About Our Teachers
Mimi Iklé-Khalsa
Lead Teacher
Mimi has been in the healing profession since becoming a licensed massage therapist in 1995. Realizing massage was not a sustainable practice for her body, she began to study other highly effective healing modalities. She became a Registered Polarity Therapist in 2001 and a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist in 2003. Shortly after graduation, Mimi began her teaching career as an assistant for the Wellness Institute for Energetic Studies. In 2012, Mimi became an approved teacher of BCST. Mimi joined the BCTA/NA Board of Directors in 2010, became the president in 2012 stepped down as the president in 2018 serving as an advisor to the board until 2020. Mimi loves taking the basic biodynamic principles of presence, relational fields, holding space, and supporting integration into her corporate role, her home life, her many volunteer jobs and the world in general
Christel Libiot
Teacher
Christel Libiot RCST®, started her journey into biodynamic craniosacral therapy in 2013 under the tutelage of Mimi Iklé-Khalsa and Roger Gilchrist. She was already practicing cranial therapy after receiving her introductory training from Rose Khalsa in 2012.
She has been a TA since 2017. She completed her “teacher in training” course and became an approved teacher in 2020. In past training she was in charge of leading the TA team as well as some of the required reviews between classes. More recently, she has taught parts of the Biodynamic Principles for Professional Program.
She loves everything about biodynamic craniosacral therapy, and it never ceases to amaze her how much more she can learn about this incredible modality. She hopes to spend the rest of her days unraveling the mysteries that the breath of life offers.
Prior to becoming a biodynamic craniosacral therapist, Christel was a photo, film and video producer for 10 years. A health crisis invited her to let go of the corporate world and she found meaning in the healing world. She worked with organizations supporting cancer survivors and with a local hospice center, and has mentored and trained women for the past 15 years in the Women Within community. In 2021 Christel became a community herbalist and has shared her herbal products through her herbal CSA. Christel is also a certified life coach and a Reiki Master. Her practice is in Annapolis, MD.
Kathy Shipley, MS, LMT, RCST
Advanced Craniosacral Practitioner
A self-described lifelong learner, Kathy received an M.S. in Zoology in 1999 while working as a wildlife research biologist in central Ohio. After retiring from the wildlife field in 2011, she began her academic bodywork education by graduating from Massage Therapy school in 2013, obtaining her certification in Neuromuscular release techniques, and attending Upledger Craniosacral therapy training 1 & 2. Kathy began incorporating craniosacral techniques into massage sessions as often as possible, and discovered the amazing results that this modality can have by helping clients embody their being in a more holistic way.
Kathy looked into more advanced training in craniosacral therapy by taking a beginner level biodynamic craniosacral workshop which convinced her that the biodynamic approach was exactly what she had been looking for. She completed the biodynamic craniosacral foundation training with Jennifer Corlett, PhD in 2016, and continues to study biodynamic skills, pre and peri-natal work, primitive reflexes, relational bodywork, and somatic trauma work, especially working with clients who are recovering from early developmental trauma. Biodynamic craniosacral therapy is now her primary working modality with clients, using a trauma-informed approach.
In addition to Kathy’s bodywork practice she enjoys gardening, nature photography, and spending time with her beloved dogs and husband.
Kathy assisted at Heartwaves Healing Institute as a table assistant during the 2019-2020 Foundations class and as a teaching assistant in 2021-2022.
Steph Bean
Advanced Craniosacral Practitioner
A graduate of Potomac Massage Training Institute with 17 years of professional massage experience and an Associate’s Degree in Health Education, Steph has made a career of working with people to better understand and support their own health and healing. Steph has training in traditional massage work, neuromuscular therapy, trauma integration, and also has experience working with complicated medical needs and with people in all stages of life. Other specialized training includes Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy, a very gentle modality that supports the nervous system. The goal is providing resources for integrating the body’s experience in a way that helps facilitate the ability to be present, enabling better access to one’s whole body, mind, and spirit.
Steph’s outlook is that we have just what we need in our bodies, but we all need help from time to time to access those internal resources. Regular body work in addition to other health supporting behaviors can really improve our quality of life.
Off the job, Steph is very involved in family, their faith community, getting lost in a good book, and enjoying nature whenever possible.