GURUS ARE D!CKS.
Traversing the
Hyper-Spiritual Age
and
Skills for Self-Rescue
From the desks of Vaughan - von Stein
In the Insta-Wellness era, life coaches playing spiritual mentors, yoga teachers playing trauma therapists, and energy workers playing MD’s prey on the 122 million Americans seeking alternative medicine every year. A fierce, protective rage that the field has become a narcissist's playground propel this scathing, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction safety net of alternative medicine savvy.
Filled with disarmingly relatable (and sometimes embarrassing) personal stories, laughs, and just plain insanity, Gurus are D!cks ultimately arms readers with the essential techniques and resources to finding an excellent practitioner.
So you can get better. Without getting f*cked over.
Co-Authors
Heather Vaughan & Leila von Stein
Gurus Are D!cks’ authors, Heather Vaughan (Licensed Acupuncturist, Master of Science in Oriental Medicine, Certified Ayurveda Practitioner, Certified Yoga Teacher) and Leila G. von Stein (Licensed Massage Therapist, Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Certified CranioSacral Therapist, Certified Yoga Teacher), compose a scathing, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction safety net of alternative medicine savvy. The authors met as students at the Ayurvedic Institute in 2008, and each began a career in holistic medicine. They came together professionally in 2018, combining their tactical and marketing experience to widen the reach of the Peirsman CranioSacral Academy through virtual, international summits, dramatically growing the email list, and adding social media to consistently sell out classes. In a massive win for CAM, they secured funding from the State of New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department to establish CranioSacral Therapy as an intervention for high-risk babies and mothers/birthing parents at no cost to recipients.
Having both been inside the Health and Wellness Industry for 25+ years each, as students, clients, practitioners, clinicians, therapists, program directors, business owners, authors, marketing directors, business consultants, web designers, and teachers, they’ve worn all the hats and covered the whole gamut. They’ve witnessed and experienced remarkable results. Conversely, they’ve been duped just as many times by those masquerading as “gurus,” “shamans,” and “masters,” ranging from sincere-yet-unqualified to full-on toxic. And they’ve seen this heartbreakingly happen to countless people. Rants ensued. Rage that alternative medicine had become a narcissist's playground led to a fierce desire to protect the public. Then, the answer emerged from the madness: Gurus Are D!cks.
The Patient Desperately Seeking Solutions
Heather Vaughan, L.Ac, MSOM, C.Ay, CYT
Heather Vaughan began practicing yoga and getting acupuncture at 16, and formally entered the world of natural medicine on her hunt for alternative treatment for Ankylosing Spondylitis in 2006. In 2025, she is highly educated, having completed her Masters in Oriental Medicine with a Specialization in Chinese Herbal Medicine, completed the two-year full time Ayurvedic Studies Program at the Ayurvedic Institute, a certificate program in Clinical Herbalism at the University of New Mexico, and Level One graduate of the Peirsman CranioSacral Academy. She is the clinician and owner of Synthesis Medicine, an integrative acupuncture practice.
She leads a concurrent 10+ year career in writing, marketing strategy, business development, and web design for mission-driven companies, including her own. She has been lead writer and Communications Manager for FreshPure® Waters, a sustainable water company based in Santa Fe, NM since 2017, marketing copywriter and editor for Moxie Scrubs, a Boston-based start-up featured in Forbes Magazine from 2021-2023, Director of Marketing for The S’more Pit from 2016-2020, wellness writer for Joyful Belly Ayurveda from 2012-2015, and freelance business consultant and web designer for Redmond Functional Health, Vital Center Wellness, Growth Point Collaborative, Flourish Ayurveda, The Blue Desert Center, and more.
The Impressionable Curious Seeker
Leila von Stein, LMT, C.Ay, CYT
Leila G. von Stein entered the world of natural medicine as many do, through yoga class (while attending George Washington University in Washington D.C.). An insatiable curiosity developed and after receiving her a B.A. in International Affairs, she went international, studying as many alternative medicine modalities as possible: Ayurveda in India, Yoga in New Zealand, Sacred Plant Medicine in Colombia, Satipatthana Buddhist Meditation in Thailand, Somatic Equine Therapy in Costa Rica, Shamanic Journeying in California, Massage Therapy on the Olympic Peninsula, CranioSacral Therapy in New Mexico, and Vipassana Meditation in Hawaii. She is a licensed massage and bodywork therapist, completed the two-year full time Ayurvedic Studies Program at the Ayurvedic Institute, and diploma program of the Peirsman CranioSacral Academy.
She went on to found, own, and operate Blue Desert, an alternative medicine school in a retreat style setting in the New Mexican high desert for a decade. Blue Desert served as the American campus for the Peirsman CranioSacral Academy of Holland, and Leila served as the academy’s Director for five years. Blue Desert also ran programs for Tina Vervaeke of Belgium, Wilko Ledema of Holland, The School of Biodynamic Healing, Ami Opal, and Ellen Santistevan. She was a regular contributor to Natural Awakenings magazine and current writer of The Blue Desert Beacon, a monthly newsletter promoting education in alternative medicine.
In 2022, she left the administrative world of the health and wellness industry to get back to the hands-on-work of providing treatment, founding Midline Bodywork and collaborating with Yoga Highlands, Mantra Integrative Spa, and Elevation Spa on the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau in North Carolina.