Maria Bowling earned a Bachelors of Arts from Oberlin College in Ohio with a major in Art History. After a career in the greeting card industry and as a textile designer she was called to a career in the healing arts. Maria earned her degree in Massage Therapy from the Swedish Institute in New York City. One year after completing her studies she began her training in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York City where she earned a Bachelors Degree of Professional Studies and a Masters Degree of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine and completed the Herbal studies program. Maria maintains professional licenses in New York state in Massage Therapy and Acupuncture. Maria is certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) as a Diplomate in Oriental Medicine. Currently she is completing a Certificate in Botanical Illustration at the New York Botanical Gardens with the goal of creating an illustrated botanical manual of Chinese herbs.

Maria's Story......

After losing my sister Brenda, my life changed forever as it does for anyone who has been touched by the tragedy of a suicide. After exploring what felt like every possible avenue of healing the loss, I still felt a deep emptiness in my heart. As a new practitioner of Chinese medicine, I knew that I needed to process and honor the grief in a new way so that the impact of the trauma would not affect my health. I also wanted to be sure that I was healed enough to hold a space for my patients so that I could support them with grace in their process.

On my personal healing journey, I was led to work with a shaman in the desert who wore a whale's tooth around his neck during a ceremony. After talking with him about whales, their majesty, and powerful medicine, I somehow knew that making contact with cetaceans and the ocean held a key to my healing. My first swim in Hawaii opened me up to an entirely new world. The ocean was very soothing, it embraced my grief, allowed me to cry my salty tears in the swaying of her tides and return from its depths feeling softer, cleansed and inspired.

After many magical encounters my heart has opened again knowing that nature has many important gifts. They arrive when we least expect them, like a chance encounter with a pod of wild dolphins or bearing witness to the blossoming of a magnolia in Spring. I have learned that more often than not, when we open ourselves to the possibilities of an experience without expectations, we may meet beauty in an unprecedented way.

I have since taken numerous trips to Bimini, Hawaii, French Polynesia and Tonga to swim with and photograph dolphins and whales in the wild where I ask for their permission before I take each photograph. The grace of the cetaceans and the ocean continue to be of great comfort, inspiration and support to me after my sister's passing. They remind me that we are a part of a continuum, and that there is always so much more to experience in life. On the walls of my office, my dolphin photographs remind me and my patients that life can shift in a blink of an eye and to be fully present and experience each moment of the journey with grace.