I truly believe that Western medicine has its place. If my limb gets ripped off in an accident, no amount of breathwork or meditation will reattach my arm. I have the utmost respect for surgeons and many clinically trained healthcare professionals. I LOVE science and research. That being said, most of us have been so disempowered and disconnected from our own healing abilities that serve us on a day to day basis. The surgeon might reattach my arm, but the healing process from that trauma has only just started.  One day I was sitting in a garage, exhausted and drained from a panic attack episode. I had this realization. There was a pattern to the suffering I was experiencing, the more I started to think about it, the more obvious it was that I was stuck in some kind of a loop. Things were repeating themselves over and over again. The domestic violence was following me around like a shadow, new partner, same problem. Same thing with the "new job" quickly turning into the "old issue". The doctor visits were only providing temporary relief, over and over again.  So I decided to get help. ​ It started with talk therapy, years and years of CBT, and Psychotherapy trying to figure out what was going on. Some therapists were great, some did more harm than good. A little progress here and there. But after years of traditional therapy, I was starting to wonder if there was something better. It was also eating up all my financial resources and didn't feel very sustainable. So I decided to explore what else was out there in the world when it comes to healing.  ​ And there is A LOT! ​ So many things that I had never even heard of before.  I started exploring more common and scientifically supported healing modalities like physical therapy, breathwork, yoga, nutrition, and nervous system regulation therapy. I also started exploring more "woowoo" and lesser-known modalities like energy work, sensory deprivation tanks, craniosacral therapy, altered states of consciousness, hypnotherapy, vision quests with no food or water for days alone in a remote canyon... and a lot more in between. ​ The more I tried, the hungrier I got. And then I quickly faced the "fix it" trap that many people go through when diving deep into the world of self-improvement, self-help, and healing. (I go more into detail about the "need to fix" trap in 1-1 sessions and in the mini-guide ) All the trial and error I was doing in the "healing world" started to pay off dramatically. Every aspect of my life has changed beyond what I had ever imagined. ​ But something really surprised me about it all. ​ We see it on social media, movies, and even promoted by"healing businesses"... this one thing (insert here) WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.   Things like Ayahuasca retreats are becoming hyper trendy, promoting the idea that this one peak experience is the holy grail to fix your life, solve all your problems, and cure all your pain. ​ And while I have personally experienced the benefit and value of having "big" peak "transformations", it's not what brought the most healing into my life. Sometimes it even slowed down the process. ​ It wasn't until I started to deeply understand and embody the integration of healing into my day- to-day life over a period of time that big changes started unfolding. ​ It wasn't the big, fast, immediate, intense stuff that gave me the most change. It was actually the practice of subtle but powerful micro shifts on a consistent basis. Like learning how to drive a car. What takes a lot of effort and practice in the beginning, alchemizes into a way of life that becomes muscle memory. ​ We are also starting to see the negative effects of people going through these intense "peak" experiences, especially with psychoactives. People often have no guidance or support on how to safely integrate these experiences, and the consequences can be serious, life-threatening, and cause long-term damage and deep trauma. ​ I talk more about this in the safety first section of the Healing Guide. ​ ​