My first love was online poker, and I went pro at 21, making a couple million by 34. It was intoxicating and challenging, but I struggled with depression and chronic pain in waves throughout my career. I found some relief via yoga, bodywork, and integrative therapies, but not full resolutions. In my 30s, 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 and 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 at 34. I knew poker only satisfied part of my personality, so I began a job transition. It became clear that my talk therapist couldn’t help me through complex issues. I felt lost and misguided. The pandemic hit as stressors from family, friends, career transition, and Long COVID piled up. I pinched nerves, slipped discs, developed autoimmune issues, and experienced a lot of overlapping grief/losses. I was nonfunctional. I could barely walk, swallow, sleep, and nearly had two strokes.

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

Later that week, I found a craniosacral therapist who released my spine while I cried for 40 minutes as fluid rushed to my extremities. I didn’t recognize myself the next day; I felt so comfortable with my abs as the center of gravity and my front and back body sharing equally. It took so little effort to exist. I was light, ethereal, and moved like air. I almost wasn’t there. The tissues in my body felt like wet meat, dripping off the bones and hanging like a shirt on a hanger in the closet. I walked around South Austin highly connected to my environment with very little internal dialogue or none at all. All of my chronic pain and COVID symptoms were gone. However many of the old issues returned as I was still in touch with my family and did not have traction in my career.

A 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 needed to solve complex body issues. My appetite for life and instincts gifted me the other 90% of these Healing Arts abilities.

An incredible life doesn’t primarily start from techniques learned in books and training. I got to know myself underneath the dysfunction and holding patterns by finding a place in the world that was perfect for me. Precise differentiation grew from meaningful existential aims. I began to delight in rest. Let me walk you out of your struggles to find an unimaginable way of being immersed in magic and treasure while feasting on the 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

Craniosacral School, Houston, TX

⦁ Trained 80 hours with Ryan Hallford in Upledger, TMJ, and biodynamics

School of Inner Health, Denver, CO

⦁ 350 hours with Margaret Rosenau in biodynamic craniosacral therapy

Dharma Yoga, Austin, TX

⦁ 200 hour yoga teacher certification

Private Training Tria Schaffer and Erin Arnold, Austin, TX

⦁ Myofascial Release

Lauterstein-Conway School of Massage, Austin, TX

⦁ Carol Osborne Pre and Perinatal Massage Specialization

Somatic Experiencing

• Isabel Correa

  Sandtray and Parts

• Rebecca Roth