INTEGRATIVE YOGA
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?
-Mary Oliver
I am an author, longtime yoga teacher, breathwork facilitator, and Certified Peer Wellness Specialist. I have lived experience in recovery from addiction and mental illness, and I work with clients from the deep understanding that only comes from having been there myself.
I specialize in helping people make significant life transitions, particularly people in recovery and those contemplating beginning the recovery journey.
We will work together at the intersection of yoga, positive psychology, and modern science. I will be your ally and guide as you not only heal, but thrive and find joy, connection, and purpose living your healthiest, fullest life.
Are you contemplating the leap into sobriety or are you new to recovery?
If so, this one of the biggest and most powerful decisions of your life.
You may be feeling confused, ambivalent, stricken, depressed, excited, anxious or all of the above.
Addictions and compulsive behaviors often feel like old friends, and you may have tried to say good-by more than once. All of the substances and behaviors that cause addiction served a purpose in your life at one time. But, for all of us, the behaviors stick around, causing harm, even when the need for them has long passed.
There is no one path of recovery. We will work together to discover yours. Along the way, we'll be sure you're equipped with the tools to help you feel better now: a supportive community, a practice to welcome you home to your body, and a holistic plan to improve and recover your health.
Are you more established in recovery, either from addiction or mental illness, but feeling stuck?
Maybe there's been a big change in your life you didn't ask for, or you know you desperately need a change, but you aren't sure which direction to go. You may have received a new mental or physical health diagnosis that needs to be integrated into your life, along with new routines that support your health. You may have experienced set-backs in recovery, like a return to old behaviors or realizing that you have picked up a new addiction.
We will look at your current life circumstances and identify the areas of recovery that are well established resources to draw on and the domains that need support and new tools.
Most of us are suffering from the effects of chronic stress: fatigue, anxiety, poor digestion, lethargy, sleep difficulties.
We will design practices that build on the work you have already done and identify positive, incremental changes that fit your life and address the areas where you need growth or healing.
Learning to stay in your body, with all its sensations, both joyful and difficult, is the key to lasting recovery, not just from addiction but from chronic, lifelong patterns of unhealthy stress.
The beauty and magic of this work is that what ails us is fertile ground for transformation that leads to more well-being and joy in life.
Whether or not you're in recovery, if are experiencing:
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Excessive worry or rumination
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Grief, listlessness, tearfulness
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Procrastination, distractibility, indecision
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Brain fog or memory lapses
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Feeling overwhelmed
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Not engaging with friends and family
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Insomnia, or sleeping too much
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Overeating or loss of appetite
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Ongoing fatigue
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Poor digestion, headaches, or joint pain
You may be experiencing the manifestations of chronic stress. Change is possible. Using yoga, self-inquiry, and simple, pleasant adjustments to your routines, we will work together to find new ways to tend to your health, navigate change, and set the course to live fully.
Yoga was positive psychology before that term existed. It is a broad, multifaceted discipline that includes a lot more that strengthening or stretching the body. I might ask you to work at the edge of your comfort zone. But no change endures unless it is treasured and joyful. Expect to have your nervous system tended to, your heart opened, and your stories heard with empathy.
The body of scientific research supporting yoga as a healing modality is growing rapidly.