My Story…

While my journey started much earlier, the story started to form during my time at the University of Toronto. I dove DEEP into Cognitive Science – an integrative science where we explored meta-cognition through mindfulness, psychedelics, artificial intelligence, indigenous wisdom, Buddhist psychology, computer science, neuroscience, linguistics, philosophy, movement and mental health… and so much more. I also chose to add to that journey criminal literature, action film, entrepreneurship.. not to mention being on student council, AIESEC and really any leadership activity I could find.

 Yeah, I’m a huge nerd. 

Anyway, I wanted to apply this to a real life context to create transformation in the world, so I took a Masters in Education program – Adult Learning and Global Change – that was intercontinental between four different universities in each hemisphere of the world: University of British Columbia (Canada), Linköping University (Sweden), University of the Western Cape (South Africa), and Australian Catholic University (Australia). This is where and HOW I learned to be iterative, critically reflective and self-reflective with an socio-environment, glocal, lens. 

I loved where this was going, however I felt I was still answering my initial questions through the same (academic) lenses.

I decided to take a little detour and fulfill a childhood dream – to be in entertainment for a while. I became a dancer and model and even participated in performances, beauty pageants and runway shows. In the Miss Globe 2018 Pageant, I placed 3rd on the international stage in Beijing, running with a platform of ‘conscious decision-making‘. I wanted to bring attention to the circularity of our decisions – the lifecycle and eco-system involved in how we live and to be mindful of that as this world continues to proliferate, differentiate and integrate. I decided to end this journey here as I felt it was a beautiful experience, though not in alignment with how I wanted to be living on a day-to-day basis. That and, we were all spun into the greatest pause many of us have ever experienced. I was no longer able to stay in my entertainment career and had to re-think what my priorities were.

As I listened to the silence in the world, I heard a calling I had heard before, but had become stronger and stronger until it began to dominate my meditations. I felt a deep calling to learn about the earth-based wisdoms of the world. I was then guided to be initiated into the Q’ero lineage. 

The Q’ero community are indigenous to the mountains of Peru. They have decided that we do not have time to sit around waiting for people to care. We need to start caring now. They are sharing the essence of what they call Sami (unconditional love) to the Western world mindset that we have – in a way we can understand it.

because we need Sami NOW. 

We need love on this planet now. 

I am grateful to be able to follow their Ethical Code, and with their permission, my interpretation and integration of their medicine into my own practices.

While learning from the Q’ero, I felt I also needed to be engaged with my local community. It is what they call ayni – sacred reciprocity (the relationship of giving and receiving). I decided to volunteer and then work for the Canada Suicide Prevention Service (now called talk suicide) so that I could really hear and support my fellow humans through an incredibility challenging period of our lives. I thought I had the skills to listen, but only through being on the lines did I truly begin to understand what it meant to have unconditional empathy, deep listening, and venerability. Fortunately for me, from training with the Q’ero, I had a strong community (allyu) who had trained with me. I am so grateful that they were able to hold me in compassion, solidarity and respect while I supported others. This community has taught me a level of self-awareness that is honestly sometimes hard to be with. It has also shown me what a genuine community can look like and Right Relations became another key note of my journey.

From here, I was finally starting to get a well-rounded view of what consciousness was and how we can embody unconditional love..

and that’s when I dislocated 3 ribs and desperately needed help. Once again, I was blessed to find another way to heal and was presented with Feldenkrais!

Feldenkrais is a brilliant learning method, a form of embodied wisdom, that takes a person through a mindful movement practice. It facilitates the self-directed exploration of finding ease, pleasure, increased self-awareness and optimal movement patterns. The practice banks on neuroplasticity and the body (and brain’s) inherent ability to find a better way – to be resilient. On the physical level, it helps one recover faster, move easier, have less pain. I’ve found it has profound effects on my sense of self, agency, and enjoyment of living.

I am incredibly blessed to be able to integrate and learn from these different modalities, experiences and perspectives. I am now giving space for my body, mind and soul to integrate and create from this place.

Someone once told me, “the quality of our questions determine the quality of our lives”,

And through my own deep inquiry and work with others, I know this to be true. 

Working with me, we get to ask the most pertinent questions, experiment and play with possibilities through different lenses and diverse tools. 

We make it sacred. We make it love. We create magic. 

Dear one, I look forward to learning with you. Please feel free to reach out and meet me at a synapse, node, or intersection point that resonates. I’m here on this journey with you.