I grew up in many cities in the Pacific Northwest, mostly suburbs of Portland, OR.  When I was a teen, we moved to the top of a hill in Sherwood, Oregon and planted a Christmas tree farm. My family instilled in me a love of trees, nature, backpacking, animals, and good music. I still feel that trees are my friends. I love them, and they love me back.

I got my bachelor’s degree and became a Registered Nurse in 2008. I worked for several years as a public health nurse, mostly in women’s health and cancer screening. I saw an overwhelming number of people of all ages suffering the effects of uncontrolled stress, often including various chronic illnesses. I had a lot of empathy for this situation, myself managing the effects of chronic pain, fatigue, and anxiety. I realized that there was a great need for access to better stress management techniques to prevent everyday stress from becoming a more serious health problem. I started studying and practicing meditation and conscious breathing, and while I wasn’t cured, I began experiencing a profound level of healing.

These days I spend most of my time raising my three energetic boys with my husband, studying about the effects of meditation on chronic illness, and teaching people to meditate. I fill in the gaps with tablescaping, yoga, reading (divided equally between self- help/ positive psychology and sci-fi/ fantasy), playing the ukulele and guitar (the former better than the latter), and cooking & laundry avoidance, in no particular order.