I like to say mindfulness found me in 2009. I had no idea what it was, but my introduction to it came during a chapter that I really needed it.  My life felt heavy and uncertain — where I was doing my best to hold everything together while quietly unraveling inside. I stumbled upon A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, and something in me softened. He talked about things in the book that I felt were true on a very deep level.  Universal truths. For the first time in a long while, I felt a glimpse of peace — and I saw a different way to interact with life.

That book opened a doorway to a new trajectory that I’ve been walking ever since.

Over the past fifteen years, I’ve studied and taken deep dives into the teachings of renowned spiritual and mindfulness teachers, including Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Eckhart Tolle, Ram Dass, Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh, Lao Tzu, Wayne Dyer, Neem Karoli Baba, Abraham Hicks, and Michael Singer, and so many more.  All of their wisdom helped me understand that mindfulness isn’t about escaping life — it’s about learning how to meet it fully, with presence and compassion.

In 2021, I completed the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach — the same program that shaped so much of my approach to teaching today. I’m also a trained yoga instructor, certified spiritual life coach, and longtime project administrator — but more than anything, I’m a lifelong student of practice.

And like any deep practice, mine has evolved through both beauty and heartbreak.

In 2016, my oldest daughter, Norah, crossed over after a very medically complex number of years, and in this, my spiritual life expanded in ways I never could have imagined. Her crossing opened my heart to a greater understanding of the soul and the non-physical world—guiding me toward deeper soul work and access, and showing me that healing is as much about energy, love, and connection as it is about acceptance.

Why Cushion Tree