YOU are the most important person in your life. YOU are the one to listen to and make choices for you. YOU are what you've been searching and waiting for.
My job is to help you know that and tap into your inner wisdom so that you can flourish with ease.
There was a time in my life that my stress and self-doubt was so bad it initiated a body-focused repetitive behavior. I pulled on my eyebrows and eyelashes. And eventually pulled them all out.
One day I saw—really saw—myself in the bathroom mirror.
I saw that I was on a hamster wheel of overwhelm and self-doubt, perpetually struggling but desperately wanting to feel better.
Seeing myself with no eyebrows or eyelashes was a low point and at that moment, something inside of me knew I had a choice to make:
I could stay stuck in the patterns running my life or take ownership of my experience.
A SIMPLE CHOICE LED TO A BIG BREAKTHROUGH.
I resolved to do everything I could to take charge of this one stress-fueled behavior. So, when I caught myself feeling for eyebrows and eyelashes to pull on (that weren't even there), I’d bend over and take a few deep breaths, and repeat to myself, you can stop.
And I felt better right away!
At first, I only felt better for a few minutes at a time, but the experience showed me something that changed my life, and that I still use today.
Stress is your body and mind's way of asking for a change.
During the next year, I kept forward bending when I felt stressed. I’d breathe slowly and focus my attention on what I actually wanted to feel at that moment—and it worked every time.
My eyebrows and eyelashes slowly, slowly started to grow back, but more importantly:
This simple practice was becoming a force for small, but potent shifts that were making a big difference in my life.
Then I found yoga.
I discovered that my forward bending, slow breathing, and focusing my attention, was part of this ancient, healing system.
So I started practicing and studying it.
In 2004, I became a Certified Yoga Therapist and for the next decade taught yoga therapy for stress in yoga studios, hospitals, businesses, and to students 1:1 in my private studio.
Here are some of the prestigious institutions where I've been honored to teach:
ONE THING WAS CONFIRMED OVER AND OVER.
Throughout a decade of teaching hundreds of stressed-out students, it became clear—the insights and practices that changed my life are a simple but potent method to facilitate massive and continual personal growth for everyone who made it a part of their life.
There are 3-steps to this method:
1. Notice your inner experience without judgment and accept it as purposeful—in yoga, this is self-study.
2. Open to the opportunity to change detrimental patterns as they are happening—in yoga, this is surrender.
3. Welcome the inner experience that you want without external conditions—in yoga, this is intention.
Personally, this method has helped me:
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To face melanoma and become an advocate for regular skin checks.
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To close my private yoga therapy practice and start a more sustainable business.
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To parent teenagers and feel confident even when I don't know what I'm doing.
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To stop smoking pot every day and get comfortable with being alone with my thoughts.
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To quit over-drinking in social situations and embrace being an introvert.
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To acknowledge I'm gay in my mid-40s and step boldly into living authentically.
Download the START NOW GUIDE to learn more about the 3 steps to make peace with stress and how to apply it to your life right away.
In 2014, I created a structured curriculum to teach these 3-steps, and Make Peace with Stress was born. My mission is to teach this method to as many people as possible as my way of making a positive difference in the world.
I've been honored to guide and support many amazing women like you through the Make Peace with Stress group program and 1:1 mentorship.
Gaining insight into how we can transform our relationship to stress and use it to grow as a person was the most insightful and helpful part of this program.
Stephannie has been more successful at helping me than any doctor, she is such an angel, gentle, but strong. She is such a positive energy in my life.
[Meghan C]
I have the tools now to effectively cope with my stress and anxiety, rather than letting it overcome me. I feel confident in my ability to self-soothe, something I have never been able to do.
I wanted to work with Stephannie for a while and I am so grateful that I invested in my mental health and am so excited to continue to grow and better myself.
[Alicia B]
