As women we are being called to wake up, rise up, and break free from the ways we have hidden who we really are. It’s my absolute passion to guide you towards rediscovering a relationship with your essential self, deeply appreciating your body, and playfully learning to listen to your intuition. I do all of this through a range of modalities: coaching, self-care, mentoring, yoga, and other tried-and- true practices, all of which bring you into connection with your sacred self.
I’m not into quick fixes or in a one-size-fits all approach, because in my opinion, those are outdated models that limit you from the unique language of your body, soul, and wisdom. Creating sustainable shifts require us to meet ourselves where we are, acknowledging our unique her-story, so we create a whole new structure from the inside/out to live and thrive from.
The story begins back in 1988. I was 5 years old and was so thrilled to be attending ballet class. I distinctly remember being in the dressing room putting on my cute pink leotard at the studio when a fellow student commented on how big my thighs were. In that moment, while I couldn’t put words like shame and embarrassment to it at the time, I felt myself start to shut down and want to hide.
I started my struggle with Anorexia at the tender age of 12. At that time my parents created a plan of action that included leaving school for a handful of months of outpatient treatment. Even though I wasn’t actively suffering from anorexia, the remainder of junior high and high school was hard as I often felt out of place, too sensitive, awkward, and like I never quite fit in.
Fast forward to 2001, I was a freshman at UCSB. It was my first time away from home, and all too quickly old and yet familiar feelings of not being good enough and striving to fit in came rushing back. What started as my desire to stay healthy, soon became a daily dose of over-exercising, restricting my calories, and feeling as at war with myself as I did when I was 12.
It had been a month since being asked to leave UCSB in order to get well. I was in denial, I was angry at my family and I was refusing treatment. I went to the gym one early morning in April, and as I drove home I was overcome with dizziness and I ultimately ended up in the ER. Waking up there, an internal alarm sounded, and I really understood that if I continued to make the choices I was making I was headed down a path of losing my life.
I knew it was time to make a shift; I could not keep living this way!
Then in May of 2002 I took one of the biggest steps in my life as I checked into UCLA eating disorder treatment center for 4 months. From there, my relationship with my body and my Self began to shift. The critical way in which I spoke about and to my body, what I believed, and how I treated myself all began to soften.
Later that year I returned to UCSB and spent the next 4 years finishing my degree in Sociology and Exercise Health and Science and soon after graduation I launched my personal training business. At the time it was a great next step for me to experience actually being in my body.
Even though I had made so many shifts, I realized how much I had still been hiding who I really was. It became clear to me that the way I was living my life was out of alignment and I had no idea who I really was and what I wanted.
Many times I had to ask myself, “Can I be comfortable in this radical and complete unknown?”
Keep in mind, that at this time I was still very traditionally Type A and yoga was FAR from my list of activities of interest. But something kept drawing me back to those classes that I couldn’t articulate. I experienced a deep appreciation, softening, and respect for myself and my body in a way that had previously been silenced.
It is mind blowing what time can do! Honestly as I am sharing all this with you now, I feel like I am telling you the story of another girl.
In 2011, I made the difficult but purely heart-led decision to close down my personal training business and launch Yoga’licious, which at the time was a weekly blog with a yoga pose and a recipe. I had zero financial security but I knew that was where I was meant to be.
Yoga’licious was the operating name that I led my offerings under from 2011-2020.
For nearly a decade Yoga’licious was a friend and guide in my own journey of self-discovery. What started as a blog quickly has become a full-time business as I transitioned into supporting my clients in discovering and living out their own fullest expression.
Looking back, I have so much gratitude for that girl and how brave she was to step into Yoga’licious. Each and every moment of stretching into this embodiment has granted me deeper access, and allowed me to support the amazing souls I get to work with in so many beautiful ways.
Starting this business nearly a decade ago made it possible for me to live out the nourishment, joy, and lusciousness that I am now and to bring that to the world each and every day.
And yet while the work I do feels incredibly aligned, at the beginning of 2019 the name Yoga’licious started to feel mis-aligned energetically with the sacred work I lead clients through.
Which leads you and I to present day, and the evolution of Yoga’licious into Essence’tially You.
As important as Yoga’licious has been to me, it is time to let her go. The name that has been my bridge into this work no longer fits the depth and alignment of the work I am so blessed to do and am already doing.
And so I want to introduce you to my new “baby”, Essence’tially You, coaching, mentorship, and yoga. It is pretty much still business as usual, yet now the container that holds my work is energetically matched and aligned with where I am now and how I serve others and gets to be a holder for me and my clients in this next part of the journey.
I feel in all my being and heart that I am living my soul’s purpose. I am humbled and sometimes want to pinch myself when I think about the amazing women I get to play with each day and to see my vision come to life in service of others.
I really can trust the creatrix that lives in me, and when I do, magic happens. The same is true for you. Whatever whispers you’ve been receiving from your soul, turn towards them. Even one moment of bravery, of following your curiosity, has magic in it, and trusting that has the power to change the course of your life forever.
If I’ve learned anything over the past ten years on this Yoga’licious journey transitioning into my Essence’tially You journey, it’s that you don’t have to follow the rulebook. So whatever it is—from how you want to parent or live in your body to how you want to run your business or create your relationship—hold space for that whisper inside you that’s longing to be heard. Be willing to get curious about what’s possible. You’ll never know what’s there for you if you don’t allow yourself to begin.
If you’ve made it this far, you might want to know some fun facts about me, too:
If there’s any way I can sum up what I’ve learned from my journey to share it with you, it would be this:
Inside of each of us there is a whole world of possibilities that is just waiting to emerge. Support can empower you in ways that you have likely never experienced. You already have the answers. My role is to help you unveil them and awaken you to the magic within, because we needs supportive spaces to do that in! Let’s play!