The WISER Turtle Logo
For so long the idea of expansion was threatening to me because it seemed like every time I dared to ask for more, to move forward or branch out, my body would retaliate with a resounding “No.” I felt punished by my hospitalizations, chronic infections and mystery illnesses. I grieved all the potential that my body offered, then refused to allow me to achieve. But through this process I have found a different way. Rather than healing and growing through force, determination and sheer willpower, I am learning to heal, grow, and expand through gentleness and radical acceptance. This is the path that I promise to continue to model and advocate for the children and young adults that I coach, for the chronically ill and chronically anxious, and in the world at large. It is what I have come to know as the WISER path. Or what my family jokingly refers to as the turtle path. I love the fable of the tortoise and the hare. I am a proud tortoise, moving slowly and surely with confidence and consistency towards the goal of living a courageous and meaningful life. My hope is that this famous fable might also inspire you to stay true to your healing journey. Slow and steady wins the race.
The WISER Journey
Wisdom
Collective intelligence, derives from the wisdom of the ages, global community, higher truth
Intuition
Personal insight and a trust in your higher self and wise advocate
Somatics
Sensory and body messages, mind body medicine, SE
Empathy
Emotional connection to self, compassion, awareness of the other, relational rather than transactional
Renewal
An emerging new identity, rebirth, regeneration, integration, transformation, transcendence)
The Why behind WISER
For many years I claimed that I would relinquish all of the wisdom, empathy and knowledge I had gained during my time with chronic illness if only I could go back to the life and plans I had before diagnosis. I resented the so-called wisdom that resulted from my personal suffering. And, I resented being called wise beyond my years. I just wanted my life back and the freedom to chase my dreams.
So I fought acceptance for a very long time. The Buddha states that the root of all suffering is attachment to our desires, and that freedom from suffering lies in non-resistance and non-attachment to our desires. The moment I began to accept my experience of chronic illness and the subsequent losses I had experienced, was the moment my true healing began and I became WISER. The WISER path also encompasses the pillars of my practice: Wisdom, Intuition, Somatics, Empathy, and Renewal.
The healing journey does not discount the miracles of medical science, but it recognizes its limitations while legitimizing personal responsibility to discover one’s own healing path. The health coach works alongside practitioners and specialists to help provide the client with those missing essential ingredients: courage, self-inquiry, compassion, balance, insight and hope. Join me on the WISER path.
WISER HSP
(Highly Sensitive Person)
Growing up I was called "too sensitive" often and by many people. I have always been what is referred to today as an HSP, or Highly Sensitive Person. There were many reasons why I was hyper-vigilant and strongly sensitive to the people, environments, and events in my life, reasons we are better understanding today.
Highly sensitive people experience the world with a greater intensity and can have a smaller window of tolerance to any manner of stimuli. This sensitivity can also make us vulnerable to chronic pain and chronic disease because our nervous systems are so finely tuned. Our society typically praises the tough hustlers who push through their emotions no matter what, rather than teaching us how to effectively process our emotions. These Big emotions, shunned by society, and suppressed as a coping mechanism, remain trapped in our bodies where they may eventually manifest as chronic depression, anxiety, or any other manifestation of chronic pain and disease.
However, properly understood, HSP can also become our superpower. Through my work teaching neurodiverse children and young adults, as well as in my health coaching practice, I began to notice my highly sensitive nature as a strength, rather than a liability. Remarkably, I also discovered that many of my clients were also HSPs, eager to be heard, validated, comforted, and find a safe space to discover their truest selves.
That is the space that I offer. WISER HSP is a safe place of radical acceptance, nurturing, and love. As Bell Hooks so wisely states in her seminal book All About Love, “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” My ultimate intention is that WISER be a place of safety, healing, and communion for HSPs on their own healing journey from chronic anxiety or chronic illness to harmony, strength and wholeness.
The Choice
As Highly Sensitive People we are more prone to experience trauma because of the intensity with which we process our world. Trauma is a forced opening providing a choice: either to be conquered by the trauma, or to grow from it.
Without support, for some, it may be impossible to go forward. The health and wellness coach serves as an essential assists in the healing process by encouraging and nurturing this miraculous growth in another person.
When we commit to our own healing, we become WISER.
