I am the owner of a Center for Human Development called, Dakota Lights, in ND. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist and a Movement Psychotherapist who focuses on the whole person, body, mind, and soul. My modalities include: Kundalini Yoga, Nutrition through food & Young Living oils, Coaching on living from your Passions, EFT, Movement PsychoTherapy and Traditional Marriage and Family Therapy.

My website is: DakotaLights.net, my email is: CherylPlanert@pacbell.net, and I am on Facebook under Dakota Lights.

How did you get to where you are now?

I took many years of training in order to understand how our systems go wrong, largely through belief, poor diet and lack of exercise. I understand that genes are not everything, and we need to do something every morning to restore our sense of calm and grace in order to sustain our health. When the mind and emotions go negative, the body follows.  Spiritual disciplines excite me and aid my expansion into a more compassionate human being. 

How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

I have much more compassion for myself now than I did then. I used to hurry and scurry and be very reaction driven. I am now more considerate of the the whole picture and much better able to direct my thoughts, words and actions toward a life I have envisioned.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Into a fuller practice of grace and harmony with myself and others. Calmer still, wiser, more thoughtful, more majestic.

I've always admired a couple of historical figures. Isadora Duncan, for her courage and massive creativity and for providing a model of living to one's own drummer. Dag Hanmmarskjold, for his brilliant statesmanship and his book, Markings, which greatly influenced my early thinking. For Benjamin Franklin's zaniness and his ritual AM breathing unclothed outside in all kinds of weather. Albert Schweitzer for his compassion to all creatures (it was purported that in building the foundation of his African clinic, he first jumped into the excavated hole and removed all the creatures he saw, lest they die in the cement).

And more recently, my dog Lucy, for her utter calmness in the face of danger and of her reminder to get at least 8 hours of sleep. My parents for their dogged determination to shape me into a woman of integrity. My teacher, Beth Kalish-Weiss, who taught me how to really listen to another and who instilled, "one step at a time". My husband, for his undying support of all my main choices, for his generous heart, for his wisdom. And all the brave men and women who step out of the norm to follow their heart's desire, for their courage, truth, and light. Thank you!