Dawn Nelson

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, author Dawn Nelson began a geographical journey that took her to Kentucky, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Wyoming before she landed in northern California in the late1960s, shortly before her second child was born. Aside from traveling for close to a year as a lead actress with a Shakespeare Company and an eight-month sojourn in Switzerland, she and her husband have resided in California for over four decades.

In 1991, Dawn became a pioneer in the effort to incorporate intentional touch and gentle massage in care plans for isolated elders, nursing home residents, and hospice patients by creating the COMPASSIONATE TOUCH for Those in Later Life Stages Program. Her award-winning videos and books, including Compassionate Touch for the Elderly, the Ill, and the Dying, and From the Heart Through the Hands: The Power of Touch in Caregiving, led to international recognition as an author, speaker, and touch educator. Dawn's book Making Friends with Cancer chronicles her diagnosis, treatment, and healing from ovarian cancer in her mid-50’s.

Dawn’s newest book, BONE BY BONE: Healing from Preverbal and Childhood Abuse, details how developmental neglect and abandonment during her first year of life, followed by intermittent physical, emotional, and psychological neglect in her childhood, shaped her personality and influenced her thinking, habits, and choices well into adulthood. Later chapters recount how she was able to accept, process, and ultimately release "the story" that had held her hostage for decades, and to let go of wishing her past had been different.

Early comments from educators, authors, and trauma survivors have declared BONE BY BONE to be a “unique memoir, full of raw honesty, courage, and wisdom”; "essential reading for survivors of all life-shaping trauma and for therapists who deal with adverse childhood experiences, toxic stress, and abuse.”

Now retired from leading residential dyad meditation retreats and teaching, Dawn continues to write, deepen her meditative practices, and spend time as often as possible with her three adult children, four grandchildren, and several grand-dogs.