Maya Lampson

I come from working-class rural background. The only options I knew of after graduating from high school were marriage, the military, or a 9 to 5 job.

Something led me to college, which led me to AmeriCorps (a type of domestic Peace Corps program) and then onto a graduate fellowship in New York City and a job at the Ford Foundation.

When I was laid off last year, my partner and I bought a one-way ticket to Belize and then traveled in Central America for six months, learning Spanish. We came across a holistic center in San Marcos, Guatemala and studied Ayurvedic Indian Head Massage and took the level I course of Bach Flower Essences. I fell in love with these alternative healing options and started a private practice after we decided to move to Portland, Maine to be closer to our community.

Since then I have been apprenticing at a medicinal garden and healing center and learning more tools along the way for co-creating healthy lifestyles and healing sessions with clients. I'm practicing the "gig" lifestyle, doing a little of this and a little of that and keeping one step ahead of office life. I've also fallen for the Brazilian dance/martial art Capoeira and play that three times a week.

It's been fun and challenging and it always feels like there is something new hovering over the horizon.

To learn more about Maya and her healing practice, please visit mayalampson.tripod.com.