From Hollywood to the Rest Cave
As a model living in South Africa in my early 20s, I experienced a spontaneous moment of meditation. It was a powerful revealing that led me to seek out spiritual readings like The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, The Prophet, Illusions, and The Celestine Prophecies to dive deeper into my understanding of reality. It wasn’t all that unfamiliar, either. There was a thread of spirituality woven into my family: My nana was a preacher, and her nana was a preacher. Even if I didn’t know it then, I was beginning to take my first steps of a deeper journey.
Eventually I left modeling to start a career behind-the-scenes in the film business to tell stories and express my creativity. Although I had a very successful career in Hollywood, I couldn’t help noticing the pain and suffering in the people around me who seemed to have it all. It became clear to me that superficial abundance didn’t prevent spiritual bankruptcy.
This period of my life dovetailed with the start of my interest in yoga. In fact, the first time I practiced yoga was the first week I started working in film. However, I wasn’t seeing people like me reflected in the classes or in the seat of the teacher. Over time, I decided to open my own donation-based yoga studio, Divine Motion Yoga, and invited teachers, staff, and students from all over. I was thrilled to help create one of the most diverse yoga spaces at the time in Los Angeles.
I realized that teaching and creating a sacred container for spiritual practice was far more nurturing, nourishing, sustaining, and supportive for people than the films I was making at the time.
We cannot teach what we do not practice.
I decided to search for a teacher who could teach more about the philosophy of yoga rather than the poses. I was introduced to the Himalayan tradition and eventually initiated into the lineage of Sri Vidya Tantra.
Years into my study and embodiment of this lineage through practice, sadhana, and community, I began to feel like something was missing.
Although the masters of the lineage were always called on in my prayers and practice, my own ancestors were not. I wanted to be in a space where my teaching was responsive and trauma-informed, one that wasn’t a pyramid but a circle. I wanted to create a place where I could learn from my peers. I wanted to be less rigid, acknowledge the natural world, that we are nature, and to honor the land of the body as earth. I wanted to pull the threads of wisdom from my own ancestral traditions and see where they intertwined with yoga’s deep roots. I wanted to release the masculine edges of discipline and soften into devotion.
I wanted to weave all these things into an expansive, ongoing practice that honored life as a ritual.
Bringing the Future Forward
Now I create sacred containers for healing and transformation. It’s an honor to create experiences to open space for remembered wellness and wholeness, and to mentor the next generation of teachers to do the same, weaving their unique tapestry as they share their work in the world.
This sense of wholeness isn’t something we can buy or attain by giving away our agency. Transformation is a journey toward freedom and worthiness — weaving our intentions into ongoing practice that is expansive and honoring of all life.
My Work and My Story in the News
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing my perspective on reclaiming rest, overcoming roadblocks, spirituality and so much more with a variety of media outlets.
Inspire at Your Next Event
Whether you are looking for a keynote speaker for your next event, want to introduce the practices of rest in your corporate environment, or are planning a corporate retreat that emphasizes rest and spirituality, I’d love to talk to you about a collaboration.