Roots

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Germinated in Montana, my roots run five generations deep! Steeped in Montana’s rich waters and vast mountain skies, I am reminded of my own inner wilderness; these natural spaces are where I go to seek solace and reconvene with my inner wisdom. Connecting to nature is a daily priority and a deeply cherished ritual.

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Educated in numerous ways – life, trauma, loss, love, as well as obtaining a master’s degree in communication sciences and disorders – I’m now living on the central Oregon coast, working as a speech-language pathologist with families of young children. Family systems are brimming full of unspoken expectations of how things are “meant” to happen or be. Yet life, and children, have plans of their own. Working with families in these incredibly vulnerable situations has offered a pathway into hearts, encouraging softening, listening, opening, and a deeper presence – for the families I work with, and for myself.

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Communication can be so difficult. What we say isn’t always what is heard and often, our messaging is filtered through self-, cultural-, and social-belief lenses, becoming distorted and misconstrued. Learning the intricacies of communication, especially in those who are silenced, oppressed, or quite literally may not have a voice, I have learned to attune to not only what is being said but to what is being communicated below the surface. Each heart is so precious and pure. Navigating through the pain and protection is an art of deep listening and pure reverence for the light that resides in all beings.

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As a lifelong learner, I followed my curiosity into the International Academy of Professional Coaching, instructed by the brilliant Doctor Kathy Norwood of Coaches Evolve. As Kathy often says, “it’s always an inside job,” meaning no matter how clear it seems to be someone or something else’s fault or problem, how we react, respond, and choose to move forward is the only thing we can work with. I was no different. Ineffective protective skills amassed, I was quite disconnected from my heart, in a state of automaticity and outward focus based on results, achievement, and external confirmations and rewards; a real people pleaser, honestly, which has slowly, thankfully, shifted into who I am today – a more authentic me. The evolution to becoming an embodied coach is transformative to say the least and has to start within the heart.

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And I, too, am on the path. It is through the held space, the sacred communing with oneself through the darkest of times, that one is infused with the often unrecognized yet most invaluable wisdom that comes from within, from experience, and oftentimes through suffering. I am still learning.

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Coaching is the gift you give yourself when you’re ready to step into your own empowered self, who celebrates accomplishments of the heart and surrounds oneself with compassion through pain. Coaching is a community of showing up for ourselves, a web of generative support.