It has truly been a lifelong journey identifying all the ways I’m able to connect with and support others. Being open-minded and curious has led me to where I am today and I’m certain my journey is not even close to complete.
Recognizing Energy
I would say that I have always felt a bit like the black sheep…in my family…in school…even as an adult I still feel this sense of floating on the fringe a bit. I have also always been quite empathetic to the emotional and physical state of being in the people around me. I assumed that everyone was this way, but I’ve come now to realize that some people have a more fine-tuned sense of the energy that surrounds them. I can think all the way back to my childhood and recall times of deep sensitivity and attunement to my family members and others. In childhood this awareness was at times overwhelming and confusing. It was easy to mistakenly take on other people’s emotions as my own. It has taken years and ongoing daily practice to recognize – but not take ownership of energy that is not my own. I now know that I have influence over when, where, and to what degree I am willing to tap into the energy and emotions of those around me.
As a young physical therapist, I would often unknowingly use this same ability to connect and help treat patients in the world of outpatient orthopedic physical therapy. I remember meeting a patient for the first time, not yet knowing why I would be seeing them, and my left knee started to ache. A deep ache from out of the blue, and in a very specific spot. Surprised, I found out that it was in fact the exact reason that this patient had walked through my door. This happened to me on and off early in my career. I have now been a physical therapist for 15 years. My career began in orthopedics, however my interests very quickly focused on pelvic health concerns. The pelvis is an area of the body that requires a greater sensitivity, often demanding a more refined approach to treatment and healing.
Moving From Awareness to Action
In 2018, I decided to take my first course in CranioSacral Therapy, which opened a whole new set of doors to my intuition and awareness. CranioSacral Therapy utilizes the body to heal physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds that a client may be carrying in their physical or emotional body. I have now taken quite a few Cranio Courses: Level 1, level 2, Somatoemotional Release 1, Pregnancy/fertility/labor level 1, and Pediatrics level 1. I have integrated this work completely into my physical therapy practice, and most of my patients benefit from at least some of this ideology sprinkled throughout their treatments. Other patients come strictly for the Cranio work, as it is so profoundly healing.
Dreaming
CranioSacral Therapy was the beginning of my journey to recognize my own intuition, and what has come after has been a waterfall of ongoing downloads, and questions, and growth. One of the most profound questions I have asked in the last two years was, why do I dream so vividly? What do these dreams mean? I have been an active dreamer since childhood, and in recent years the narratives running in my sleep have intensified dramatically.
Seeking answers to my dream messages led me to Holly Emmerson’s work as a Dream Oracle. I was fortunate enough to be able to take one of Holly’s first online offerings in early 2020. That work inspired me to dig deeper into my own knowing and abilities. I have been working one on one with Holly developing my own skills as an oracle. Oracle…meaning I connect to Spirit…God…Goddess…Higher Energy, and Guides in the Dream World. I have discovered that my dream abilities are meant more for others than they are for myself.
Whole Person Wellness
I started my professional journey with focus on the physical, however experience and awareness has forced me to see and work with my clients from a much more whole person perspective. It is often easy for people to understand that physical pain can cause emotions, i.e. “my back hurts and it makes me mad,” however, the reverse is just as true. Emotional injury can also cause physical pain, i.e. “When I’m mad, my back hurts.” Almost all pain and injury will have layers of both physical and emotional, and just knowing that can help a client make gains in their overall wellness that they may never have thought possible.
