To submit a Testimonial...
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Kati Standefer
Student
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The practices channeled and refined by Zhenevere, and the philosophies developed and expressed by her, are essential medicine for the culture and crises we are collectively living through. They have been transformative in my own life whenever I am brave enough to engage with them.
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I have read the defamation testimonials. As a devoted student specifically of the Eros work between 2019 and 2021, I was in some of the rooms written about. I can state with clarity and peace that NEVER did the environment feel exploitative or unsafe or salacious. I formerly worked as a sexual health educator and currently help people write stories of trauma, so I have a tight radar for situations of disempowerment or mistreatment of this kind. Instead, our eros intensives felt warm, vulnerable, connective like I'd rarely experienced while also challenging in the way of a tonifying bitter medicine (I did a lot of necessary crying--and laughing--and uncomfortable reckoning--in those rooms). Zhenevere taught us to see each other and ourselves more truly and provided a space to encounter ourselves, others, and the world through exercises that were embodied but explicitly consensual and regulated.
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Willa Roberts
Zhenevere's
Current Partner
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I am Willa, and I am Zhenevere Sophia Dao’s current girlfriend of 1 ½ years; as of the publication of this testimonial in December of 2022, I have been her dear friend and artistic collaborator for over 3 years. Firstly, it is an honor to write alongside Therese Wolfe’s testimonial, for Therese and I share the same outrage at the attempt, by a few people, most especially Zhenevere’s recent ex-partner, to sully her reputation and to “destroy [her] life.” Therese and Zhenevere had a most beautiful, monogamous relationship for nearly 12 years, after which they carefully forged a dedicated friendship, which continues to this day, a 22-year relationship the depth of which is unique in all my experience, and which I admire greatly. After the incident with Zhenevere’s recent ex-partner, which spurred the need for this testimonial, and which I will describe in detail, Therese and I, having never met before, spoke on the phone for hours, across distances of space and time, in order to support each other and Zhenevere in the face of this incomprehensible vindictiveness. I am so grateful to Therese, and for her unflagging love of Zhenevere.
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Therese Wolfe
Zhenevere's
Former Partner
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Let me begin by stating that I am very angry, outraged at the ludicrous, harmful, damaging and hurtful falsifications and outright lies being written, on an anonymous website, by certain persons, against Zhenevere Sophia Dao. In my opinion, the anonymity of these allegations is irresponsible and indicative of a total lack of accountability. I pray my testimonial takes all doubt out of anyone’s mind as regards this slander and libel.
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I am Zhenevere Sophia Dao’s longest intimate companion. We were romantically together for nearly twelve years, from late 1999–late 2010, and we remained, and remain, deepest friends, until this very moment—a 22 year ongoing friendship. Having literally lived with her for eleven years, in America and in Italy, I simply can no longer sit by in pained silence in the wake of her defamation.
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Monica Collu
Student
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Hello everyone, my name is Monica and I want to give my testimony on this site to confirm the moral integrity of a person I met as Maestro Daniel, who is now Zhenevere Sophia Dao. (I am writing as an Italian, using a translator.) [She] and [her] teaching left a beautiful memory in me. [She] taught many years ago in Italy, precisely on a small Tuscan island, the Island of Elba. [She] left a very strong memory in all [her] pupils and a great sadness in our hearts when [she] left. For years I've tried to get in touch to continue learning tai chi, but it has never been possible. I was very impressed by [her] story, and [her] transformation.
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Alexandra W
Student
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Aloha, I had a strange urge today to look up what was happening in the mogadao community as its been some years since I have been in New Mexico to practice. What I have come across here has made me feel compelled to add to the testimonials of the absolute safety that was held in my time in practice there. First I have to say, thank you Zhenevere for clarifying this. It would have broken my heart to have checked into the community only to have heard that yet another spiritual guide had fallen to the same predictable traps of sex scandal. I probably would not have researched it more, as I have become sadly accustomed to seeing the falls of those entrusted to guide the seeking. I’m sorry that I likely would not have looked further, as I have grown weary of having to grapple with many of my teachers and guides committing the most heinous types of abuses. So by responding you are also preserving the strength of what I learned from my limited time with you.
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Sunny Smyth
Teacher
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From the moment I stepped into my first MogaDao class with Zhenevere eleven years ago, I knew I had found what my soul had been praying for: a careful, somatic practice of qigong and yoga that was infused with a coherent philosophy that would fully engage my intellect and spirit. From a young age I had been searching for sincere teachings that would integrate the power of my sexuality with my spiritual yearning. In Mogadao I found a practical methodology embedded within a unique atmosphere of both safety and exploration that enabled me to become more sensitive and sensually alive while connected to my inner truth.
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Antonella Nardi
Student
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Hello, I’m an Italian student/practitioner of Mythosomatic yoga, qigong, Daosim and Post-Daoist philosophy and Jing Retrieval for over 12 years, with the teaching of maestra Zhenevere, and thanks to her I can say that this has deeply changed my life and has given me the hope of a new world that is still possible! My experience in these years, also of sincere friendship with maestra Zhen, has enriched me in soul and spirit. The sacredness of the practice continuously supports me in my life,—also if it is 10 years since our maestra returned to Italy (after having spent 3 years with her in Italy). I just have to say thanks so much to our maestra for her dedication in teaching—serious and unique—and, with deep gratitude to maestra Zhen, I leave these few words to describe to all of you what my heart feels right now! An embrace for all, from Gubbio, Italy.
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Thomas Jaggers
Teacher
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I first began my study of taiji, qigong, and Traditional Chinese Medicine in England in the mid-1990's. Over the years I studied with various teachers, but never stuck with any of them. Without being able to articulate it, I always felt there was some depth and some deeper purpose to the practices that was missing. I met Zhenevere in 2012 when a friend recommended that I attend a men's workshop. Before signing up for the workshop, I went to a class at the Railyard to make sure that I felt the teacher was of integrity and had something to offer. From that first class I had no doubt - she was of the utmost integrity and most certainly had something to offer. What I had been missing in all my previous years of study and practice was present, and abundantly so.
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Sherry Lewis
Student
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I was beautifully surprised and brought more alive, brimming with joy after my first classes with Zhenevere. I felt like I'd come home to something I didn’t realize I was longing for; didn’t know existed. It felt magical and spoke truth to my body and heart.
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The profound movements filled with archetypal wisdom, attuned to the body’s inner rhythms, fed my spirit while strengthening my body. The somatic shifting deep within leaves me more whole and in tune with my authentic, divine self. After decades of other personal growth; (physical, spiritual, psychological) Zhenevere's teaching now takes me further, in profundity and life-filling practice as it asks me to go deeper into my internal truth of who I am, what I’m here for, and how to live that truth honestly, with compassion and giving the gifts I was born for.
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Eve Bradford
Teacher
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The truth is really quite simple: I am more truly myself, and more fulfilled to be so, because of
MogaDao and the careful, care-filled guidance of Zhenevere Sophia Dao.
When I first came to MogaDao for a week long immersion, I was in a uniquely difficult, bordering
on crisis, place in my life. As I began practicing this Qigong, I could palpably feel trauma and
grief metabolizing in my body. By the end of the week,
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Jaye Marolla
Teacher
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My first experience of Zhenevere Sophia Dao, preceded her physical body, like so many others called to this tradition, and was initiated by my preliminary study of Qigong, afforded by a student's son who had studied with Zhenevere. The practices stayed with me, incredibly, for 14 years, until I had the opportunity to move to Santa Fe and begin study with Zhenevere in person. I knew through my very first conversation with Zhenevere that I had found a phenomenally unique individual, who encompassed an unparalleled and diversified knowledge of rigorous physical practice, original philosophy, embodied mysticism and deeply held integrity.
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A. G.
Student
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Real people don't fit on pedestals...where imperfections, guilt and limitations are unknown obstacles...real people wobble, tremble, make mistakes...and take a lifetime if necessary to know what their heart beats for... we are all flesh and blood, and we all seek an oasis in the deepest desert that lives in us, to cure our own thirst...we search for answers, and there are still those who are searching for the questions, knowing how challenging the enigma of Life is. Sometimes in the most distant and unlikely fountain the memories awaken, the paths narrow, and the mathematics of life that seemed to us a difficult equation to solve, becomes light and clear, and the keys begin to appear, opening doors to an inner autonomy, freedom and responsibility.
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Carl Baccellieri
Teacher
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My experience of practicing in the vast techne of MogaDao, of studying the emerging philosophy of post-Daoism, and of training personally with Zhenevere Sophia Dao has been transformational in my life. I’ve become more centered in my own authenticity; I’ve cultivated a nuanced and embodied self-awareness; I’ve come to see through limitations and into possibilities I’d nearly given up on. Have I been stretched outside of my comfort zone? Yes. Thankfully. And always within an atmosphere of encouragement to answer the call to become, in this brief and precious life, the human I feel I was born to be.
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Ananda Zambrano
Teacher
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Regarding the allegations against Zhenevere, I cannot but fall on my own experience at Mogadao and personal interactions with her. In 2019 there were multiple classes offered every day, at least 5 days a week for the entire year, taught by Zhenevere - I attended every single one of them. Throughout the whole year, my body would be taken over by an overwhelming feeling of being at the right place at the right time - I will never forget that new sensation of trusting myself so thoroughly. The orienting experience of coming back to myself as well as the disorienting experience of realizing I had forgotten myself in the past and I would continue to be disoriented as I brought my head to my body and heart. This experience would become a recurring phenomenon throughout my time at Mogadao, the reason I moved to Santa Fe.
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Diane Chase
Teacher
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Today, as I was preparing the paperwork to offer Mogadao Qigong classes at a local Senior Fitness Center a huge wave of continual gratitude came over me as I realized yet again how beneficial have been my 25 years of Qigong studyand training with Zhenevere Sophia Dao. My life has been completely inspired from our first encounter in Taos in 1995 to the present day of continued studies.
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SueJ
Teacher
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I began to study qigong with Zhenevere in 2005, in a precursor to today's school. When that school concluded, she asked us as a student body that if any of us were planning to continue the work, to continue to practice not because of her, the teacher, but because of the practices themselves. The practices have evolved into the richness of MogaDao Post-Daoist techne and philosophy. Zhenevere remains a focused, patient, and compassionate teacher. Even as the techne have multiplied and become more challenging to the body or the psyche, Zhenevere has created within class space and within workshops a respectful and safe container in which to make those personal inward or outward journeys.
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Don Freeman
Teacher
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I have known Zhenevere as a teacher since 2004, when I first began studying Morning Medical Qigong and Tai Chi in Portland, Oregon. I went on to attend almost every class that she taught from 2017 to 2020, including the Guan Teacher Training Program. The training at the MogaDao Institute was one of the most significant and meaningful periods of my life in terms of helping me to explore my life and relationship to my body so that I could find my own way. The classes in yoga, qigong, martial arts, poetry, meditation, sexuality, and philosophy were professional, intellectual, and physically demanding while always being conducted in an atmosphere of safety and integrity.
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Willow Ruth
Teacher
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I moved to Santa Fe in 2018, quite frayed from un-healed developmental and biographical traumas, low self-esteem, and a desperation to feel and be fed by my own life force and passion. Within a month of arriving, fortuitous winds swept me through the doors of the Mogadao institute. Meeting Zhenevere Sophia Dao and the teachings of Post-Daoism came as a surprise; I wasn’t looking for a teacher and I didn’t know how much my soul needed this intellectual, spiritual, and physical challenge. As a counseling/psychology graduate student, I fell in love with Five-Realms theory and this cyclical, elemental way of approaching pathology and harmony. Post-Daoism also offered me a unique lens through which to understand trauma and the myriad ways we become disconnected from our life force energy. Through devoted practice to the various Mogadao techne, I’ve been on a profoundly embodied journey of rebuilding the connection to my own procreative power.
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Brian Roberts
Teacher
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I stumbled into MogaDao at the beginning of 2019 during a deep depression—wrestling with debilitations from Lyme's disease (fatigue, nerve damage, brain fog)—disoriented in life. Years of spiritual study and practice seemed to have abandoned me in my crisis... even leaving me feeling ashamed of having the illness. Somehow, I had failed.
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My first visit to MogaDao was a lecture on sexuality by Zhenevere. By the end of the class, I was awake in my soul. Zhenevere's ability to unwind the troubled territory of sexuality and spirituality filled me with hope. The clarity of what sexuality is with respect to the soul—coming from a transgendered women—allowed me to believe in something more than my cultural, bipolar view of puritans verses pornography (neither one felt right).
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Mae Newcombe
Student
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I first met Zhenevere Sophia Dao in the fall of 1997 right after I had moved from San Francisco to Taos, a casualty of the corporate world and on a search for something I could feel good about. I didn’t have the words for it then, but I was trying to find my heart and soul. I first met Zhen as Daniel Villasenor, an English teacher at UNM-Taos. Soon after, I learned she was also a Qigong teacher. I had no idea what that was.
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I knew from our first phone call, when I inquired about her English classes, that something was different about her, and that I felt deeply seen during that phone call, even though we had not even met. Then her qigong classes rocked my world.
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Chris Keller
Student
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Zhenevere has shown me how to make my life so incredibly worth living. I have learned from her how to be a decent, kind and loving human being to a degree that I did not know existed before she showed me. Through her teachings she has shown me the imperative importance of how to not forsake how much we all truly need connection and one another; human-to-human and human connected to our Mother Earth. Zhenevere has shown me what a woman standing in her inviolable power looks like—Feels Like—and IS. She has graciously taught me how to whole heartedly embrace the paradox alive within me. Her teachings have liberated my life. Truly. I now, long to make love to my life and longingly anticipate my life making love to me. She has taught me how to be a decent, authentic human being who is not scared of her shadow, but rather embraces it with wide swept arms. I am now; thanks to her, a person - decent and true, who wants to LIVE a life worthy of the gifts that a sacred life brings. I wish to walk a life connected, intimately, with the sacredness of ALL.
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David Borton
Student
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I first became aware of MogaDao in 2017, enrolling in a depth sexuality series for male-identified people, who happened in this case to be all cisgender. I have lived a sheltered life in this dimension, so at first I had some questions and hesitation about “what goes on in there.” But my worries quickly evaporated as I found that teacher Zhenevere Sophia Dao, and her students, who were all men of rare integrity, intentionally maintained a relaxed environment free, of any kind of pressure to say or do anything. This class was of great value to me. I still have a keen interest in MogaDao’s Depth Sexuality work and have participated in various intensives and classes, but I have branched out into the other MogaDao “techne” which all feed each other in a well-balanced orchestration. I have derived particular benefit from the Qigong, Yoga, and martial arts practices. I have always been interested in mysticism, comparative religion and philosophy, and I find the thinking and methods to be sensible, insightful, fresh and profound. And they are inspiring!
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Emilie Brough
Student
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“ How am I to train the Power in me”
Chuang Tzu—The Inner Chapters
I was fortunate to study qi gong, depth sexuality, yoga and meditation with Zhenevere Dao while the Mogadao Institute was still held in the Railyard Performance Center. Not only did these practices regulate my physical health but they deepened my abilities as an acupuncturist to see and treat my most complex patients. Most memorably, Zhenevere gave a definition of illness as “the death of unconscious health” in a workshop that I have since shared in countless encounters with both patients and students in my integrative palliative care clinics and trainings.
