My first love was online poker and I went pro at 21, making a couple million by 34. It was intoxicating, isolating, and challenging. I struggled with depression and chronic pain in waves throughout my career. Yoga, bodywork, and integrative therapies helped give some relief. In my 30’s, I noticed an empty feeling in my chest- life lacked meaning and vision. I was already whole but convinced otherwise and confused about what I needed, wanted, where to instill boundaries, and the fact that undigested grief created an overly aggressive pursuit of life. My efforts depleted me and rest became mandatory instead of welcomed.

The chronic pain got worse and I knew poker only satisfied part of my personality. As I started a job transition it became clear that my therapist couldn’t help me through complex issues. I felt lost and misguided. An incredible life doesn’t primarily grow from techniques learned in books and classes. You get to know your true self underneath the dysfunction and holding patterns.

The pandemic hit as stressors from family, friends, career transition and Long Covid piled up. I pinched nerves, slipped discs, developed autoimmune, and experienced a lot of overlapping grief/losses. I was nonfunctional. I could barely walk, swallow, or sleep.

“I left FedEx crying because I could not remember my name or address to put on a shipping label. TERRIFYING.”

Later that week I found a craniosacral therapist who released my spine and I cried for 40 minutes as fluid rushed to my extremities. I didn’t recognize myself for the next day, I felt so comfortable with my abs as the center of gravity and my front and backsides sharing equally. It took so little effort to exist, and I was light, ethereal, and moved like air. I almost wasn’t there. The tissues in my body felt similar to wet meat, dripping off the bones and hanging like a shirt in the closet. I walked around South Austin so connected to my environment and very little internal dialogue, at times, none at all. All of my chronic pain and covid symptoms were gone. However I still didn’t understand myself that well, and many of the old issues returned as my life was too challenging and I didn’t know exactly what I needed daily and wanted existentially.

That breath of fresh air for a day gave me hope, as I understood what was possible internally. That depth of regulation took 4 years to touch again and start to hold as a default. My hands on work, personality, and writing all tell my story of how to regain form and function after losing everything I loved to a soul crushing autoimmune response. Bodywork training gave me 10% of what I need to solve complex body issues. My resolve, sense, intuition, and instincts gifted me the other 90% of these Healing Arts abilities. Let me walk you out of your struggles to find an unimaginable way of being immersed in joy, awe, and appreciation while feasting on challenge and adoring restoration.

Education

A New Beginning School of Massage, Austin, TX

⦁ 750-hour massage therapy certification including Swedish, deep tissue, and Myofascial Release