Guest Instructors

We are so fortunate to have these wonderful teachers, practitioners and educator as guest instructors at Mongata. Meet them now and visit our offerings and events page to check out upcoming courses.

Dr. John D. Ross

Dr. Ross has been licensed to practice Asian Medicine and Acupuncture in NM and FL and has been Nationally Board Certified in Acupuncture since 1988. He holds Expanded Practice Certification in NM, allowing him to use advanced modalities, including injection therapy, hormone therapy, and IV therapies. He served as a member and Chair of the NM Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and President of the NM State Acupuncture Association. He has also served as Assistant Unit Director of the NM Serves Medical Reserve Corps Integrated Medicine Unit.  

Dr. Ross was traditionally trained in Asian Martial and Healing Arts in a Master / Student apprentice style. He holds a 4th degree Black Belt, Instructor Rank, in Ka-Ju -Kenpo; 3rd degree Black Belt, Instructor Rank, in Shunyata-Ryu; and has been certified as a Tai Chi for Arthritis (TM) Instructor. He has studied Qi Gong, Tai Chi, and Asian Martial and Healing Arts under numerous teachers.

He was an Associate Professor, Clinical Supervisor, and instructor of Tai Chi and Qi Gong at Southwest Acupuncture College in Santa Fe, NM. As one of the first Acupuncturists in the United States to have practiced in a hospital setting, he was on staff at Jupiter Hospital Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, and practiced Asian Medicine and taught Yoga, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong at the Mind/Body Institute of Jupiter Medical Center. 

In 2001 he had the honor to be asked to take over his instructor's private practice in Santa Fe, NM, one of the oldest continuous private Acupuncture practices in the country. His private practice primarily focuses on difficult and unusual cases which have not responded well to Western Medicine or other types of therapies and modalities. His emphasis is on empowering people to take responsibility for their own health and well-being through movement, nutrition, and stress reduction, " The Three Free Therapies."

He is the Manager of Beginner's Mind Medical Arts Institute, LLC, which provides advanced medical education courses to medical professionals in NM and nationwide.

Melissa Rehfeldt

Melissa Rehfeldt has been practicing mindfulness and meditation since 2009. She has traveled to China, the Philippines, and around the United States, learning from her teacher, the founder of Sheng Zhen, Master Li. On these journeys, she has participated in numerous workshops, meditation retreats, and teacher trainings culminating in more than 450 hours of class time.

Melissa is a Certified Sheng Zhen Teacher who has been teaching group and private classes since 2018 and collaborating in retreats, workshops, healing centers, and sound therapy offerings. 

Melissa will teach a “Nine Turns” Qigong Workshop at Mongata on December 6, 2023. In this practice we circulate our qi using our mind and imagination. We follow a specific path in the body, making one big circle through certain meridians. 

Excerpt from the contemplation for this meditation: “Moving the qi is also moving the mind. Let the mind balance and harmonize the qi in the body. The fresh, clean qi can flush out murky qi. Consciously release the murky qi. Then the body is left with only clean and clear qi. As the clean qi fills the body, it takes on the shape of the human form. Pure qi then permeates every pore of the body.”

Imelda Almqvist

Imelda Almqvist is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seidr/Old Norse Traditions (the ancestral wisdom teachings of Northern Europe). She published four books:

  • Natural Born Shamans: A Spiritual Toolkit for Life (Using shamanism creatively with young people of all ages), 2016

  • Sacred Art: A Hollow Bone for Spirit (Where Art Meets Shamanism), 2019

  • Medicine of the Imagination - Dwelling in possibility (an impassioned plea for fearless imagination), 2020

  • North Sea Water in My Veins: The Pre Christian Spirituality of the Low Countries, 2022

Imelda has also started her fifth book about the runes of the Futhark/Uthark, and has a series of picture books for children, The Green Bear.

Imelda has presented her work on both The Shift Network and Sounds True. She also appears in a TV program entitled Ice Age Shaman, made for the Smithsonian Museum, and in the series Mystic Britain, talking about Neolithic arctic deer shamanism.

In response to the 2020 pandemic, she opened an online school called Pregnant Hag Teachings to make more of her classes available online.

Petroglyphs of Soul - Sacred Art Retreat

We are excited to announce Petroglyphs of Soul, a Sacred Art Retreat led by Imelda Almqvist at the Mongata Healing Center, October 11-15, 2023. Imelda is an international teacher of Sacred Art and Seiðr/Old Norse Traditions. She is also a painter and author of eight books. In addition to non-fiction books, she writes and illustrates picture books for children (The Green Bear Series). She divides her professional time between London UK, Sweden, and the US, and her paintings can be found in collections all over the world.

The Mongata Healing Center is situated near the famous La Cieneguilla Petroglyph site. During this five-day sacred art retreat (with ceremonial work in the evenings), we will visit these petroglyphs, make art inspired by petroglyphs and also compare the local petroglyphs to similar petroglyphs on other continents (especially in Scandinavia and Siberia).

Learn More About Imelda

Website
Online School
YouTube and Podcast
Facebook
Twitter: @ImeldaAlmqvist
Instagram: @almqvistimelda