Work with me

As a yoga therapist, I work with you to find ease and learn the skills that will make you feel more resilient in this particular chapter of your life. Yoga therapy uses all the tools of yoga to teach you how to embody mindful awareness and new habits into all aspects of your life. Yoga therapy is rooted in the understanding that we are complex, multidimensional beings and each one of us has a potential that can be awakened through diverse portals. Yoga therapy looks different than a private yoga session in that conscious conversation might comprise a bigger portion of our time together than perfecting poses. You will leave each session with a short practice that might include breathwork, meditation, movement or other kinds of reflection for you to do at home.   

Our first session begins with a comprehensive intake assessment. Together, we’ll learn more about the issues and conditions you’re facing from the yogic perspective, as a way of complementing what you might know from medical and mental health models. At each subsequent session, we’ll review what’s working and how you’re incorporating the changes and we’ll fine tune according to your expanding interests and needs. I recommend booking 6 sessions to see best results. 

Sessions are now available online!  

Coaching was created because of a crisis in the Western model of learning, which emphasized information and the intellect, but ignored thnee body and emotions. Thanks to new developments in science (especially neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, and cognitive biology), we’re understanding what many wisdom traditions have taught for generations: that there is NO separation between the mind, the body, the brain and nervous system and our psycho-spiritual landscape. To stop at the neck is to ensure that learning is disconnected from the fullness of our experience. 

Joseph Campbell wrote about this universal hero’s journey which involved an initiation/call (we’re hit with sense of meaningless of our lives, that something is off), a test (belly of the whale, long journey, pain, confusion), and finally the return (archetype of delivery/baby — a new way of being in the world).

For this journey to be complete, three elements are required:

(1) sacred space (love, safety, a sealed place for initiation, a temple — what’s sometimes referred to as “setting”);

(2) a shaman or guide which is not a teacher but more of an empathetic witness, someone who embodies the archetype of the magician, who holds the space, showing you how to access something that’s always been there; and

(3) the proper mindset (“set” for short), an intention, a willing to be present with whatever comes up and to integrate lessons from the journey into one’s ordinary life.  

 Coaching is this forum around learning in which time and space and mindset and setting are there to support your journey.  I have found coaching to be a radical departure from more corporate modes of learning and leading.  

The people I have worked with over the past 15 years come to coaching when they’re needing to make a shift in their life — or when life has done the shifting for them. Some people have a clear idea of what end result they want (more integrity between their values and their work, for instance). Others are not even sure of the next best step to take.

 Wherever you are is a great place to start! Clients report feeling more focused, supported, appreciative, free from internal limitations and more resilient as a result of our work together.

In general, I recommended a minimum of six sessions to see results. (I also have coaching clients with whom I’ve worked for years, supporting them as they continue to grow and move through life with intention and compassion.) If you’re unsure, you can always just book a single session, which can be revealing, about next steps; more sessions would help you dive deeper into your habitual patterns and shift thought and behavioral patterns in alignment with your own goals.      

While each experience is unique, you can expect coaching with me to include: 

• Compassionate Inquiry (see below)
• Radical self-care
• Self-directed appraisals on strengths
• Helpful tools around organizing, process, power and structure
• Enhanced negotiation skills
• New perspectives and possibilities for action
• The ability to make courageous and wise decisions
• Greater trust in yourself and more even power balances in relationships
• Finding breathing and postural patterns that energize, center and settle 
• Guided imagery and meditation
• Intuitive guidance
• Assignments between sessions
• My ongoing support, feedback and accountability

 Sessions are held over zoom, phone, or if you’re local, we can also do walk-and-talk. I am also available for integration coaching packages. Contact me for more details.  

Compassionate Inquiry was created by Dr. Gabor Mate as a trauma-informed somatic approach to bring curiosity into the roots of what makes us suffer. As these body- and brain-based patterns become more visible, and as we’re able to drill down into the core of the stories and beliefs we’ve been carrying, we’re able to gently discharge these and discover an ease with life that was there all along.   

The space we create together will teach you how to:

• Cultivate a greater sense of presence and acceptance in each moment.
• Listen to the signals from your body to better understand and address your needs. 
• Discover your underlying beliefs and how they drive your life.  
• Relate to your mental and emotional states with greater awareness and self-compassion. 
• Express yourself more clearly and completely. 
• Enjoy better boundaries. 
• Develop your capacity for choice — and change.

All sessions are held over zoom. 

Energy healing is the gentle antidote for stress. I am trained in Reiki, Polarity Therapy and Shamanism, and combine these as appropriate. Energy healing helps balance the autonomic nervous system, which regulates over 90 percent of your internal functions, including hormonal and immune system responses, digestion and sleep. Most often, I integrate other healing tools – such as coaching, aromatherapy, biofeedback, and breathwork – into these sessions, which gives them greater transformational value. Some people get a session every once-in-a-while as a seed-planting or re-boot. Other clients schedule regular sessions for routine check-in’s and support.

At the moment, these sessions are available online and in-person in either your home by appointment or through the GW Center for Integrative Medicine on Friday mornings.