Each year for nearly 20 years I have been spending months  living and working with Khoekhoe or San (KhoeSan) peoples variously in Namibia, Botswana or South Africa.

Following family traditions I started life as an osteopath and acupuncturist. After working as a health practitioner in the UK and NZ and subsequently running a successful osteopathic partnership in the UK, I headed off for a university training in archaeology, history of medicine and anthropology / African history (Bangor University /Durham University / Imperial College / UCL / Oxford University). Then came a series of research fellowships, teaching posts and NGO initiatives. I am currently Museum Director of !Khwa ttu San Heritage Centre and a Research Affiliate, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Despite searching for a new career in my later 20s , the great wheel always drew me round to healing. So healing and how it relates to human environmental relationships among hunter gatherers is my thing. As we are all essentially hunter-gatherers this gives my work a broad relevance. And as healing relates to biology, medicine and spirit, this leads down such diverse avenues as shamanism, consciousness, muscle memory, tracking, embodiment, relationships with nature….

To keep me embedded in the sensory world I sometimes stop writing, resist ‘the field’ and amuse myself on various instruments or head off barefoot running or telemark skiing. All great ways to WAKE UP.