What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a lifestyle practice that seeks to bring the practitioner to the present moment through weaving meditation and acceptance into thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations. Living a mindful life means to live with intention and awareness. Modern day living continually pulls us away from the present moment through over-stimulation - we were not designed to live life as large as we do with as many connections, projects, and administrative tasks as we do today. Mindfulness is a way to scale your life back to the now. In these sessions, we go over tools and exercises around presence and you receive support for anything that may come up around trauma, patterning, and overwhelm that may come up in the process. These sessions are to be used as a tool towards integrating solid habits into your life and creating real change amongst your day-to-day living.

Mindfulness

About Yoga Yoga is an ancient way of living that seeks to bring the practitioner towards an elevated and more pure version of the self. Nowadays in the Western world, we associate “yoga” with the practices of asana, or postures. Traditionally, the practice of yoga postures in seen as a cleansing method for the mind and body. 
 
 I always say that practicing yoga is the best thing someone can do to raise their quality of life. Yoga used a blend of strength and flexibility to find the perfect intersection between a mobile yet firm body, as well as a calm mind. 
 
 There are so many forms of yoga out there today (vinyasa, hatha, kundalini, to name a few), each of them containing their own strengths and shortcomings. Private yoga can be an excellent tool for opening the body, building strength, and calming the mind. A private session gives you 1:1 assistance to find the practice that best suites you, ensure safety around postures, and provide assistance for key alignment concerns that you will not find in a typical yoga class or studio.

Yoga

My bodywork is a multi-modality practice that comes from the heart. Rooted in East and Southern Asian massage styles, my method blends dynamic movement with myofascial release to ease pain, straighten the spine, and calm the mind. 
 Thai Yoga Massage Thai Yoga Massage, or Nuat Boran as it is known in Thai, is a combination of assisted yoga, acupressure, reflexology and physiotherapy. It involves the systematic massaging, stretching and positioning of the body into different postures. This is a holistic method, treating the muscular, skeletal, and soft tissue as one. Some benefits include: Improves postureIncreases flexibility and mobilityTreats pain and eases stressProvides an excellent supplement to strength training, cardio, or any activityEnhances bodily awarenessStimulates digestionThai Yoga Massage is a great modality regardless of current level of flexibility, weight, or activity. Gua sha 
 The word “Guasha” is actually created by a combination of two Chinese words “gua” and “sha”. Guasha means ‘scraping’ in Chinese &amp; “sa” actually refers to the toxic &amp; dead cells that are accumulated beneath our skin. &nbsp;It eliminates harmful toxins, enhances blood circulation, strengthens immune system, visibly brightens the skin &amp; slows down the aging process.
 
 Gua Sha is excellent for working with adhesions or scar tissue, loosening armored or chronically tight muscles, working through trigger points, and general detox. 
 Cupping Cupping is an ancient form of alternative medicine that involves using suction to treat muscles and soft tissue. It is a type of deep tissue massage, benefits include: Softens adhesions or scar tissueImprove circulation, blood and lymph circulation.Relieve pain.Promote mobility and range of motion.Improves mature scars.Decrease toxins.

Bodywork

About Kambo Kambo is the secretion of phyllomedusa bicolor, or the Giant Green Monkey Tree Frog. This nocturnal frog is native to the Upper Amazon, and its population is abundant and stable with no known predators. In fact, the only real threat to the frog is habitat destruction. It has been used for centuries by multiple tribes in the Amazon rainforest.
 
 Contrary to common belief, the frog’s secretion is not known as a “poison”, instead of warding off predators, the secretion’s purpose serves as a moisture barrier for the frog.&nbsp;
 
 Kambo is usually harvested in a way that is harmless to the tree frog. Because of this, it is important to know where your practitioner gets their kambo. I receive mine from the Matses tribe (pictured below) via my certifying body,&nbsp;Kambo International. Kambo is most easily described as a detoxing purgative. It largely works with the&nbsp;&nbsp;gastrointestinal muscles and blood circulation, and stimulates the adrenal cortex and pituitary gland in the brain. Read about its use and benefits below. 
 Ancient History of Kambo There are many legends from many tribes – but the most well known one is that of the Kaxianawá tribe from the Northern Amazon Basin in Brazil. This Kaxinawá legend tells that the Indians of the tribe were very ill and their medicine man/Pajé had tried everything to cure them. Nothing helped.&nbsp; On an Ayahuasca journey, he entered the forest and whilst there received a visit from a female spirit of the forest.&nbsp;She brought in her hands a frog, from which she took a white secretion, and taught the Pajé how to apply it. Returning to the tribe and following the guidelines he had received, the Pajé was able to cure his brothers and sisters. From then on he was known as Pajé Kampu or Kampum. When he passed on, his spirit lived on in the frog, where it continued its mission to protect the health of those who defend the forest. The secretion became known as Kambo but in some tribes it is called Sapo, Dow-Kiet, Kampu or Vacina da Floresta. Usage spread, and for thousands of years, Kambo has been used as medicine by the Kaxinawá people, and by many other indigenous groups including the Amahuaca, Katukina, Kulina, Yawanawá, Matses, Marubo and Mayoruna. It is still used widely amongst indigenous people in the Amazon to this day. From Kambo International 
 Modern History &amp; Use of Kambo although kambo has been observed by Westerners for decades, the first scientist to study kambo was twice Nobel nominated Vittorio Erspamer - the same scientist who discovered serotonin. It was Erspamer that learned kambo contains a mixture of potent bioactive and neuroactive peptides that host a wide range of benefits and treatment opportunities for humans. In the 80s, Espamer wrote that kambo contains a “fantastic chemical cocktail with potential medical applications, unequalled by any other amphibian”. Although kambo on its own is an alternative modality, the Western world utilizes kambo pharmaceutically by isolating and synthesizing its peptides. In fact, there are over 70 patents lodged on kambo and its peptides, mainly in the United States and EU.
 
 Kambo has been rapidly growing in popularity in recent years as studies behind its uses and anecdotes grow. People all over the world serve kambo, some who trained in the rainforest, some who trained with certifying bodies. As kambo grows in popularity, so do its application methods. Many people (including myself) administer kambo to meridian points, chakra points, and auricular or ear points. On the left, you can see a photo of a “traditional treatment”, where the secretion is placed on the left arm.

Moonflower Kambo • Retreat Center

Mindfulness

Yoga

Bodywork

History + Science of Kambo