It’s long been a dream of mine to create some sort of healing environment for physical, mental, and spiritual growth. In fact, when I was graduating from Junior High School, my classmates’ prediction for me was that I would be running a health farm with my sister 😉.

I grew up in North Seattle, and my parents instilled in us a love of the natural world, of gardening, and an appreciation for the bounty of the Northwest. We would come out to the Snoqualmie River Valley for our excursions to “the country”- berry picking, swimming, and horseback riding. I always knew I wanted to end up out here in the valley someday.

“Someday” took a while. I attended medical school and became a psychiatrist, and practiced in the field for several decades. I maintained my interest in “whole-person health,” studied Ayurvedic medicine, and became a teacher of mindfulness meditation. I established a Stress Reduction Program based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, which I taught for several years in Juneau, Alaska.

In November of 2020, I was fortunate to find a lovely house in the Snoqualmie River Valley, on almost 1-1/2 acres with gardens (ornamental and vegetable), mature fruit trees, a seasonal stream and pond, and several outbuildings, and the idea for Dragonfly Farms began to take place. My vision has been an inclusive gathering space, where folx can safely develop community in nature, continuing their own personal journeys through retreat, gardening, writing, art, music, and…? With the help of loving and hard-working family and friends, a retreat center is taking shape. Places of respite around the property were created; the pond habitat is being being restored and now hosts tree frogs, ducks, and of course dragonflies; the barn has been rebuilt, the bunkhouse turned into a meditative garden cottage, the workshop became an outdoor guest kitchen, and the carport transformed into a warm and welcoming space (“The Nest”) complete with café lights.

I look forward to welcoming you to Dragonfly Farms.

Note: I do not provide health care, therapy, counseling, or mental health care at Dragonfly Farms. I provide mindfulness teaching as a non-MD practitioner.