If you are comfortable answering, what are some of the events or challenges that led you to develop your work?

Since I was a young child, I have always been drawn to the mystical and magical. I loved learning, excelled in school and pursued an academic path of becoming a medical doctor. As I moved through my teenage years, these years became increasingly turbulent filled with body dysmorphia, severe depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse and more. I was sabotaging myself on a daily basis even while I graduated summa cum laude from university. By the time I approached medical school, my soul felt empty, desiccated and dried out. I couldn’t do it. I felt as if a “hand of god” was pushing me in another direction and I had to follow it – even though I had no idea what that direction was .. I took a big leap of faith, a deep act of trust in the Universe, and the great adventure began with yoga, healing arts, spirituality, shamanic studies, and immersing myself in the yoga tradition in India and the Celtic teachings of Ireland.

Who inspired you when you first started on this journey?

was always inspired by my parents and grandparents, who loved me so much especially in the midst of my deepest pain. My mom, Aileen Sherman (91 today as I’m writing this) has been the embodiment of compassion and had a special way to bring greater ease to conflict. She helped anyone who came to her with kindness and a gentle poise. My dad, Jerry Sherman (95 in three more days), has been my lifelong wisdom guide – he is curious, inquisitive, and filled with a natural sense of awe and wonder. He knows how to expand the mind and see things from different perspectives, figure out the “impossible” and move forward in the adventure of life. With his joyful and invincible spirit, he is always in service to others.

When I was still in University, I was deeply inspired by working with Amnesty International for human rights and by a psychology teacher who embraced me in all my confusion. She was so wise and created games in the classroom that were designed to open our minds and find freedom from conditioned thinking. When I was deep in despair and feeling this intense longing for something I didn’t even know what it was – she listened to me with full presence and was a guide like “Krishna to Arjuna” in the Bhagavad Gita.

True story: about 20 years later, this very same psychology teacher came to a yoga workshop I was teaching and introduced herself to me saying: “I always knew you were going to become someone really amazing and would help many others – you stayed true to you and followed the journey of your soul.”

When I was still on the medical path in University, I met Deepak Chopra in 1989 and listened intently to what he had to say about medicine and healing. I felt very inspired by Wayne Dyer, Jack Kornfield and by the Jungian analyst Marion Woodman. Then I began traveling and studying with gurus, sages, mystics, shamans, healers, herbalists, jungian analysts, astrologers, druids, priestesses and my soul began to blossom. Gurumayi Chidvilasananda (spiritual leader of the Siddha Yoga path) had a great impact on me when I was with her in the Ganeshpuri Ashram in 1993.

And I wish to offer my deepest gratitude to Martín Prechtel and John O’Donohue who shifted my trajectory tremendously when it comes to deep Earth Ceremony and honoring of all nature. I have so many stories with these two extraordinary beings. And all the love to my herbal, wildcrafting and green witch teachers:
Gina McGarry, Cascade Andersen Geller, Susun Weed, Rosemary Gladstar, Brigitte Mars, Feather and beyond!

There are so many teachers, guides, mentors and beings that I am deeply grateful for. It’s been a garland of gurus wrapped around my heart ever since I was born …

What were three of your favorite books that helped you get clear on your path?

1. The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy (this book literally fell on my head in 1989)
2. Secrets of a Talking Jaguar by Martín Prechtel (a brilliant being I studied with through my 20’s)
3. Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World by John O’Donohue (who I met at Bridget’s Well in Kildare, Ireland on Bridget’s Feast Day)

What were some of the signs or challenges that first brought you to this aspect of your life’s work?

In my teens, I was so distraught emotionally and mentally that healing my heart and mind became my central focus in order to shift, transform and evolve – both physically and spiritually. Yoga, meditation, being with nature, mindset training, shadow work and reprogramming are key for me in all of my offerings – whether it’s teaching yoga, storytelling, leading retreats and spiritual pilgrimages, guiding people with shadow work and hypnotherapy reprogramming, holding circle space in community, creating rites of passage initiations or anything else I offer.

What are some ways you manage work-life balance?

Daily meditation, journaling and yoga
Spiritual retreats and pilgrimages support me greatly
As much time in nature as possible, wherever I might be
Everything cuddly and romantic with my beloved Masood
Being in community with people, especially together in-person
Playing with the kids in my life and being with my KY birth family
Studying with my teachers and continuing to learn, grow and evolve are of the essence!

Where do you live now? Is this your dream location, and why?

Los Angeles with my beloved Masood Ali Khan and part-time with his super awesome son, Taj Khan ~ now 15 years old. It’s the dream in that I’m with Masood and Taj, and it supports our blended family.

I love being in nature most of all. We are moving in that direction over time. I have a dream of a home where we can host more intimate retreats and teacher training courses, as well as continuing to travel and teach. I will love to have community gatherings in our home!

How have your travels impacted & inspired your life and/or work perspective?

I have been traveling extensively since 1990, for more than thirty-five years at this point. I’ve been so blessed to teach all over the world, on most continents (depending how you count them) and have been immersed in the beauty of diversity with cultures, heritages, customs, beliefs and different ways of living. My overall perspective is open, listening, and always wanting to serve the greater whole. Mutual respect and mutual responsibility are essential for me and I’m dedicated to deepening in shared humanity on this beautiful planet, together.

Where did you spend most of your childhood?

Most of my childhood was spent in Kentucky (where my Mom was born and raised) and in Detroit (where my Dad was born and raised). I was very close to my grandparents on both sides and spent so much time with all of them. My childhood was filled with being on the farm with my horse Misty, running around the neighborhood with all the kids from house to house (we were so free back then to roam the streets and play in each other’s yards) and in my personal time, sitting in great Maple Tree outside our home.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?

All the ways that I “manage work-life balance”! ~ nature, hiking, bike rides on my pink cruiser, romantic dinners with my beloved, laughing and playing with kids, reading books, chanting mantras, dancing, moving my body, legs up the wall listening to hypnotic trance journeys, learning new things (I’m an avid learner) and I really love sleeping and dreaming too!

Are you involved with any local or online communities that inspire or support you personally or in your work?

Over the years I’ve been involved with many local and online communities ~ everything from climate change groups, earth protection, social justice groups to volunteering in senior homes. At the current moment, I’m connected with online community healing groups with Reiki, Priestess and Yoga.

What are your favorite three movies of all time, and why?

1. Wings of Desire directed by Wim Winders ~ set in Berlin during the Cold War; so cinematically beautiful and a deeply moving story about angels, love and what it means to be human.
2. Lord of the Rings – trilogy, always and forever!
3. Marvel, Marvel, Marvel – I’m a big Marvel fan for the fantasy, adventure, sci-fi aspects, humor and usually a really great story!

Tell us about your current or past pets and what they mean to you in your daily life.

Lots of pets growing up ~ horses, dogs, cats, turtles and even baby raccoons. I love animals so much. After 18 years old, I usually had cats (some just showed up in my life magically) and now I celebrate the wildlife all around me because my travel schedule is too extensive to properly take care of pets or plants! And I do miss them .. I love all the play, fun, cuddles, love, different ways of communicating, and just being in rhythm with life with other beings.

What are your morning practices and routines that set you up to win every day?

The first moments of waking up are so sacred for me ~ the subconscious is open and I love to align with gratitude, vision and new beginnings.

When I wake up, I often stay in bed several more minutes and utilize the power of my subconscious mind to set the tone of the day. I send gratitude to my parents every morning and beam love to them. I offer gratitude for my life and I imagine, sense, see and feel different aspects of my day with grace, ease, joy, success, and fulfillment. If I’m working with specific affirmations and suggestions for my life, then these first few moments are super powerful to program them in. I might journal, write down my dreams or choose an oracle card for a message.

Once out of bed, I love going outside first thing – barefoot and with some breath, fascial movement and being connected with the life force energy. A little hot water and lemon, with breath, mantra, mudra and meditation. I’m all set.

And then Masood and I love to have a morning coffee ritual – with mushrooms, ghee and oracle designs he creates in the foam! We have fun.

It’s so easy to get up and go on automatic – coffee, phone, social media, messages, etc.. and then we’re off to the races – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Even 5 -15 minutes of tuning into oneself creates a magnetic shift in the field and set us up for success.

What are you passionate about that most people don’t know?

I’m really passionate and curious about the quantum field, neuroscience, breathwork, subconscious reprogramming, superconscious states of being and the human potential.