Hi,

My Journey & Training

Through high school and college, I viewed my body as a means to an end of pleasure, social acceptance and worth. I would drink to ease social anxiety at gatherings and I would derive my self-worth from being the “life of the party” or from men' s desire. I was on hormonal birth control (HBC) consistently through college and was vegan or vegetarian for much of that time; I was prescribed antibiotics for minor infections and would punish myself with exercise if I overindulged on treats. I wasn’t kind to my body; I didn’t watch what I ate for my health but rather for my appearance. At the end of college, I decided to come off HBC to see what I was like without it and found myself with no bleed for 6 months. I also found myself with increasing amounts of food sensitivities, a leaky gut and brain fog, chronic underlying stress (still working on that one) and eventually chronic yeast infections. It became pretty obvious that something had to change. And the yeast infections forced that change and held the boundaries that I didn’t want to. They meant I couldn’t drink to ease social anxiety and they caused pain during sex which meant I had to go slow and learn to communicate what I needed. I could no longer use my body as a means to an end without pretty lousy consequences and this finally brought about a deeper pattern shift. I needed to treat my body with the love it deserved rather than view it as a vehicle to get dopamine or external validation. During this time, I was also looking for ways to support my body and gut health and found ancestral skills communities who valued living close to their sources of food. I learned how to process animals and tan hides. I worked on organic farms and began learning about herbal medicine. I found out about the Fertility Awareness Method and worked with a FAM coach to learn how to use it as contraception while deepening my relationship with my cycle. So many wonderful pools of knowledge swam into my awareness—like the old ways of food preparation that break down what we now know as anti-nutrients or the new awareness of how modern technology like artificial light interferes with our body’s engrained mechanisms. 

After much of this immersive learning, I found myself drawn to birth work and became a birth and postpartum doula, nanny and midwife apprentice. I really loved being a part of women’s healthcare and learning about the childbearing year in this way but didn’t find the on-call lifestyle of birth work sustainable or the responsibility of midwifery to be something my nervous system could handle well. So I found the International Association for Functional Hormone Health and completed their hormone specialist training and certification so I could work more deeply with women supporting their optimal hormone health and wellness! I also recently took my first Craniosacral Therapy training through the Upledger Institute and am excited to continue honing that skill so I can start offering hands-on care to clients as well!