In April of 2011, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I was scheduled to travel to Peru with my students to teach a class on traditional healing. When I received the diagnosis, I was tempted to cancel the trip. But my decision to take — and follow — the more challenging path saved my life. Deep down, I knew this was the beginning of an initiation. 

In the Andes mountains, I met my mentor Tupaq T’ito Kuntur (Adolfo T’ito Condori). He helped me understand that the cancer was a physical manifestation of an imbalance, impacting multiple dimensions of my being: underlying emotions, mental patterns, energetic influences, and spiritual forces. During a two hour coca leaf reading, he explained that I would need to address each of these dimensions in order to heal.  He also helped me to see the cancer as an opportunity, and an initiation as a healer and teacher. 

But this was far from the beginning of my journey. 

During undergrad, I had studied Ethnobotany, or how indigenous people use plants as medicine. My education introduced me to brilliant medicine people who nurtured a sacred connection with the Pachamama (mother of all space and time). I would spend hours alone in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, meditating, singing, and developing my relationship with the Mother Earth.

After undergrad, I immersed myself in the study of therapeutic massage and bodywork, energy medicine, and intuitive development practices. I moved onto 80 acres of land with a group of like minded folks to start an intentional community, rooted in sustainable practices. I wanted to learn how to live more connected to the land and to my body. During this time, encounters with other dimensions of being became more frequent and vivid to the point they were disruptive. I needed guidance navigating this expanding side of my consciousness, and found my first shamanic teacher. She helped me to normalize and integrate these multidimensional landscapes into my everyday life.

My shamanic healing education immersed me in a new way of perceiving. Although, many shamanic teachers support and teach dissociative practices of leaving the body as part of the shamanic journey, I found that being grounded in the body, was essential for me. This instinct became more pronounced when I went into convulsions during a shamanic healing workshop. I was completely conscious, but my body shook uncontrollably. I sensed there was a neurological phenomenon at play, and this sparked a passion to understand the relationship between the nervous system and shamanic energetic healing.  For the next 13 years, I would immerse myself into an extensive study of somatic psychotherapy and the neurobiology of trauma and attachment, including a 3-year Somatic Experiencing™ training and a Masters of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. 

The journey leading up to my cancer diagnosis had prepared me well to be present amidst a health crisis.

When I returned to the states, I assembled a team of healers—medical doctors, a naturopathic physician, an acupuncturist, a psychotherapist, and spiritual teachers—and started the work of healing myself from cancer. I systematically addressed the multidimensional roots the disease and provided my body with the most ideal environment for healing. Just as importantly, I confronted all of the traumatic experiences and unfinished business in myself. After six months of this multidimensional approach, I was cancer-free.

In 2015, I returned to the sacred mountains of the Andes for my formal initiation with Túpaq T’ito Kuntur and dedicated my life to following the path of the P’aqo. I continue to bring seekers to these sacred mountains on pilgrimages for their personal healing and initiations. 

Each of us has this innate capacity to heal our bodies and minds.

A complex understanding of multidimensional healing: trauma and nervous system healing, energy medicine, shamanic healing, and somatic psychotherapy has led me to practice the hybrid form of healing I offer today, a form grounded in science and spirit.

Whether through one-on-one sessions, community healing, or pilgrimages to the sacred mountains, I help you harness your inner healer. I teach you how to support your nervous system in finding optimal function so you can live your most authentic, embodied life, to contribute to the better world we all know is possible. 

Being Human is our path to personal growth and spiritual evolution. It’s time to remember the innate power within you to heal yourself, to evolve, and to expand into your most authentic human consciousness.

Your transformation is why you are here. Being human is the only prerequisite.

You need only follow the thread of your own becoming. 

A path towards spiritual evolution is available to us all.

Follow the thread of your own becoming.

The mechanisms of connection are rooted in the nervous system. By healing the nervous system, we repair and deepen the relationship between body, mind, and soul, opening you to experience more freedom and an embodied sense of connection to yourself, to others, and to our Mother Earth.

About Amy