For as long as Marlaina 
can remember, her knee-jerk impulse has been
to create through every medium that called her:
art, writing, music, dance, photography, moving images, cooking, and fragrance.
Coming from a long line of creative souls, she was raised
in a holistic and artistic home, deeply encouraged and supported
as both a creator and a spiritual seeker. 
Today, her everyday life as a professional writer, painter, and composer
often intersects with what Hildegard Von Bingen called veriditas,
"the greening power" or spiritual life force of nature and Deity.
​
Since 2016, Marlaina has been a regular national-content writer 
for Natural Awakenings magazine,
the leading evidence-based holistic and green living magazine
here in the States (2.5 million monthly readership).
Marlaina has interviewed some of the most significant sources
in the industry including Mayo Clinic,
Dr. David Perlmutter, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito, yoga legend Rodney Yee,
neuroscientist/global Transcendental Meditation leader Tony Nader, and
 New York Times bestselling authors such as Thomas Moore
and Sarah Ban Breathnach.
Due to editorial protocol (when she has more than 2 articles in a monthly issue)
 she uses the pseudonym, Maya Whitman.
After a year and a half sabbatical, she is back with monthly
national health content for the magazine.
Marlaina has also written for Organic Lifestyle Magazine, 
Taste for Life, and other publications.
She has 30 years of experience in the realm of aromatic medicine and is certified in clinical essential oil applications as well as therapeutic bodywork.
Marlaina is the author of fifteen books in several genres including 
Naked Soul (Llewellyn Worldwide, 1998),
the reference book Multidimensional Aromatherapy,
Goddess Consciousness, Spiritual Famine in the Age of Plenty,
and the novel Broken Jar.​
As a composer, Marlaina has released 21 albums and 12 singles
in the genres of contemporary classical piano, world, and ambient vocals
under the name WillowWynd. Her diverse work has been featured in
award-winning short films directed by Tara Gadomski,
small business promos, gallery art installations, 
meditation videos, and self-help courses.
 As a third-generation painter, she dedicates her brush to celebrating
who we are in the Big Picture. Loyal to visionary art,
her work invites the viewer to step into beauty, freedom, and possibility.
 
In 2016, Marlaina experienced a life-altering health remission that has inspired her to guide others back to their inner compass
connected to mind-body connections,
nature, and the cosmos. From her corner of the world in the rural Honesdale region of Pennsylvania, Marlaina chooses a path of slower living, hiking wildlife sanctuaries year-round with her beloved husband, Jos. C. Donato,
 an author of historical fiction. 
On any given day, Marlaina can be found brewing teas from her extensive
pantry of medicinal plants, creating complex aged perfumes,
finding beauty with her digital camera,
making beautiful and healthy gourmet food, 
painting in nature,
and spending long hours with her favorite teachers-
the wildflowers/weeds/wisdom keepers.
Marlaina's greatest influence was her mother Winifred, a multi-talented Renaissance woman who independently studied nutrition and managed health food stores in New York City in the 1950s. From this early foundation, Marlaina continues to live by the belief that healing, art, and spirit are indeed a singular force.