About Me
After spending almost a decade of my life having to completely restructure my way of living due to the extensive and long-lasting ramifications of Lyme Disease, I discovered a new way of living, one that was far more beautiful, fulfilling, and expansive than the life I had before.
At 23, I had arthritis in almost every joint in my body. My tendons, ligaments, and muscles were all inflamed and painful. My nerves were frayed and I was in daily pain. Doctors told me that my condition was chronic and the best they could do was help me to manage my symptoms as they slowly worsened.
Thankfully, there was a part of me who didn’t believe them.
Having just spent the last four years of my life being trained as a Mechanical Engineer, I set out on a long and winding, methodical journey, in search of other answers.
It took me many years to arrive to where I am today, healthy and thriving. I am now passionate and dedicated to supporting others in discovering and reclaiming a balanced state of health and wellness as well.
I am a certified IIN Health Coach, trained Trauma Informed Somatic Practitioner, and have worked as a guide for almost 15 years.
The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) is one of the leading health coaching education institutions around the world, pioneering the health coaching profession over thirty years ago. Trauma & Somatics
I started learning to guide when I was only 16 years old, while working at a summer camp in Vermont. In college, I was the president of and led monthly trips with the Syracuse University Outing Club (SUOC), primarily backpacking and day hiking, and also in caving and cross country skiing.
Over the last 8 years, I have worked for a variety of different organizations, guiding trips from llama trekking in Wyoming to outdoor education for kids in Patagonia, Chile. I now work for Mountain Trip in Telluride, CO and YExplore Yosemite Adventures in Yosemite National Park, CA.
My Healing Journey
Young adult life.
The path I walked to arrive to where I am today has been long and winding, to say the least, and yet it also seems like each and every experience was meant to lead me to exactly where I am today.
Graduating in 2015 from Syracuse University, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics, I decided to take a year off before heading back to grad school. I wanted to explore and embrace what my heart had been trying to tell me all along. I wanted to follow my own path and not the one that had been laid out for me, just for a year at least.
One thing led to the next and, as I continued to tune in to my inner world and discover and explore my personal and unique passions, the things and experiences and doings that made me feel truly alive, I ended up spending not one, but five years on the road, living in my wonderful little Subaru and exploring so many of the natural wonders that our beautiful country has to offer.
Early learnings and transformations.
Living this simple, nomadic life taught me many important life lessons. I was deeply in tune with the rising and setting of the sun and was at the mercy of whatever the weather had in store for me that day.
I learned to hold space for new closings and openings to unfold, to let go of the detailed and ordered plans I had created and to instead open to the wonderful and mysterious flows of life and embrace the exciting and unexpected opportunities that crossed my path instead.
I learned to be gentle with myself. I began to recognize rest as not just something to give myself when I needed to recover, but something that I was allowed to deeply relax into whenever it felt supportive, learning to make time for myself to feel peace and tranquility in my daily life.
I do not want to suggest that this time was just rainbows and butterflies. There was great shadow and darkness to navigate as well.
Early learnings and transformations.
Living this simple, nomadic life taught me many important life lessons. I was deeply in tune with the rising and setting of the sun and was at the mercy of whatever the weather had in store for me that day.
I learned to hold space for new closings and openings to unfold, to let go of the detailed and ordered plans I had created and to instead open to the wonderful and mysterious flows of life and embrace the exciting and unexpected opportunities that crossed my path instead.
I learned to be gentle with myself. I began to recognize rest as not just something to give myself when I needed to recover, but something that I was allowed to deeply relax into whenever it felt supportive, learning to make time for myself to feel peace and tranquility in my daily life.
I do not want to suggest that this time was just rainbows and butterflies. There was great shadow and darkness to navigate as well.
My personal health journey has been a long and winding road.
It started when I was 23 and diagnosed with Lyme Disease. My hands would uncontrollably shake, I was sleeping 15 hours a day, my brain was constantly foggy, and I had to manage daily, chronic pain from fibromyalgia, arthritis, tendonitis, and a gut that could barely digest anymore.
After the 6 months of multiple antibiotics didn’t work, specialists said that because of how long the Lyme had been undiagnosed and untreated (I grew up in the NE being bit by ticks), I most likely had a chronic and degenerative disease. The symptoms could be managed as they progressed, but there was no cure. Needless to say, I was devastated.
Thankfully, my doctor suggested that I try changing my diet. Although he couldn’t explain why, he admitted that some of his patients had reported positive results after limiting or restricting certain foods.
Both desperate and doubtful, I gave it a try. I began to notice that specific symptoms arose after eating certain foods, while other foods helped to lessen some symptoms. This was the start to a completely new way of understanding my personal health and wellness, one that has now expanded far beyond just the food on my plate.
At first, I started to spiral.
Those first few years, I had this constant fear hovering over me. So many people with chronic Lyme developed symptoms of Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, or ALS later on. Based on my current symptoms, I was possibly on track for that.
I was terrified that I would lose the ability to play in the outdoors, like I so loved to. I had already lost so much of that already.
My sense of self-worth plummeted. When I went out climbing with my friends, I just felt like a burden. I couldn’t carry much of the heavy gear like I used to, as the arthritis in my knees and spine had gotten so bad. I had to rest afterward for two to three days longer than I used to. Dating seemed like a far-off dream.
I was in daily, chronic pain and I started to feel hopeless and deeply alone in my predicament. I didn’t know how to talk about it. I was barely able to think or feel about it with myself. It was too overwhelming.
At first, I started to spiral.
Those first few years, I had this constant fear hovering over me. So many people with chronic Lyme developed symptoms of Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, or ALS later on. Based on my current symptoms, I was possibly on track for that.
I was terrified that I would lose the ability to play in the outdoors, like I so loved to. I had already lost so much of that already.
My sense of self-worth plummeted. When I went out climbing with my friends, I just felt like a burden. I couldn’t carry much of the heavy gear like I used to, as the arthritis in my knees and spine had gotten so bad. I had to rest afterward for two to three days longer than I used to. Dating seemed like a far-off dream.
I was in daily, chronic pain and I started to feel hopeless and deeply alone in my predicament. I didn’t know how to talk about it. I was barely able to think or feel about it with myself. It was too overwhelming.
Something had to give.
I started to try anything that could help.
Acupuncture was the first “alternative” medicine that truly alleviated many of my symptoms. Ayurveda was the second. These successes made me start to really question what I had been taught about health and wellness in general.
I started to realize that our healthcare system here in the United States seems to actually be closer to a sick-care system. Patients learning to live with a chronic disease by doing what they can to manage their symptoms, either by taking pills or undergoing expensive, invasive surgeries, many with life-changing side effects.
I started to learn that many eastern medicine practices teach about energy flow within our bodies and the intricacies of the mind-body connection. At first, I had a lot of resistance to this. Energy flow? Our thoughts and emotions being the cause of symptoms in our physical bodies? At the time, it all seemed a little too far out there for me.
It turns out, now western science is studying the mind-body connection too.
Then I learned about Nervous System Dysregulation.
I started to dive into the new research coming out about trauma and complex PTSD. There was hard, scientific data showing a direct connection between the mind and the body, and it was through our Central Nervous System.
The mind-body connection and our energetic experience is real.
Suddenly, so much was falling into place. My stubborn engineer’s mind finally had what it needed to really allow myself fully lean in to what I had been experiencing and learning about.
It turns out, now western science is studying the mind-body connection too.
Then I learned about Nervous System Dysregulation.
I started to dive into the new research coming out about trauma and complex PTSD. There was hard, scientific data showing a direct connection between the mind and the body, and it was through our Central Nervous System.
The mind-body connection and our energetic experience is real.
Suddenly, so much was falling into place. My stubborn engineer’s mind finally had what it needed to really allow myself fully lean in to what I had been experiencing and learning about.
It was time for radical change in my life.
One day, I was talking with a woman about what I was going through, about how poorly understood chronic disease is. She said, “those who struggle the most with Lyme are those who are struggling to walk the path they came here to walk.”
Little did I know it then, but those words eventually changed my life forever…
I truly do believe that we are each here to walk the path that we came here to walk and I would be honored to join you along your path of self-realization, toward the thriving life that you came here to live.
I’M HERE FOR YOU
Does my story resonate with you?
When it comes to this next step, it can be hard. If your journey has been anything like mine, you’ve already spent more time and money on “health cures” than you’d really like to admit. Or perhaps you’re just beginning and really don’t know where or how to even start.
Either way, looking back on my own story, I wish I had found a health coach to guide me along the journey of self-discovery and healing. And I would be honored to now support you on yours.
To begin, I always offer a free 20-minute initial consultation to help you to decide if my program would be the right fit for you. If we decide to work together, you can choose from weekly to bi-weekly, 3-month or 6-month programs, depending on where you are on your journey and what works best for your schedule. I offer multiple payment options and am very open to working with your financial needs.
My number one priority is supporting you in whatever ways you need to reclaim your health and wellness!
Whether you are just starting your health journey or have been on it for years, I would be honored to join you
along the way.
Schedule a free 20-minute Health History Consultation today!
Whether you are just starting your health journey or have been on it for years, I would be honored to join you along the way.
Schedule a free 20-minute Health History Consultation today!