Transcending
the energy of limitation.
When I was eight years old I was diagnosed with scoliosis. From ages eight to thirteen, I had to wear a back brace around my entire mid-body that was as hard as a wooden table - for 20 hours a day. The intention of the brace was to stop my spinal curvature from progressing so that I wouldn't have to have a spinal fusion.
It didn't work. At 13, I found out that the curvature continued to progress and I would indeed have to move forward with the invasive spinal surgery. They manually straightened my spine and inserted rods to hold it in position.
Despite my condition, at age 8 I began training in Taekwondo with a vision to go to the Olympics. My few hours a day out of the brace were spent ferociously running, kicking, and sparring. After the surgery, they told me I would never fight again.
But that didn’t stop me.
During my recovery, I went to training every day just to sit and watch. I watched until I could walk. I walked until I could run. I ran until I could kick, and I kicked until I could spar full contact once again.
I was able to transcend the energy of limitation through sheer passion and devotion and ultimately became number 2 in the country for my weight division. The integrity of my early journey, going to The Dojo every day to train from age 8 to 20, is the seed that would ultimately blossom into "THE DOJO ECOSYSTEM".
After I graduated from Rice University, I became the Executive Director of Marketing for one of the largest Major League Baseball agencies in the country. After the shine wore off, my life force energy started to drain.
From the outside looking in, I had achieved the pinnacle of success at a young age. But from the inside out, I was miserable. I went to western medical doctors, shared that I felt anxious and depressed and their answer was "There's a pill for that."
So for many years, I became dependent on prescription medication to hold the shell of a life together that was prescribed for me, based on what society said "success looked like" rather than what my heart's truth was calling for.
I numbed that truth out.
The Awakening
Until the fire of my spirit took over. I had the reference point from Taekwondo of what it feels like to be truly passionate about something. And the life I was living, wasn't that. So I owned that I wasn't going to get off the prescriptions alone, asked my doctors for a recommendation for medical leave and the partners at the Agency gave me full-time pay to go to treatment.
This single vulnerable decision became the catalyst for my original awakening.
I found myself at a beautiful treatment center right on the beach in Newport, CA. Immersed in nature. Doing yoga daily. Experiencing EMDR, hypnotherapy, trauma release, and cathartic group healing sessions. I was there with women who had been in and out of treatment 7+ times, some of them struggling with substances like Heroin and in the depths of grief. The conversations were heart-wrenching, vulnerable, and inspired me deeply.
These raw processes actually GAVE ME life.
In contrast to my high-powered career where I felt empty, I was experiencing a level of depth with the women in treatment that I didn't know I was missing. I LOVED feeling fully and speaking about what is REAL with them. For the first time in years, I felt that same timeless passion that I felt with Taekwondo again.
I realized what had been missing in my career -- and I made a powerful choice to prioritize depth, unconditional love and total transparency as ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS for my life moving forward.
Amidst these group sessions, I felt lit up, timeless, and connected to a purpose flowing through me that I didn't know was there. I realized healing work and seeing others into their highest potential is what I am here to do and I have space to hold for ALL OF IT.
The Mission
I spent the next many years sourcing the same FIRE and passion that drove me in my Taekwondo days and pointed it into my work in the personal development space.
I started a wellness events company, completed a 2-year Spiritual Psychology program, an evolutionary astrology apprenticeship, and dove deep into training with Dr. Joe Dispenza, John Wineland, and many other incredible thought leaders and allies.
Through this work, I cultivated an extraordinary level of trust in my intuitive channel and developed a sacred and reverent relationship with a variety of master plant teachers and medicine carriers around the world.
The Liberation Dojo came through as my signature offering and organically birthed itself into the multi-program ecosystem that lives today. It is the same fire of passion that I cultivated inside the Taekwondo Dojo that I now source to facilitate all of the Dojo Containers, which are emergent Ceremonial Arenas of Personal Transformation.
