Donna described her young years as fairly subdued. She spent most of her time with friends and family enjoying board games and cards. In her twenties, socializing, studying wine, and travel became a focal point of her life, although she says she never lost her love for board games, which is a really good thing during this time of social distancing.
Perhaps it is having both sets of grandparents come to America from Italy that prompted Donna to travel there to study wine production.
- “In my twenties, I went on wine tasting retreats from Northern Italy to Tuscany. We had private visits to wine estates where they would prepare meals for us accompanied by specific wines. Over the years my other visits to Italy also included some private tastings. I took a formal course to study wine and still enjoy wine tastings in New York City. I hope someday to continue my studies. I enjoy attending lectures to hear owners or representatives speak about their vineyards and the specific characteristics that make their wines unique.”
Married for 41 years, Donna still lives on Long Island. She has three daughters. “My oldest daughter lives in CA where she is a sustainable gardener. She teaches farm to table gardening in schools as well as permaculture and biodynamic farming. My middle daughter lives between NY and CA and has a freelance career in fashion. My youngest daughter, who is an Italian teacher, and my wonderful son-in-law live just a mile away.”
Donna attend community college and studied Nursery Education with plans to continue training as a teacher. During the 70’s, there was an economic crisis, which resulted in cutbacks in teaching programs and gas rationing. “We were only able to get gas according to the even/odd license plates. The teaching program was closed, and my studies went on the back burner. Fortunately, in high school I had learned shorthand, dictation, and typing and I found a job as an office manager for a land care company. Once I had children, I became a stay-at-home mom. I loved staying active with my girls and being involved in their school activities.”
At the age of 38, Donna decided to study Jiu Jitsu. “We were taught about Qi and energy and I became very intrigued with that concept. After a couple of years of learning and harnessing my own Qi during workouts, I realized I wanted to study this non-conventional perspective of healing.” This prompted Donna to go to college to study Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture and Chinese Herbs she graduated at 45 and began her career as a licensed acupuncturist.
A few years after graduating the East Asian Medicine program, Donna felt the need to go inward and explore more deeply her emotional and spiritual self. This led to her to seek out meditation, chanting, and sound. “A sound workshop led me to Laaraji, my first mentor in sound and now friend.”
I attended many sound meditations in New York City, and felt very strongly about bringing this powerful modality to Long Island. Eventually, I began to offer sound workshops at different venues and continued to study about the impact of sound vibration.” It was around this time, that Donna took her first tuning fork class in New York. Shortly, after taking this class she discovered the Acutonics® Planetary Tuning Forks in the newsletter that she received from Golden Flower Chinese Herbs.
“As an acupuncturist, I felt very aligned with the emphasis that Acutonics places on the meridian system. I was also happy to receive the CEU’s required to continue my diplomate status with the NCCAOM. After experiencing my first Acutonics course, I knew that I would want to teach this work and be able to offer CEU’s. I stayed on a very steady path with all my classes and electives, traveled to New Mexico to study with Donna and Ellen, and completed my teacher training in 2013, in both Level l and lI.”
Donna states that studying Acutonics has shifted her life and broadened her understanding of energy and our inter-connectedness with the Universe through the archetypal qualities of the planets, their unique sound and healing effects.
- “As a practitioner, my studies with Acutonics allowed me to combine acupuncture, sound, and archetypes to make each patient session more healing and powerful. It has also been such a joy to teach and watch the students absorb this new information. I can feel their enthusiasm to tell and treat everyone they know. During my studies it was the excitement of experiencing the tuning forks, getting up from the table and just saying ‘wow’. I love watching my students have their first experience on the treatment table, getting up and just saying “wow.”
As students come to Acutonics from diverse backgrounds with unique skill sets, Donna encourages her students to rely on their own skill sets, experiences, and sensitivities which are their gifts. There is no hierarchy of education in her classes. She likes to share with her students the visualization of energy as she sees it travel through the body, and to encourage her students to develop and use their own sensitivities and intuition during the clinical practicum in classes.
“I also enjoy sharing a biomedical perspective of how our body responds to sound. I discuss brainwave states, the vagus nerve, biomedical changes and structural responses. Once this is explained, students begin to understand realize that they are truly working with important healing tools, and why their power needs to be respected.”
At this time, New York is under stay at home guidelines, so Donna’s office is closed but she has continued to reach out to students and to find creative solutions that allow her to continue working with patients and teaching. Her next official in person Level I is scheduled for November 6-8, 2020 and Level II is scheduled for November 13, 14, 15, 2020.
Donna can be reached at donna@innerstrengthwithdonna.com.