Starting in 1980 Jack Blackburn practiced Therapeutic Touch and Re-evaluation Counseling and was introduced to Orthobionomy and Feldenkrais. He began his professional career in somatic bodywork as a Trager® practitioner in 1986. An earnest spiritual seeker since the 1960s, Jack studied the writings of various Eastern and Western teachers and mystics and has practiced prayer, meditation, yoga, tai chi and Zen. In 1979 Jack moved his family to Orcas Island in the San Juans. He managed a Theosophical center on Orcas and a Buddhist vipassana meditation center on San Juan Island. He worked as a massage practitioner in private practice and at Rosario Resort on Orcas for 5 ½ years. During that time he took classes in Polarity, cranial sacral and Reiki, and became a Reiki Master in 1989. In 1991 Jack moved to Seattle and was accepted into a Master's Degree program in Spiritual Direction at Seattle University. After completing his degree in 1994, Jack started a practice as a spiritual director, combining counseling with his bodywork practice.