ForResting the Soul

scia work deepened after studying with Maria Alfieris of Magical Hands Physical Therapy, attending her transformative two-day workshop in Orlando, FL (July 2024) and again in Atlanta, GA (February 2025). Earlier in 2025, I also completed Paul Chek’s Holistic Lifestyle Coaching Level 1 course, further integrating movement, nutrition, rest, and joy into my personal life and client sessions. In January 2025, I became Secretary of the Board for the Psychedelic Society of the Ozarks, an organization committed to education, community, and safe practices around psychedelics. This role is a natural extension of my long-standing advocacy for plant medicines. That advocacy deepened even further later that spring, when I traveled to the Peruvian Amazon for a 10-day dieta, sitting in ceremony with Ayahuasca five times—a sacred experience that continues to influence my work and personal path. I hold four life coaching certifications, but I prefer the title Awareness Coach because my work isn’t about telling people what to do—it’s about guiding them to become deeply present to their own lives and choices, and this comes from personal self-awareness. I’ve been a licensed and nationally certified massage therapist for over two decades, and my work continually reinforces a truth I hold close: our physical health is inseparable from our mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. My own journey through—and alongside—addiction has shown me that the only person we can truly rescue is ourselves. That’s why I believe self-care is not selfish; it’s foundational. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Life before massage therapy taught me a lot about what I didn’t want. I worked in the legal industry—IT, administration, even managing a branch with 14 attorneys in Chattanooga, TN—before returning to Missouri and co-owning Life Essentials Wellness Center in 2004. Since then, my path has woven through community service (helping utilize a $2 million community transformation grant for walkability projects, reviving a 15-year-old garden program for the local food bank), publishing the Ozarks’ first holistic wellness directory, teaching massage business courses, and co-founding the Queen City Beard & Moustache Federation, which has raised over $120k for local causes. Outside my work, I’m happiest near water—paddling a canoe, kayak, or paddleboard—or moving my body through yoga, gentle kundalini practice, or long walks in nature. I’m a fire sign with a deep love of music, dance, and travel, and I’m on track to visit all 50 states before my time here is up. If you’re ready to reconnect to your body, your emotions, and your own inner wisdom, I’d be honored to walk beside you. Your relationship with yourself is the most important one you’ll ever have—and it’s the only one guaranteed for life.