about emily
I’m so glad you’re here.
I launched my health coaching business in 2021, but I’ve been working in the health and wellness field since 2006. I’m grateful for this opportunity to tell you some more about my work in this field and how I got here.
Here’s the big picture:
Here’s how my students frequently describe me:
During my massage training, I found myself especially drawn to Anatomy & Physiology. This connection actually took me by surprise ~ I started off quite apprehensive about the class. But it soon turned into a full-blown love that eventually led to a career in adult education.
I saw in studying A&P that I was studying myself in an incredibly profound way. I’d spend most of my childhood feeling rather ungrounded… always somewhere up in the ether. But taking in this material was transformative. I found it to be terrifically grounding. And I was inspired to pass on this excitement, sense of wonder, and empowering knowledge ~ about ourselves and about our health ~ to others.
Thus began my career as an Anatomy & Physiology instructor, which evolved alongside my bodywork practice.
Teaching gave me the opportunity to pass on a sense of appreciation and wonder about this vessel of life we inhabit called our body. Studying Anatomy & Physiology is a formidable way to gain perspective on the nature of life itself.
Time and time again, in the course of my teaching, I heard the collective marvel: I can’t believe I didn’t know this. Everybody should learn this in school. I appreciate myself in a whole new way now. etc. etc.
For well over a decade, I’ve also been devoted to integrating studies of ancient healing modalities with mind-body medicine.
This is powerful stuff.
Through all of these studies, I am struck by the human potential to heal, to access greater states of vitality and well-being. To embrace a state of harmony with our surroundings. The deep and inextricable connections between ourselves and our environment ~ from the cellular to the cosmic level ~ are simply awe-inspiring.
It is these connections which have the power to heal. They are already a part of you.
I grew up surrounded by, and powerfully drawn to nature. When I reflect back on the connection I have with nature that so profoundly informs my work today, it is clear how central this orientation is. It’s not something I learned or picked up along the way. It is truly a part of me, and has been all along.
Always drawn to both science and art, the body and the mind, my path has been marked by a natural impulse to integrate.
I always felt a little uncomfortable with the notion that you’re either “a science person” or “an english person” as was commonly proposed back in school. The way I saw it, right brain and left brain are parts of a united whole. It is that wholeness which I embrace ~ in my life, my art, and my work. It is that wholeness which nature itself reflects.
The evolution of my wellness career owes a great deal to the evolution of my own healing journey.
I struggled for most of my adult life to take proper care of myself. I became worn-out and weary, irritable and increasingly uncomfortable in my body. I was all over the place, running on fumes. The habitual impatience in my parenting left a lot to be desired. I suffered from chronic, debilitating migraines which were becoming alarmingly frequent.
Though I favored what I felt was the natural approach to medicine, focusing more on plant remedies than pills, I still was looking for an external fix to a problem that was in-house.
I felt incredibly disconnected from my body. I didn’t like how this felt, to say the least, but I didn’t know how to change it.
I was only able to bring about a real shift when I actually learned to commit to myself. Instead of being the kind of person who always showed up reliably for everyone but myself, I eventually had to accept that no one would or could ever do this for me but me.
I didn’t begin to experience real transformations with my health until I became willing to repair my relationship with myself. I had to make space within so that my external efforts had somewhere to land. I created an entirely new set of opportunities for myself by envisioning how I wanted to feel, rather than what I didn’t want. I became willing to see my beliefs about myself as flexible. This was transformational.
At the same time, I began working with the daily habits that I now coach.
An author, teacher and prominent figure in Ayurvedic Medicine whom I respect deeply, Claudia Welch, once said that it’s a lot easier to establish self-care practices to support your health when you’re not in the middle of extremely trying life circumstances. Once you have them established, though, these habits can carry you through times of extraordinary stress and strain. They become a support, a rock, for you in the times when you may feel you have nothing else to rely on. This can make all the difference in the world.
In the end, steadily putting in small efforts can have a huge payoff.
As it turned out, this is exactly what happened with me. With a new, more open space of kindness and self-appreciation at the foundation, I began planting the seeds of some simple but powerful daily habits. I soon was presented with some extremely trying circumstances at work which happened to line up with the middle of winter ~ a time when I’d historically been beleaguered by constant colds and flus circulating through my son’s school. In the past this would have been a recipe for pure disaster.
But I was able to move through it with relative ease. I steered clear of the winter crud. I stepped into the challenge at work without getting overstressed, wiped out or derailed. I kept my perspective, my balance, my sanity. This was not historically my trend…
And just as that term drew to a close, the news of Covid hit. I continued to lean into the habits. I strengthened my resolve to keep self-care a priority. I focused on building my immunity with rest, more gentle movement, and simple foods. I built my immunity by building on the habit of being kinder to myself. I weathered that storm in a way would have seemed unfathomable with my old lifestyle of burning the candle at both ends, biting off more than I could chew, and undermining my immune integrity all the while with harsh self-criticism and unrealistic standards.
This fundamental change has opened up such a host of new opportunities in my life. I feel so much healthier now than I did three years ago. My body doesn’t have to resort to drastic measures to get me to slow down and rest, because I welcome those principles into my daily life.
I see the trajectory that these habits have created, and I know full well the path that my old habits led to. The outcomes are considerably different. So this is the path I’ll be staying on.
Through this approach, I awakened my ability to feel more connected, more balanced, more in tune with my natural wisdom. I feel better now than I’ve felt in years, and I am well-equipped with the tools to continue to expand this capacity. In large part, what I’ve learned is the invaluable skill of getting out of my own way.
Over the years I’ve come to see that all the knowledge in the world can’t make you balanced or whole. Nor is there an over-the-counter remedy, superfood or even exercise that can take the place of this process.
Healing is an inside job. And at its core it’s about creating a new relationship with yourself. Being willing to believe new things about yourself and show up for yourself with greater care and appreciation…. in the way you start your day, in the kitchen, in your down time, and when your body is speaking to you (Spoiler alert ~ it’s always speaking to you!).
With that foundation in place, my capacity to enjoy inhabiting this vessel of life called my body simply continues to expand.
I’ve made a shift from not just studying and knowing, but applying what I’ve learned as I care for myself more fully. Embodying my own wisdom.
And I am here to help you embody yours.
I have great enthusiasm for supporting people in taking better care of their body, mind and spirit.
As a health coach I bring this enthusiasm, a natural gift for expression and a passion for inspiring others on their wellness journey. With great respect and appreciation, I welcome and invite you to take a look around at the resources I’ve put together here for you.
