I guide female-bodied people on their own unique healing journey, with a special focus on new and soon-to-be mothers and caretakers.
“I combine over 20 years of leadership, training, coaching, and facilitation skills with my own experience over the last few years of healing from chronic stress, burnout, overwhelm, and trauma.”
About me
Hi, I’m El.
I use she/they pronouns because I identify as a gender non-conforming female. Some of the identities I carry are a daughter, a sister, a life partner, and a mother. But my whole self isn’t defined by my relationship and value to others. I’m also an empath, an intellectual, a creative, and an activist.
I reside on unceded, occupied territory of the Pawtucket, Wampanoag, and Massachusett indigenous peoples, aka the city of Boston. I was born on Patawami, Miami, and Peoria land in modern-day Chicago, Illinois. I consider myself a midwesterner at heart having a love affair with New England. My ancestors were from Europe and came to this continent both as refugees and as colonizers. My family lines contain both inherited wealth and extreme poverty.
I was raised Unitarian Universalist, where I got my start in social justice and leadership in my early youth. I had the privilege of a formal education from Vassar College, where I majored in political science and geography, with extra-curricular activism and ultimate frisbee. I lived in co-operative housing, studied abroad in Central America, and volunteered in state prisons. I graduated to launch my career as an environmental grassroots organizer and policy advocate.
I spent time mobilizing communities, businesses, scientists, and stakeholders to work for a cleaner, healthier, safer planet for all. I spent time lobbying Congress and the White House, raising money, building power, and earning media attention. I found a passion in training and cultivating staff and volunteers and managing diverse teams.
I’ve studied critical race theory, liberation theology, restorative justice, post-conflict reconciliation, and non-violent direct action. I have had formal professional trainings from The Management Center, Rockwood Leadership Institute, Training for Change, and Race Forward (to name a few).
Now, I combine over 20 years of leadership, training, coaching, and facilitation skills with my own experience over the last few years of healing from chronic stress, burnout, overwhelm, and trauma. I am concurrently pursuing two international coaching certifications:
a Mama Rising Facilitator (to better understand the unique journey of motherhood)
a Somatic Educator from the Somatic Institute for Women.
I truly believe that healing for the mother means healing for the future of the world.
My story
After infertility, a traumatic birth and NICU stay during the Covid-19 lockdown, I left my ambitious career due to burnout, overwhelm, exhaustion, and trauma. I was dissociating and numb, running on adrenaline and caffeine, chronically tense and stressed, ignoring my body’s cues, and pushing myself beyond my capacity with narratives of what I “should” be able to do and who I “should” be.
Then, I started having panic attacks.
I sought professional help of various forms, some of which was helpful, some didn’t go deep enough, and some was straight up re-traumatizing. I tried medications, talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and EMDR. (And I continue to use some of these therapies when helpful). I did hormone testing and cognitive neurological testing. I saw a chiropractor, physical therapist, acupuncturist. I quit coffee and did a gut-health diet… the list goes on.
I was desperate for relief from the inner emotional turmoil.
These practices have their place and can be helpful for certain things, but they also cost a lot of time and money, and I wasn’t seeing the results that I needed. I was missing a holistic approach that incorporated both the top-down cognitive thinking and the bottom-up body based practice. Worst of all, I was using trial-and-error and navigating it on my own with a limited budget while still juggling caregiving responsibilities to a small child.
I started to study the nervous system and polyvagal theory, how trauma impacts the brain and body, early childhood development, neuroplasticity and brain “re-wiring”. I studied the body’s language and how heart rate, breathing, digestion and gut health, immune response, lymphatic system, toxins, and hormonal imbalances contribute all impact and are impacted by our nervous system.
I soon realized I had been living for decades with a dysregulated nervous system, and I embarked on a long healing journey to feel safe, embodied, and alive in my body and mind.
My journey led me to meditation and mindfulness, somatic awareness and movement, breathwork and yin yoga, forming healthy habits, reframing limiting beliefs, and cultivating deeper self-love, self-worth, self-trust, and self-compassion. I learned to trust my own intuition and to listen to what my body and my nervous system really needed.
Now, I’m on a mission to serve as a guide for other new and soon-to-be moms on their own unique healing journeys thru motherhood.
What do I do?
“You can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere.”
I support female-bodied people, with a special focus on new and soon-to-be mothers and caretakers, through their unique healing journey to overcome chronic stress, worry, burnout and overwhelm. I work with people holistically to connect with their bodies and minds and discover their own self-worth, self-trust, and self-compassion.
The key to healing is nervous system regulation. I use evidence-based practices that back up ancient wisdoms with a sprinkle of mysticism. Thru mindfulness, movement, breath and belief work, my clients find peace, balance, harmony and joy to live their most authentic, fulfilled, badass life.
Personal wellness is not possible without collective liberation. I empower struggling moms to unpack the ways in which our society, culture, and politics are impacting them. Let’s face it: we do not live in a world that supports the mother holistically. Yet I also believe there is a lot of power in setting boundaries, asking for support, and building community.
Each client is different and comes to me with their own challenges and strengths. In your first session, we will spend time talking about specific challenges to your life and what your goals or vision is for what could be different. Some people have very clear ideas of what they want to work on, while others just present with a general feeling and we explore that together and examine where it might be coming from and what might feel good for them in the moment.
Mindfulness simply means focusing your attention and awareness on your body (sensations) and mind (thoughts) in the present moment. We can learn to quiet our racing thoughts and tune into our body’s innate wisdom by practicing mindfulness. It doesn’t have to look this picture (sitting quietly with my eyes closed and legs crossed for 5, 10, or 20 minutes). You can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere. I often start with body-based somatic awareness, such as focusing on the breath, posture, and intuitive movements.
Working with the body alone can only get you so far. Brains have a built-in negativity bias. It is our brain’s job to keep us safe, and constantly looking out for threats is how our ancestors survived. Your brain is constantly thinking negative, limiting, or judgemental thoughts. These are often based on inner beliefs that were established in our formative years. These beliefs have become so imbedded in our psyche that we accept them as absolute truth, and are not even aware of how those deeply held beliefs shape our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Our beliefs shape our world view, our perceived reality, and our lived experience.
“Our beliefs shape our world view, our perceived reality, and our lived experience. ”
Who do I work with?
In my coaching practice, I focusing on serving female-bodied (women and non-binary) folks primarily. However, I often shorten writing to be simply “woman”. I also have a special focus on mothers, mothers-to-be, and other caretakers to young children. However, I often shorten in writing to be simply “mothers” or “mama”.
I support female-bodied people because I am a female-bodied person. I was raised and socialized through girlhood, maidenhood, and motherhood. In our patriarchal society, female-bodied people are often raised to be nurturing caretakers, putting others needs before their own, more-so than male-bodied people.
Furthermore, those who have direct experience with pregnancy and birth go through unique physical, emotional, social and psychological changes. While non-birthing parents can also experience these changes indirectly, the process of gestation and birth has unique impacts on birthing people.
Female-bodied people also have unique physiology and hormonal cycles that can change their mood and energy throughout the month. Getting in touch with these cycles and learning to live with them can be empowering and a way to re-claim feminist power in a patriarchal world.
I will work with a birthing parent or a non-birthing parent, an adoptive parent, or an intended parent. My practice is LGBTQ+ friendly. As someone who is non-binary and went through infertility treatments, I understand there are many ways to make a loving family.
