About

I was so adrift, not knowing what work I was going to find next, feeling very destabilized. I repeatedly experienced a haunting nightmare — I was whirling around beneath dangerous rapids in a kayak, unable to find my way upward toward the light at the surface of the water. In this state of fear, my last inclination on this earth would have been to learn to meditate! After all, I had been playing “peek-a-boo” with different forms of meditation all my adult life, and after what I thought were repeated “failures,” had decided that meditation was for monks, not for me. Too still. Too silent. Like a forced “time-out” for my traumatized inner five-year-old.

Then a friend suggested I read a book called, Finding the Deep River Within, by Abby Seixas. Through the archetype of the “deep river” running through us all, I became reconnected with my own disenfranchised intuition and all of humanity who share this “deep river within,” but perhaps cannot find it. This led to my participation in monthly “Finding the Deep River Within” meditation gatherings. About twenty minutes of each two hour group was devoted to lightly guided meditation and reflection. It was like sticking my big toe into the deep end of the pool [of meditation], with no expectations to jump in and swim. Thanks to the synergy of this community of kindred souls, I found a judgment-free “way in” to meditation.

Over time, I noticed that I would arrive for these meditative gatherings in a frazzled and overwhelmed “state of mind,” and I would leave in a transformed “state of being”: calm, spacious, grounded in my body and senses, more connected to myself and those around me.

Gradually, in fits and starts, I began to “remember” that I could return to this respite on my own, again and again, so I prioritized a variety of daily practices of mindfulness and meditation that continue to sustain me today, even when I can’t sit still to “do it.” Sometimes my practice is simply a one minute pause to pay attention to what is around me. Or to notice my breath without changing it.

While I was deepening my meditation practice, I was introduced to SoulCollage®. SoulCollage® invited me to escape and bypass the world of words, writing and academia I had decidedly left behind. A friend encouraged me to attend a weekend SoulCollage® retreat called “Three Faces of Silence” led by the founder of SoulCollage®, Seena Frost, and master trainer of Facilitators, Mariabruna Sirabella.

While immersing myself in the world of images and imagery, I found a new place to call home and a new community in which to thrive. I discovered that most of the attendees were SoulCollage® Facilitators and that these were “my people.” I knew I wanted to live in that neighborhood! Mariabruna Sirabella became my inspirational mentor, subsequently training me to become a Facilitator in 2011, and a Trainer of SoulCollage® Facilitators in 2019.

Creating my deck of SoulCollage® cards was like meditative play for grown-ups. I made surprising inner discoveries, experiencing everything from delight to healing expression of scars from traumas of the past through these powerful images. To this day, my SoulCollage® cards provide me with insight and profound intuitive discoveries about where my path is unfolding, and when I might need some “rebalancing” to regain a sense of well-being.

My trauma-informed skills of teaching and facilitation are rooted in my own personal journey, including the tragic loss of my only child Andrew, who died in Ireland, at the age of twenty-two, in 2017.

As I teach through a trauma informed lens, I stand on the shoulders of my mentors: Tara Brach, Thomas Hubl, Jack Kornfield, Nancy Mattei, Resmaa Menachem, Ruth King, Mariabruna Sirabella, and David Treleaven.

My deepest desire is to offer inclusive, empowering, and transformational practices that support your emotional resilience, healing, and sense of belonging to each other, in community, in our complicated, ramped-up world.

Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, I moved to Boston in 1978 at age twenty to attend graduate school. That was forty-six years ago. I now call Boston my home, where I am blessed to live with my husband Peter Ramsey, and the family bichon frise, Monfils.

Thank you so much for visiting my website!

Education

Harvard University, Ed.D., 1987, Ed.M., 1978-79, Neuropsychology of Reading and Language Disorders

University of South Carolina, B.A., 1977, Developmental Child Psychology

Training

Advanced Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness Mentorship with David Treleaven 2022-23 | Widening the Window of Tolerance in Support of Trauma Recovery

Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield (MMTCP) 2021-23 | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access (DEIA) Training

Healing Collective Trauma with Thomas Hubl 2020-21

Education for Racial Equity with Ressma Menachem and Carlin Quinn 2022-23 | Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism for White Bodies

SoulCollage, Inc., Trainer Apprenticeship in Santa Cruz, California 2019 | Apprentice to Master Trainer Mariabruna Sirabella to become a Trainer of SoulCollage® Facilitators

SoulCollage, Inc., Facilitator Training in Lucerne Switzerland with Mariabruna Sirabella 2011

You can follow me on Instagram @meetyourinnerwisdom