My path into this work did not begin with a career plan. It began with a promise to myself.

As a child and teenager, I struggled deeply with anxiety, depression, food sensitivities and behaviors that reflected an inner world searching for peace. 

After a brief experience with anxiety medication in high school, I was clear on wanting to explore a different path. I made a life-changing and life-affirming decision: I would dedicate myself to understanding what creates genuine healing from the inside out.  

In that moment I planted a seed; to embrace and embody the meaning of my name, peace, and the pursuit of it.  

This seed became the foundation of everything that followed and it continues to guide me.

The Shanti Rising Institute; shanti being the Sanskrit word for peace; is what has grown from this promise seed.  

I went on to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology hoping to better understand the human experience. While the education was valuable, I graduated feeling lost, like something fundamental was missing. I was searching for a deeper sense of humanity, something that acknowledged and could encompass the full spectrum of a human life; the stories, the emotions, the physical experiences along with our capacity for self-agency and the innate ability to heal.

Then, an old friend awakened an old awareness and I found massage therapy. I enrolled before I had even experienced my first massage, simply because something inside me knew I needed to follow that path. 

The first time I placed my hands on another student, I knew I had found what I had been searching for. 

Years later, while completing my first yoga teacher training, another pivotal moment arrived. I had the realization that if I was going to teach transformation, I first had to live it. 

This led to the difficult work of examining my personal choices and marriage, seeking counseling, taking responsibility for my patterns and ultimately choosing a path of integrity.

When I walked away I did so without resentment or regret, rather I felt a deep sense of peace and completion.

This experience brought about another layer of nourishing my original promise, which I honor in you and me to this day. 

I committed myself to living in alignment with the principles I teach, to allow my life to become my first classroom. 

Rather than asking others to do work I was unwilling to do myself, I chose to let every challenge become an invitation to befriend the light and shadow sides, to grow in gently honesty, for compassion and ease.

Whether I am teaching yoga, energy medicine, or mentoring practitioners, my deepest hope is to help you reconnect with your authentic spirit, to trust your inner wisdom, and become an embodied example of what you desire to bring into the world.