I am one of the Co-Founders and Creators of The Healing Trauma Conference, and Co-Founder and President of Haelan House, an Oregon Nonprofit Organization dedicated to helping people heal the effects of trauma.
A Pacific Northwest native, I have been a spiritual seeker for decades. I graduated from Eastern Washington University (many, many moons ago) with a Bachelor’s degree in Recreation & Leisure Services and a minor in Business Administration. I like to tell people I majored in fun.
I adopted Central Oregon as my forever home after landing a job here and starting a new adventure with my 4-year-old son as a single mom, way back when. After a couple of decades working in the hospitality and tourism industries, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up.
It wasn’t until I began my journey with mindfulness that I discovered my desire to serve and teach people how to use their own inner resources for vibrant health and well-being.
After reading an interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn I was struck by the power of meditation and gentle yoga to transform a person’s life, and potentially our whole world, through the power of mindfulness. I began to understand what it means to be truly present in your life and am passionate about sharing these insights with others.
In 2013, I began the training program to become a Qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher through the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Healthcare and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, School of Medicine, where Jon Kabat-Zinn started this work. I completed training in 2015 and began teaching in January of 2016.
Coincidentally, about that same time, I learned that I had been experiencing the effects of trauma from emotional and verbal abuse since childhood. I began reading and doing research on what it was, realizing that I had experienced trauma because of it. I learned more about how it affected my life and relationships, and what to do about it for myself. My mindfulness practice has been invaluable to my healing.
I enjoy working with groups and individuals, helping them to realize their own abilities, and capacity for healing.
I look forward to meeting you.
