Mardi van Winkle has worked in the fields of creativity and healing all her life. Early on, at age nine, she began a career as a professional dancer, performing with the New York City Ballet on their West Coast tours. Later she toured with the San Francisco Contemporary Dancers and directed and choreographed for her own dance company, Open Arts.
While raising her two children, she worked as an arts administrator in Santa Cruz, California. She developed numerous community programs for the Cabrillo Music Festival, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the Santa Cruz Symphony.
Mardi now lives in downtown Oakland, California, where she bases her active healing practice. From her office overlooking Lake Merrit, she serves patients from around the globe. To keep abreast, she participates in an ongoing study program for healers and attends yearly seminars.
Mardi first learned about Christian Science practice from her grandmothers, who, by stories and example, instilled in her a lifetime commitment to spiritual healing. Mardi began her career as a healer in 1994 as a Christian Science nurse. For over fourteen years, she practiced hands-on compassion and intimate home care. “It is an honor to care for a person who faces an illness,” she says, “to wash them, feed them, and stand by them as they discover, through crisis, who they really are.” Today Mardi applies the tenderness and courage she learned as a nurse in her present work as a Christian Science practitioner.
One of Mardi's unique qualities is her creative love of children. She has six grandchildren and three godchildren. She works with foster children and teaches Sunday school at her local church. Cases involving children, birth, and adoption are natural for Mardi.
In her free time, Mardi enjoys hiking, cooking, writing, and the vibrant cultural life of the San Francisco Bay Area. She also spends time at her retreat home in the mountains. Here she writes, hosts study groups, and hikes. On occasion, she invites patients to her retreat home for quiet and reflection.
The joy of her work is witnessing individuals come into their own through the healing experience. “My goal is immediate, permanent cure and inspired self-discovery. I welcome calls from people of all beliefs.”