Facilitators

I come from what I consider to be a fairly ‘normal’ upbringing in a smaller sized town in Minnesota. I loved competing in sports and being a good student. My parents were fond of my character being that I did not bring problems. I believe I made their job as parents pretty easy. That being said, my life took a more challenging turn when I developed chronic illness at the beginning of my final year in University. I felt totally hopeless. My brain was so foggy. I suffered with severe chronic fatigue and developed severe chemical sensitivities. I could not be around people without feeling sick. I was forced to live in isolation for fear of getting sick from the fragrances that people had. I could no longer have ‘normal’ relationships and constantly thought about methods to commit suicide.

While in my final year at the University of Notre Dame, I was enrolled in a theology course that taught the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of healing brought me new hope. I decided to go all-in and pray for the gift of healing. I was very disappointed when I did not succeed to receive this gift, but what did change was a sense of hope for something better even if not in this life. I believed for the possibility of a better life even if that better life is following this current life I was suffering through. An additional belief was that if I ever did recover my health in this current life, I would dedicate my life towards helping others with their health.

At some point when my health got so bad, and I had been able to save some money from my first job after school, I took a leave from work and booked a stay at a place that provided accommodations for people with multiple chemical sensitivities. The host provided all raw food meals and introduced me to fasting. Within the first few days, I noticed my health was improving. I was feeling ALIVE again. I noticed my body was healing. I proceeded from that day forward, to continue to eat all raw foods and continue my experiments with fasting. Each time I fasted, I noticed I was feeling better. I made a decision that I would fast until I was completely healed.

During that fast I began to read a book titled ‘Fasting Can Save Your Life’. At the end of this book was a list of Doctors that provided supervised fasting at their facilities. After speaking to my top choices, I decided to undergo a supervised water fast with Dr. DJ Scott, D.C. Dr Scott determined that I needed to begin refeeding after completing 30 days of water only fasting. This was a life transforming experience for me as it further confirmed that it was time for me to do the work necessary for me to be able to dedicate my life to help others with their health.

All of my mentors in the field of water fasting were Doctors of Chiropractic that encouraged me to go to Chiropractic school. I received a DC degree and became certified in water fasting supervision with the IAHP in the year 2005. In the past 20+ years, I have supervised hundreds of people water fasting, practiced chiropractic, hosted many fasting retreats over the years, successfully operated my own chiropractic business, started an organic farm in Kenya, and continued to further my own spiritual and health journey.

I have learned over the past decade that I need to continue my quest for deeper human experiences and knowledge that will not only help me in this current life but even more importantly to help others with their human experiences. Over the years, I have recognized the significance of the Amazonian and African plant medicines. I want to offer all of these amazing experiences for people here at this sanctuary we have been blessed with. In fact it is in one of my African plant medicine ceremonies that has ignited my vision for the Return To The Garden Sanctuary.