Christina Allen
Founder and Director
Christina practices and instructs individuals in the art of Energy Medicine. She became interested in the interplay between matter, consciousness, and energy through her readings about the Vedics, Taoism, and Shamanism as an adolescent; she has been working with this interface ever since. Her undergraduate training was as a Physicist at the University of California Santa Cruz, followed by a PhD program in Neuroscience at the Salk Institute, through the University of California San Diego. Her spiritual studies started in earnest four years into her graduate degree, when with the death of her mother she realized that as the body dies, consciousness remains in tact. Knowing she could only study consciousness as a product of a physical living brain within her degree program, she bravely left academia, and answered her soul’s calling to continue her studies from outside the conventions of a laboratory setting. By apprenticing with renowned Masters of Yoga, Reiki, and Shamanism she has spent almost 30 years integrating the power and wisdom of ancient indigenous Energy Medicine with her studies of physics, biology, and neuroscience.
As a former owner of, and instructor at, the Blue Raven Yoga and Healing Center in the San Diego area, and as an associate professor at California State University San Marcos, Christina taught Hatha and Ashtanga yoga for 13 years. She began her formal shamanic studies under the guidance of psychologist, medical anthropologist, and shaman Alberto Villoldo, at the Four Winds Society. She remained at the Four Winds for a decade, apprenticing as an assistant , and eventually teaching as a Lead Teacher. In this capacity, Christina worked with students from around the globe, teaching the practice of Energy Medicine in the United States and Mexico, and leading trips to Peru to work with the Q’ero paq'os, or shamans.
Since leaving the Four Winds, Christina has taken her studies with the Andean medicine deeper, studying extensively Juan Nuñez del Prado's teachings through Joan Parisi Wilcox, and she has studied with many other shamanic teachers from various other traditions, giving her a wide base of shamanic wisdom. Integrating all she has learned from her trainings in science, yoga, and her shamanic studies into her own way of teaching, Christina started the Austin Shamanic Center, in 2014. Through Christina’s leadership, published articles and writings, shamanic healing practices, training workshops, and sacred journeys, she has helped empower many individuals, and groups, helping them reclaim their personal integrity and intuitive gifts as thy raise their level of soul consciousness. Her aim is to help create a community of grounded, authentic, beings who can bring through the magic of Creation, to be of service to humanity, in its many different forms.
- Listen to a 2014 podcasrt interview with Christina
- See a 2020 Facebook Live interview with Christina
Read Christina's Articles
Amanda Nitschke
Assistant Shamanic Teacher, Children's Program
Amanda’s professional and spiritual paths have become increasingly interwoven throughout the last several years. Amanda holds a B.A. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Southwest Texas State University. She is also a Full Mesa Carrier in the Q'ero traditions of Peru, has completed her studies in Energy Medicine at the Austin Shamanic Center, and is a Master Level practitioner of Reiki. She is a registered yoga teacher at the 200 hour level, having also completed the Radiant Child Children’s Yoga training (95 hours) including Yoga for Autism, ADHD, & Differently-Abled Children.
With her fifteen years of experience working in Austin as a speech-language pathologist, Amanda's private practice now consists of healing, therapy and yoga sessions working on the physical, neurological and spiritual levels. As a mother, educator and healer, Amanda is passionate about healing, empowering, and educating others through creating a connection to both the soul and to our beautiful Pachamama.
Anthony Palomba
Assistant Shamanic Teacher
Anthony is a Full Mesa Carrier and a certified graduate of the Energy Medicine Certification program at the Austin Shamanic Center. His background studies are in Computer Science and Music Composition at the University of Texas at Austin, and has spent many years as a successful software developer. His healing path brought him to work with many modalities, where he eventually found shamanic healing. Once there, he discovered his connection to the Andean mystical traditions and enrolled at ASC where he established a solid foundation in shamanic studies. Anthony now also travels to Peru, further deepening his studies in Andean Shamanism, and trains with indigenous paq'os of Q'eros. Having discovered his calling as a shamanic healer, Anthony's healing practice is where he is able to integrate the teachings of the Austin Shamanic Center, into a practice that maintains the highest integrity and ayni, while he also combines shamanism, computer science, and music to create sound healings and audio/visual performances that express the Andean Cosmovision.