I am a Harrisburg local, and have been living here since 2016. I moved here as my parents moved to the area 6 months prior. It was my first major move in my adult life. I grew up in Michigan for 20 years where I went through k-12 schooling. I finished my high school education online as I began to have health problems my junior year. Thankfully, as I completed my highscool education with an online program, I was able to truly focus as I changed, and grew, and raise my GPA drastically. Life can be rough. Life is weird. There are a plethora of unexpected twists and turns that can knock you down, especially without a proper support system.

I began my holistic health journey immediately after recieving my High School Diploma. I signed up for class at the Flint School of Therapeutic Massage where I studied Swedish Massage, Deep Tissue, INIT, Reflexology, and brushed upon other modalities. I am not currently a certified or liscensed Massage Therapist in the state of Pennsylvania, but will be working towards that aspect soon enough. I can't wait to be able to integrate Massage Therapy back into my holistic practice.

Eleven months after I moved to Harrisburg, I was registered for, and on my way to India for my Yoga Teacher Training. It was scary, and I was intimidated, but I just knew it was going to be worth the experience. The education I received was absolutely incredible. It was hard work, and there were days I didn't think I would make it through to the end. All I knew is that I needed to do this. For myself, for my future, for my family and friends, for my dogs. As I was in India, I was actively withdrawaing from alcohol, and several weeks in, withdrawing from my anti-depressant. Looking back, it surprises me how well I handled it. The act of practicing Yoga and its many branches brought me a level of comfort that I never expected.

To this day, I know yoga saved my life.

It saved me from myself

I treated my time in India as a bit of a rehabilitation. It helped me ween off alcohol, and approach life with a much more holistic mindset than anything else I had learned in the states. I met incredible people and made new friends from all over the world. Every day that passes, I can't believe how lucky I was to have that experience, and to gain what I did.

Exactly one year after I completed my yoga teacher training, I was able to take my first Reiki course. This was another art and practice I have been able to incorporate into my life and my holistic healing modalities. Having been a massage therapist, and training as a yogi in India, I was no stranger to Reiki.

At the very end of 2019, I was admitted into a psychiatric hospial, on my own accord, for two and a half weeks. My mental health was deteriorating. I had been sober by this point for six months and had a relapse. My years of alcoholism had me running from the trauma, and pain; the deaths in my life I had been avoiding and not truly processed yet. I was terrified to go. I felt like my life was over. I felt like a loser.

"I'm not someone that needs to be admitted into a mental hospital!?" I would think to myself. My first day, I felt so alone and vulnerable. It was a new, sterile place away from everything I knew. Every day, there were about 5 "groups" - activities or discussions lead by some type of health professional. Sometimes it was discussing relevant diagnoses and learning about depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder for example. Other times it was crafting, playing instruments, choosing a song and playing it for the group, then discussing the song. Plenty of different modalities to help us cope, to help us open up, to help us learn.

I quickly learned to treat each group like a class. It was an educational experience. I asked for a notebook and was quickly given one. I took notes every day, in every group/class. It was a tremendous time for me to focus fully on my mental health with no shame. It was a safe space to express myself and my deepest, scariest thoughts that the rest of the world wouldn't seem to udnerstand. I quickly bonded with plenty of the other individuals and we all helped eachother through every day.

One of these groups, a wonderful lady came in to speak to us. She was a certified Peer Support Specialist. I had never heard of that job title before but I was immediately inspired. She was there to advocate for us, the patient, especially when we felt we were'nt being heard by our doctors. She was there to guide us in a better direction, empowering us to make better choices, and finding that strength within our selves.

Because of my time in the hospital, it had given me the opportunity, and opened the door for me to become a peer support specialist. A few months later, I was in class, learning and studying with a group of other incredible people on how to be the best Peer Support Specialist I could be. Soon later, I had graduated that course, and received my certificate as a Peer Support Specialist.

Now I know it seems way out of the blue to bring up something like Improv within all of this holistic talk, but I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for the Harrisburg Improv Theater!

I have completed the level one improv class and as I type this, will be half way through level two. These classes have given me a tremendous amount of joy, connecting me back to my inner child. It's been my safe space to act like a fool, laugh at myself, and make friends along the way. It has been incredibly healing. You know how I mentioned reiki earlier? Crazy part is, my reiki teacher was also my level one improv teacher! For how dark my life was at the time right before I signed up for improv, I took that as the last sign to really sign up and take that class. I was terrified, but something inside me was telling me I NEED to take this class. Pushing myself to do it, step out of my comfort zone again was what I needed. I haven't been this happy in my adult life.

It's taken a lot to pull myself away from the abyss, but it was worth it.