Faculty
Kirstie Bender Segarra
Program Coordinator of Structural Integration; Lecturer II
Dr. Kirstie Segarra (they/she/doctor) began studying yoga and Balinese Traditional Massage in 1996 in Bali, Indonesia while completing their Master’s Degree in Whole Systems Design, in the field of second-order biological systems. They are a lead instructor for the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program at UMM Taos, which was founded in 2010, and for the Medical Massage Program, which was founded in 2007.
Dr. Kirstie, who teaches courses for Holistic Helath and Healing Arts including Myofascial Yoga and Anatomy Trains, is a leading expert in fascial health and the author of Myofascial Yoga: A Movement and Yoga Therapist’s Guide to Asana. They are nationally and internationally recognized for their research in fascial health and fibromyalgia. Their teachings in yogasana blend structural bodywork, specifically myofascial meridians, with modified ashtanga, Iyengar, restorative and vinyasa practices. Additionally, they incorporate energy work, Tantra, traditional Chinese medicine, and Buddhist traditions. Dr. Kirstie emphasizes anatomical structure and function of postures in order to prevent injury and to help us examine our conditioned patterns of posture and movement. They believe that increasing stability and flexibility can help us heal and ground us in healthier ways of living.
Dr. Kirstie brings their experience as a practicing structural integrator into the medical massage program, where they teach ethics, anatomy and physiology, kinesiology, oriental medicine and advanced techniques in medical massage. They incorporate their knowledge of Eastern techniques with myofascial and structural bodywork. They are intentional in their integration of both philosophies and feel strongly that a great bodyworker should have a strong understanding not only of anatomy, but also of energetics.
Fun facts: Dr. Kirstie was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and grew up in Mons, Belgium and Seattle, Washington. Their first Zen sport was basketball. They play the electric cello and regularly ride a mountain bike. Dr. Kirstie was named one of the “Remarkable Women of Taos” (www.taos.org ). More information and her blog can be found at drkirstie.com.
Contact them at ksegarra@unm.edu
Amber Burke
Holistic Health and Healing Arts Coordinator; Yoga Program Coordinator; Lecturer III
Amber Burke, MFA, E-RYT 500, is a graduate of Yale, the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars MFA Program, and two teacher trainings through Yogaworks in Los Angeles. She has been teaching yoga since 2008 and writing about it for almost as long. She regularly contributes to Yoga International, often collaborating with physical therapists to write articles about anatomy and yoga for specific injuries and conditions. Her creative work, some of it Pushcart-nominated, can be found in literary journals and magazines including The Sun.
Amber’s priorities as a yoga teacher are accessibility and inclusion. Her practices vary in style and intensity, since she values yoga’s power to relax us but also to strengthen us in ways that make life feel easier. She doesn’t believe that there is “one right way” to do any pose or to teach it, and loves working with yoga students and future teachers to find approaches to practice and to teaching that feel authentic and sustainable to them.
Amber has taught yoga in a wide array of venues in five states; her teaching experience in New Mexico includes gentle and restorative classes Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and yoga workshops for trauma, identity, and addiction at Shadow Mountain Recovery Center. Her classes for UNM Taos include Yoga for Common Conditions, Yoga Styles and Safety, Hatha Yoga, and various writing classes.
Access her yoga articles here: https://yogainternational.com/profile/amber-burke
Contact her at amberburke@unm.edu
Susan Myers
Coordinator of Medical Massage
Coordinator Integrative Massage Therapy Program and Ethics Instructor “Finding freedom of movement through the release of Myofascial Pain.” Entering the Massage Therapy Field in her 30’s, Susan worked on building understanding of the deeper concepts of manual touch by attending the St. John’s and the North American Method of Neuromuscular Therapy, Myofascial Release with John Barns, and Acutonics Sound Technology training. Susan Myers, LMT#2180, CNMT, has specialized in Pain Management for 23 years working with impact injury individuals.
Susan has made her adult home of more than 35 years in beautiful Northern Taos County, New Mexico. Living the rugged dream - with husband, dogs, Alpacas, goats, hummingbirds, forests, and rainwater catchment.
Contact her at myers77@unm.edu
Gary Cook
Associate Professor
Gary Cook, MFA, is a tenured Associate Professor of Art with forty years of university teaching experience, 17 of those at UNM-Taos. He was Chair of the UNM-Taos Art Department from 2005 to 2010. Over the years, he has been represented in 15 galleries and had over seventy exhibitions at locations including ten universities and four museums. He has a special interest in the relationship of creativity and consciousness to personal growth and healing. He earned his MFA in Painting at Northern Illinois University and BFA in Painting and Printmaking at Michigan State University.
Gary teaches Painting, Drawing and Printmaking in the Art Department at UNM Taos, as well as Creativity and Consciousness for Holistic Health and Healing Arts.
Contact him at gary@unm.edu
Daniel Pretends Eagle
Adjunct Faculty
Daniel Pretends Eagle, LMT, is a licensed massage therapist with over 35 years of experience in meditative movement including tai chi, aikido, yoga and Japanese sword. Through the use of easily-learned martial arts forms, students in his classes experience increased relaxation, coordination and flexibility. His curriculum also encourages students to cultivate their “Inner Warrior” as a peaceful archetype, promoting harmony, compassion, courage and reconciliation. Contact him at dpeagle3@unm.edu
Dr. Angelika Maria Koch
Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Angelika Maria Koch, DNM, LCH, H.N.H.Ir, is a Doctor of Natural Medicine, Health Consultant, and the owner of MEDICA NOVA: Practice for Integrated & Educational Medicine. For over three decades in her clinical practice, Dr. Koch has synthesized and applied a unique blend of effective, cutting-edge therapeutic tools in an innovative and holistic approach for her patients’ well-being. Utilizing in-depth classical homeopathy, iridology, sclerology, systemic herbology, cellular biology, advanced biofeedback, and depth psychology, Dr. Koch passionately continues her deepening exploration of holistic treatments for this complex and unfolding New World. Her extensive international training and education was acquired in England and the United States.
She is the author of the award-winning book The Dance of Your Core Healing: Transforming Your Mind, Body & Soul in the New World, and she publishes monthly free newsletters which are available on her website (www.medicanova.net) via subscription and public social media.
She teaches a wide range of online classes for Holistic Health and Healing Arts, including Introductions to the Healing Arts and to Homeopathy.
Contact her at akoch@unm.edu
Sean Murphy
Adjunct Faculty
Sean Murphy, MFA, has had nearly three decades of formal Zen meditation training, including extended periods of monastic retreat, and is a longtime yoga practitioner. He teaches widely—and often humorously-- on matters of meditation, mindfulness, and creativity. He is the author of the American Zen chronicle One Bird, One Stone, which won a 2014 International Book Award, and three award-winning works of fiction, including The Hope Valley Hubcap King, which won the Hemingway Award for a First Novel, and The Time of New Weather. He is the founder of the Sage Institute Meditation Leader Training Program in Taos, New Mexico: https://www.sagetaos.com/.
In addition to teaching courses in literature and writing at UNM Taos, Sean teaches Holistic Health and Healing Arts classes including Meditation, Consciousness, and Self-Healing and Meditation and Creativity.
Contact him at swmurphy@unm.edu
R. Madrona Bourdeau
Adjunct Faculty
R. Madrona Bourdeau, CPM-R, CST, practiced midwifery for over 40 years before retiring from active practice in 2015. In 2009, she became a cranial sacral therapist and has since specialized in working with infants, supporting mothers postpartum, and trauma release. Madrona has taught at midwifery programs in San Francisco, Portland, and Taos. Both professionally and personally, she draws on many healing modalities including herbology, homeopathy, and Chinese medicine.
Madrona teaches various classes for Holistic Health and Healing Arts including Introductions to Reiki and to Herbology.
Contact her at rmbourdeau@unm.edu
Celeste Griego
Adjunct Faculty
Dr. Celeste Griego, ND, MS, LMT, AP, NTS, earned both her doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and Master of Science in Ayurvedic sciences from Bastyr University. She is a UNM Alumni and earned her bachelor's degree in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Dance. Before attending Bastyr, she graduated from the New Mexico School of Natural Therapeutics as a Natural Therapeutic Specialist with training in medical massage, cranial sacral therapy, core synchronism, flower essence therapy and other natural healing modalities.
Dr. Griego is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor and a NAMA Board Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist, Postural Alignment Specialist through the EgoscueⓇ Method, a Core Dynamics Pilates instructor and GyrokinesisⓇ Trainer.
Dr. Griego runs her own small practice in Taos, NM and specializes in Body Mind Medicine as well as Therapeutic Movement. She is the Secretary of the New Mexico Association of Naturopathic Physicians and was part of the legislative team that obtained licensure for NDs in New Mexico. Dr. Griego was raised in Santa Fe, NM. She enjoys cooking, gardening, dancing and spending time in nature with her two young sons and her family.
Her classes for Holistic Health and Healing Arts include Nutrition and Ayurveda.
Contact her at cng@unm.edu
Kari Malen
Adjunct Faculty
Kari Malen, RYT 500, has worked at the intersection of human and environmental health for over two decades and is the founder of the Taos Yoga Co-op. Through her work in ecological restoration, she became keenly aware of the need we as humans have for self-restoration and recreation to productively process stress and deal with trauma. Utilizing the benefits of yoga for self-care, Kari began sharing her practice with others while living in remote corners of the world and developed a deep fascination with the ‘so much more’ that yoga has to offer. She has continued to teach yoga for over 10 years.
Kari’s original yoga teacher training (YTT 250+) took place in Mysore, India under Yogacharya Barath Shetty – a disciple of B.K.S. Iyengar – in the IndeaYoga style and has since trained with other sage teachers including Desiree Rambaugh, Brett Larkin, Sonya Luz, and more.
Her classes for Holistic Health and Healing Arts include Yoga for Wellness and Yoga and Psychology of the Chakras.
Contact her at kmalen@unm.edu
Tony Quintana
Lead Faculty – Introduction to Massage
Tony Quintana LMT, has been practicing massage for over 20 years and teaching since 2009. His massage practice is based on body alignment through soft tissue techniques, including deep tissue, myofascial, myoskeletal, neuromuscular, trigger point, craniosacral and structural integration. He sees his massage practice as a place of continual learning, as he work with each client to bring balance into their body for pain free living. Tony is inspired to deepen his knowledge and research new techniques. He greatly enjoys teaching, sharing his enthusiasm for massage, and knowledge gained over many years of practice and study.
Contact them at aquint02@unm.edu
Robyn O’Boyle
Lead Faculty – Introduction to Massage
Robyn O’Boyle (CH, LMT, RRMT, SF, TH) believes in healing through integrated modalities learned from over four decades of multicultural training, and she thrives by sharing these tools with her clients and students. Robyn has served as an instructor and professor for many of the major massage institutions in the Louisiana/Mississippi area. She teaches various private courses in holistic & Earth Based medicine practices, and hosts customized private healing retreats at her home in the Taos New Mexico area. She is a dynamic speaker, educator, and healing presence, and is passionate about her calling in holistic health. Robyn has diversified her knowledge of indigenous and alternative healing paths to always deepen her understanding of wellness.
She is a seasoned Earth Based Medicine practitioner, Vibrational Medicine Specialist, Sound Healing Practitioner, Advanced Cranial Sacral Therapist, licensed massage therapist, Reiki Master Teacher certified in three disciplines of Reiki – Usui, Shinpiden, and Karuna, a Classical Homeopath, Traditional Herbalist, Reflexologist, Ceremonialist, and Shamanic Facilitator. Thanks to her years of training, Robyn is ready to meet you, as a student of healing or a person in need of care. Feel free to visit Robyn’s website https://www.empoweringalchemy.com/
Contact them at roboyle@unm.edu
Dr. Erika Oviedo
Dr. Erika Oviedo, DOM, MSOM, BAFA (she/her) has been practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine in Northern New Mexico since 2009. She received her master's degree from the Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, NM and her bachelor's degree in fine art from UNM. As a longtime Buddhist practitioner and student of Asian philosophy, she was drawn to TCM because of its deep roots in Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism. She values the creative aspects of the medicine and its focus on treating the person as a whole- body, mind and spirit. She is formally trained in the practices of acupuncture, Chinese herbalism, nutritional counseling, Qi gong, and Chinese massage.
Dr. Oviedo has extensive training in using acupuncture for pain management, and is currently working several days a week in Santa Fe treating individuals who were injured on the job. She is also running her own private practice, Full Circle Acupuncture, in Taos, NM where she treats a wide variety of syndromes (www.acupuncturetaos.com).
Dr. Oviedo currently resides in Taos, NM with her four lovely daughters. She enjoys practicing the traditional arts of Gong Fu Cha (Chinese tea ceremony), Qi gong, and Tibetan Buddhist meditation. She is a lover of nature, and is always exploring natural medicines and foods including both plants and fungi. She is currently using her art background to explore the sacred art forms of Buddhism and their connection to meditation.
She teaches Introduction to Oriental Medicine (HHHA 116) and some meditation classes.
Tamara Fraser 