Positively Self & Wellness started as my answer to continue doing what I love in spite of the pandemic that has changed everything.
I feel my purpose in this life is to help those that struggle with pain , physically, emotionally and spiritually. My journey started when I became a Substance Abuse Counselor, working with adolescent girls who carried a high level of stress and shame that had broken them. Their drug of choice became their friend and solitude.
The 12 steps gave them tools to manage those emotions and stressors, yet there was such pain in some of these girls that made it hard for them to break the cycle of addiction. It was my yearning to approach addiction recovery in a wholistic way that led me to massage therapy. Now it may sound like a weird transition, yet the physical body holds on to these emotions and stressors and they can manifest in the form of chronic disease. I got to see this first hand as a Massage Therapist and the deep connection between our mind and body.
Clients that had been in counseling working on letting go of deep wounds from their past , would have complete releases of certain emotional triggers during their massage sessions that would relieve tension and anxiety they were holding on to mentally and physically. Working in a large orthopedic practice, most of my clientele were people suffering from chronic pain. I noticed a pattern of behavior that I felt could be perpetuating their pain; their lack of self care and poor lifestyle choices.
I wanted to do more for these clients to help them sustain managing their pain beyond our massage session. That led me to the Duke IM Health Coaching Certification program. It was here that I gained the understanding of the direct impact our lifestyle choices have on our health and can lead to chronic disease when poorly managed.
It also gave me more insight to the mind body connection and took my background in psychology to another level. Now a Nationally Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach with over 20 years experience in massage therapy and over 5 years experience in coaching, I combine my skills and training to offer a unique approach to helping my clients get of their own way to achieve complete wellness. I recently watched a documentary called "Healing" ( I recommend watching it) and it scientifically describes how the way we manage stress, nutrition and mental wellbeing will have either a positive or negative effect on our health based on our choices.
It goes on to describe the mind -body connection and not falling victim to a prognosis. I work with clients to align their thinking with their beliefs and values that empower them to make choices for their over all well-being. I believe living in faith not fear, allow us to move in the direction we want to go and achieve complete health and wellness.