About Madelanne · Studies & Lineage
A Lineage of Study
The people, practices, and places that have shaped the way I see the world.
I have never followed just one discipline. My education has unfolded through questions, generous teachers, years of practical work, and experiences that continue to influence how I care for myself and the life around me.
An education gathered over time
You can learn a great deal from a classroom. Other lessons arrive through the work of your hands, a conversation, a place, or a moment that stays with you for years.
I’ve been fortunate to encounter teachers and traditions that opened new ways of considering the body, nature, creativity, and everyday living. This isn’t a catalogue of everything I’ve studied. It is a portrait of the experiences that have stayed with me.
The earliest threads
Where my questions began
Some interests appeared long before I could see how they belonged together.
01 · The first questions
Psychology & writing
I began with studies in psychology and writing in California. Although psychology did not become the career I first imagined, its questions stayed with me—particularly how perception and experience shape the way we live.
02 · Learning from nature
Plants & personal care
At the college now known as the American College of Healthcare Sciences, I explored herbalism, naturopathic nutrition, skincare, and related subjects. My fascination with the natural world found a practical expression.
03 · A turning point
The Euro Institute
My studies at the Euro Institute introduced me to Ayurveda in 2007. They began a lasting curiosity about the connections between daily rhythms, traditional approaches to care, and the whole of lived experience.
Work & experience
Where learning became lived work
I founded Spa of the Earth and spent more than a decade in the spa and wellness world. What began with skincare widened into an interest in mind–body practices, herbal and aromatic blends, and thoughtful environments for care. I later hosted Vancouver’s wellness and healing fairs.
Publishing offered another way of paying attention. As editor-in-chief of Mindful magazine, I learned to listen, select, shape, and share ideas with care. Even an earlier chapter as a diamond consultant nurtured my eye for materials, detail, and beauty.
Each experience gave me another way to understand what it means to cultivate a life.
Teachers & encounters
In the company of generous teachers
Some experiences came through courses and long periods of study; others through retreats, ceremony, and conversations I still remember. I’ve been interested not only in what a teacher offers, but in what remains meaningful after returning to ordinary life.
I spent several summers and springs at The Ayurvedic Institute, studying with Dr. Vasant Lad, Usha Lad, and teachers including Sonia Masocco and Simon Chokoisky. Classes, kirtan, and fire ceremonies became part of my understanding of Ayurveda as both study and lived tradition.
From my years of study with Dr. Vasant Lad and Usha Lad.
Selected influences
What I carried forward
Each of these chapters offered something different. Together they helped me see the value of both careful study and personal discernment.
01 · Ayurveda, herbs & personal care
Care through the senses
My studies with Sonia Masocco deepened my interest in herbalism, aromatherapy, and customized preparations for skincare. I also explored yoga and Ayurveda with Mas Vidal, and questions of dharma with Simon Chokoisky. I continue to value what these traditions invite us to observe in everyday life.
02 · Sound, embodiment & inner listening
The body’s subtle language
For more than a decade, my family and I attended Sri Sri Shyamji Bhatnagar’s 3Body Purification retreats. His work with sound and Microchakra Psychology influenced the way I think about attention, the body, and the many layers of personal experience.
03 · Devotion, symbolism & meaning
Another way of seeing
A water blessing with Ida Resi Alit in 2018 remains a moving memory. My studies also included Awakening Women’s Wisdom School, Kabalarian philosophy, and astro-numerology with Tania Gabrielle—different symbolic perspectives that broadened my curiosity about meaning and human experience.
04 · Mentorship & life transitions
The courage to cultivate anew
Kaya Singer helped guide me through a transition from my earlier wellness work toward a new expression of it. Courses with Laurie-Anne King offered further opportunities to explore relationships, abundance, and personal growth. These encounters shaped how I approach change with both imagination and discernment.
What endures
A philosophy still unfolding
No single teacher, tradition, or profession accounts for the whole of my perspective. Some ideas stayed with me. Others led me to ask better questions. Across them all, I have returned to the importance of attention, beauty, relationships, and the way we inhabit ordinary life.
Lifestyle Rituals is where these threads meet—not as a system to follow, but as a place to explore what feels meaningful in your own life.
Continue wandering
Return to my story, or explore the practices that grew from these experiences.
