My story:

I didn’t grow up an athlete. I was an artsy kid. But I went to college for Acting, the whole trajectory of my life changed.

Maybe you’ve had a similar moment of life-changing inspiration. For me, it was the moment I saw aerial arts in a play for the first time. The aerialists’/actors’ stunts in that play were not the object of the performance. Instead, the performers embodied the story through their ungrounded relationship to the environment around them. It was a life-changing moment that ignited and maintained my curiosity: what could aerial teach me about embodying high stakes while thinking and communicating clearly? I I immediately realized that there was a whole world of physicality the human body could experience that totally enraptured me, and I wanted to learn how to do it.

Having been an unathletic and (undiagnosed neurodivergent and hypermobile) child, there was a lot of information missing in my body about the how of embodiment and athleticism by the time I began my own movement journey in my early 20s.

Eager to learn as much as I could about bodies and training, I became a NASM certified personal trainer in 2007 and started training aerial arts in in 2008.

My hypermobility enabled me to appear is if I was progressing quickly in aerial arts, easing into (unsupported and imbalanced) splits while boasting a high (numb) pain tolerance for aerial’s various discomforts. Within a couple of years I was performing and teaching. At the same time, I felt like so many of the cues my coaches gave me were impossible to feel. I began to doubt the sensations in body since coaches told me I looked like I was doing things “right.” As I continued this way, I fell into a dangerous pattern of training in spite of my body’s needs rather than in support of them.

At that time, I didn’t know the difference.

Inevitably under those circumstances, I began experiencing symptoms of an underlying nervous system disorder and spinal arthritis a few years into my aerial career.

That’s when it became clear: I had some missing links to retore in my own embodiment approach and movement strategies. The continuing education journey that followed this recognition has not only helped me continue practicing the physical activities I love with more strength and confidence, but it also equipped me with so many tools and resources to share with other neurodivergent and hypermobile movers eager to connect more deeply to their bodies and movement skills.

I now invite you to join me in this movement approach that meets YOU where YOU are and enables you to build a more attuned and nurturing relationship with your unique body.

This is Movement Missing Links: