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About Izolda Trakhtenberg
Izolda Trakhtenberg is the founder and creator of the Life Elements System and author of the book Life Elements: Transform Your Life With Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Born in Moldova in the former Soviet Union, Izolda grew up steeped in the rich heritage of Eastern Europe. She spent her first years listening to her great-Grandmother talk about subjects as diverse as plants, stones, the weather, people, and music. When she was six, her family immigrated to the USA. During the year-plus immigration process, they lived in Israel and Italy where Izolda soaked up those cultures and languages. The family settled in Michigan where Izolda proceeded to excel in school. She graduated as high school Valedictorian and later received a BA in English from the University of Michigan.
After university, she moved to Washington DC. As Director of Writing and Production for The Information Prospector, Izolda gained invaluable experience in interpersonal relations, societal trends and tendencies, and the human mind. The Information Prospector conducted public records research reports on successful individuals for philanthropic purposes. While developing and producing these reports, she learned much about the manner in which successful people achieve their goals. That knowledge planted the seeds of the Life Elements System's focus on self-directed success. She also gained insights into personal relations as she maintained vital connections with writers, researchers, and clients.
To pursue her interest in environmental education, Izolda moved to the National Geographic Society's (NGS) Educational Media Division. She then moved to NASA where she eventually worked for the GLOBE Program. Envisioned by Vice President Al Gore in his book, Earth In The Balance, the GLOBE Program is a unique international partnership among students, teachers, and scientists where students study the earth and care for the environment. Here, she honed her teaching and training skills in workshops as she developed the training methodology for the Soil protocols and then traveled the world as a Master Trainer in the Atmosphere, Land Cover, Hydrology, and Soil protocols. This knowledge, these skills and her interest in ancient symbolism and methodologies further developed her insight into human interactions and tendencies. She saw the patterns and relationships among self-direction, self-confidence, and ancient Elemental/environmental symbolism and synthesized them into the Life Elements System.
During this time, she pursued her musical interests with the bands Kiva and Folk Nouveau. She also taught singing and violin privately. Izolda released her solo CD, Sound the Deep Waters in 2003 and a Russian, Klezmer CD in 2004.
Throughout, she had maintained her interest in more esoteric methods of intuitive guidance and their relationship to psychology, the Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water), and Jungian archetypes and further developed her guidance skills. In 2000, Izolda began to pursue her intuitive guidance career in earnest. Clients include:
- The Discovery Channel (Discovery Communications)
- Ball Aerospace
- the AARP
- Cusp Boutique, Washington DC
- The United States Chamber of Commerce
- The law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Washington, DC
Izolda has also studied the ancient energy and wellness workings of Yoga, Reiki, and Chi energy. She has been a Tai Chi practitioner and teacher for over 18 years, and she is also a Reiki practitioner. She currently substitute teaches at Greenbelt Yoga and teaches yoga privately.
In 2001, she developed and began teaching a series of four, eight-week "Learn to Sing" classes and has incorporated an inquiry-based teaching style with traditional vocal technique, aesthetics and mechanics all accomplished in a fun, relaxed, and confidence-inspiring atmosphere. These classes help participants discover and develop their voices and find joy in singing. They also help students connect with others, express themselves creatively, raise their self-confidence, and achieve long-sought goals. At the end of each class, the students put their knowledge into practice; they perform a class recital at a local café where they apply vocal techniques and get a taste of performing. These classes and her private teaching sparked her thoughts on Therapeutic Creativity and the ability of creative pursuits to help in individual and societal healing. She currently teaches "Find Your Sacred Voice" and "Work In Harmony" singing and team building workshops at both corporate and festival events. Recently, she has begun teaching music and self-confidence to Girl Scout troops by teaching a mini-workshop at a World Thinking Day. Here's what the coordinator of the event had to say: Thank YOU, Izolda, so very much for coming to our event! The singing class was wonderful; you chose beautiful, meaningful songs from a variety of cultural traditions and you knew just how to engage the girls and keep them focused, but all with an air of great fun. It was inspiring to hear the scouts, even the young brownies, singing rounds harmoniously together within the time span of a single lesson. The next day, I caught my eleven-year old twin girls (junior girl scouts that attended the event) singing "Haida" in a round together in front of the bathroom mirror. They were so entranced they didn't see me peek in! -Monica Mische, Coordinator, Girl Scout World Thinking Day
Most recently, she was a guest lecturer for a University of Maryland's Communication and Gender course where she discussed historical influences on women and spirituality.
She opened the Healer's Arts Studio in September 2005. The studio follows and teaches the Life Elements System where Izolda provides energy healing, yoga classes, and holistic life coaching.
She and her husband, Richard Potter , reside in Greenbelt, MD with their dog and three cats, and a house full of musical instruments and juggling clubs.
