Each human life is an amazingly complex, multi-layered, multi-dimensional unfolding, and so it's a funny thing to endeavor to write something under the header "my story."  That said, I believe that stories are important, so I'll do my best to share what feels most relevant and alive in me. 

 

For most of my youth, teens and young-adulthood, I lived a largely disembodied life, though I wouldn't have described my experience in that way at the time.  Things seemed relatively okay... a pervasive, nearly ever-present sense of anxiety and self-consciousness was all that I knew, like water to a fish.  I assumed it was normal to feel this way, and didn't have enough of a conscious, felt-sense of my experience to see it for what it was and speak to it.  I was just in it, without awareness of it.  I suppose, like almost all of us, I wasn't able to see and take in the extent of my fragmentation.  I have always been very sensitive, and can now see how as a child and teenager I was often overwhelmed by both my inner and outer experience.  I was uncomfortable in my body and without the inner-resource to feel a lot of what wanted to be felt.  I learned young and well how to get by in a social/cultural world that in almost no way knew how to honor and appreciate sensitivity.  I was also really good at using my intellect (and much less adept at feeling sensations and emotions in my body).  I studied philosophy in college and found myself at home in the world of abstract thought.  From a young age, I have been in touch with a sort of innate curiosity, inclined to ask and ponder big questions about life and the universe.  Eventually, in my early 20s, I found myself wanting to explore them experientially.  This led to my spending time on farms, at an ashram, in the Washington wilderness, with Buddhist sanghas, in Jewish community, on retreats, in satsang, and exploring an array of contemplative practices.  At age 27, I experienced a kundalini awakening while on retreat for which my mind-body system was totally unprepared.  After a brief, beautiful and terrifying period of heightened openness and aliveness (I had no language for or understanding of what I was experiencing), I "settled down" enough to become aware of a whole lot going on in my body and psyche that I had previously been defending against.  I felt overwhelmed for a long time, and lacked the tools and inner-resource to support the integration process.  For the first time in my life, I was able to feel subtle energy moving through my body.  Tensions of which I was previously unaware were coming to consciousness left and right.  Lots of energy was wanting to move through my body but encountering blocks.  A well of anxiety that, again, I had done a very good job managing, would no longer be contained.  I was being forced to see and feel so much of what I previously did not want to see and feel.  I felt like a stranger in my body and was eventually faced with (perhaps gifted) a life altering back injury.  With time, curiosity, feedback, and lots of support, I began to learn that most of my struggles stemmed from my lack of embodiment.  It was very difficult for me to be in my body...to feel settled and at ease actually inhabiting this instrument of my experience.  I eventually encountered the Realization Process and was captivated.  I dove deeply into the practices. They were (are) gentle yet powerful.  They provided me with the guidance and clarity that I needed in order to develop a more compassionate, nuanced and intimate relationship with my body, breath and mind.  With regular practice, and plenty of other support, I have been able to gradually find a greater sense of home in my body, and a richer, more fulfilling connection to myself and others.  The journey is, of course, endless.  I am humbled and glad to be here sharing with others what has been such a gift to me. 

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For a bit more about me, and some related musings, see my Writings section above.

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Relevant Experience and Qualifications 

• 2014: Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy: Northwestern University

• 2020: Realization Process® Meditation Teacher;  Trained and certified by Judith Blackstone, PhD, founder of the Realization Process

• 2020: Realization Process Embodiment Teacher; Trained and certified by Judith Blackstone, PhD 

• 2020: Realization Process Healing Ground Teacher; Trained and certified by Judith Blackstone, PhD 

• 2022: EmRes® - Emotional Resolution practitioner in-training, trained  by Cedric Bertelli, co-founder of EmRes, founder of the Emotional Health Institute 

• 2022: Advanced Realization Process Teacher Mentorship Program Level I with Roma Hammel, PhD, senior Realization Process teacher and teacher trainer

• 2022: Realization Process Empathic Ground Teacher; Trained and certified by Judith Blackstone, PhD 

• 2023: Realization Process Advanced Teacher: Healing Through Embodiment; Trained and certified by Judith Blackstone, PhD

• *2023: Coherence Coach level 1 certification; further training ongoing; Coherence Psychology Institute 

• 2024: Realization Process Trauma Repair Specialist; Completion of advanced training with Judith Blackstone, PhD 

• 2024: Advanced Realization Process Teacher Mentorship Program Level II with Roma Hammel, PhD

• 2024: Self-Led IFS with Loch Kelly: Effortless Mindfulness and Self Leadership; Completion of advanced online training 

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*My training as a Coherence Coach is within the psychotherapeutic modality of Coherence Therapy.  Because I do not have a counseling license (see important note below), my certification is as a Coherence Coach rather than a Coherence Therapist.  The training for the two certifications is the same, both founded on Coherence Therapy's Methodology for transformational change.  

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Important Note 

I am not offering psychotherapeutic services, as I am not a licensed mental health counselor, and I am not here to diagnose or treat mental, physical or emotional disorders.  I take a non-pathologizing approach to my work with clients.  The work I offer can be described as therapy-informed coaching.  While I do have training in several trauma resolution modalities, the resolution of major trauma is not the focus of my work.  That said, what we explore together could certainly support the healing of trauma-based holding patterns.  Anytime we go deeply into the internal space of the body, we are likely to encounter trauma-based holding patterns. Based on my training and experience, I feel equipped to support others in navigating the often challenging experience of inhabiting more and more of their body.  However, if you know or suspect that you carry major trauma and have not worked with it extensively in the past, I will gladly refer you to a trauma-resolution specialist.  Additionally, this work is best suited for those who have a solid understanding of their psychological history.

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