I grew up with a passion for learning, teaching and traveling. My mother, born and raised in Brazil, could speak seven languages. She was my inspiration for studying foreign languages. I did my undergraduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; my goal was to become an interpreter in the United Nations. As it turns out, I became an interpreter of body language, mapping and interpreting energy fields to support the bodies innate ability to heal itself.

In the 80's, I visited China, Japan and Hong Kong, and studied Shiatsu and Hara Diagnosis in Japan. Shiatsu is a type of massage, sometimes referred to as:“needle-less” acupuncture. Like acupuncture, Shiatsu uses meridians and points to balance the body, mind and spirit, using touch as opposed to needles.

The Japanese call the "Hara", or “gut”, the second brain- I actually believe that through gut reactions we receive our deepest information; and what I so love about animals. They are totally gut driven, intuitive beings.

In 1993, I graduated from a three year post- graduate training in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Tri-State College of Acupuncture in New York. This two thousand year old system examines the relationship between nature, humans, animals, using the Five Element paradigm or “Five Elements” of Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood.