Does this sound familiar?
You’re not measuring up. It seems everyone has it so much more ‘together’ than you.
The voice in your mind is critical.
You SHOULD have done this instead…
Look at you. It’s no wonder that…
This is YOUR fault. If only you had…
If this is your normal, you may not even notice it very much.
I certainly didn’t.
Little did I know, this critical voice in my head was wreaking havoc on my health – both physical and mental – and my emotional wellbeing. It even prevented me from reaching my goals, and it definitely stood in the way of me finding happiness.
Can you say the same for yourself?
The good news is, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Through years of gritty self-discovery, artistic expression and sheer determination, I’ve compiled a ‘self-care tool kit’ that I used on myself to totally turn this around. Now, I feel so free on the inside. I feel nourished and cared for and protected and loved and… well, boundless, really. I know anything is possible for me, and I actually enjoy my life.
I want the same for you, and I am so honored to be able to help women use my toolkit and the healing expression of art to find the free, powerful, happy woman inside. The woman that they deserve to be.
But imagine me at 19, a dissatisfied waitress. I felt trapped in my life. It wasn’t how I wanted to be. And I didn’t know how to change things.
One day, I drove home from my dead-end waitress job at 2am. Flames blazed out of my apartment window.
My heart went thud thud thud in my chest as I sprinted up the stairs to find out what was going on.
It was like a horrific scene from a movie. Firemen everywhere. Dark billowing smoke. Water pouring down from the second and third floor.
And the smell. The smoke was heavy in my lungs. I can even smell this today, it’s that imprinted in my memory.
In a few short minutes, the fire destroyed everything I owned.
I stood there in my work uniform, feeling like my chest had been ripped open.
What did I do wrong? Did I leave something on?
This is all my fault.
It seemed that was my life’s mantra: This is all my fault.
Looking back now, I know this fire was totally out of my control.
But at the time, I beat myself up for it so badly.
Do you ever do that? Beat yourself up for things that just aren’t your fault. Do you feel like the responsibility for everyone around you is on you? It’s exhausting, isn’t it?
Honestly, that fire started me on a downward spiral. I was very emotional, and felt totally alone.
My family offered for me to come back to El Paso, my hometown, but I didn’t want to. It felt like a step back.
I wanted to take a step forward. But how?
All I had was a care package from a family friend, a box of clothes from a church, and $100.
Everything felt bleaker than bleak.
But, thankfully, there was a lifeline. A lifeline I’d never expected.
Art.
When I was doing art, I felt a sense of release I’d never had before.
I could pour all my energy, all my tension, all my emotions, onto the paper, and afterward, I felt relieved, and proud of what I’d created and expressed.
Soon I found I had artistic talent and went on to earn my BA in visual arts. But that wasn’t the only way I was growing. During this time in school at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, I began meditating.
I’m glad to say, I was flourishing day by day.
Then it went to a whole new level.
People were buying my art! (Eek!)
People were coming to my expressive arts workshops I began to run, finding their creative voice and experiencing joy and healing.
I’d found my niche. I’d found my happiness.
It wasn’t long before I integrated meditation into my art classes.
Once I’d graduated, I moved back to Texas and started my business painting murals and paintings, and creating hand-cut stained glass mosaic backsplashes.
On the side, I was teaching traditional art classes and meditative art classes. I was so glad to find that my students were not only making awesome progress in art, they were feeling the creativity and fulfilment spreading into their whole life.
I was elated.
After a short stint teaching elementary and middle school art, and having my wonderful daughter in 2010, I went back to school to gain my Masters in Art Therapy and Mental Healing Counseling and in 2018 completed my yoga teacher training with the Yoga Goddess Academy. I recently went on a retreat with Crystal Gray and facilitated art therapy alongside her yoga instruction. The breakthroughs were amazing!
Now I’m proud to say that I’m able to help awesome people:
- Create their own self-care plans that take them from feeling empty inside to knowing their cup is running over!
- Reinvent themselves with the powerful expression of art – your life is a canvas, and you are the painter!
- Free themselves from past trauma, overcome blocks and obstacles, and create the life they really want!
I work together with my clients with a combination of meditation, art-therapy, counselling, yoga and skill-building.
This approach nourishes your mind, body and spirit from ALL angles and transforms you beautifully. You shed all those layers of ‘shoulda coulda woulda’ and come out the other side a renewed, powerful, joyful version of you.
I know what it’s like to have nothing.
To have physical and mental health issues.
To feel like you’re stuck and can’t get to where you want to go next.
I know the frustration and the sense of feeling trapped.
But what I’ve learned is… life doesn’t have to be this way.
With the right skills and tools, and the right people in your life, you can pick up the paintbrush and begin to paint your life with new colors.
You can create your life as a masterpiece that reflects all of your inner beauty.
And I’d be honored to help you.