At Ahimsa, we use a lot of dreaddontdie photography. Here’s a little bit more about the artist and ways to connect if you like his work.

dreaddontdie is a personal portfolio designed and developed by me, Kevin M. Gates. I'm a 43 year old husband, father, photographer, designer, developer and Chicago native. I created dreaddontdie in 2001 and invested hundreds of hours to showcase my technical and creative skills.

photography

My LOVE for photography started unexpectedly in 2001, after buying my first digital camera. over the years, travel, events and fatherhood transformed photography into a true passion. In recent years, I've photographed two weddings, produced a music video and have 20+ prints on display at the Microsoft office in Chicago.

education

I started high school at Lincoln Park but eventually dropped out and enrolled at prologue alternative h.s. to earn a diploma. before graduating in 2000, my teacher told me about i.c.stars, a paid business, leadership and technology training program. after visiting i.c.stars to learn more about the program, I bought a book to teach myself HTML. I spent part of the summer building a website for my high school and falling in love with web development. Later that year, I formally applied to i.c.stars, showed them my school's website and was surprised to be 1 of 10 accepted out of 300+ applicants.

i.c.stars

i.c.stars truly changed my life. Writing code felt like a grown-up version of Lego and I was hooked. during my 3 month internship at i.c.stars, I met an amazing person from Microsoft who graciously mentored me and sent me books to read. After completing i.c.stars and interviewing, I started working at Microsoft in January 2001 shortly after turning 20 years old.

microsoft

I started as an Associate Technology Specialist focused on Office and Windows until joining the Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) in Chicago as a Datacenter Manager. over time, I shifted to an Office 365 Specialist, delivering executive briefings and architecture design sessions for Microsoft's largest customers. I was later promoted to technical director, but after 14 years in the MTC, it was time for a change, so I transitioned to a Global Technology Strategist for Accenture, Avanade and Aon.

In august of 2016, I returned to my technical roots as a Cloud Solution Architect for Azure in the Global Partner Solutions division, helping customers and partners build applications using Azure.

community

Over the years, I've strived to inspire the next generation by mentoring, speaking at numerous events and hosting thousands of students & adults at the Microsoft office for tours, career talks and workshops.

social

You can find me on instagram, linkedin, github, youtube, istock and adobe stock.

I’ve worked with Christine in many facets over the years and I’m excited to welcome her to the Wabi Sabi Wellness Resource page. She has helped me to heal and grow into the person I am today, and she spearheaded our Moon Meditation group during the pandemic, when a conscious time for calm was needed. Read a little bit of her story below.

I have worked as a therapist for over 20 years and my approach has been influenced by my experience with and study of trauma and it’s after effects. I believe that most symptoms people experience can be traced back to a traumatic event.

Anxiety, depression, addictions including eating disorders, phobias, insomnia, anger issues, and social problems are often the result of trauma.

My focus is not to identify experiences as traumas but to provide treatment that helps the specific ways that these significant life events affect the mind and body.

I focus on developing a caring and collaborative relationship with my clients and on creating a safe space for them for their work in therapy.

I utilize a variety of traditional therapeutic techniques as well as newer evidence based approaches such as EMDR, mindfulness, hypnotherapy, cognitive, behavioral, and solution oriented solutions and a number of strategies derived from my training as a yoga instructor.

I also offer a form of energy healing, Divine Love Healing. It was developed by Ahlmeirah Ariel Hallaire, a former physician who now resides in France and teaches this and other forms of energy healing. Divine Love Healing removes energetic blocks to healing and facilitates personal growth and transformation over time. I was trained over the course of three years in all levels of Divine Love Healing and additional advanced processes as well.

Email Christine Saindon now for a free 15 minute consultation

resources