Michael Dunning, Founder and Director of the Sacred Yew Institute

Michael is a shaman, musician, artist and writer from Scotland. He discovered the power of craniosacral therapy during a prolonged and mysterious illness. Michael has defined this illness as “spiritual” in nature and has written about the extraordinary nine – year period of his healing, shamanic - initiation and transformation under the branches of an ancient and sacred Yew tree in the book “Soul Companions” and in the shamanic journal “Sacred Hoop”. Michael began his formal studies in Craniosacral Therapy with Donald Howitt DO in Edinburgh, Scotland in the early 1990's. The training was enhanced by the presence of co-teachers who had studied with Franklyn Sills in the early years of the Karuna Institute in Cornwall. As a post-graduate practitioner Michael attended workshops in pediatrics with the late Dr Al Pelowski and in “Breath of Life” training with Tez Sawicki. More recently he attended a workshop-series in embryology at the Rudolph Steiner Institute Summer School with Jaap Van der Wal.  Michael is currently enjoying select Body Mind Centering (BMC) trainings with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in California.


Michael emigrated to USA from Scotland in 2003. He currently lives in rural Western Massachusetts.

To read about Michael's shamanic work and experience:  www.yewshamanism.com