Christopher Lowman

Updated: January 7, 2010

All you really need to know about me is that I care deeply about humanity, our world, and know that for there to be a better tomorrow, change must start in our own minds and hearts today. I wish you luck on your journey.

The crux of my story, which, admittedly, is a little different than most of my peers' begins when I was 20 years old visiting London. At the behest of my father, I received a treatment from a sagely Ayurvedic doctor from India named Douja that without question, fundamentally changed the course my life. 

At the time, I was an ambitious senior at New York University planning on going to NYU's prestigious law school with the goal of becoming a lawyer. Besides the profundity of the doctor's presence and insight into my inner world, what I remember most was the clear and life-altering revelation I had immediately following the treatment. I realized that everything we want in life, e.g., happiness, love, power, security, etc. is derived from within our own selves, that these qualities are the core of who we are. I understood that we have been cut off from the well within and that such ancient medicine was a tool to reconnect with it. These key insights I had have not altered to this day and have come to form the foundation for my entire philosophy and the philosophy of Moving Towards Peace.

Leaving London, I knew I needed to continue with this medicine. Nothing else seemed important and my ambitions shifted dramatically. I was given the name and number of a woman who practices Jin Shin Jyutsu, a Japanese form of natural medicine. Without question or investigation I went to see her, and after my first session, I knew that the study and practice of Jin Shin Jyutsu would be my path.

Life turned determinedly bohemian and unconventional, risky in some ways, after graduating from NYU with a degree in philosophy. What ensued was a diverse reservoir of experience and circumstance, which I now realize had one primary objective: to train me for the work that I came to this world to do.

I started taking back-to-back Jin Shin Jyutsu training seminars, having lots of personal sessions, and began practicing Jin Shin Jyutsu professionally around age 22. I even had an office (with a waiting room!) on the Upper West Side of Manhattan that I rented from my dear friend and Jin Shin Jyutsu instructor, Jed Schwartz, who was also something of a mentor. I spent some time in New York City's underground music scene, working at a famed record store, attending cool parties, and eventually produced some 12" singles with a good friend of mine from the store. I grew out of the music business and into a solitary and monastic way of life, dropping to 149 lbs. on a sugar-free, macrobiotic vegan (crazy) diet, pilgrimaging everyday to the Hindu Temple Society in Flushing, Queens from my flat in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and engaging in 2 hours of disciplined daily meditation. I was first introduced to Family Constellation Work during this time and one of the first constellations I had had to do with breaking an entanglement between me and a patriarchal religious institution. Naturally. So, I started eating hamburgers again, as well as pancakes, gained my weight back and moved to Santa Barbara, California—along with a part-time job from NYC that I could handle remotely—to be with my dad who was given 6 months or less to live.

I would enter into a heavy and intense period of heart-wrenching work, both inner and outer, here in my new home of California. Three months after arriving, I had a house fire that started in the middle of a yoga session—I escaped with my life, cat, and laptop. My dad died a short 8 weeks after the fire. His death hit me harder than expected and suddenly there was a huge, gaping void in my life, my sense of security and positioning in the world was destroyed. My part-time job turned into a grueling full-time job; I had serious project management responsibilities for a $15B/year risk management firm, where even the slightest mistake or misstep could have seriously negative ripple effects for everybody on my team. Often times, I felt as if I had a guillotine hanging over my head. Thankfully, I was well paid. To top it off, personal relationship difficulties abounded with my significant other, whom I was living with, and I lost my ability to sleep at night—I remember waking up some mornings with a tear in my eye saying, "something has got to give."

It did, and one day after reaching my breaking point, I moved out abruptly and decided to get a place of my own. Life would begin to get better from here. Though still busy and internally challenged, I was no longer responsible to anybody other than myself and could start to fully grieve the loss of my dad. It was time to start taking care of me and establish my own sense of security and positioning in the world.

Thanks mostly to numerous Family Constellations, ongoing Jin Shin Jyutsu sessions, and supportive people in my life, I've emerged from the belly of the beast wiser, stronger, and far more grounded than I've ever been. I endured several more mini-crises, financial and otherwise, that all threatened my livelihood, yet each time solutions would automatically arise to usher me into the next chapter of my life. It has become clear that nothing is ever wrong, all needs will get met, and that there is a benevolent power taking care of us that knows better than we. Sleep comes easily and naturally now.

The concept for Moving Towards Peace started in 2005 based on an intuitive knowing I had and still have that humanity is, contrary to cursory indications, moving into an era of greater peace and harmony (more on this point here). I've always viewed natural medicine as a tool to change the world, as I do not make a distinction between the turmoil in the world and the turmoil existing on the level of human consciousness. Moving Towards Peace is the other, arguably more fundamental, side of the equation of so called going green. It's necessary to clean up the pollution we can see with our two eyes, yet we must also clean up the consciousness that created it in the first place and that's what I'm here to help with.

I consder my mission one of service and do not concern myself with name, fame, or profit. My religion is Atma Vichara, Self-inquiry, and my prayer for you is steps large or small to more deeply understand who you truly are and re-connect with your own source of creativity, joy, and power.