BA and MA in Health Arts and Sciences Programs
In greeting you I share one of my deepest beliefs: to be a truly effective individual you must eventually know where you come from and how you got here. All strong leaders (and indigenous healers) know their lineage and while much can be learned from books much more is learned from knowing intimately your blood. In this respect: I am the daughter of Mildred & Clarence, granddaughter of Anna & Josef, and a long line of women and men who lived in the Carpathian Mountains bordering Poland and Ukraine. I am a second generation North American and the result of at least 10 ancestral generations that I can name. For me it is not only that I make decisions to stretch forward through 7 generations, but that I bear the responsibility of teaching what I have learned through the past 7 (and more) ancestral generations that gave birth to me.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine the blood contains spirits -- thus Oriental Medical Doctors take your pulse to feel the strength and balance of these spirits in relationship to the energy of your organs and meridians. I believe this is also relevant to our own spirits and ancestors who run through our veins. The term “know your blood” has many meanings including science and chemistry, but it is not just science that makes our lives unfold. It is the collective energy that we bring forward from the deep well of our histories. It is the stories that urge us to talk, to walk, and that give us courage to BE our journeys.
My formal education and experience includes a 4-year Masters of Science degree in Oriental Medicine and 20 years of bodywork experience. I have been a Reiki Master and Bioenery practitioner since 1988 (student of Mietek Wirkus, the famous Polish healer), and student of traditional Hawaiian and Native American healers. I use many modalities in my body-work including acupuncture, qi gong, stone and deep tissue massage, emotional release, light, energy, visualization, journeying. I have additional training in diet and nutrition, movement therapy, Western and Eastern herbology. Living in Hawaii I was traditionally trained in Laau Lapaau, (herbal medicines), and Lomi Lomi massage.
For the past 25 years I’ve lived two lives by blending the healing arts practices with a fairly ‘straight’ practice in the world of business and government. One practice often compliments and nourishes the other. The other side of my practice includes many years of cross-cultural healthcare and environmental work, meeting facilitation and group dynamics, economic development for communities, environmental activism, national and local politics, health care, business development and financing, and funding of community health and infrastructure projects.
I have been lucky with opportunities to bring dreams alive through a blending of eastern, western, business and spiritual practices. As a result I have been able to develop / construct / finance health care facilities and programs for Native American tribes, develop infrastructure (drinking water, wastewater and solid waste / recycling) for tribes and rural communities, facilitate strategic planning for tribes, create environmental businesses, and sit on local and national policy making committees to influence state and federal legislation, regulations and ordinances.
I work from a deeply spiritual practice that is grounded in traditions and ceremonies that have been shared with me. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico where I own a small consulting company that works primarily with Native American tribes and rural communities. One of my goals in working with Goddard students is to help create relationships with the Southwestern tribes and raise funds to provide opportunities for students to work in these areas of interest.
Educational Background: M.S. Oriental Medicine, International Institute of Chinese Medicine, Santa Fe, NM. Social Ecology M.A. studies, Goddard College; B.A. Urban Planning and Community Development, University of Pittsburgh.
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Celia Hildebrand, MA, MS