bodywork thru an
ayurvedic lens

Our backyard in suburban Baltimore had a 6-foot strip of dirt where my parents planted tomatoes each year. Aside from a beloved lilac bush, a cherry tree, a maple tree, and a pink magnolia shrub; the yard was a simple world of fresh-mowed lawn, sandbox, picnic table, grill, and the joy of catching lightening bugs with an Orioles game on the radio keeping score. I knew nothing of herbs or alternative healing, seeking out social justice and art classes in college. But really, looking back, the feeling of connection to all of life was ignited under our heavenly lilac bush, on the cool cut grass, in the soft summer powdered dirt of the baseball diamond next door, and in the magnolia flower in my hand. Scent and beauty and touch.

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The Senses, the Elements called me back many years after college when my life fell apart and the plants came to find me. Grindelia particularly. She's a sticky, mostly coastal, low-growing plant traditionally used for respiratory support and as a lymphatic herb. The smell of Grindelia immediately takes me to oceanside cliffs and sea air. At the California School of Herbal Studies, I fell in love with Grindelia, among others, and through her, I discovered the moon-watery world of the lymphatic system, the extracellular matrix of water, and Ayurveda.

Lymph is a Latin word that means "pure water". It cleanses and nourishes the body.

Lymph. Blood. Muscle. Fat. Bone. Nerves. Reproductive. 

Rasa. Rhakta. Mamsa. Medha. Asti. Majja. Shukra/Artava.

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These are the Dhatus in Ayurveda. The tissues of the body that feed each other in that order, with lymph or rasa being the first in line. Lymph fascinated me and led me to my incredible Ayurveda & Bodywork teacher and dear friend, DeAnna Batdorff of dhyanaEssentials in Sebastopol, CA. I have been lucky to study with her ever since. 

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The scent of lilac, grindelia, all of the plants and bees, lymph, the living matrix of water and DeAnna gifted me with this work that I do and love. I am so very grateful.

It is an honor to study Ayurveda's vast and profound art and science. It is an honor to work with clients who teach me every day. It is a honor to smell, taste, touch, see, and listen to the plant people and study with herbalists like Matthew Wood and Phyllis D Light. All of it is humbling and a precious gift.