PASSIONS & DEVOTIONS

Breath, deep conversation, sensual movement and all things that spark my heart.  Deep belly laughs that create wrinkles around my eyes.  The sound and feel of the ocean on my skin, sun on my face, sand in my toes, and all over my car.  

Riding my bike to work, messy hair, all day beach excursions that end up in sunsets and bonfires.  Sushi, veggie grills, healthy juices and almond lattes.  Epic wine with friends, music that speaks to my soul, dancing that pulses with the rhythm of my heart.  

Embodying the Goddess, singing her praises daily. Mantras and malas at sunrise, journaling at night. Sound vibration that rearranges my entire cellular structure.  Stalking the Moon, the planets and the stars.  Essential oils, crystals and anything I can’t quite put my finger on but can feel it in my bones.  Shamanism, Tarot, synchronicity, Divine timing and “random meetings.”  

Listening to teenagers talk, gossip, and get ready for a football game.  Hair straightening and curling, and perfume that is NOT organic but illuminates my home.  Fresh baked brownies with caramel and sea salt, a marathon of Grey’s Anatomy with my kids on the couch. 

Anything with my girls while they will have me.

PLACES I LOVE TO TRAVEL TO OR WOULD LOVE TO SEE

Encinitas, Solana Beach, Cardiff, La Jolla and Shelter Island - where I call home.  South America, Bali, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe. Italy, Spain, France, and Greece.  Egypt, South Africa and anywhere a boat will allow me to see.  The California Coast, the East Coast, NY City Chelsea Pier, San Francisco Castro District, Seattle on a warm day. Lake Tahoe, Telluride, Colorado Rockies and yes, the Baja Coast. Anywhere the mountains hold me or the ocean soothes me.  Anytime I can rock up in my chair, put on my beach hat and allow Mother Earth to sooth my soul.  

“On the mat, my passion is proper alignment, powerful breath and effortless flow. Time on your mat is sacred space where you find more depth, authenticity and integrity in your life,” Damara says. She believes that how you show up on your mat can be directly related to how you show up in your life. “When we begin to integrate this truth and see ourselves with compassionate awareness, we are liberated from any illusion that holds us back from moving out into the world.”

PERSONAL HEALING AND TRAUMA

Having done “all the work” - I thought I was healed. But ah alas, if we are still here, we are doing the work. And life is not a sedentary event, nor is it linear, therefore we are always evolving and growing. Yoga chose me in 1998 and now, after all these years, I understand why. It’s an ever evolving practice - always there when you need it, continually peeling back layers of who you are to reveal who you are becoming.

A spiritual awakening is not for the faint of heart. It kicks you to the curb and then it sits with you, holding space while you rummage through your stuff, until you learn the lesson. Personally, in my life, there have been many spiritual awakenings.

When I began this practice, it was so I could be more flexible in my body and fluid with my breath, and yes, that happened. But over the last two decades, it’s also revealed trauma stored in my body all the way back from when I was a young girl.

And, as a yoga professional, because I have “all the tools”, I’ve learned to cope with, deal with, and move past traumatic events - only to have them arrive again, at my doorstep, knocking on my heart to heal.

Seasoned teachers don’t just read books, take trainings and then share their craft. They have dropped into their “why” through life experience and then deliver the teachings in the way Spirit directs them to. I have been sharing “trauma-informed yoga” forever. It’s nothing new, and neither is “breath-work”. However, as with anything in this life, its sacred delivery is what is most important.

Yoga is a practice and a healing process. Once you acquire a tool, it sheds a layer and then, in order to go deeper, you may have to use new tools. People say to me “You have so many tools! You do so much!” That’s because I’m a survivor, and in no way, shape or form, am I perfect, I am practicing still to this day, and I keep acquiring tools to not only heal my body, mind and heart, but I am called upon, by Spirit, to share them with you.

My practice, which consists of asana, meditation, journaling, mantra, breath-work, somatics, astrology, essential oils, Reiki, sound healing, crystal therapy and body work … continue to personally heal:

• Childhood trauma

• Family Abuse

• Addiction

• Overwhelming grief

• Pent up rage and anger

• Guilt and shame

• Anxiety and Depression

In between the ages of 17 and 44, I moved so many times to explore the world. But I was also avoiding the pain stored in my body from my childhood. I thought that if I made space, I could become my own person, and while that’s true, without healing, you just carry ancestral baggage wherever you go. I learned to “make it on my own”, spending years creating strong boundaries in order to keep myself “safe”, only to feed and validate old beliefs that I was unworthy of love and connection, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Why I practice and am drawn to evolving in this life is not to become perfect, it’s because:

• I survived a traumatic childhood filled with alcoholism, addiction, abuse and abandonment.

• I numbed for years with alcohol, promiscuity, and complete avoidance.

• I chose to divorce from the father of my children, whom I loved deeply but knew the relationship wasn’t feeding my soul.

• I perpetuated some of those patterns to keep myself safe for quite some time.

• I learned how to get through bankruptcy, a home foreclosure, losing my business, and becoming homeless.

I made it through raising two teens on my own, in Marin County, and taught yoga in San Francisco. I survived. But I never broke down … not once. The trauma fueled my success in one way, but inhibited intimate connection and love.

One day I realized that the “on my own” part was a story I kept re-telling. I’ve had tough conversations with both parents, trying to “heal the past”, only to have them still not hear it. How can they? They have their own wounds too. I’ve watched myself react like a wounded child, not being validated or seen. I’ve sat with my own shadow - acknowledging where I projected instead of protected my children. Cried for days on end and then continued to forgive myself with every breath. That is the practice .. always evolving, always acquiring new tools.

At the beginning of 2020, I rose from the ashes again, but by April 2020 I dropped into another layer of my journey requiring deep healing, stepping out way beyond my comfort zone, and breaking ancestral patterns in both directions. Life was heavy for everyone so I kept doing what I do. But the reality was that I had been so stoic, for so long, for so many people, I had nothing to give. I was exhausted and burned out. I realized that with all the tools, I still had only scratched the surface of the emotional wounds etched on my heart from childhood. I had unpacked so much but there was more.

2020 introduced me to real fear, deep grief, all of my unconscious beliefs, and what anxiety really felt like in my body. I had supported so many with these issues, without truly knowing what it felt like, when all along, I had been living with it, like an undercurrent of my existence. It showed me where residual grief and unresolved trauma still lived in my reactions. I fell into periods of depression and isolation. I thank Goddess for these practices, the anchor and true healing they provide, and the love I have for my girls, that keep me going.

Grief and isolation is a real thing and if it’s one thing I’m committed to is supporting YOU on your journey. I’ve got so many tools to share. When you are ready and available - and truly want to heal - I’m here for you.

I’m standing with you.
I see you and we are all in this together.
This is why I’m here.