Meet the Zen Gypsies

From the beginning of time, people have gathered to create strong, safe, nurturing environments... to create communities. Our mission is to invite you to pause, slow down, and create and share that sense of community with you. Just as nomadic tribes traveled the world, sharing their culture with others, offering glimpses into an exotic world apart from the ordinary, these gypsies also incorporated local customs and traditions into their own lives. Each community was transformed and enriched through interaction with the other.  In that same vein, the Zen Gypsies travel to you, co-creating an oasis of calm and igniting a sense of play and adventure that will allow your creative spirit to open to unlimited possibilities.  Conducting holistic workshops that explore elements of mindfulness, creativity, movement and self-inquiry, we immerse you in a total sensory experience.  Together, we will journey into uncharted territory, empowering you to transcend the everyday.

The Zen Gypsies are Aurora and Melinda.  They are ecopreneurs (putting purpose and planet before profits) that create community through mobile holistic workshops that explore elements of mindfulness, creativity, movement and self-inquiry to foster and honor each person's unique voice.

When not out spreading inspiration, you will find Aurora and Melinda making their homes in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

Aurora’s professional background is in DOD and scientific program management, research, technical and scientific writing in the areas of configuration management, logistics and behavioral pharmacology.  She is pursuing her passion for holistic wellness and mind-body practices by completing dissertation work for her Ph.D. in the psychobiology of healing.  Other interests include a deep appreciation for jazz music, dance and the thought processes underlying creativity.  Aurora believes in every individual’s capacity for unlimited creativity and joy, which begins with setting an intention to be open, curious and spontaneous.  She lives in rural Southern Maryland located on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

Melinda has a professional background in information systems, office management and event planning, but her passions lie in dabbling in all manner of creative endeavors surrounded by fabrics, paper, paint and glue, shopping thrift and vintage stores, digging in the dirt in the garden, stirring a pot on the stove or exploring where ever she finds herself.  She lives in the suburbs of Washington, DC in a Victorian frame house that is in a constant state of renovation with a supportive husband and a variety of pets.  It is her hope that by sharing their adventures, you too, will be inspired to create.

Aurora and Melinda met while studying improvisational tribal fusion dance.  It is an American performance art form that is rooted in the ancient art of Middle Eastern raqs sharki, or what Westerners call belly dance.  True to the American melting pot tradition, the original art form evolved from a solo expression of movement to a dynamic group performance art embedded with representations of dance traditions and cultures from all over the world.  These rich, varied layers of customs and tradition, old and new were combined to create a constantly evolving art form.  It is from this aesthetic as well as the strong sense of connection among the tribal dance community that the vision for Zen Gypsies was born, inspiring them to bring this same sense of community to embellish everyday living.  Like a tapestry, our varied professional and personal experiences provide a multifaceted toolkit of resources to share in helping empower others to find their unique offering to the world.

Join us as we chronicle our adventures building a community of Zen Gypsies!