I had no intention of turning my backyard into a healing space.

A backyard garden with a gravel ground, small plants and bushes along a wooden fence, and a house in the background with a window and a towel hanging outside.
A backyard garden with various flowering plants, trees, and a wooden fence, with a house in the background and a blue sky.

When I first bought this property, the backyard space was barren and uninviting, mostly gravel and a few meager weeds.

Before long, it became overgrown and wild, unwieldy.

I knew the space had potential, but I didn’t yet have the vision.

For three years I managed the land, just barely keeping the wildness at bay.  

The physical terrain mirrored my own inner landscape at the time: in transition, emerging, disorderly but full of life.

Bright orange poppy flowers growing next to green foliage on a concrete surface, with shadows cast on the ground.

I was exploring different healing modalities and had recently discovered breathwork.

With that discovery, a door opened: into my own healing and into my capacity as a healing guide. 

In March of 2024, I returned home from a breathwork training in New Mexico with a bag of seeds and dried blossoms I’d been given by my mentor.

I decided to scatter the seeds in my backyard, connecting the two healing properties and connecting my mentor’s medicine to my own. 

An elderly woman with short gray hair and glasses, wearing a blue striped shirt with yellow buttons and gold jewelry, sitting on a floral-patterned couch with a framed landscape painting on the wall behind her.

Within two weeks of my return, on the first of April, my mother died suddenly. 

Even in my shock and grief, I somehow knew I needed to transform my backyard into a healing space, not just for me but for others. And I knew I needed to bring the project quickly to life. 

The month of April had started with my mother’s death, and needed to end in a rebirth. 

The land became a kind of sacred container I tended through ritual and ceremony, just as I was tending my own grief.

A small garden scene with a variety of plants, flowers, rocks, and a decorative glass sphere on gravel. The background features tall, colorful ornamental grasses and flowering plants.

One tending followed and informed the other.

Every decision—whether it was about a plant, a piece of art, the placement of an object, sitting area, or path—was made with clear intention.

It was a deeply therapeutic conversation that changed both me and the land.

By April’s end, the wheel had turned.

My mother’s death gave birth to the beautiful healing space now known as The Terrain. 

Once the outdoor space was finished, it was clear I would pursue a similar process to transform my garage into an indoor healing space.

Months later, The Lightning Tree was born. 

The Terrain and The Lightning Tree are now spaces where creativity, ceremony, celebration, and community converge.

Once barren and wild, now fertile ground for our continued personal and collective healing. 

It’s a great joy to welcome you here.

The name 'Robert' written in teal cursive handwriting.
A man sitting in a blue hammock chair outdoors among green plants, smiling at the camera.

TAKE A LOOK INSIDE

The Terrain & The Lightning Tree


[click on any image to enlarge]

A wooden garden gate with a decorative tree carving in the center, a handle on the left side, and a sign above it that reads 'The Terrain'. The gate is flanked by two house walls, one with green siding and the other with gray siding, and some plants
A corner of an outdoor patio area with a wooden fence, potted plants, and a blue house wall decorated with hummingbird metal art. There is a black outdoor light fixture, some bushes, and fallen leaves on the ground.
Decorative metallic hummingbird wall hangings on gray wooden siding with white flowers and green foliage in the foreground.
A backyard garden with a rock and wood pathway leading to a patio area with two blue Adirondack chairs and a fire pit. The garden is decorated with flowering plants, shrubs, and a small rock waterfall.
A garden scene with a water feature flowing over a rock, surrounded by green plants, small pebbles, and white flowering bushes.
A backyard garden with a gravel pathway, wooden planks and lush green plants, shrubs, and flowers on either side. Decorative bird statues and ornamental items are positioned near a wooden fence.
A plant with dark green, glossy, oval-shaped leaves and numerous small, green buds, set against a wooden fence.
A narrow garden pathway with stepping stones leading to a small wooden deck with chairs, surrounded by lush green plants and bushes, beside a house with gray siding.
Close-up of a wooden sign with the words 'Lighthouse Creek' and a tree logo, mounted on a house with green siding, a window, and some green plants in front, under a blue sky.
Yoga mats and towels arranged in a circle in a light-colored room with windows, artwork, and wooden beams on the ceiling.
A wooden table with various objects including a red and black box, bottles, a bowl with dried herbs and flowers, a feather, and tools, on top of a blue and white patterned cloth against a gray wall.
A stone Celtic cross monument surrounded by lush green foliage and colorful flowers in a garden.
A wooden fence with pink bougainvilla vines and flowers, decorated with string lights. In the center, there is a religious statue of a figure in robes placed in a small wooden shrine.
Colorful decorative sun wall hanging with a face, mounted on a house with horizontal siding, partially obscured by red and purple leaves of a plant in the foreground.
A weathered wooden memorial stone with an engraved inspirational quote, surrounded by gravel and small desert plants.
A wooden gate with a painting of waves and a sunset framed in a circular opening, a sign that says 'Remember' with Triquetra symbols, surrounded by decorative metal flower-shaped lanterns and potted plants.