Somatic practices gave me the tools I needed to help my body, mind, emotions and spirit come alive after years of poor health and functioning in survival mode.

I grew up in a complicated family that mixed care with criticism, neglect and abandonment. I grew up scared, angry and was punished for expressing my emotions or failing to live up to the public image our family was supposed to project. I became an expert at adapting my persona and pleasing others. I began to shrink inside a functional façade that hid my insecurities and anxiety. Eventually, my body crashed. I had endocrine problems, developed IBS and poor immune function.

I’m happy to say that now, in my 50’s, I feel better than ever. My vitality is restored and I no longer suffer with chronic anxiety, perfectionism, compulsive people-pleasing, poor sleep, exhaustion or IBS.

I navigate bumps and change with more ease and I’m happier and healthier than ever. It fills me with joy to share somatic tools (that have helped me) with clients, to witness the magic moments when something “sticky” softens, moves, transforms, and allows clients to understand themselves and create more of what they want in life (whether it’s deciding the right way forward at a cross roads, improving their health, feeling good in their body, finding the energy to make a change, process a loss, transforming the quality of their relationships or something else).

I see the body, it’s intuition and emotions, as sources of intelligence. By providing tools to access this inner wisdom, I support clients to re-wire their nervous systems, making blocked, disconnected or repressed energy available for healing and transformation. This work is a deeply intuitive process, but the tools and practices are grounded in a working understanding of the nervous system and how it regulates bodily function, felt sense, emotion and experience.

I’ve been studying and exploring mind-body-emotion-spirit wellness since the early 90’s. I first found the work of Caroline Myss and read “Why People Don’t Heal and How they Can.” This was soon followed by reading Dr. Gabor Maté’s “When the Body Says No” which further fuelled my passion for understanding how we are more than our physical selves and how our entire being, our past experiences, our family and cultural lineage, our emotions, personality and body co-create our state of wellness.

My professional life in the wellness field began with Traditional Chinese Medicine. I worked as a Registered Acupuncturist and Practitioner of TCM for several years. Since then, I have continually added to my studies and incorporated other modalities into my practice for myself and clients. I’ve studied many modalities including sound healing, body work, energy healing, mindfulness, life coaching, attachment parenting and attachment theory, decolonizing practices, trauma-informed group facilitation, somatic movement, Focusing, Somatic EMDR and more (if you want to know more about my credentials, scroll down this page).

After many years of attending as a participant, I began facilitating ceremonial circles in 2010. Intentional community and ritual has been a key part of both my personal healing and an integral part of my professional work.

My business name, Root and Thrive represents the journey to wellness that begins from the inside out. To root means to root into embodied inner knowing. To thrive is to regain full access to our whole self, to our capacity to feel, to heal, to transform, to choose, to set boundaries that honour self and other.

I am full of curiosity and love learning. I’m a student of life, trees, the moon, the stars, the water, air, earth and fire. I love to be in deep connection with other people and with the natural world. I am still learning and exploring embodiment every day by actively engaging in mind-body and soul-nourishing practices like mindfulness, movement, breath work, therapeutic treatments and body work as well as ceremonies and rituals that support my wellness.

I live with my family (partner, two teenagers and a dog) near forested land on the traditional, unceeded territory of the Coast Salish People. I love having lots of books around me. I start a lot of them and finish some. I’m a lover of dogs, fresh air, sunshine, trees, water, dancing, great coffee, belly laughter (the kind that’s borderline painful) and meaningful conversation.

If you’re curious to find out more, I’d love to see if we are a good fit to work together.

Find out if working with me is right for you. Schedule a free 20-minute consultation below.

The simple act of being witnessed, encouraged to take time and space, being given (and giving myself) permission to notice, feel, acknowledge and validate my own felt experience has been one of the most powerful means of healing that I have encountered.