Within the past year, Blackburn’s work has pivoted to involvement in the local political scene, where they recently ran in the primary for Lodi Trustee. Blackburn states that this transformation is an extension of the empowerment work they were already doing in sacred sexuality.
Posts filed under Interviews
Leaps of Faith: Empowered Bumps and Boobs
It’s okay. Go ahead and laugh at her company’s name. Emily Stone would be flattered. And to emphasize the play on meaning behind Empowered Bumps and Boobs, she would probably even hand you her favorite promotional product—a pen with a squishy breast at the top of it.
Community Acupuncture: A Synergy of Healing & Community: A Conversation with Evan Lebow-Wolf, Cheryl Wong & Kiersten DeWitt of Ann Arbor Community Acupuncture
Community acupuncture, on the other hand, offers a sustainable and fiscally sensible solution to treating as many people as efficiently and effectively as possible. Evan Lebow-Wolf, co-founder of Ann Arbor Community Acupuncture (AACA), told me briefly about the difference between community acupuncture and private acupuncture. When I asked him whether he feels like there is anything missing in the community acupuncture approach that is available in private acupuncture sessions, he replied with a firm and resolute “no.”
Singing and Listening with the Heart: A Therapist’s Journey
Jessica Ryder’s business card lists her credentials (MS, LLPC, NCC) as a professional mental health counselor, yet, she also has printed on them “MM” or Master of Music. Ryder’s academic training for her work as a therapist has been typical, though her life experience prior to was anything but. For twenty years she was a full-time professional musician working in some of the highest tiers of classical music.
A Good Crop of Mental Health: A Conversation about Animal Assisted Therapy with Laura Sanders
Laura Sanders, LMSW, ACSW, has been practicing in the Ann Arbor area for 34 years and has been teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work for 26 years. Her approach to therapy utilizes a wide variety of evidence-based and creative therapies, including trauma recovery methods, art and play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and relational approaches through Animal Assisted Therapy.
Craig Stoller — Healing Through Chiropractic
Dr. Craig Stoller, D.C. has an unassuming office on Stadium, just east of Trader Joe’s. The sign on the door says, “Align Chiropractic.” His logo looks like a mandala. It represents the top vertebrae of the spine, otherwise known as the “atlas.” When you enter the waiting room, you are greeted with a large children’s play area, and above it a giant hand-painted mural. It depicts an idyllic scene of people of all ages and abilities actively enjoying the outdoors in a beautiful park like setting. It represents Stoller’s goal of having all of his patients, no matter what age or ability, enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle.
The Crazy Wisdom Interview with Dr. Amy Saunders on Integrative Medicine and Her Life’s Journey
Dr. Amy Saunders is one of the leading integrative medicine doctors in the area. We had profiled her ten years ago, and we wanted to check back in with her, and see how she had viewed Covid, and hear her current points of view on her medical practice and providing integrative care. We also were hoping to talk with her about the influences which shaped her becoming the attuned, committed and deeply caring physician that she is known to be.
The Healer Within ~ The Crazy Wisdom Interview with Advanced Energy Medicine Practitioner, Barb Scholz
Barb Scholz is a leading energy medicine practitioner in this region, highly respected by other energy medicine practitioners, and deeply valued by her clients. Born in Lansing, she moved to Ann Arbor when she was 14 years old and has stayed here ever since. She refers to herself as a Modality Museum, and rightly so. Over the course of her life, she has practiced and become immersed in yoga, aromatherapy, essential oils, homeopathy, craniosacral therapy, massage therapy, acupuncture, energy medicine using Donna Eden’s method, and more.
Planting the Seeds of Healing and Growth--Living Grateful
Upon stepping into the Living Grateful Behavioral Health Services’ soothingly sun-drenched office, you find yourself met with an array of beautifully assorted plants as if they have been waiting for you. Owner Bill Mure explains, “They create a sense of the peace and calm I feel.” He goes on to say, “I also use them as a metaphor for your healing. I tell my clients ‘In session is where we plant the seed of growth. Out in the world is where the seeds go to be nurtured. When you grow a garden, you have to water it, tend to it, and nurture it. Sometimes we must trim off the pieces that no longer serve us, so we can facilitate more growth.”
IFS Therapy: More Than the Sum of Our Parts
Psychotherapy has undergone massive shifts and transformations since its inception in the early 20th century. By the 1980s, modalities such as cognitive, psychodynamic, and dialectical behavioral therapies were firmly planted as the gold-standard of the field.
Kindred Conversations: with Hilary Nichols
Where does music begin? When you’re a musician, the search is inward. David Magumba realized that, “Beyond inspiration, you do the work. You make it happen. As a songwriter, that is the effort I am making right now.”
Amy Garber — Promoting Holistic and Psychic Realms for a Quarter of a Century
The Ann Arbor Holistic Psychic Fair became the largest of its type in Michigan as it gave a common arena for holistic practitioners and psychic intuitives to assemble in a mutually respected village for one or two days. Many of the practitioners highlighted in Crazy Wisdom articles have had booths, done readings, or attended informative lectures through these fairs.
Staying the Course: Committing to Love for Life
The world we live in today is filled is so many uncertainties. Social and civil unrest, uncontrolled gun violence, and the never-ending saga called the Coronavirus, are all changing the lives we knew. All these factors are changing nearly every day—sometimes, by the minute. One thing we can guarantee won’t change is love. No matter who your love partner is, knowing how to love and who to love is very important. More important than that is knowing how to stay committed to the one you love.
Chris McCall--Beyond the Voice Box
Chris McCall was born and raised in Detroit. She grew up in a large, musical family where everyone sang at family events. Today, at 54, she is a professional singer, songwriter, voice coach, life coach, and meditation counselor. She still lives in the Detroit area, in a cheerful, green bungalow in Redford Township, with her three rescued cats, Monkey, Kosmo, and Eilley. Over decades, she has helped hundreds of students find, free, and use their voice in all its fullness and depth. Her unique approach goes beyond the voice box and focuses on the whole body. Through mediation and other techniques, she helps students release long held emotions that cause contractions in the body that restrict the voice
From Depot Town to Showtime: An Interview with Actor Leo Sheng
“The roles I’ve taken so far have all been trans characters. And so, they are innately trans stories,” said Leo Sheng. “And with my job comes this joy of getting to be this type of representation that I didn’t have growing up. So maybe [the reason I’m an actor] is a little selfish, but I’m excited I have this opportunity to tell stories, period.”
The Process of ‘Becoming’ Through the Diamond Approach – As Taught and Practiced by Lou Weir
The Diamond Approach, as taught and practiced by Lou Weir at the Ridhwan School in Ann Arbor, can be likened to the pupa stage of metamorphoses. It is a cognizant, individualized, un-becoming process through active inquiry (psychologically and emotionally). It is a process which transforms students to becoming their most beautiful, authentic selves.
Healers of Ann Arbor: Mindful Awakenings with Julie Woodward
Through the pandemic, many people have reached out to healers and wellness teachers for self-care techniques and help through crisis. One such teacher, Julie Woodward of Mindful Awakenings, seemingly does it all. She teaches yoga for resilience, mindfulness meditation, and leads nature immersion hikes that help us all re-anchor ourselves in the present moment and recharge through times of stress.
Healing Hands Physical Therapy: Amira Tal-Henig's Labor of Love
The caregiver’s heart is characterized by a few simple, yet powerful traits: empathy, commitment, and action. This holds true across diverse homes, occupations, and settings. The call to nurture another being is one of humility and hope. It is knowing that even when logic says nothing else can help, there is still love and presence to provide.
Bringing Youthful New Leadership to Jewel Heart: The Crazy Wisdom Interview with Spiritual Director Demo Rinpoche
Rinpoche has an impressive resume of lifelong monastic and religious studies starting at age five, when he entered Drepung Loseling Monastery in Mundgod. He officially joined the monastery in 1987 where he spent nearly thirty years of uninterrupted education in meditation, debate, memorization, philosophy, and composition under the Dalai Lama’s direct supervision. After completing his studies at Drepung, Rinpoche received the highest monastic degree of Geshe Lharampa from Gelugpa University in India in 2011. He continued his studies at Gyume Tantric College and was a visiting scholar under the auspices of the Dalai Lama at Sarah College of Higher Tibetan Studies in Dharamsala. At the request of the late Gelek Rimpoche, Demo Rinpoche came to the United States, where he received his master’s degree in Inter-Religious Engagement from Union Theological Seminary in New York City in 2018.
Healers of Ann Arbor: HeartMath™ with Rachel Egherman
“HeartMath™ is heart-focused breathing, or breathing through the heart space,” Rachel Egherman said of the gentle form of self-care that helps you check in with your body, your heart space, and feel supported. “This is something you can do yourself in the grocery store line. It’s a way to quickly self-regulate.”
