the journey

As a kid, I remember being fascinated with the stars and “The Secret Languages of Birthdays” by Gary Goldschneider. I would flip to my friend’s and family’s birthdays and read the page out loud to them; I remember carrying that book everywhere. At a friend’s Halloween party one night, looking up to the stars, I turned to a girl next to me and said, “You know what I love about the stars? They give me hope that there’s something more, something better.” I always did have a flare for the dramatic.

Around age 12, I began having seizures and around age 17 I was officially diagnosed with Vasovagal Syncope (VVS) with a seizure disorder. In my second semester of undergrad, I had an episode in the middle of class and ended up being transported to the hospital. Long story short, my ER doctor told me that I needed to “strengthen my third eye and focus on the color indigo”. He then wrote me a prescription for a book about Chakras; my mom and I looked at each other like the guy was out of his mind and sort of laughed it off. Fast forward a few months, I joined the campus yoga club as a way to gain flexibility and relax. I quickly learned that yoga was more than just a physical practice. A few classes in, the teacher, Kristina, started talking about Chakras and mentioned the “third eye”. I think you can see where this is headed…

As I deepend my practice, I found that my symptoms related to VVS began to subside and when I did have symptoms, I was better able to control them through awareness and breath. This thing called yoga was changing my life so I just had to share it with others. (I’m also happy to report that I’ve been seizure free since 2012!)

In 2013, my friend and I took over the campus yoga club and eventually enrolled in yoga teacher training with Awaken Yoga School in Mentor, OH under the leadership of Jennifer Langsdale. In 2015 and 2016, I completed my 200 hour Hatha and 200 hour Vinyasa certifications, respectively. Since, I have taught yoga in gyms, various studios in the Cleveland area, and as an adjunct faculty member at Lake Erie College.

Over the years, I dabbled in astrology, mainly reading (inaccurate) information I found online. In 2017, I had my first professional astrology reading, which confirmed I was, in fact, a Leo. I only understood about 30% of what was being said during this reading; I knew I needed to learn more. I embarked on a journey of self-study for a couple of years until serendipitously finding my teacher, Catherine Urban, and began taking classes through Coven in Lakewood, OH in late 2019. In the summer of 2020, I became certified by NCGR-PAA as a Level I practitioner, and the obsession continues.