Joan Forest Mage

Founder, Artistic & Executive Director

Joan Forest Mage is a shamanic artist, healer and teacher based in Chicago. She founded Life Force Arts Ensemble (LFAE) in 1988, and has curated LFAE’s 39 art exhibits. Joan created the Life Force Arts Method, which uses the arts for spiritual healing, and is the basis for all the work of LFAE. A Certified Movement Analyst (Laban Institute, NYC), Joan has over fifty years of experience as a dancer, vocalist and director, including three music albums and 45 years of teaching dance, yoga and fitness. In 2003, Joan received a Master of Arts Degree from De Paul University’s School for Continuing and Professional Studies, with the focus area “Creating Healing Ritual Through the Arts.” First awakened to energy work through her profound experience of the energy of music and dance, Joan began doing shamanic healing in 1995 and created the extensive Life Force Arts Shamanic Training program. She has studied shamanism and healing ritual with numerous teachers. Joan specializes in “training trainers”: artists, teachers and healers who want to develop the spiritual dimension of their professional work.

Joan Forest Mage, Shamanic Practitioner