Let Me Hold Space For You

MY LIFE’S CURRICULUM IS MY MOST HONORED CREDENTIAL.

HI, I'M MELISSA

I was under the belief I was not intelligent until my mid-twenties. Like many of my clients, it turns out my history of trauma meant my brain was not working to its potential. A lifetime of survival mode wreaked havoc on my mind and body. Back pain, anxiety, gastrointestinal distress, and depression waged war on my life, and often through thought and action, I waged war on myself.

Like most of us, I believed getting healthier meant diet and exercise, so I became a Certified Personal Trainer and Corrective Exercise Specialist. I helped hundreds of clients lose physical weight. But it was not the workouts or nutrition; it was the symbolic weight they could shed within a safe space that led to the changes in their body.

WHILE MY PHYSICAL BODY CHANGED, THE PAIN REMAINED, GASTROINTESTINAL DISTRESS BEGAN, AND THE INTERNAL WAR WAGED BY DIET CULTURE FESTERED.

In 2015, my son Cannon was born. I saw the world and myself in a different light. It was like the callouses of my heart were rubbed raw. I wanted to be free of internal wars. I tried to understand what was different about the safe space and how it differed from trainers who did similar things. Like many, I was sick of living by society’s made-up standards. So I studied (find the certifications below), left an unhealthy marriage, was diagnosed with PTSD, and worked with traditional and non-traditional therapists.

CREDENTIALS

WVWC Bachelor of History
200+ Hour Professional Certificate of Personal Training
200+ Hour Registered Yoga Teacher
300 Hour Yoga Therapy
300 Hour Yoga Psychology
Applied Polyvagal Theory
Somatic Trauma Therapy
100 Hour Certified Meditation Teacher
Certified Holistic Lifestyle Coach
Psycho-Sacred Healing
Trained Doula
Pregnancy & Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist
Asian Bodywork & Yoga Therapy with The Lotus Way
Masters in Social Work

I learned that intellect is not the appropriate vehicle for healing.

The healing does not occur in the mind; it happens in the body and allows the mind to process and rewire patterns. What happens in safe spaces is nervous system regulation. I hold that space daily, and with my clients, we have learned to find ease within the discomfort, be vulnerably authentic, and become rooted in our practices by taking a ‘little and often’ approach.

A LITTLE BIT AT A TIME, OFTEN.

We have learned to love ourselves using practical methods. We have found generational and childhood trauma healing through parenting our children and reparenting ourselves. We no longer look to the outside world for answers and instead go within. We celebrate those parts that helped us survive and then learn how to live fulfilling lives.

I WOULD LOVE TO HOLD A SAFE SPACE WITH YOU, AS YOU ARE.

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