Meet Michael 

Michael works as an Osteopath, international teacher, instructor and writer. For the past twenty years Michael has worked at Homewood, a 140 year old psychiatric hospital. Throughout his career he has worked with Kids Help Phone, Make a Wish, various group homes, long term care facilities, as well as NHL hockey players, Olympians, actors and dancers. He brings this wealth of knowledge and experience to every patient he interacts with. 

Born in Medicine Hat Alberta, Canada into a family of mixed ethnicity (Blackfoot/Siksika Nation/European). Although he grew up in a military family, his Indigenous roots where always present with a deep connection.  Constant travel being the nature of army life, Michael saw Canada extensively and miraculously was able stay connected with his Indigenous ancestry. In Katimavik, a youth volunteer program, he travelled in 1984/85 across Canada and participated in cultural and Indigenous healing arts, ceremony and rituals. Michael made intimate connections with the healing power of music, drumming circles and singing and was immersed in the oral traditions. 

During this time he saw the value of many types of healing approaches and was introduced to hands on body work such as massage, shiatsu and reflexology. It was a total  baptism. He gratefully learned from Elders and with time realized how honoured & privileged he was. It awoke something within him. The revelation that healing with your hands was “a thing” is an inspiration for him to this day. He needed to keep digging, to discover more about the healing arts....

A decade would pass before the opportunity to follow this path presented itself. As is the case in life, the door forward opened like the Red Sea, and he was drawn forward. Introspection would imply he was not completely behind the wheel in this and other forks in his road.

He was not halfway finished his massage therapy program when Osteopathy presented itself. Once again, he had been taken by the wrist and directed where to go. Shortly after the completion of the massage therapy program he registered at OCO (The Osteopathic College of Ontario) and graduated as an Osteopath. He teaches there today.

So many years on, he was being trained by physicians who chose to heal with their hands, ahead of medicines, a continuation of preceding lessons. Early in his career a physicist once told him the reason he liked Osteopathy was because of its 4 guiding principles. "Mikey" he said, “ it means from a solid foundation your practice and skills can grow organically. Its not static.” Those words have proved true as Osteopathy laid the tracks for much personal and professional growth and understanding.

More doors opened and again Michael found himself sitting with Indigenous Elders; namely the Shipibo Tribe of the Amazon Rainforest. There is a reconnecting and awakening that happens in the jungle on many levels; shared, individual and spiritual.

"In the 7+  years working with these Elders and Shamans, they have enhanced within me more clarity and meaning in my life and professional practice. Lifting the fog and cleaning my own cup I am more able to be present and aware for my clients."

Peruvian journey yields a path less travelled

At the conclusion of his first trip to Peru in January of 2016, his path forward opened up for him. At the closing ceremony, Maestro Birin Soi, an Elder of the Shipibo community gave parting wisdom to the participants. It was a watershed moment and profoundly humbling when he took Michael on. It would take years for all of the lessons to unfold on this long ancestral road back, in the words of Rumi to "return to the root of the root, your Self". Perhaps the greatest lesson from this moment was to quote Carl Jung "Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakes."  

See video below sharing this moment...

" The wound is the place where the light enters you."

-Rumi

TESTIMONIALS