ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After spending my entire life in New York City, I moved to New Mexico in search of love and meaning. Today, I live in Abiquiu, surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and desert, where I continue my work with rural communities. Hiking the wilderness with my dog, Jethro, has become a way to nourish my soul.

For over 30 years, I’ve worked as a physical therapist, with healing at the heart of everything I do. My own journey to health began when I trained for the New York City Marathon to overcome a two-pack-a-day smoking habit. Running became the foundation of my transformation and dedication to helping others heal. I am a mother and a grandmother, and this new chapter of my life has deepened my commitment to leaving behind a legacy of beauty and healing.

​Healing Through Movement

Each morning, my daily yoga practice creates a sanctuary for my soul—a space to stretch, breathe, quiet my mind, and offer prayers. More than any other practice, yoga has opened my most vulnerable heart, guiding me in a deepening dance between retreating into darkness and revealing light. 

​A Call to Peru

In 2000, I began studying the teachings and ceremonies of the shamans of the High Andes with Alberto Villoldo and the Four Winds Society. Nine years later, I traveled to Peru with a group of women who shared the same mentor. Together, we received rites and initiations, participating in despacho ceremonies to honor our Earth Mother and awaken the Divine Feminine.​

It all began with coca leaves. High in the Andes of Peru, Don Andreas, a shaman of Q’ero, looked at them and saw a book. "You have to write it," he told me. "You have to include more of what you’ve learned on your journeys here. The wisdom must be shared." I had come to Peru with a group of women as part of a long and complex journey to awaken the Divine Feminine. We knew that the customs, rules, and power structures of everyday America had to change. To make this happen, we invoked the teachings of the Shamans and the power of the Apus, the mountain gods of the Andes.

​Empowerment and Sacred Rituals in Montana

In July 2012, I was invited to Feathered Pipe in Montana to weave ritual and ceremony during the Empowerment Camp. Surrounded by Montana's deep beauty, we journeyed to the womb of a consecrated cave, where we prayed, laughed, screamed, cried, sang, danced, healed, and birthed. Ceremony has often brought devastation to my life, but within the upheaval, blessings were disguised.

Now, through the lessons I’ve learned—and the lessons I’ve lived— I’m sharing my story of one woman’s quest to unite her passion with the energy and wisdom of the Goddess. "Beyond Fear" is a story of sharing, of ceremony—and, ultimately, of enlightenment.