In Memoriam
A Tribute to my Good Friend and Teaching Partner
Michele Newmark
June 7, 1950 – April 29, 2016
Michele was one of my best friends for almost 40 years, my teaching partner for 27 years, and my life partner for nine years. I have no words to express the gratitude I feel for all of the gifts that she brought into my life, the lives of my two daughters Maya and Guru Mantra, and into the lives of the thousands of students who attended our classes and workshops.
Born and raised in southern California, Michele attended Chiropractic College in 1973 and earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1977 under Dr. Phillip Curcuruto D.C., who brought Reichian Therapy to the West Coast over 60 years ago. She received her Master’s degree in biology with clinical emphasis in nutritional biochemistry in 1987, the same year she relocated to Northern California with her two young, home-born children, Sasha and Ian.
While continuing her Reichian Therapy and nutrition practice, she also formulated her own signature line of botanical fragrances, massage oils & incense, “Yakshi,” establishing her small manufacturing business nationwide for over 12 years.
Michele was a masterful Reichian Therapist and teacher in ways of giving and receiving pleasure. She was involved in the academic and personal study of human sexuality since 1969. The basis of her work was grounded in Reichian Therapy and the works of Dr. Wilhelm Reich. She received one of her degrees and over 35 years of personal training under the tutelage of Dr. Deborah Curcuruto, Ph.D., and Dr. Philip Curcuruto, D.C. Stemming from a chiropractic orientation, Michele utilized Dr. Philip Curcuruto’s “Cranial-Vegetotherapy”, one of the most original contributions to the modalities of Reichian Therapy.
The cranial technique, which removes stress in the cranial sutures, reestablishing normal pulsatory movement of cerebrospinal fluid and in turn normal muscular reaction in the body, contributes to the broader prospective of Reichian Therapy. She also held classes on “Reichian Therapy & Kundalini Yoga Intensive” and “Women’s Reichian Therapy Intensive and Yoni Yoga”.
Michele was board certified by The American College of Sexologists.
