The Path That Brought Me Here

I’ve always been sensitive and attuned.
Even as a child, I could sense what others couldn’t name. I was drawn to the why behind people’s behavior, to the emotions beneath their words. Long before I had language for trauma or nervous systems, I knew there was more happening under the surface.

I grew up in a volatile environment—marked by abuse, poverty, and chronic illness. The very systems and relationships that were supposed to protect me often caused the most harm. Like many sensitive souls, I learned to disconnect in order to survive.

I left home young and kept pushing forward, even through illness. I searched for escape and belonging in substances, in fast-paced environments, in roles that looked “successful” on the outside but left me feeling empty on the inside.

And yet—something deep within me never stopped calling.
It was my soul, guiding me toward a life of meaning and truth I had never fully known.
What began as a whisper became a powerful pull—toward healing, purpose, and a return to trusting myself.
To being guided from within.
To letting my intuition lead the way.

Eventually, I listened to that voice.

I left everything behind and spent three months in India—immersed in Ayurvedic study, yoga, and ancient healing practices. For the first time in my life, I was entirely focused on myself. On turning inward. On healing. On doing the deep inner work I had always longed for but never truly given myself.

It was a time of devotion. Of stripping away. Of remembering.

One day, I found myself in a cave on the sacred mountain of Arunachala—the site where the great sage Ramana Maharshi once lived and taught.

In that stillness, something profound awakened within me.
It was as if the layers I had carried my whole life—the pain, the pressure, the stories—began to dissolve.
I felt parts of myself return that I hadn’t even realized were missing.

I was no longer searching outside of myself for answers.
I was connected—deeply—to something ancient, wise, and whole.
To a sense of oneness that transcended thought.
To the quiet, undeniable knowing that I am not separate… and never have been.

That moment changed everything.
It wasn’t just the beginning of a new chapter.
It was the beginning of a new way of being.

When I returned home, nothing was the same.
I couldn’t go back to the way things were—not in my relationships, my work, or the way I moved through the world.

The experience in India had awakened something I couldn’t ignore:
A devotion to living with presence.
A commitment to healing and self-actualization.
And a calling to support others in doing the same.

That’s what led me to deepen my studies in trauma, bodywork/somatics, energy work, and spiritual healing.
To sit with people in prisons, US Veterans, treatment centers, and private sessions.
To weave together the wisdom of my lived experience with decades of learning, practice, and intuition.

And in 2021, I founded One Breath Institute with my friend and co-founder, Deborah Dickey, and together we developed Introspective Breathwork® Therapy—a client-led, trauma-informed modality that helps people gently release what no longer serves and reconnect with the truth of who they are.

This work was born from a promise I made in that cave:
To listen.
To show up.
And to walk with others as they remember who they truly are.