Movement

I’ve always known one of my missions in life is to move my body. I followed that passion and impulse through sports, exploring the outdoors, dance, and various movement practices. I was also exposed to different kinds of body work from a young age, such as chiropractic, acupuncture, massage and others. That led me into more awareness of my body and an interest in healing myself and others. After several significant injuries prevented me from moving freely and without worry, I set out to figure out what was going on. In the process I learned about anatomy, tried many techniques and fitness modalities, and gratefully met some people along the way who really helped me heal. But when I learned about Functional Patterns, it brought together so many things I had learned and gave me a way forward to actually move better and regenerate my body.

It is common nowadays for people to talk about holistic nutrition, but we still only mean food. Holistic movement needs to be a part of that nutrition plan and Functional Patterns is the best way to learn how to move.

Art

Another passion of mine is creativity and art. Artistic expression didn’t come as naturally in some ways, but it’s always been a part of my life. It wasn’t until my 20s that I felt this huge creative urge but didn’t know how to express it. Pottery has been a part of my life off and on, but it didn’t become more serious until the last 5 years when I had the time and space to dive more deeply into developing as a potter. In that time it’s become something that I don’t want to live without and I’m committed to continue to improve and make sure it’s a part of my life. I think art and artistic expression is one of the most important things we can do as humans.

Regeneration

Another important element in my life has been learning about plants, growing food, and regenerating the Earth. In the last 10 years I have studied and practiced many kinds of soil regeneration practices from composting, cover cropping, holistic management (rotational grazing), agroforestry, permaculture, Korean Natural Farming, JADAM, biodynamic, and more. It’s been obvious in the last few hundred years or so how destructive humans can be, but I believe we have just as much power to regenerate and enhance the world as we do to destroy it. One of the most essential ways we can employ regenerative practices is how we interact with the land through our farming and land management practices. Although the tools and techniques for regenerating the Earth are different than working with people, the principles are the same. The Earth is nature and we are part of nature, so we are nature too. It takes a systems thinking approach to heal nature and it’s no different for healing people.

With the right approach we can regenerate the Earth and restore our own health and well-being.