John & Kim have been together for over 31 years. They met at a group mediation when they were just kids in high school John was only seventeen and Kim fifteen.. They became friends and got to know each other better after John became a teacher of Transcendental Meditation in 1971 at the age of 19. It was then that he created a meditation center in Encinitas where he held group meditations and initiations into said Transcendental Meditation. John gave lectures at our local San Diego Colleges, high schools and public forums. Kim set up the lectures for John at her local high school where she was now a senior. Kim's mother invited John to move into an extra room in their house, and before they knew it, they fell in love and about 8 months later, on the 20th of June in 1972 it was John's twentieth birthday, they chose that day for their wedding date and were married at the Self Realization Fellowship in Encinitas. They have three grown children, a daughter and two sons.

They have had many interesting life experiences, and the first summer of their marriage they visited some friends on Gabriola island in British Columbia, Canada. They fell in love with the Island, and bought an acre of land and built a log cabin. Two years later in the summer of 1974 they moved back to Gabriola for the birth of their first child. They went to Canada so they could be free to have their child born with natural childbirth methods. They believed in these methods and their abilities to deliver a baby by themselves. Their daughter Mira was born on April 29th, 1974 early in the morning. She came in three hours with no pain being experienced by Kim in the birthing process. This was done without the help of a doctor, nurse, midwife or any other authority. They did it themselves and consider it to be one of the defining moments of their lives.

In 1976 they opened an organic vegetarian restaurant called "Da Kine" in Leucadia, California. When Kim and John became vegetarians and meditator's in 1969 they also refrained from the use of alcohol, coffee, tobacco and drugs. This lifestyle paved the way for them to open a vegetarian restaurant, this became their first foray into the healing arts. Food as a healing art, was a new concept at that time and for most in this ‘bizarro' world it still is. This restaurant became a magnet for like minded people and soon John & Kim were meeting people from every field of the health and healing community.

In 1978 two powerful events occurred. John met a customer who practiced the art of Shiatsu. He offered to trade food credit for bodywork. Neither John or Kim had ever received bodywork from a professional before, they had no idea of it's efficacy and politely declined. This Shiatsu practitioner "Steve" persisted and finally offered his treatment to both of them free of charge when he realized it was the only way they would accept it.

John went first and this was his experience: The treatment consisted of deep pressure applied to tsubo's or acupressure points which lay along the various meridians. Sometimes the pressure was deep and to the novice it felt intrusive. At this juncture Steve took time to explain to John the correct methods of breathing and receptive thinking necessary on his part to make the treatment effective for both the patient and therapist. When Steve reached John's right foot he began to massage it deeply, John jerked his foot away crying out in pain and asking "What the hell are you trying to do to me? Don't you see that scar on my foot?" Steve replied, "Tell me about your foot." John explained how it had been cut severely in an accident five years before and that now it was always cold, stiff, sore, lacking in color and life. Steve asked, "Do you want it to stay that way?" John replied, "Of course not, but what can you do to help it?" Steve told him that he had much experience with scars and the effects of such trauma and that John should trust him to do what was necessary to make his foot better. So he did, and while it was painful to receive the deep massage on his injured foot, he allowed Steve to complete the treatment and trusted in his abilities to help return his foot to a healthier condition.

The following day John was astounded to notice an improvement of at least 50% in his foot, it was warmer, had color, more movement, less pain, all in all it was such a dramatic improvement
that John realized that he must learn how to do this work and the following day began making inquiries on how to do so.

The other event was just as significant. One day in the summer of 1978 a couple walked into Da Kine. This was no ordinary couple, these people were in their fifties. Keep in mind, at this time John & Kim were in their twenties and their average restaurant patron, was even younger than them. John approached the couple, introduced himself and inquired of them as to their reasons for entering an organic vegetarian restaurant.

They invited him to sit down and told him that the husband had a terminal illness and was referred to Da Kine by their doctor. Wow! This was news to John, what in the world was a doctor doing referring people to an organic vegetarian restaurant? They had a long conversation with John and told him that they must eat this way for one reason, to stay alive. They were allowed no; meat, fish, fowl, eggs, alcohol, coffee, drugs, tobacco, etc.. He was only allowed to eat fresh organic vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds, sprouts, juices etc.. During the course of the conversation John was asked what kind of diet he ate, and he replied that he ate exactly as the doctor had prescribed.

It was at this juncture that the couple told him the most important statement he had ever heard about health. "John" they said, "We have been told that you don't catch these types of illnesses, you earn them, by your lifestyle and eating habits." In the years following this conversation John has heard this hundreds of time by the worlds most educated men and women in the fields of health. You make your health every day by what you consume. This couple congratulated John & Kim for their choices and encouraged them to continue to eat and live a healthy lifestyle. They told John that if you continue to eat in this fashion the chances of getting an illness like his was very unlikely, almost impossible.

Both John & Kim had become vegetarian for one reason, it was humanitarian. They simply realized for them, it was wrong to kill their fellow beings and eat their dead bodies. As the years went by they became educated about the healthy aspects of eating a vegetarian organic diet, and now that John has reached the age of fifty and Kim forty eight, they have realized the long term effects of this lifestyle. Both agree that they feel healthier and stronger now, than ever before in their lives. At the same time they have seen the devastating effects of the average American diet on their peers and fellow citizens of comparable age.

These two events set them on their current course, the realization that when the human body is touched properly healing can occur, and that nutrition is the most important and easiest way for a person to develop and maintain proper health. Nutrition is twofold, first of all give your body healthy food, secondly, avoid putting poisons into, or onto your body. These poisons are found in the food we eat, shampoos, soaps, cleaning products etc... Even today 34 years later, these two factors are the key principles of their lives and practice.

John began his studies of soft tissue work with B.J. Carlisle in 1978. B.J. was a master of the healing arts. He called his art Kiatsu, it is a blend of the healing arts of Japan and the Kahuna arts of Hawaii. B.J. was a direct descendant of King Kamehameha III, the royal monarch who unified the Hawaiian Islands. He was a Hawaiian Kahuna and also a master of the Martial Arts. John and B.J. worked and studied together for a period of 6 years. John was instrumental in bringing B.J. to Encinitas where they opened the "Dojo of the Four Winds."

Years later, 1989 John & Kim were at a spiritual retreat in New Hampshire, John had volunteered to work every day for a number of hours at the ashram's clinic. It was there that he had the good fortune to meet Paul St. John, the founder and director of the St. John Neuromuscular Therapy Institute. John was very impressed by Paul's abilities and realized that he had truly met a giant in the healing arts field. Paul encouraged him to begin the study of Neuromuscular Therapy and soon both John & Kim began to study and practice NT in earnest.

Both John & Kim became certified in the work in 1993, and soon were accepted to the training program for NT instructors. John became a certified instructor in 1995 and Kim attained staff position. They opened their own clinic called North County Neuromuscular Therapy in 1994 and have been practicing and teaching since that time.

John & Kim are also graduates of The Body Mind College, and have received their 1000 hour, or Holistic Health Practitioner Certification.

In 1999 John met Pamela Kelly the creator of an advanced field of applied kinesiology, this work is called Bio-Graphic therapy. John & Pam worked together developing a method for using Neuromuscular Therapy and Bio-Graphic therapy during the same session. They found this combination to be particularly effective especially for so called "incurable" patients. Kim found herself attracted to Bio-Graphic Therapy and began studying with Pam. By the following year she had become competent enough to practice on her own.

For more info on Bio-Graphic therapy look under that heading on the home page.

John and Kim now use this combination of arts with all of their patients. Their scope of practice includes, Neuromuscular Therapy, Bio-Graphic Therapy, Nutritional Counseling, Herbal Programs, Flexibility training, Flower Essences and Essential Oils.

John & Kim also teach seminars in advanced application of NT, and instruction in Bio-Graphic therapy and it's application.

John & Kim enjoy sports such as hiking, running, bicycling, surfing. They built their own adobe house, even making the bricks themselves. They are organic gardeners with a large garden and orchard. They also grow palms and other trees in their own nursery. They both play classical & acoustic guitar. John is learning the violin and Kim the Paraguayan harp. They love music and host regular house concerts featuring some of the worlds greatest musicians. To learn more about the House concerts go to www.hornbacherconcerts.com .