pat hart
I joined the Asheville Waldorf Board in January 2024, and it has been a wonderful “coming home” experience for me. I first encountered Waldorf education in Minneapolis in the early 1990s when my two daughters attended the City of Lakes Waldorf School for early childhood.
As a Western-trained nephrologist and intensivist, I had to reckon with what I experienced in Waldorf—a “jaw-dropping” change in my worldview. A Community Medical Bush Fellowship (1998–2001) allowed me to explore complementary therapies, beginning my lifelong studies of Anthroposophic Medicine in 2001 and, since my retirement in 2021, the more esoteric aspects of Anthroposophy.
Anthroposophic Medicine gave me a deeper understanding of childhood development, unveiling the spiritual incarnation process behind what we observe. The School Doctor’s Course helped me see how Waldorf education directly contributes to the healthy physical, emotional, and ultimately spiritual development of a child. (I hold huge appreciation for all that the teachers and staff bring to a school!)
My husband, Kerry Lindsey, and I have a teaching-learning community at Highland Lake Cove in Flat Rock, where we have explored many “technologies of reunion,” as named by Charles Eisenstein—practices that overcome the misperceptions arising out of separation. Rudolf Steiner provocatively said that Waldorf is not a pedagogy but rather the Art of Awakening. I truly believe that the foundation for building greater moral and perceptual capacities in children is uniquely supported by Waldorf education and community, and I am thrilled to devote my support to this school!
