My Story

“You need some yoga and meditation in your life.”

The first time I heard those words, my response was  “you’re f—cking crazy.” I’m a dude that loves pickup trucks, cowboy  boots, burgers and beer.  That suggestion came seven years ago after  suffering several anxiety attacks, and making a couple trips to the  hospital thinking I was having a heart attack.  I was 70 pounds overweight, pre-diabetic, suffered from hyper-tension, and dealing with  unresolved childhood trauma. Deep down I knew I was slowly killing  myself.
The Crossroads --- that’s what I call Jan 2, 2010.  I looked at a  picture of myself from the previous night at a New Year’s party.   Bloated, unhappy, and just tired of faking it.  It was that moment, a  line from “The Shaw-shank Redemption” came to me --- “either you get busy  living or you get busy dying.” I made the decision to live.  But, I had  to define what that meant to me.
 

I decided to stop letting the past dictate my present. I decided to stop  caring what other people thought of me. (It was none of my business)  I  decided to make my mental, physical and spiritual health a priority.  I  decided to live with love, kindness, and compassion toward myself, as  well as all living creatures.
 

 I nervously went to my first yoga class.  I heard it was a great way to connect to my “numb” body that I haven’t felt in years.
 

I went to guided relaxations and mindful based meditations to “quiet” my overwhelmed mind.

I started to reconnect with nature instead of connecting with three beers and a box of chicken wings.
 

Within a year, the excess weight was gone, my mind and body were strong, but my stress and anxiety response remained.
 

Psycho-therapy helped, and still helps, but the real game changer was  learning to re-wire my nervous system.  Learning over time to increase  my body’s capacity and resiliency.  Let me give you an analogy to tell  you what I mean.
 

Imagine a swimming pool with beach balls in it.  Imagine too many balls  in the pool. Imagine your body (and your nervous system) is the pool and  the balls are all your stressors (that are trapped!)
 

When a lot of stress is stored inside the body, there is not a lot of  space… without space, we experience rigidity and tension. Our bodies  begin to shutdown.  We exhibit low metabolism, low energy, chaos,  confusion, overwhelm… etc.
 

By systematically taking balls out of the pool, and moving the remaining  balls around, we find more space, inside the pool and ourselves. More  space, more suppleness, more aliveness, more resilience.
 

It has become an obsession - a passion for me to learn and practice how  the body responds to stress and holds onto it.  More importantly, I know  how to release stress from my body using many modalities that I have  learned including: somatic movement, neurosensory exercises,  breathing  techniques, mindful based stress reduction, yoga, as well as a detailed  understanding of our body’s stress physiology and nervous system.
 

I give you my word that my teachings are honest and authentic.  My heart  comes from a place of non-judgment and understanding.  I promise to  lead you on a journey of self-development, self-discovery, learning and  healing.  
For those people who embark on this journey in the stress  clinic do so in an effort to regain control of their health and to  attain some peace of mind.  
 

I promise to lead you toward healing with integrity, trust and responsiveness.  I look forward to spending time with you.
 

Respectfully,
Brad