Eclectic Spiritual Seeker  - lover of the strange and delightful, I am a librarian and bibliophile. My personal healing journey consists of  storytelling and writing, tea rituals and herbs, crystals and tuning forks (music therapy) and somatic movement.  I am a Certified 500 hr. Vinyasa Yoga instructor through Living Mandala Yoga  and am a  black belt in Tai Chi with two  National Chinese Martial arts championships under my belt.  I've trained in Tai Chi (Taiji) for 22 years, most of that with The Open Door and in various seminars with teachers such as Professors Helen Wu, Li Deyin, Yang Yang, and his internationally renown sister Yang Ying (Ehru virtuoso), as well as many others.  My understanding of movement and sound enables me to help open up stagnant energy paths.  Find me at @thebesomkeeper on Instagram.

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With a concentration in Women's Literature and English Romanticism, I graduated Cum Laude and was nominated for  Outstanding Senior.  I have always loved the poetry and prose that explores the beauty of the natural world and the place of beings, particularly women, inside of that world.  It brings me joy to share that love with those around me and to delve into the symbolism and mythology of women.​​

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I started my academic career studying to become a  Music Therapist.  The psychology of music and its affect on us is a love of mine that will never leave me.  Music Therapy is the use of sound, movement, and music to engender a physical and phycological change in clients.  For example, it can be used as Occupational Therapy to help a person recover fine motor skills after a stroke or it can be used to alter a person's current mood and outlook through meditation and frequency.  If you've ever put on music to enhance a romantic mood or played music in a locker room to amp up adrenaline before a game or match, you've used Music Therapy.​

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I began my career in education and research graduating with Summa Cum Laude from both of the above institutions.  This has been my calling for over 22 years as I teach our children that failure is the path to true learning, and to think for themselves by doing accurate research, two areas that I feel privileged to tackle with our society's hidden emphasis on conformity and perfection. ​

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I began my personal wellness journey by riding the coattails of a friend who was expanding her personal business in energy work.  By taking classes with her and other friends at the Omega Institute, Kripalu, Living Mandala Yoga, The Hag School, Life Changing Energy, and many others I learned about and became enamored of all things energetic.  I hold certificates in crystal and vibrational (sound) energy work, Reiki, Qi Gong and other energetic modalities.

Everyone seems to start their spiritual journey with a physical one.  I began practicing yoga in college for stress relief.  That doesn't really sound like much, but when you put as much pressure on yourself as I was, you eventually become physically ill.  I was headed down that path and needed something, anything, to make my mind quiet itself even if only for a short time. While yoga helped, it wasn't really what I was looking for.  It was college yoga and meant to be more physical than anything else.  I was looking for something more. 

In '02 I found that "more" in  the Chinese Martial Art of Tai Chi (Taiji).  The melding of movement and mind was different from the yoga I was familiar with.  The poses weren't static and only about the physical being.  I fell so much in love with this beautiful art that I went on to earn the following:

• National All Around Champion in Chinese Martial Arts -  US Wushu Unio

• Gold Medal in Sun Style, Wu Tang Sword, Double Fan- International Chinese Martial Arts Championship

• Host at the International Taiji Symposium at Vanderbilt University.

• Earn my black sash under Betsy Chapman at the Open Door

• Earn a teaching certificate from Helen Wu for Chen Style Rainbow Single Fan

• Open up my own school under the name Red Bud Tai Chi

• Teach for 16 years before taking a hiatus due to Covid.  

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Many years after college, I came back to yoga to become a teacher in Vinyasa Flow which I incorporated into my Red Bud school.  I now practice all of these with free form movement for somatic release.  This practice allows me to enjoy all of the movement that I love.