​

I spend my days holding space for some of the most vulnerable, powerful, and sacred moments of people's lives - people just like you. It's a courageous step to reach out for support. Sometimes it helps to know a little bit about who's walking beside you.

Since I can remember, I struggled with chronic eczema and gut issues. It was something I 'managed' for years, until I found myself flat on the floor in a desperate panic and realized I could not continue this way. It was hard to show up for life when I felt so out of control. I was overwhelmed and longing for relief. 

​

I dove into the world of herbalism and natural healing through food. I changed every product I used. I tried to control every variable. But the vicious cycle of eczema, stomach upset, stress, and emotional turmoil of it all continued. What I really needed was someone to help me understand what was happening in my body, mind, and heart. 

​​

A Door Opens 

In college, I had a relationship that left me heartbroken and yearning to understand how love could become so unhealthy. That same year, I studied abroad in Thailand and was introduced to Thich Nhat Hahn’s monastic community. Through living at his center and immersing myself in their teachings of mindfulness, meditation, and compassion, I came to realize that what I was seeking had been within me all along.

I learned to become present with my mind, feel safe in my body, and move through my emotions. This experience changed the course of my life, and a fire was lit inside me to live and work in service of personal and collective transformation.

​​

Break Down to Break Through

A few years later, I was working 3 passion jobs all at once and suffering with eczema worse than ever before. Even good things in excess can throw us off balance. I drifted out of my mindfulness practice and found myself again facing burnout. 

So I did something radical. I quit all my jobs, ended my lease, left a relationship, and enrolled in a breathwork training. I had no idea how deeply transformative this journey would be.

Breathwork burst me open. I came face to face with emotions and memories I hadn't known were living inside of me. Anger, grief, so much fear, and shame poured through me. I cried rivers. I met my younger selves. I began to truly listen to my body. I started to rewire past experiences from childhood, birth, and from before I could speak. I learned how to make space for my big emotions. I learned to love the parts of me that I used to hide. And I discovered more self-compassion, grace, joy, softness, and purpose in the process. 

​

The Spiral Path

I grew up surrounded by the old growth forests of Washington State. Dancing was my first language. I have always been deeply sensitive, intuitive, and spiritual, expressing myself through movement, writing, food, and travel. And like many of us, my life has not been linear, but a spiraling path, with many painful and powerful twists and turns. As Rumi says, "The wounds are where the light shines through".​

I continued to dive deeply into my own self-healing and self-loving journey. As I learned to meet my pain with compassion, my eczema and gut issues began to heal, not just from food and creams, but from deep attunement to my body, my emotions, my inner parts, and my relationship to my environment.

I found ways to dig up the roots of suffering and transmute fear and anxiety into softness and trust, and disconnection into loving presence. My deepest hurts became my greatest wisdom. 

​

The Path Becomes Purpose

Even still, life has a way of giving us challenges to catalyze more healing and growth. A traumatic experience and sexual violation in my adulthood led me through many dark nights of the soul, bringing with it PTSD and a call to go deeper. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to face. And yet, it also became my greatest catalyst for growth, inner strength, generational healing, and an empowered reclamation of my voice, boundaries, and sexuality. In my search for healing, I pursued extensive studies in clinical social work, trauma therapies like EMDR, somatic therapy, and energy healing.

Today, I am here to share the tools I have learned along the way. Soul Springs Wellness is a convergence of the many practices that have brought myself and others back to love again and again. I believe healing is not about fixing what's broken, but about remembering and reconnecting to who we are underneath the pain of what happened. My intention is that this space be one of reclamation, transformation, and a return to our bodies, breath, and soul. ​

​

Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh says: "We should not be afraid of suffering. We should be afraid of only one thing, and that is not knowing how to deal with our suffering. Handling our suffering is an art."

​

We all have a hero's journey. I look forward to hearing yours.

​

In Loving Kindness, 

​

Leah