About

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Our Sacred Pause was created to be a sanctuary for the curious, introspective midlife woman.

It’s a place to explore your midlife passage and discover what you’re being called to create with your life.

It’s time to be supported in healing your baggage so you can move forward in wholeness.

It’s an invitation to transition from the chaos of “midlife crisis” to the empowered ease of Midlife Renaissance.

Here you will discover a clear framework for understanding the forces at play for women in midlife, so you can discern more clearly what’s going on in your unique situation.

Here you will find creative opportunities for self-study, classes, retreats, and personal mentoring, all which explore the seven essential elements of the midlife renaissance:

Relaxing into an understanding of the mysteries of the midlife passage
Embracing the sacred – sometimes scary – work of healing and reclaiming your lost, wounded and forgotten parts
Learning to follow your own natural rhythms and cycles
Graciously and generously creating space for radical self-care into your day-to-day life
Allowing your innate feminine wisdom to guide your steps
Envisioning your unique, soulful and ever-evolving Life
Grounding your transformation in your physical being

On a more personal level, Our Sacred Pause is the weaving together of a lifetime of both academic and personal passion for issues of peace and fulfillment, women, aging, art, heart and soul. It allows me to play off my strengths and abilities to both see the big picture and hone in the heart of a matter; to facilitate healing and transformation in a space of safety and witness.

Our Sacred Pause is the next evolutionary stage of my solopreneur journey that began in 1994, when I first started my own business as a massage therapist, dedicated to bringing greater balance, ease and well-being into people’s lives.

For me, it feels like coming full circle, and I am excited to share it with you.

My own midlife journey

I wasn’t always as dedicated to following my own inner compass as I am now.” In fact I’m pretty sure there were years when my compass was lost somewhere in the bottom of my old Girl Scout backpack!

When I was 41 I found myself fluctuating between apathy and rage. I looked everywhere for the cause – my work, my husband, my children -but couldn’t determine a source. And couldn’t see any way out of what I was feeling. I would find myself driving down the road wondering if it wouldn’t be easier – and if my family wouldn’t be better off – if I just drifted into oncoming traffic.

I had no idea what was wrong with me.

Luckily for me, a serendipitous encounter with just the right novel (Sue Monk Kidd’s The Mermaid Chair) was my gateway to realizing that what I was feeling was classically perimenopausal.

I‘ve spent the decade since then researching, learning and doing my own midlife soulwork. In fact it’s still an ongoing process, because ‘midlife’ is pretty long phase!

What I stand for

A brief summary of the basic tenets that inform my work

I reject the idea that midlife is the start of a downhill slide into old age.
I reject the notion that the best solutions to women’s midlife concerns are drugs, surgery or affairs.

AND

I believe that ease is each person’s birthright. It’s our natural state of being – if we can just get out of our own way.
I believe the confusion and discontent some women feel at midlife is in reality a call to introspection and transformation.
I believe in doing this work at your own pace and honoring it as a sacred journey.
I believe in the mantra “Trust the Process”.
I believe in the power of being in the company of other women who are equally committed to becoming their best, most whole selves.
I believe in the importance of Radical Self-care.
I believe that we are living in a time of transition in the evolution of human consciousness that is calling each of us to our highest selves.
I believe that becoming our best selves is the first step in creating a better world.

My training

I fully admit to being an education junkie. Here are the highlights of what I bring to the table:

I received my BA in Psychology, with a minor in Gerontology, from Miami University in Oxford OH
I received my Masters degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Pennsylvania State University, State College PA. My focus was Adult Development and Aging and Women’s Health.
After grad school, I changed direction and got my license in massage therapy from the State Medical Board of Ohio. Since 1994, I’ve incorporated many different modalities into my work, primarily craniosacral therapy supported with visceral manipulation and Reiki.
I discovered SoulCollage® in the fall of 2008, quickly fell in love, and was trained as a Facilitator in the spring of 2009. Life hasn’t been the same since!
I apprenticed with Alexandra Pope in her Women’s Quest program, a pioneering program using the inherent wisdom of the menstrual cycle as the model for women’s biological, psychological and spiritual development
Most recently I began training in Somatic Experiencing®. Created by Peter Levine, PhD., SE is a psychobiological approach for dealing with physical and emotional trauma, overwhelm, and stress-related conditions