Welcome!


I get it.  Life is full of transitions!

And if you are here exploring what else is possible beyond the  experience of  overwhelm and discomfort in body and spirit, I honor you for showing up and seeking.

If you are ready to find consistent, sustainable energy that supports you in the blissful moments of life and when life hits the fan, I'm here because I do get it.
​
I'm passionate about guiding women feel to feel at home in their bodies and feel so alive, awake and connected to self, others, and all of life.  I love witnessing women remember who they are at their core, their center, and feel empowered to live from this center.

Life is inherently uncertain.   You never know what's going to happen next, yet you still my try to "control" life and get it all "right."  This may work for a while, but eventually it exhausts the body, the mind, and the soul.    You can experience so much more ease, joy and freedom when you stop resisting and start receiving all of life.  It's not easy, but it truly creates more ease, rhythm, and flow.

You get to expand resilience, grace and confidence when you choose to nurture you with radical self-care and self-love habits that harness your energy, support your nervous system, and change the way you age and the way to perceive and receive life.

If you'd like non-judgmental, compassionate support and guidance as you navigate life and parenting or caregiving, I'd be honored to accompany you. 
I see the most significant changes in group programs I run because there's power in community support.  Yet sometimes we all need a little 1-1 support too.   We each are unique and I trust you will know.   You can also book a Discovery Call with if you're curious. 

---

Easeful living...even in the not-so-easy moments of life is truly possible!

The story behind my passion for this body and soul care work…

​Shortly after growing our family from three to five through adoption in 2010, I found myself utterly exhausted.

I was scared that my compassion and patience were running out and I felt completely overwhelmed as a parent.  I didn’t feel like myself, and I didn’t know if things would ever change. My body ached. May mind raced. My soul felt, well...dull.

Funny thing was that I was healthy…ish.  After all, I was practicing and teaching yoga, eating healthy, walking, and exercising.  But my digestion was off and my hormones were so out of balance. I felt distracted, behind in everything, impatient, reactive, and edgy.  (Oh...and I was very good at hiding most of this from others.)


Before my husband and I adopted our two youngest girls from Ethiopia, I thought I was prepared.  I’d poured my energy into research--books, blogs, adoption guides, connected parenting, anything. And then after the adoption I dove into anything that would support their health and healing--food, therapies, supplements, support groups, trauma studies, yoga, essential oils, and more--anything that would help them recover from what was (based on all the research and “expert” opinions), a traumatic transition and early life malnourishment.

Through it all, my yoga mat was a refuge from my overscheduled, overwhelming life as a parent, wife,  and yoga studio owner. But the calm I felt on the mat evaporated whenever I stepped back into the rest of my life.  Worry and anxiety swelled as I stumbled through the storm of parenting, work, achy body and life disrupted.

And then one day...

I remember I was yelling at my three kids--really yelling.  And I felt awful and I remember thinking, “I’m not yelling at them because I’m unhappy with them.  I’m yelling at them because I’m unhappy.” And by “unhappy” I mean unhealthy, disconnected, completely exhausted, resentful, strung out, and depleted.  OVERWHELMED. The shame and blame and feelings of never being enough had become so great.  In that moment, I knew something else was possible and knew I would find it.

While that wasn’t a good moment, it was an “aha” moment--a turning point that led to more insights about the kind of parent and the kind of human I wanted to be.  And I knew that the kind of parent and women I desired to be was TRULY ME.  But that part of me--the essence of me-- was buried in so much yuck and muck--covered by everything I thought I needed to be and everything I thought I had to do to “get it right.”

Inspired and determined to heal and change somethings,  I paused in presence and prayer, asking God/Source/Universe to show me what else was possible. It was a moment of vulnerability and surrender.  And it felt so freeing at the same time.

Shortly after, things and people seemed to drop into my awareness, email box, conversations, and even a late night google search (*note: I'm not a real fan of late night googling, but this time it led me to a big step in transformation and returning home to me.

ASK with CLARITY.  OPEN YOUR HEART.  LISTEN DEEPLY.  RECEIVE and KNOW WHAT LIGHTS YOU UP.
The late night google led me to two amazing teachers, Dr. Claudia Welch and Cate Stillman.  With them I began to explore Ayurveda, a practice I’d heard of before as a sort of “sister science” to yoga.  But as I began to grow in my understanding, I really experienced Ayurveda to be ayur (life) veda (wisdom)--life wisdom and the art of living well.

I could go on and on about the benefits of this time-tested healing system of Ayurveda, but essentially, it helped me realize why I was feeling so out of sync.  It’s because I was! Out of sync with my body, out of harmony with nature’s rhythms, and out of touch with my best true self--ME the gift who came into this world as a gift--just like you.

Ayurveda helped me "digest life" --experiences of the past that had been difficult, traumatic, and/or stressful   I became aware of stories, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and learned how to truly be with them and not defined by them.  This beautiful ancient healing system from India also helped me heal digestion (no more allergies, constipation, and digestive issues).

At the heart of it all, I began to realize that what I really needed was to take care of myself, and learn to truly love and accept myself as inherently whole,  so I could hold the space of healing and wholeness I longed to hold for my kids to thrive.
​
 Let me be clear.  My kids weren’t the ones wearing me out.  It wasn’t my partner’s fault that I was unhealthy, unhappy, and feeling disconnected.  It was me. I was wearing myself out. It wasn't my mother, my sister, or anyone else.
​And I didn't need to blame myself either. 
It was time to stop resisting life and start digesting it and allow more healing and rhythm.

​ I was willing to soften, stop resisting life, acknowledge the overwhelm, stress, and fatigue from intense trauma-informed parenting and a lot of undigested life and emotions.

So I made changes.  
Some fast, some slow, and some still in progress.  And I began to really live into some very basic, important principles:
I care for myself so I can care for others
I love my self so I can love others
I am kind to myself so I can be kind to others
I am in allowance of myself so I can allow others to BE who they are
I trust myself so I can trust others
I forgive myself so I can forgive others
​I give to myself so I can give back to my family, community and world.
And I know that if I desire that my kids know health and wholeness (physically, mentally, spiritually), I first have to choose it for me and live from center.

Now, ​I help women navigating life transitions, who  are in a role of caregiving and deeply care for the world, create more ease in body, life and parenting and THRIVE!
​

• I guide them as they explore the “life wisdom” of Yoga & Ayurveda and discover their own inner wisdom.  
• I support them as they develop radical self-care strategies that are simple and practical yet so dynamic!
• I help them  understand their own nervous system and reclaim confidence, grace, and a great night’s sleep.
• I teach them how to balance their own energy and heal from the inside out and outside in so they can shine bright.
• I help them remember that they are inherently whole and resilient.
• I empower them with tools and practices to create the life they desire and age gracefully.  (And I cheer with them when they notice their children following their example.)  ​

​And I cheer with them when they notice their children picking up habits of self-care. 

Ultimately, I celebrate families as they discover what it means for them to thrive!



If you know something else is possible and are ready to thrive, schedule a free 20-minute consultation.   Gain clarity on how to start where you are and begin to understand how and why there is nothing wrong with you.  Explore if working together is a good fit.

​
Life transitions will keep coming.  What if you could feel nourished through them?

I have experienced many more in recent years, including a cross country move with our family of five, a very difficult transition for one of my daughters, the stage four cancer diagnosis of my partner, and navigating the changes of aging parents and memory loss.

I am so grateful for the tiny self-care habits I put in place years ago that keep growing, evolving and sustain me through thick and thin.  I am grateful I chose invest in me,  to seek support and community.
I am so grateful for energetic tools and empowering questions that allow me to change so much in the moment to moment, breath to breath.
I am so grateful I get to share these tools and coach women who also know something else, something greater is possible.  Together we are creating a new normal--where self-care is part of daily living so we can show up present and awake in all that we do and BE.



IF YOU SEEK SUSTAINABLE CHANGE BECAUSE YOU ARE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL...
We welcome you in the next round of Root Rise THRIVE

 HIGHLIGHTS of WORK, STUDY & LIFE EXPERIENCES

I'm grateful to have worked with people of all ages to help restore a sense of balance, ease, and peace to their daily lives.  A life-long learner, I have gathered many certifications, studied various modalities, and created opportunities to expand and share along the way.  Here are a few of those areas of study and experience.

Master of Divinity from McCormick Theological Seminary
Registered Yoga Teacher Training with Poonam Gupta 
Living Ayurveda and Yoga Health Coaching with Cate Stillman of YogaHealer
Certified Prenatal Yoga Teacher
Workshops and trainings in pranayama, yin and restorative yoga, kids yoga
 Core Functional Fitness™  with Hope Zvara
Reiki Level 2 
Access Consciousness Bars® Practitioner 
Access Body Processes
Co-founder YogaRootsRacine, Wisconsin
Creator of Discover Your Center, LLC
Trauma-informed Parent
Deep desire to understand the nervous system through Ayurveda, self-study,  and mentorship with Kimberly Ann Johnson
​

As I’ve moved through this life, I’ve had the honored that has put me with people of all walks of life.
From waitressing and retail, to working in a community center in Hollywood, to being a young adult mission volunteer in Argentina for a year, directing a shelter for homeless and runaway youth, teaching English as a Second Language to Migrant workers on apple farms of Michigan, teaching pottery to kids and adults, and faith-based community organizing around worker's rights issues.
So many people have contributed to what I offer today.

I am a teacher and a connector.  I truly enjoy sharing what I know or connecting others to something if it contributes to their lives.  Then, it is so incredibly fun to watch them run and thrive and evolve and create in their own way, receiving their own wisdom.

---

You can find free resources I share on Facebook and YouTube as well. 

I would love to hear from you.  
Let's connect!