About Cator

Cator Shachoy is a master healer with over 35 years experience in Craniosacal, Yoga and Meditation. What she has to offer has been cultivated over decades of daily personal practice, hands on clinical experience, as well as exchange with peers and mentors. Her expertise and capacity to help others comes from the depth of her lived experience, something that cannot be bought or sold. Her professional training includes:

Craniosacral Therapy & Energy Healing:

* 1200 hour Milne Institute Certificate & Program Assistant

* Pediatrics with Benjamin Shield & Program Assistant

* Craniosacral Biodynamics with Michael Shea & Program Assistant

* 250 hour Embodyment Training in Energetic & Relational Skills

* 160 hour Kripalu Massage Certificate

* Kripalu Energy Balancing week long intensive

* On-going personal study and exploration with mentors, peers and clinical experience

Yoga Training: 

* 500 hour program with Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco

* 200 hour program with Kripalu Yoga Center 

* ERYT-500 & YACEP certification with Yoga Alliance

* Yoga Therapist certification through Int’l Assoc of Yoga Therapy (IAYT)

* Iyengar Yoga Instructor level 1 certificate (IYNAUS)

* Yoga for Scoliosis certification with Elise Miller

* Yoga Nidra certification with Drs Mark Halpern & Andrea Deerheart (CCA)

* on-going study attending classes, workshops, retreats & intensives as well as through teaching and developing new bodies of work 

Mindful Awareness, Loving Kindness & Compassion Meditation Training:

* Anytime Anywhere Meditation (AAM) Teacher Program with Tergar International

* Buddhist Chaplaincy Certificate with Sati Center

* Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Internship at The Worcester Medical Center, Massachusetts

* Zen Hospice Project weekly volunteer for 5 years

* Spirit Rock Meditation Center Teen Council & Instructor for Teen & Family programs

* A cumulative total of several years in intensive silent meditation through participation in numerous extended retreats, from 2 days to 6 months

* 3 years residence in Buddhist, Yoga & Ecumenical spiritual communities

* Mentoring and Assisting Ruth Denison on retreats

* Co-teaching annual Yoga & Meditation daylong with Ajahn Pasanno for 5 years

Cator’s personal story includes being a competitive athlete throughout high school and college. Her last year at University she was like a steam engine running out of steam. Chronic illness resulted. After two years of finding no relief from conventional medicine, she began to research health and healing, exploring alternative modalities.

Cator’s initial introductions to Yoga Asana and Buddhist meditation (in 1990) resulted in an instant sense of reconnection – she felt at home. She began to practice daily right away, and felt benefits which inspired her to continue. Not long after this, while visiting a yoga center she was exposed to energy healing. There was an instant response within her being, “I want to learn how to do that!”

Following her instincts and her new found loves, Cator sought out training in each of these areas. The disciplines of Energy Healing, Meditation and Yoga lay the foundation for her adult life. As a part of her journey Cator live in Buddhist monasteries and spiritual communities for three years, after which she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Currently Cator has an inclusive family based private practice with offices in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Carlos, and offers therapeutic classes in Buddhism, craniosacral, mindfulness, meditation and yoga in person and online. She has taught for over 20 years in the US and internationally.

For Cator, exploring yoga, meditation and craniosacral is an ever deepening investigation into the nature of being human and alive. She wishes to support people on their journey toward living a more peaceful life.