Yoga Mandala » Therapist Profiles

Skye Livingston

kamesvari — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:01:44 +0000

How did you get into this line of work?
Insatiable curiosity: the body is to me what the cosmos is to an astronomer. It never ceases to amaze me that the deeper you go the more there is to explore and I love the journey

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
Sensitive, Intuitive, Effective.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
Trust my hands, they know where to go. Remain neutral. The client’s body will let me know what it needs – I’m just helping to facilitate the process. Listen, listen, listen! With heart, hands, eyes and ears.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Cooking, Biking, Hangin’ with the Hubby – preferably outdoors – and Napping with the Dog.

David “Atibala” Thorp

kamesvari — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:42:09 +0000

How did you get into this line of work?
I started studying nutrition and herbalism over a decade ago when my own health took a turn for the worse. Natural medicine seemed like the obvious direction to go, especially since I felt a lack of support from the modern medical industry. The first thing I turned to was Western Herbalism, in particular a book called “Natural Healing With Herbs”, which I bought on a whim when I was 14. It was a starting point, and soon became a mild obsession, which eventually led to more of an interest in energetic physiology. There came a point when I received an injury from over training martial arts, and I had a sudden notion that I had to now study yoga. Yoga gave me a familiarity with my body state that I hadn’t experienced before, and I recovered very quickly from my injury. I suppose this made me receptive to other facets of Indian philosophy, and when I was introduced to a healing modality that intricately wove diet, exercise, herbalism and meditation w ith a unifying and beautiful philosophy, I was lost to it, and that was Ayurveda. One day I was dropping off some film to develop, and I spotted a yoga studio down the street I hadn’t seen before. I cruised by on my bike and grabbed a flier they had sitting outside, and when I read it at home I discovered that they had an Ayurvedic clinic. I immediately set up an appointment, which is how I met my Guru Dharmanidhi. After my initial appointment, my next step was clear, and I began studying with him for the next few years, after which he advised me to travel to India to complete my education. There I began my ongoing apprenticeship with my upaya Guru Vijith Sasidar. Though my practice keeps evolving, I am ever more impressed with the effect that daily bodily maintenance has on radiant health and healing.

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
I would describe my work as inclusive, supportive, and transformational.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
I have learned that you can’t really force anybody to heal, they have to want it, and they have to be receptive. This is what I think of when I hear the phrase, “Meet the client where they’re at”. One of the biggest lessons of Ayurveda is that we can only assist nature, we ultimately are not responsible for a person’s state of healing, and really can’t take credit for it.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Lately, all I want to do is garden. I am infatuated with permaculture and Biodynamics, and try to incorporate their concepts whenever I can. I look forward to spending the day on my small plot of land with my wife, remediating the soil, planting food, and preparing for a life that is more self-sustainable.

Sumanasa Daren

kamesvari — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:31:15 +0000

You may know Sumanasa as a fantastic Yoga Instructor, she also practices Ayurvedic Mind Counseling and Private Yoga Therapy at Yoga Mandala.

How did you get into this line of work?
I had sincerely tired of my own suffering and was determined to find the way out. It didn’t take long before I was catapulted by Grace down a winding path that eventually led me to the Tantrik teachings of Hatha Yoga and Ayurveda. My Guru, Dharmandihi, then reflected back my capacities and encouraged me to actualize my potential, for the benefit of all beings.

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
Intimate, inspiring & transformative.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
It has become so clear to me that we are all One, with slightly different flavorings. Both suffering and love are born from this Reality and each has the potential to lead us back to that exquisite Truth. Our relationships to self, other and the universe are the most valuable, transformative and rewarding aspects of our lives.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Taking a yoga class at Yoga Mandala, catching up with friends over a nice meal, staying quiet and keeping the excess vata under control.

Bill Kester

kamesvari — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:25:42 +0000

How did you get into this line of work?
When I was nine or ten years old I massaged my father?s legs when he got home and rubbed my mother’s head when she got headaches. As a teenager, I read books on yoga by Yogi Ramacharaka, and later, ParamahansaYogananda and his teacher Sri Yukteswar. While teaching theatre voice and movement classes I studied yoga, Laban Movement Analysis, and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement®, Sensory Awareness and Kristin Linklater’s approach to freeing the natural voice.

During this time I took classes or workshops with Ram Dass, Moshe Feldenkrais, Kristin Linklater, Bernard Gunther, William Schutz, and Rollo May. Always I found applications for touch. I went to Esalen at every opportunity for workshops, the baths, and to receive massage (which taught me a great deal).

When it was time for me to retire from my previous career, it seemed natural to take the Intensive Professional Training at Esalen Institute. I followed that with more classes at Body Therapy Center in Palo Alto in Advanced Massage Therapy, Advanced Esalen® Massage and Craniosacral Therapy as well as workshops in anatomy and deep abdominal work.

After assisting in several classes, I taught Advanced Massage for three years at Body Therapy Center. For further advanced work in deep tissue, I took three classes at Esalen in Deep Bodywork.

By that time I was ready to work seriously and deeply on subtler technique and develop my intuitive skills. I began a program in Visionary Craniosacral Work with Hugh Milne in 2007. This has been a three-year undertaking that I expect to complete in December of this year.

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
Deep (spiritually and emotionally as well as physically);
Compassionate (the heart is my most important work center; my hands are the wings of the heart);
Knowing (knowledgeable in the field, experienced in technique, intuitively attentive to the client?s words, body tissues, and field energy).

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
The real healer in a session is the client. My job is to support, guide, and nurture the healing process of the client. I listen from the heart. I hold the healing container. Sometimes that in itself is enough. Other times intentional work is called for, either subtle or deep. I listen for what is needed. My meditation practice is the most important single thing I do to stay focused, centered and aware in my work.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Whatever I feel like! Reading, walking by the bay, gardening, puttering.

Taylor Shogren

kamesvari — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:09:40 +0000

How did you get into this line of work?
My mother would ask me to rub her shoulders when I was little, and as soon as I was done with her shoulders, she would tell me how good she thought I was and ask me if I wanted to show her how good I was at doing her feet, her hands, etc.. Out of that beginning I came to do regular shoulder rubs and the like for my family and friends. When I moved back to the Bay Area in 2002, I decided to find a career that I could be passionate about, and Massage Therapy was the logical choice. I used my G.I. Bill to study at National Holistic Institute in Emeryville and began working full time as a Massage Therapist in early 2003. Almost six years later, and I still find joy and satisfaction in being of service to clients, helping them to feel better and healthier in their bodies.

What three adjectives would you use to describe your work?
Active, Specific, Intense

What is the basic philosophy of your work?
I believe that the body in motion is a body that is alive, moving our brains around this world, our blood through the body, digesting food, these are all signs of life and movement. When I am working with people, I try to find the places in their tissues that aren’t moving as they want them to, and help them to move. I have also found that some issues tend to respond better if the body is in motion while we address the stuck places. Movement is both a goal, and part of the process of creating and transforming a healthy body.

What is the biggest lesson (or lessons) you have learned through your therapy practice?
People are better and more amazing than I can imagine, and will show up as such if given space to do so. In learning to Be with people as a massage therapist, I have found I’m more able to give strangers a bit of grace in my day to day world. When I first started my practice, I often had a full cup of knowledge…I would start assessing clients as soon as I saw them, planning my approach to what I saw as the issues in their body. By having an empty cup, and coming to the table with a sense of exploration both of the clients body and where the client is at in the moment, I’ve found a much richer experience of massage and my clients.

What do you look forward to doing most on your day off?
Landscaping and maintaining our home in San Pablo at a rate that even occasionally exceeds entropy. Working with problem solving and improvements has given me a new appreciation for incremental improvements and sudden shifts. Projects move at different speeds , and sometimes the priorities change with a moment’s notice, but the end result is always satisfying.

Joey Erwin

kamesvari — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:03:50 +0000

What drew you to bodywork?
I was drawn to bodywork because it came really natural to me. I’ve always been really interested in anatomy, I’m a total anatomy dork and a science geek. I love the way the body works and learning about it how it moves and functions and how hard it works just to keep us alive. I wanted to apply that into something more functional.

How would you describe your style of bodywork?
I’m really into integrated medicine, so I bring a lot of that into my practice. I’m in the process of getting my Masters in Chinese Medicine, so I try to bring that into my work and share all of the really cool things that I am learning. I use a lot of acupressure in my practice based on a lot of the meridian theory from Chinese Medicine. I really just try and take each client as they come and do what they need me to do. I don’t have any strict modality or guideline that I follow. I seem to work well with injuries or something a little bit more specific. A huge part of my business is Oncology, that’s where my passion lies; working with bodies that aren’t functioning at their optimum and trying to get people back into their body in a way that’s not scary or medicinal. I try to make every massage really nourishing for the body and effective at the same time.