Water & Land
To know me is to know the ones who grow me and sustain me.
Born under a new moon on the land of the Ohlone, by the waters of San Francisco Bay.
Reared in my early years by the cold Atlantic on the ancestral homelands of the Paugussett Algonquian.
Raised through adulthood in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains alongside the sometimes rushing, sometimes languid Poudre River on the lands of the great peoples who are the Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Ute, Lakota, Apache, and Comanche.
We know these lands today as states within the great expanse of Turtle Island—California, Connecticut, and Colorado.
Today, I find myself rooted on the European continent, in the country of my Father's people.
Together with my husband, we raise our daughter with the help of the good earth here in the Piemonte of the Alps, and with gratitude for the generosity of life given to us by the confluence of two Mountain Mamas—the Gesso and Stura rivers of Cuneo, Italy.
My People
My ancestors hail from southern Italy, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, and England.
My people are farmers, ranchers, horseback riders, and shapeshifters. Garbage men and construction workers, star people, whale singers, secretaries, and seers. From midwives and merchants to bakers and makers, I hail from a glorious mess of the mundane and magnificent.
As I believe, we all do.
My ancestors honor your ancestors, and we are humbled and joy-filled to walk alongside you for your healing and for your highest good.
Professional Background
SOCIAL WORK
I hold a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a Concentration in Adolescents and Families from Colorado State University.
I worked in drug and alcohol rehabilitation as a Certified Addictions Counselor and later as a transition facilitator and program director for a nonprofit serving youth aging out of the foster care system, on parole or probation, and at-risk of homelessness. During these years, I was trained in motivational interviewing, dialectical behavioral therapy, and trauma-informed care.
MUSIC
I have a Certificate in Piano Pedagogy and Performance from Colorado Contemporary Music College and have taught piano lessons for over a decade. I was mentored in composition by William Grosvenor Neil, and spent close to a decade learning from internationally-known composer Calvin Jones.
I am on hiatus from teaching at the moment while I am actively in the process of developing virtual courses for musicians of all backgrounds to learn how to co-compose music with the land, the water, the plants, and animals they are in relationship with as well as how to really hear the music within and bring it forth.
WRITING
I also freelance as a writer and editor with experience ghostwriting memoir for independent authors and providing developmental and line editing services for nonfiction books. I often guide writing workshops for teens and adults, including ancestral writing workshops where I blend my ritual work with my writing background.
My current work in progress is a coming-of-age mythopoetic novel, along with countless other nonfiction book ideas which I hope to bring out into the light within the next couple of years.
RITUAL
Currently, I am a practitioner in the Ancestral Medicine network and guide one-on-one and group Ancestral Lineage Healing sessions for folks across the globe.
The majority of my formal ritual arts education and training has come through the excellent courses and trainings offered by Dr. Daniel Foor of Ancestral Medicine and Shannon Willis of Red Earth Healing. Some of these include: Ancestral Lineage Healing Practitioner Training; Initiations: A Life of Ritual; Writing with the Dead; Forces of Nature: Ritual Safety; Dreaming with the Moon, among others.
Other teachers who have inspired my life's path and my work in this world through their writing and teachings: Malidoma and Sobonfu Somé, Martin Prechtel, and Hazrat Inayat Khan.
Hurray! Your note is soaring through the interwebs and straight into my arms. I'll be in touch soon. XO, Asha