Life & Learning

My family’s exploration into yoga when I was 13  took us down the path of vegetarianism, but we still ate a lot of processed vegetarian “junk food”. Being vegetarian opened a door for me to want to learn and understand more about food, how it impacts the body, and what is optimal for health.

My son was born in 2000 with milk protein allergy. I then began a deep dive into dairy and the effects on grown mammals when they consume what was designed to only be infant food. As my son grew and had issues with asthma. I expanded my knowledge of nutrition into processed foods, artificial dyes, and sugar to give his immunity the best chance possible to stop the autoimmune response that is asthma. Food became our medicine.

My mother had passed away just a few years before my son was born from a sudden heart attack at the age of 47.

My paternal grandfather passed of the same affliction at the age of 56. 

The impact those losses had on me was profound. I was facing parenthood with the desire to not only provide a foundation for my son to be the healthiest he could be, but also for me to be healthy to live a long full life to see him grow into adulthood and beyond. I wanted to ensure he never had to experience the loss I did.  I know we can’t control accidents and the universe from intervening in our lives. However, I armed myself with knowledge and have chosen a life founded in whole plant eating. I am doing everything I can to be vibrant, energetic, and heart attack proof. 

Over the past six years, I have committed to a Whole Food Plant Based lifestyle. I have studied with some of the best doctors in the world on optimal nutrition and microbiome health. They have influenced not only how I live my life, but how I coach and work with students. From this knowledge, in combination with my passion for psychology, life coaching, and fitness, plus my experience working with hundreds of clients to achieve their goals in life, Conscious Consumption™ was born.  

While there are many facets to wellness, optimal performance and fulfilling relationships in our lives — I can’t stress enough the importance of starting with food. Begin with getting the microbiome in balance, which will level mood, energy, and clarity of thought so you YOU can emerge and experience your best life ever.

As a lifelong athlete and runner, I bring an awareness and knowledge to my teaching to support all other exercises my students participate in. I believe that yoga will keep every student being active in all the things they love much longer in their life then if they don’t practice yoga; but it is also critical to balance yoga with strength and intensity so your movement diet is as diverse as your food diet! I find too many “yoga only” people that don’t engage in other balanced fitness activities, and this is like just eating salads all the time. Salads are amazing and healthy, but balanced consumption has more value. We need equilibrium – balance in motion.

I teach the power of breath connected with movement, NOT just on a yoga mat. Conscious Consumption™ is beyond the plate and mindful movement and deliberate breath is part of that method.

I believe yoga is for every body, and no flexibility requirements exist. No two yoga practices will look alike. I love creating personal programs for students to meet them exactly where they are.

My academic studies include a Bachelor of Science in Psychology where I focused on the psychology of health and the effects of stress on the body and the mind. Blending the academic world with my studies of yoga and meditation, multiple life coaching modalities and plant based nutrition studies to culminate into Conscious Consumption™.