Bright Light Believer
Hello, my name is Jen, and I have been a nurse for many years. In fact, I have been a nurse for almost 20 years, and during those years, I have worked in a variety of nursing, healthcare, and educational roles within the field. I have also obtained a diploma and degree in Nursing (BScN), as well as a masters in education (MEd) with a focus on adult education and self-reflection.
I have always valued the body-mind connection, and discovered early in my life that the Philosophy and Practice of Yoga was the modality of healing that assisted me to strengthen my body-mind connection. It was with this discovery that I started my Yogi life and obtained my Yoga teacher training in a variety of yoga modalities and populations. I am a life – long learner and am always seeking and open to learn to strengthen my practice, and most importantly, learn from you!
Why the change?
Well, over the years, I started to feel disconnected from myself. I was not connected to my body, mind, or spirit. I was trying to balance a corporate healthcare role with a young family, continue with my learning, and continue to advance my whole self through self-care and awareness. Oh, and manage the life changing events of being pregnant twice and giving surgical birth twice by the age of 30 and went into surgical menopause by the age of 32 years old due to endometriosis.
It became too much to manage, and eventually the stress, anxiety, identity loss, compassion fatigue, and severe menopause took over my life. I was someone for everyone, but I was not someone for me. My body, mind and spirit started to warn me that I needed to change, but my mind would not listen, and I eventually lost the battle which led to illness.
During that time, I started to really reflect on myself and discovered my feminine identity, values, priorities, and dreams were not aligned with who I was now, and that is when I knew I needed to heal and reconnect to myself to be the best version of myself for the ones I love: especially my daughters. I have practiced yoga (body-mind connection) for many years, and have felt its benefits, so I decided to start practicing yoga every day- no scheduled time, length, or modality. I just practiced when I felt I could and just allowed my body to guide me through the yoga practice. Through this daily practice I started to feel different- my body, mind and spirit started to become balanced, aligned, strong, and whole again.
Yin Yoga is a style of yoga that helped me connect to by body-mind-spirit and is the style I use as it is a style of yoga (body-mind connection) where the asanas (poses) are held for longer periods of time to release the fascia tissue, tension, emotions, and anything that no longer serves you. Yin yoga not only releases tension in our body, but also strengths the body, mind and spirit connection through deep meditation, breath work, visualization, yin practice, and mindfulness. It was through this practice that I was able to reconnect to my authentic self and start my healing journey.
Since 2018, I have been building myself up to make the transition from corporate healthcare back to my clinical roots. What I have done is taken my love of nursing, yoga, education, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) and developed a Yin Yoga Therapy program to help individuals explore, learn, and develop new skills and strategies to manage life’s ever-changing situations.
The path of healing is an unique and personal journey, and I would be honoured to explore that journey with you. I believe in the healing modalities of blending talk therapy with an authentic body, mind, spirit, connection through the Philosophy and Practice of Yoga.
I approach all clients with:
- holistic person-centred focus
- compassion
- caring
- safety
- authenticity
- collaboration
- evidenced-informed literature and research
- results orientated strategies
You are the expert of your life and inner experiences, and with your collaboration sessions are personalized to meet your healing goals.
Namaste,
Jen
Specialties
Women’s Health, Trauma/PTSD, Anxiety, Stress, Emotional Regulation, Life Transitions and Death, Dying, and Grieving