About
Hi there!
Let me see how much I can show you who I am through text on a website. Quickly, but to the point. I'm a Leo, I paint pictures. Bear with me...
My dad taught me breathwork when I was 7. He showed me how to use my breath to slow down my heart, to calm down and then to move energy through my body using this method. I didn't consciously realize it then, but I have taken this knowledge throughout my life, using it on myself and sharing it with the people I care about.
I have always had a very deep interest in spirituality and the more metaphysical aspects of life. This interest started from this breathwork and energy work which led to studying various world religions, theology in general, historical metaphysics, eventually leading to hermeticism, the occult, natural law and the laws of the universe.
I nerd out on the study of patterns, and the algorithm by which this reality runs. Astrology & human design as sociology type person.
You could say I am Woo Woo Woo.
So woo that the woo has become grounded and rooted back into embracing and enjoying the human experience in full. I deeply value being able to bring this knowledge and anchor it into reality. Being able to speak and function in the daily human experience, instead of trying to float away into the clouds and escape.
I spent the first half of my life exploring the various states you could achieve in human form.
We're all taught in various ways that the most fun we can have here is to drink, smoke, party and just try to escape the severity of the human experience. Numb it out, they say. That's where joy lives. I tried all of that. Explored my mind, explored the many forms that life can take on. I dove deep into the shadows of this world, taking an experiential look at where numbing out truly gets you. Both in myself, and through my partner. I was shown how quickly this version of "having fun" turns to "taking your life."
I don't know if this makes me more or less relatable, but it's the truth - I've always studied life. I am present but I am also observing. Going through these early years, I always knew this exploration wasn't forever and it was part of a bigger journey that would take form later on in life.
I am an artist at my core, animator for the majority of my life's profession. Creativity and color run through my veins. Exploring the various worlds this life allows us to see, was very enticing to me.
The artist and the spiritual.
Generally, throughout life I thought I needed to keep these two sides of my being separate.
Yet now in my 32 years of life, my worlds are finally coming together in a beautiful symphony.
Breathwork found me again, in my own life, when things were very chaotic. I was in a relationship with a recovering addict, 4 big dogs, working a full time job and feeling like my body was giving up on me. The stress had become so covert and under the radar, but so incredibly strong. My life got very dark for quite some time.
It's the standard story, really, on the outside it looked great... on the inside, I was boiling over.
It took my retina starting to detach, a persistent cortisol ring around my belly, and a luteal phase that was nearing my mental breaking point, for me to start looking towards breathwork to find relief. I needed SOMETHING to ease the tension in my system. I could only pretend I had it all together for so much longer.
It started small, and eventually grew and grew. I found so much more relief in the breath, than I ever did in meditation. I also felt connection and other altered states that I didn't need recovery time from... just... with... my... breath. What?!
You can tie this all to breathwork, you could tie this all to the clarity that I achieved in my mind through breathwork but over the course of the next 7 years, I changed my friends, started a hiking group meeting likeminded individuals where I could actually be myself and feel connected, I went completely sober, started feeling my feelings, started walking towards my fears and shadows, started embracing "negative" emotions. I became hyper aware of how good I was starting to feel... from feeling.
This created a bit of a wedge of separation between my old life and this new one I was creating.
Long story short, my entire life changed.
I left the relationship. I lived out of my car and campsites for 4 months, but I also traveled the states - 10k miles, 10 states, 10 weeks. Just me and my dog. I moved closer to Chicago, got an apartment and embarked on a whole new life journey.
Brave and courageous... not long before was "can't speak my feelings and needs without bawling my eyes out."
Breathwork allowed me to find new people, greater connections in relationships, and most importantly - my strength and voice again.
I'm at a point now where I live what I call a raw life. A life where I feel everything. I realize that no emotion is good or bad. That they all have a purpose and they all lead to joy in the end. Every experience in my life is a stepping stone towards a greater journey. I now feel ecstatic from going outside and dancing at the edge of the lake, sober. It floods my system with energy and life force. The sun on my skin feels like kisses from the universe...
and you can feel this way too.
The human experience in its natural form becomes a holographic spectrum of sensation the more connected you feel. Connection comes from exploring yourself, with curiosity, in depth.
Fast forward even further, becoming a Somatic Breathwork Facilitator found me. I had been sharing breathwork with people on hikes that I led, but it was never "official". I guess the universe decided it was time to make this real.
There is nothing quite like this work. There is nothing quite as supportive on a healing journey, as this work.
Anything I share, I share from experience. Anything I teach, I teach because I've done it myself.
We build glass prisons inside of our own minds. We sit in them and build the walls higher and higher. Yet, just as much as we are our own problem... we are also our own solution.
That, among so many other things, is what breathwork taught me.
Returning to that inner strength not only allowed me to finally center myself, it also allowed my ex to find his own strength and do his own work too. Healing people inspire others to do the work too. We can't heal anyone but ourselves, but we can inspire others through our own journey.
This work we do, this work on ourselves... it spreads like wildfire. We are our own biggest adventure and this is how you continue to peel back layers and go deeper.
-V
My Approach
Think of yourself as Dora the explorer... of your own system. There is nothing that you can show me or express, that would be surprising.
Emotions are a spectrum, just like hot and cold, just like light and dark. The more darkness of emotion you can feel, the more joy you have the capacity to feel as well. You may be stuck on one side of the spectrum. This experience allows you to venture out of that stuckness, breakthrough those patterns and visit what exists on the other side.
I am not here to wallow in trauma or to force you into cathartic release. I am here to hold the space for you to finally allow yourself to feel, be messy and see what is ready to be put down. If that means meeting you in the kitty pool of emotion, dope, I'll get my floaters. If that means going deep sea diving, dope, I'll get my scuba tank.
Feeling is fun and it is freeing. Allowing yourself to cry and seeing how much relief that brings, will change your life.
Each human is different. Each experience is different. Somatic breathwork has a framework, and there is alot of variation that can happen with that framework.
In general, in my work, I want to build relationships. The more we build trust and safety between us, the deeper the work goes.
One session will show you a lot, but it really depends on how much permission you give yourself.
If you're genuinely curious, and would like to step into this work, send me an email. I would be happy to hop on a Discovery call with you, for free, and discuss what this could look like.
You can also hop into a virtual group breathwork session, I usually run them 1-2 times a month.
Check out the events page to see whats happening.
Lastly, if you're in the Chicagoland area, come out to a hike. We start with some somatic movement & breath before doing a nice walky through the forest. Nature heals, my friend. Nature heals. Also, more details on the events page.