Hi! I'm Kayse.

If you are curious about my background, check out the  blog posts I wrote about my unusual journey. In brief, I was born in swampy South Georgia, surrounded by alligators, azaleas, and old oak trees. I was a sensitive, artistic child (left-handed) with an adventurous streak. During childhood, I spent a lot of time on St. Simons Island, near Savannah. My family moved there permanently 20+ years ago, so I now consider St. Simons my hometown. There are marshes and dolphins, sand dunes and Spanish moss. It's a soulful place. My inner guidance pulled me north and west for most of my life, but I appreciate many things about my Southern roots.

 

Education-wise, I graduated from Duke University, the University of Michigan Med School, Swedish Family Practice Internship (Seattle), and the University of Arizona Psychiatry Residency. I am a certified yoga instructor and a certified Chopra Perfect Health (Ayurvedic) educator. I have professional training in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), Mind-Body Skills Group Facilitation, Zero Balancing I and II, Reiki I and II, sound healing, dance therapy, expressive writing, meditation, biofeedback, art therapy, and more. I am fluent in Spanish (C1 level). I enjoy teaching and have taught nutrition at Denver University, Ayurveda at the Chopra Center, and Holistic Psychiatry at UAz, UCLA, and UCSD (clips on the Videos page).

 

I took a "bushwhacking" approach to finding my path, as unique people often do. I have been interested in other cultures (and people from other cultures) since childhood. I had a sort of awakening during medical school that cemented my passion for cross-cultural, holistic healing and drew my attention towards astrology, yoga, and mysticism. I did well in medical school (97% on the boards), but I was dissatisfied with some of the limitations of western medicine, including the stress of training. After graduation, I took an atypical three-year "sabbatical" to ponder what I really wanted to do. I lived at a yoga ashram, worked as a yoga instructor, founded a teen empowerment program, made art, taught a mind-body-skills class (yoga, meditation, mandala art, biofeedback, journaling) at an art school, completed a Spanish-immersion in Cusco (Peru), and studied with healers in Arizona, Tulum (Mex), the Amazon jungle (Peru), and Colorado.

 

Around the time of my Saturn Return (29 yrs old), a point of reckoning in astrology, I recommitted to my medical education, thinking I would eventually like to work with Deepak Chopra or Andrew Weil and then have my own healing center (I did all of those things, but in reverse!). The transition back to medicine was rocky, and internship was the most difficult year of my life. Much of what I know about anxiety, burnout, inflammation, and depression came from my struggles during and just after internship. Thankfully, psychiatry residency was a better fit for my talents (and stress-tolerance level) than internship (in Family Medicine). The U of Az is a holistic place, and I chose to do residency there for that reason. I had mentors interested in mind-body medicine, psychedelics, herbalism, meditation, and shamanism. I completed five-, seven-, and 10-day meditation retreats with renown teachers Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Jack Kornfield during vacations. At the end of residency, I gave a Grand Rounds presentation (like a TED talk) on "Art as Medicine". It was so gratifying to finally feel so well-aligned with my work!

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After residency graduation, I founded and directed a five-room healing center "Mystic Mandala Medicine" in downtown Tucson (2009-2012). It had yoga classes, a women's circle, a gallery/shop, community events, astrology, and holistic psychiatry/psychotherapy. I joined Andrew Weil's Program in Integrative Medicine at the U of Arizona as a faculty member and taught from 2009-2017. From 2012-2015 I ran an ecopsychology practice "Mana Medicine" in Hawaii. In 2017 I joined the Chopra Center (founded by Deepak Chopra) in Carlsbad, CA as their holistic psychiatrist (and intuitive astrologer). After training in Ayurveda, I became one of Chopra's Ayurvedic physicians, as well. When the Center closed (Dec 2019), I spent several years as a digital nomad in Costa Rica and Mexico. Since 2022, I've been back in SoCal, and this fall (2024) I'm teaching a psychology class at a local liberal arts college (Soka University), in addition to my online work.

 

• You can follow my current local and previous nomadic adventures (and astro-musings) on Instagram: @mysticmandala.

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Regarding astrology, I am primarily a self-taught western astrologer. My interest in astrology was awakened in med school, but I didn't plan to become an astrologer. I just found it fascinating + helpful, and it came naturally to me. I found it interesting to learn that the "Father of Medicine" Hippocrates was an astrologer, as were his contemporaries. Physicians in the middle ages (Nostradamus, Paracelsus, etc.) were astrologers, too. The renown psychiatrist Carl Jung is a more modern example of a physician-astrologer. Astrology is an incredible tool for understanding someone's psyche! When I opened my healing center in 2009, I wove astrology into my work with interested psychotherapy clients, and by 2010, many of those clients had referred friends for readings. I now have hundreds of hours of experience. I have been featured in Vogue and am a regular astrology (+ psychology/holistic health) contributor at MindBodyGreen and Chopra. In recent years, astrology has become a central part of my practice. Many clients connect initially for astrology and stay on for coaching, mentorship, apprenticeship (to learn astrology), or psychotherapy. Interesting people are drawn to the unique nature of my practice, which makes my work fun! Some of my students and clients are well-known, working in journalism, television, politics, sports, music, business, and fashion.​

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My story is unusual, and "pathfinding" has been a theme. So, I now like to help others do the same! If you know astrology, I am a Scorpio with Cancer rising, a Virgo moon, and motivational (+ multi-cultural) Jupiter in the 10th house (a career area) of my chart. I'm committed helping others (Virgo) compassionately (Cancer) transform (Scorpio) and reach their fullest potential (Jupiter). Want to join me?