-forward 6 years later. I was a senior in high school, applying to colleges and planning on studying pre-med. I fell in love with Ryan, whose father had been diagnosed with a terminal cancer. He spent 6 months in a holistic treatment program in Mexico receiving nutrient IVs, natural therapies and eating a macrobiotic diet. One year later he was still in remission and thriving. This was my first exposure to the profound healing potential of natural medicine.
So, I went off to Oberlin, studied pre-med and added an anthropology major to explore the intersection of culture and health. One day I heard about a woman in town that was a Reiki master and she used energy to facilitate healing. I had never heard of Reiki but the next day I knocked on her door. I nervously entered to the aroma of nag champa and Indian music and asked her to teach me everything she knew. This was the beginning of my intimate relationship with energy and the unseen world, which remains fundamental to my work.
My curiosity about how people heal in other cultures took me all over the world. I studied with herbalists in Thailand, shamans in Belize, ayurvedic practitioners in India and midwives in Nicaragua. I went to massage school, became a birth doula, got a Masters in Nursing, and a Doctorate in Naturopathic medicine. No single healing system I encountered has ever satisfied me, yet they have all contributed to the philosophy and vision for Seven Senses.
When I began practicing integrative medicine in 2011, I felt so well prepared and thought the learning phase was finally over. Little did I know, one who facilitates healing cannot stop learning. The healing journey is the human experience- a dynamic process with infinite possibility. My work constantly evolves as I learn and acquire new tools and adapt to the needs of humanity. In recent years I discovered the profound healing potential of community and have been working with groups in various settings. Using relationships and the group as transformational tools is a key component of the Seven Senses experience.
Today, I'm a naturopathic doctor, nurse practitioner, massage therapist, Reiki master, yoga and meditation instructor, intuitive and a group facilitator so I have a pretty unique lens on health. I’ve been practicing integrative medicine at One Medical, a primary care practice for several years. As a holistic provider, I believe there are no limits to optimal health and wellbeing, regardless of age, genetics and life circumstances. I also think that healing should be an empowering journey of self-discovery and growth.
Over the years I’ve noticed a lot of confusion in patients regarding what constitutes a great health and how to create it. I see people looking exclusively outside of themselves for guidance, forgetting that they are the experts in themselves. This is why I created Seven Senses, a program based on a truly holistic philosophy. At Seven Senses, health and wellbeing are self-defined, all-inclusive concepts that reflect how we feel, how we live, and who we are. Our program acknowledges the physical, mental, emotional and energetic components of health and we embrace tools to optimize all of them. Seven Senses is a guided journey inward where you will unlock your potential to feel, live and be your best self.
My journey has taken me through limitless expressions of human vulnerability and health. I have been exposed to so many approaches to care, healing philosophies and cultural influences on health. But not one of them makes the healing process empowering. Not one encourages people to self-define wellbeing without limitations. Not one has guided people to the profound wisdom within. And not one has acknowledged that how we feel, who we are, and how we live are equally integral to health and wellbeing. Seven Senses is the evolution of my work and I cannot wait to share it with you.