Who am I?

I’m John David and experienced a traumatic childhood involving parental loss/mental illness, abuse and being orphaned by the age of 15 (you may read about and order my memoir, Unsolicited Submissions here). As part of my means of coping, I became  self-destructive and subsequently unhealthy.

As I began the healing process, I started practicing relaxation exercises as a means of dealing with being restimulated, working to form a healthy alliance with my body. As an extension of this successful self-work, I started exploring mindfulness meditation and utilizing it on a regular basis. Within a few years of this self-directed activity, I experienced a very strong sense of death during a meditation session. At that time, the feeling was so strong that I thought it was a warning of my upcoming death. With further meditation, I envisioned an empty black wine bottle with a black rose, its stem wrapped around the bottle. I also felt an incredible sense of relief as I knew it was not mine.

A few days later, I learned that someone I had recently met just prior to the meditation session had attempted suicide later that night (during the time when I had been meditating).

Concerned by the possibility that I might have been losing my grasp of reality, I started keeping a journal of my experiences. This journal later became the outline for a mindfulness meditation class that I taught and evolved into my book Pebbles from the Path: A Guide to Meditation and Visions (you may read about and order this book here).

Over the years, I have explored numerous avenues dream work (lucid, conscious, and shared), out of body experiences, animal spirits and Tarot card reading. I have also learned to trust my Inner Voice within my daily life.

My natural style is light-hearted and casual yet please know I take Spirit work very seriously.