I have been a searcher on the path since my early twenties, nearly forty years ago. Over those years I have been lucky enough to meet many guides and mentors. After an early interest in Chinese philosophy, Jungian psychology and astrology, I was introduced to homeopathy in the early seventies by my friend and mentor Misha Norland. At the time I was in Wales, living with others and taking the first steps in the journey of self exploration. I had never heard of homeopathy, but it seemed to offer the combination of profound philosophy and understanding of the human condition, along with the practical means for helping people to find physical and psychological well being. It was obvious from early on that it was a profound system and a powerful tool.
I returned to London to start a family and become a student of my first homeopathic teacher, John Damonte. This teaching as well as later teaching from George Vithoulkas gave me my grounding in the practice of classical homeopathy. John introduced me to a homeopathic approach which included an understanding of Jungian psychology, of the four elements of antiquity (earth, air, fire and water), as well as the periodic table of the elements. These seeds of understanding were to take deep roots over the coming years. My next mentors were Ian Gordon-Brown and Barbara Somers who directed the Centre for Transpersonal Psychology in London. This approach, drawing on the work of Jung, Assagioli and many others made perfect sense to me. It recognised the fundamental importance of wholeness. It recognised that the journey down, into darkness, into the underworld, into the unconscious, was every bit as important as the spiritual journey up, to the light, to the mountain top. Here was the teaching that said you couldn’t do one without the other if you wanted to come to your truth. You needed light and dark, male and female, spirit and soul. Barbara was also a teacher of dreams, Zen and alchemy, and all these became important in my understanding and in my efforts to help people to be well and free. By the 1990’s homeopathy itself was going through some major changes. Many new remedies were being proved. New understandings of the periodic table of the elements as well as plant and animal natural families were being unfolded by Jan Scholten, Rajan Sankaran and others. A deeper understanding of the human being and our relationship to these kingdoms was emerging. I became a keen student of all this. In 2009 I came to the movement work of Sandra Reeve and Suprapto Suryodarmo. This was a natural progression for me – to work with energy, gesture and the unity of movement. I became Sandra’s student and completed her Move Into Life movement training. This approach has become part of my work with groups and individuals. Over the years I have faced many difficulties which have challenged me to dig deeper inside to find a reliable truth, and to open my heart. This has brought me to the ultimate truth of non-duality. There is only One. The great modern teachers of advaita (non-duality) say there is no separate self, no doer. Many teachers are now coming forward to remind us that we are already one and whole. All that is required is that we open ourselves to all that we are. |