Have you signed up for my free 7-Day Joy Challenge?
My journey towards an integrated heart began in Oregon. Magical forests and the intensity of the ocean are embedded in my heart due to my childhood and early adulthood growing up near the Pacific Ocean. But it was the months of rain and gray clouds that prompted me to continue my journey to Scottsdale Arizona where the sun, blue skies, and warm weather prevail. I met my husband, spent a decade in the corporate world, went back to school to become a psychology professor, and then became a mommy.
It was as my new role as a mom that I found my world ultimately shifted in this very new, uncomfortable, and foreign way of being.
It led me to “break open” in unexpected ways. I found healing in therapy, the practice of mindfulness, meditation, coaching and a deepened spiritual practice. With every challenge there is also opportunity, even if we can’t see it for months or years later. I now know that mommyhood has forever expanded my heart and has created many opportunities for me to help others.
After 20 summers in the desert, my family and I traveled to the Rocky Mountains and found a home in Boulder Colorado. It is a place with four distinct seasons, lots of sunshine, forests, rivers, and lakes, all of which support my deep connection to nature. I have learned for our hearts to be integrated, we must return to our essential nature, which is one with nature itself.
Throughout my teaching and personal experiences, I found a continuing theme – a passion for helping people achieve their best selves through meditation, positive psychology tools, and wellness practices. It is for that reason that I have created The Integrated Heart; to offer these beautiful, nourishing, healing, and life-affirming practices for your body, mind, and spirit. And we can do that no matter where you are on this beautiful planet.
As far as the past and present moment, I have an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Western Oregon University and a Master’s in Education from Northern Arizona State University. I was a mindfulness educator for three years where I taught social-emotional learning mindfulness in K-6 public schools to students and faculty through a non-profit organization. I’m a Chopra Certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Health teacher, a psychology adjunct professor for Estrella Community college since 2008, and a faculty associate for Arizona State University since 2017.
I am currently a mom, a wife, a dog mom, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a change agent (so I’ve been told). I love yoga, labyrinths, laughing until it hurts, meditation, karaoke, walks in nature, satisfying before-and-after’s (why I love a good design show on HGTV), kindness to animals, gardening, family bike rides, and being in bed by 10 pm.
The 7-Day Joy Challenge is a free resource that shares my favorite practices and tips for tapping into your joy and experiencing it every day!
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