In a little more detail...

My friends and colleagues say I'm bright, open-minded, and a good listener.  I ride that line between a practitioner and a scholar: I'm as interested in dreams as I am in neuroscience, in working with my hands as much as writing with them, and in the particulars as much as the patterns.

Counselling

My counselling practice began at Queen's University's Health, Counselling and Disability Services, working with students over a wide range of issues between 2006 and 2009.  I also worked among an interdisciplinary group at the NS Environmental Health Centre with Elizabeth Berlasso for my practicum at Acadia University.   I am a Canadian Certified Counsellor (CCC) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association and am a Registered Counselling Therapist Candidate (RCT-C) with the Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists.  I have taken two trainings on Mindfulness for Clinicians with Michael Stone in 2009 and 2015.  I am currently supervised by Linda Wheeldon.

Yoga & Meditation

I began practicing yoga in Pune, India in 2001 after being shooed out of BKS Iyengar's courtyard looking for beginner classes.  I have been committed to practicing and studying ever since;  I began teaching ashtanga yoga after training with my first teacher Carolyn Johanson in 2006, and have since studied with Richard Freeman and Michael Stone.  In 2015 I co-taught a yoga teacher training with Carol Fellowes.

I have been part of a year-long meditation mentorship with Michael Stone in 2011, and meditation has become central to my practice.  I have taught meditation to educators, mentored individuals, and taught classes and workshops.

My practice is a near-daily event that has shifted significantly in different phases in my life; I have gained an appreciation for the variety of what's needed to sustain a long-term practice.

Food & Farming

I love hand-weeding, pruning and trellising tomatoes, harvesting garlic, and eating melons right out of the garden.  I don't love sticking to one job until it's done, keeping records, and mulching. Growing food is my opportunity to care for and and connect with the land and our community, get plenty of fresh air, and eat well!

I graduated from growing my own food to growing for others when we moved to Nova Scotia in 2009.  I have grown for the Wolfville Farmers Market, home deliveries, Just Us! Coffeehouses, and a CSA.  We have always farmed in excellent company: with Titia Posthuma at Ravensfield in Maberly, with Alan Stewart at Stewart's Organic Farm in Hortonville, and with the Just Us! Centre for Small Farm in Grand Pre, where I've served as both a faculty member and farmer-in-residence.   I have supported many people in learning to work in the garden, and I've taught a course in Sustainable Food Systems and Community Development at Acadia University (2016) and guest lectured in Acadia's Nutrition Department.

I love to cook, preserve, ferment, and put down the food we grow.  I have written a few small, hand-made cookbooks, and a short-lived food blog.