My name is Pierre because my father's family is Cajun, and he grew up speaking Cajun French.
Both of my parents are accomplished counseling psychologists, from whom I learned to have sympathy for the well-being of others.
I grew up interested in, and exposed to, the healing of deep patterns of suffering.
However, even as a child, and certainly as a young adult, I felt something missing as I was exposed to education and religion. This feeling of incompleteness set me out to search for it - a more complete sense of being me. As I set out to find it, the subject of the teachings seemed not as important as the qualities of the person instructing - qualities like a glow, a deep practical groundedness, a felt sense of Truth or God-Here-and-Now. Now I have spent 15 years with some of the leading bodyworkers, yoga instructors and spiritual leaders in the country, amassing the equivalent of a graduate degree in body-mind-spirit healing.
In bodywork, I found a practical healing methodology that brought me an immediate, felt-sense change. In addition, studying subtle bodywork styles taught me a language for describing the "energetic body", a more subtle sense of myself, which I had previously felt existed, but had no language to describe. Still I sought more...
At that time, I thought it was a back-to-basics indigenous culture that I sought - community with others and with the basic rhythms of the Earth. What I found was yoga - an experiential science, a basically intact indigenous culture, surviving and applicable throughout time, place and creed. In turn I have been able to reconnect to my own family's Catholic heritage and understand it. And in Sanskrit, I found a language that is like the stuff of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter - a wizard's language - that is perfected like mathematics, and whose organization is based on discovering the subtle organization of Life.
Now I practice more than I seek. I have learned to ask for help, and to trust. Though I am still evolving, I am an excellent teacher, especially for beginners and skeptics, with a broad base of knowledge. I am happy to offer you tools for change (for a better life now!) should they seem of use to you on your path. May you find your true God-connection, and learn to hold It throughout all else!
EDUCATION
1972 - first 3 years in Georgia wilderness, where I feel God or "the Field" all around me and within
1975 - leave the blessed outdoors and promptly get in trouble at first school for peeing outside
1978-1990 - learn playfulness and love of body awareness in school sports in Indianapolis
1990 - inner-city, public, Indianapolis Broad Ripple High School Valedictorian and National Merit Scholar
1991 - leave University of Notre Dame knowing what I am not, feeling disillusioned and soul-searching
1992 - first daily practice for spiritual experience - begin t'ai chi ch'uan at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado
1993 - first acupuncture treatment opens me to concept of ever-improving health - the body as a garden
1994 - begin non-violent communication with International and National Voluntary Service Training while at University of Colorado - Boulder
1994 - begin working with Anna Chitty in craniosacral therapy
1995 - begin working with Darryl Sanchez in rolfing
1995 - primitive living skills with Earth Knack reawakens my connection to a deeper, non-linear intelligence
1995 - outdoor living on the Dineh reservation
1996 - one year living in a remote cabin at 8000 feet in Colorado reconnects me to the cosmos
1998 - graduate Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA in advanced shiatsu
2001 - complete 1000 hr teacher training in yoga at The Yoga Room in Encinitas, CA
2002 - complete teacher training in bodywork with Body Mind College in San Diego, CA
2002 - complete teacher training in t'ai chi with Pacific School of T'ai Chi in Solana Beach, CA
2003 - complete teacher training in ashtanga vinyasa yoga with Tim Miller, where I begin sanskrit study
2003 - process the at home death of my housemate and friend - the path of the bodyless soul made real
2004 - no more flirting with God! I commit to daily meditation using the techniques of Paramahansa Yogananda
2004 - process workshops with Ray Castellino in birth and pre-natal trauma show me deep early imprinting
2004 - complete 3 levels of Source Seminars (similar to Landmark's Forum, but with a spiritual emphasis)
2005 - begin psychotherapy (reprogramming my core mental patterns) with Barry Green, PhD., founder of 5 prominent mind/bodywork schools
2005 - begin attending codependents anonymous, where I learn why service to others isn't always that
2005 - begin singing kirtan at Jyoti Mandir in Encinitas, CA
2005 - deepen sanskrit education with the self-study tools of Vyaas Houston (American Sanskrit Institute)
2006 - begin playing piano and have first recital at 34 with a group of 6-12 yr olds
2006 - begin viniyoga education with Kat Green and Gary Kraftsow
2007 - 9 months of sanskrit workshops and assisting Vyaas Houston of ASI
1998 - 2007 ongoing studies with over a hundred yoga, pilates, and bodywork instructors including Edward Spencer (ashiatsu), Alison Lewis (rolfing) and Self-Realization Fellowship (meditation)
current strongest interests: The Yoga Sutras, viniyoga, piano, national parks, disc golf, playing with kids
CAREER
1995-1996 - department manager at Wild Oats Natural Foods Boulder, CO
1997-2000 - wholesale organic produce salesman at Earl's Organic Produce. We sold to retailers like Whole Foods. Picture half a city block filled with hundreds of pallets of organic strawberries, peaches, corn, etc. from around the world, and me helping you decide what to buy for your store. San Francisco, CA
1998-2006 - bodyworker in private practice, California
2000-2006 - bodywork instructor, yoga teacher trainer, founder of Oriental Bodywork 500 hour program and its principal instructor at Vitality College in Solana Beach, CA
2001-2006 - yoga instructor at various yoga studios in San Diego County including: my own small studio, Tim Miller's Ashtanga Yoga Center (assist and adjust), The Yoga Room, Soul of Yoga, Sattva Fitness, and Vitality College
2007-2008 - traveling instructor
yoga classes taught - > 2000
bodywork classes taught - > 300, ranging from 3 - 100 hours
t'ai chi classes taught - > 300
bodywork sessions - > 2000
strawberries eaten - > 10,000, though I prefer blueberries if you're looking for a gift :)
However, even as a child, and certainly as a young adult, I felt something missing as I was exposed to education and religion. This feeling of incompleteness set me out to search for it - a more complete sense of being me. As I set out to find it, the subject of the teachings seemed not as important as the qualities of the person instructing - qualities like a glow, a deep practical groundedness, a felt sense of Truth or God-Here-and-Now. Now I have spent 15 years with some of the leading bodyworkers, yoga instructors and spiritual leaders in the country, amassing the equivalent of a graduate degree in body-mind-spirit healing.
In bodywork, I found a practical healing methodology that brought me an immediate, felt-sense change. In addition, studying subtle bodywork styles taught me a language for describing the "energetic body", a more subtle sense of myself, which I had previously felt existed, but had no language to describe. Still I sought more...
At that time, I thought it was a back-to-basics indigenous culture that I sought - community with others and with the basic rhythms of the Earth. What I found was yoga - an experiential science, a basically intact indigenous culture, surviving and applicable throughout time, place and creed. In turn I have been able to reconnect to my own family's Catholic heritage and understand it. And in Sanskrit, I found a language that is like the stuff of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter - a wizard's language - that is perfected like mathematics, and whose organization is based on discovering the subtle organization of Life.
Now I practice more than I seek. I have learned to ask for help, and to trust. Though I am still evolving, I am an excellent teacher, especially for beginners and skeptics, with a broad base of knowledge. I am happy to offer you tools for change (for a better life now!) should they seem of use to you on your path. May you find your true God-connection, and learn to hold It throughout all else!
EDUCATION
1972 - first 3 years in Georgia wilderness, where I feel God or "the Field" all around me and within
1975 - leave the blessed outdoors and promptly get in trouble at first school for peeing outside
1978-1990 - learn playfulness and love of body awareness in school sports in Indianapolis
1990 - inner-city, public, Indianapolis Broad Ripple High School Valedictorian and National Merit Scholar
1991 - leave University of Notre Dame knowing what I am not, feeling disillusioned and soul-searching
1992 - first daily practice for spiritual experience - begin t'ai chi ch'uan at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado
1993 - first acupuncture treatment opens me to concept of ever-improving health - the body as a garden
1994 - begin non-violent communication with International and National Voluntary Service Training while at University of Colorado - Boulder
1994 - begin working with Anna Chitty in craniosacral therapy
1995 - begin working with Darryl Sanchez in rolfing
1995 - primitive living skills with Earth Knack reawakens my connection to a deeper, non-linear intelligence
1995 - outdoor living on the Dineh reservation
1996 - one year living in a remote cabin at 8000 feet in Colorado reconnects me to the cosmos
1998 - graduate Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, CA in advanced shiatsu
2001 - complete 1000 hr teacher training in yoga at The Yoga Room in Encinitas, CA
2002 - complete teacher training in bodywork with Body Mind College in San Diego, CA
2002 - complete teacher training in t'ai chi with Pacific School of T'ai Chi in Solana Beach, CA
2003 - complete teacher training in ashtanga vinyasa yoga with Tim Miller, where I begin sanskrit study
2003 - process the at home death of my housemate and friend - the path of the bodyless soul made real
2004 - no more flirting with God! I commit to daily meditation using the techniques of Paramahansa Yogananda
2004 - process workshops with Ray Castellino in birth and pre-natal trauma show me deep early imprinting
2004 - complete 3 levels of Source Seminars (similar to Landmark's Forum, but with a spiritual emphasis)
2005 - begin psychotherapy (reprogramming my core mental patterns) with Barry Green, PhD., founder of 5 prominent mind/bodywork schools
2005 - begin attending codependents anonymous, where I learn why service to others isn't always that
2005 - begin singing kirtan at Jyoti Mandir in Encinitas, CA
2005 - deepen sanskrit education with the self-study tools of Vyaas Houston (American Sanskrit Institute)
2006 - begin playing piano and have first recital at 34 with a group of 6-12 yr olds
2006 - begin viniyoga education with Kat Green and Gary Kraftsow
2007 - 9 months of sanskrit workshops and assisting Vyaas Houston of ASI
1998 - 2007 ongoing studies with over a hundred yoga, pilates, and bodywork instructors including Edward Spencer (ashiatsu), Alison Lewis (rolfing) and Self-Realization Fellowship (meditation)
current strongest interests: The Yoga Sutras, viniyoga, piano, national parks, disc golf, playing with kids
CAREER
1995-1996 - department manager at Wild Oats Natural Foods Boulder, CO
1997-2000 - wholesale organic produce salesman at Earl's Organic Produce. We sold to retailers like Whole Foods. Picture half a city block filled with hundreds of pallets of organic strawberries, peaches, corn, etc. from around the world, and me helping you decide what to buy for your store. San Francisco, CA
1998-2006 - bodyworker in private practice, California
2000-2006 - bodywork instructor, yoga teacher trainer, founder of Oriental Bodywork 500 hour program and its principal instructor at Vitality College in Solana Beach, CA
2001-2006 - yoga instructor at various yoga studios in San Diego County including: my own small studio, Tim Miller's Ashtanga Yoga Center (assist and adjust), The Yoga Room, Soul of Yoga, Sattva Fitness, and Vitality College
2007-2008 - traveling instructor
yoga classes taught - > 2000
bodywork classes taught - > 300, ranging from 3 - 100 hours
t'ai chi classes taught - > 300
bodywork sessions - > 2000
strawberries eaten - > 10,000, though I prefer blueberries if you're looking for a gift :)