About me
Born in London, UK in 1981 to a Scottish mother and Sicilian father.
Living near Mazunte, Oaxaca, Mexico since 2003.
Working at Centro Nijo Healing Centre.
Also known as Morning Star and Bufala Blanca
My life
Present Day
At present, my therapy is about moving energy and finding space within oneself, working with the physical body to connect to the energy body. It is a unique experience, as it is not only what I have studied but has also developed from of my life experiences. My vision of healing amalgamates theories, concepts and traditions from all of the world, where I logically and intuitively find ways to interpret the infinite possibilities of what affect us as human beings. I always look to find balance and to create harmony for us to be able to flow and dance through life as fluid and loving as we can be.
My Studies
I graduated in Mathematics in 2002 from Royal Holloway, University of London. The mathematical study of logic and analysis has served me as a tool in the study of the human being and all of its complexities.
During those years my interest in healing developed. I qualified in Reflexology (2000), Reiki I (2002) and Reiki II (2003). In 2003, after graduating, I decided to move to Mexico to work and study alongside my father (acupuncturist/ osteopath/ shaman), where he had founded a healing centre on the coast of Oaxaca. There, he specialises in paralysis. I qualified in Oriental Massage (2003) and during the subsequent years worked much as an apprentice alongside him.
From 2006 until 2016, I taught numerous courses in Oriental Massage at the healing centre in Oaxaca and in retreats in the desert of San Luis Potosi.
My practice in yoga began in the early 2000’s, leading me to take my teacher training in 2011 in Restorative Alignment Yoga. For a short period of time, I taught weekly yoga classes, but soon after I began teaching workshops, which were specifically designed for my patients and focused on themes to help them with their injuries.
After the first 10 years working in healing, I felt the need to develop my own way to heal, bringing together all my experiences. I switched to giving treatments on the floor instead of the massage table, finding that I had much more control of my movements and that I could support the person much more. The speed at which I worked slowed down and became much more detailed, incorporating my understanding of how muscles respond and how emotions are. Accordingly, I was able to develop techniques for working with deep tissue. I started using music to help guide my intuition, creating an atmosphere and a journey, as my hands communicate with the other person’s body. Some people have said it’s as if my hands are dancing.
My hands-on therapy is in a constant state of growth, journeying with me through my life, as my intuition discovers new ways to find harmony.
My yoga classes since 2023 have deepened, as I have found a way to describe and guide what I have been doing for years in my own yoga practice.
The development of my therapy
Dance History
My life has always been full of dance. Growing up in London, at the age of 4 I began ballet, tap and contemporary (1985-1999). I spent my teenage summer holidays in Mexico where I experimented with Latin rhythms (1995 onwards), and during my free time at University I was part of a Hip-Hop/Urban dance group, which performed frequently (1999-2002).
In my first few years living in Mexico, I trained in belly dance, and soon after started teaching Sacred belly dance (2007 onwards). I choreographed and performed as part of a small belly dance fusion group (2005-2013). A few years later, I participated by teaching and performing belly dance, in the local circus festival organised by Mermejita Circus (2012-2014).
In 2015, I set up my own dance fusion group ‘Café con Leche’ for local kids, teenagers and adults. I taught free classes of urban, bachata, salsa, belly dance and contemporary. I prepared and staged a 2-hour show, involving all my students, every year (2015-2019). The wide variety of dance training, combined with the fact that many of the students had zero experience, greatly increased my understanding of biomechanics and body awareness.
Movement in its many forms is incredibly healing. As is the familial connection which the group had. I personally benefited enormously from those years with Café con Leche as I battled depression. Furthermore, what I learnt then impacted my work as a healer.
Spiritual Life
From a very young age my mother taught me the joys and healing power of nature; climbing on hill tops and cliffs, walking through woods and being by the sea. In essence, nature invigorates you, brings you peace and just makes you feel good! My Father, being a healer and Sun Dancer, taught me about energy, meditation and the power of intention. At the age of 15, I experienced my first Sweat Lodge and ceremony, where I started to get an insight into the Traditions of the Native Americans and Indigenous Mexicans.
Living in Mexico in the mid 2000’s, I met Chief Fallen Feather, an Eskimo Medicine Man, who said “You will work with the union of both men and women”. He bestowed on me the name Morning Star. Thanks to the initial push of confidence from Chief Fallen Feather, I began guiding Temazcals (North American traditional sweat lodges) (2010). A couple of years later, I had been assisting my father in days of ceremony, when my Father named me Bufala Blanca (White Buffalo Woman). The sacred meanings of these two names have helped support me through the discovery of who I am, and what I have to offer this world.
Life Experiences
My skill as a healer has at its core three major life experiences. These are living with hyper flexibility causing dislocations, having a serious allergy that affects my breathing and experiencing emotional trauma with PTSD.
Hyper flexibility
In my early 20’s, I discovered the difficulties in being hyper flexible, when I started experiencing movement in the vertebrae of my lower back. The direction of this movement could change from day to day, causing severe pain. In the following years, for a variety of reasons, I then dislocated my right shoulder, both hips and my jaw, besides experiencing movement in the bone structure of my calves and feet. It has led me to understand the physical and emotional toils of chronic pain and injuries that take a long time to heal. This has guided me to the study of realigning the bone structure of the body and the importance of harmonious biomechanics to create balance in the stability of the physical body.
“When the genetics of your body do not create stability in your joints, then you have to find a way to create stability from the muscle biomechanics. Learning how to move my energy connected to all that surrounds, has helped support me move through life.”
Allergies
In August 2008, I had my first allergic reaction to something that took 4 years to understand the cause, and then a further year to discover that what I had was Alpha Gal Syndrome. This is a rare tick-born allergy caused by a carbohydrate compound found in mammals (except humans and other primates). I had been bitten by a tick while visiting the USA in 2007. Everyone with this allergy reacts in a slightly different way, however most of my reactions have been respiratory difficulty after eating mammal meat, dairy or any other product with mammal ingredients. Occasionally, my reactions have been digestive problems or skin rash. I now also react to the smell of meat being cooked and to certain gums that are added to various foods even though they are not mammal. It is still unknown why people with AG have these reactions.
These consecutive reactions over years have taught me the importance of breath; how the diaphragm as a muscle plays a part in the body’s structure and how it moves the person’s energy. It has deepened my awareness of food and in particular the modern diet, where everything seems to contain mammal.
Trauma
In September 2008, I survived an experience I can only describe as a scene from a movie. At 2pm on a Friday afternoon, my jeep and I were shot at by plain clothes police, ‘By Accident’. There had been a robbery nearby and the police confused me with the getaway car. They shot 13 riffle rounds from the back of their moving truck, as I drove in reverse trying to escape, not knowing at the time that they were police. I managed to drive the 1km in reverse all the way back to my entrance. My physical body was not hit, despite 3 bullets passing straight through my truck, one of which just past my head. This then dragged out into a 7year court case until they were eventually declared innocent.
I cannot even go into all of the detail of what this experience taught me, however I can say that the deep effects of trauma that lasted years penetrated every aspect of my life. It effected my social skills, I had panic attacks, it effected my hormones which consequently effected my digestion, skin and hair. It effected my rest state and my sleep. It was involved in my right hip dislocation. It was a major part in years of depression. The agitation of my nervous system and whole being set a constant state of alert, and never knowing exactly when something just might happen, left me exhausted.
Life has taken me on a path of deep inner healing, through the ups, the downs and the turmoils of my life as a human being. The way we experience emotions, with each perceiving a reality known only to them, creates a life living in a bubble. This discord makes it very difficult to find peace and harmony. However, here we are, longing for happiness and love.
My work is about sharing what I have learnt with the world; through touch and guidance I share my experience, and hope from the bottom of my heart that we can all find peace and love.
