I was born in Guatemala and moved to the Florida when I was four years old. Growing up bi-culturally was definitely interesting and gave me an inherently more well rounded background. I have always been an artist, however I grew up with people telling me that one cannot make a living at art. So instead I opted to study Psychology as I also had a fascination in studying people and the inner-workings of their minds.

After graduating, I decided to get my master’s in Social Work and work with children and adolescents. In 2002, while at the Columbia University School for Social Work in New York City I had a series of life changing events. The summer before I was accepted I had a terrible car accident and was left with a couple of herniated discs in my lumbar region and sciatic nerve damage. The pain was excruciating. I had difficulty walking and even sitting. Nothing helped, not the pain medications nor the physical therapy. But I was determined to go to school. So, instead of listening to my body, I pushed through the chronic pain and left for school determined to become a social worker.

The pain never got better, no matter what I did, and as a result I plunged into a depression. Then, halfway through my second semester my uncle passed away. That was it for me. I needed a break. I felt it would have been irresponsible for me to continue counseling others while I was depressed. This was my first big lesson. Fill your own cup first, so that you may then fill others. I desperately needed to take care of myself before I could continue on any path.

Back home, in Miami, synchronicity took its course. I met a Shaman by the name of Jon Rasmussen (www.dreamshift.com) who helped me turn my life around, or as he would say “I took a 90 degree turn.”