About Soleil, C-IAYT
Expertise in:
Trauma
Recovery
Pain
Depression / Anxiety
Stress
Grief / Loss
Transition to Older
My Story:
From High Tech to High Touch
For 20 years, in the 80s and 90s, I worked in the fast-paced world of "Technology". Being one of the few woman in this hip "new" field brought constant stress.
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Those years of stress manifested physically in on-going chronic back pain, multiple migraines and even a bout with cancer. My body could not have spoken any louder - and yet I did not listen.
Until I could no longer ignore the pain. My reaction to the trauma of the cancer and stress in my body, eventually led me to notice a correlation to my Life. I was burned-out, numb, frustrated - left, in my late 30s with the endless question of, "Is this all life is?"
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And then 9/11 happened. After the planes crashed, I - like so many others - were jolted into an awareness of our One Precious Life. For me, 9/11 gave us the motivation to STOP and LISTEN.
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As the saying goes, "The Pain of staying the same was greater than the Pain of Change."
In 2001, I left the relative safety of the same-old, same-old High-Tech world. It was time to figure out how to get healthy and build a life of purpose and meaning.
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In 2002, I stumbled upon the Phoenix Rising Method and the School of Yoga Therapy (PRYT). I found this approach to change and healing unique. Where everyone was looking for that "silver bullet", this body-based, talk therapy didn't try to fix me nor did it tell me what to do. Instead, I was empowered to turn to my own best teacher - the one that had been trying to get my attention for years - my own BODY and MIND. And when I did, well, Change Happened - FAST.
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With focused training, I became a Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist in 2002, setting up my practice in Seattle, WA. I continued on to become advanced certified to run groups in 2004, and then couples in 2008.
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Watching how well this self-empowered system of change worked, I was inspired to join PRYT in a faculty position in 2005 supervising and training new therapists from around the world.
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In 2015, I became the Program Director while continuing in private practice - now in San Diego where I moved in 2012. (Seattle is beautiful, but you can't beat the sunshine in San Diego!)
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I was excited to be on Faculty with The Phoenix Rising School of Yoga Therapy when it became Internationally accredited in 2013. One of only a handful of authorized programs through the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).
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And in August 2016, I was honored to become one of the first 100 internationally certified Yoga Therapists through the association. (C-IAYT)
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In 2021, after 15 years of service, I retired as Program Director at the Phoenix Rising School and continue as Emeritus Faculty.
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As of this writing, it has been over 20 years since 9/11 and yet another catalyst for transformation - the covid pandemic - has been wreaking havoc on our bodies, hearts, minds, and souls.
Listen to this podcast - a conversation I had about how retirement led to the felt-sense of "Ambivalence and Being IN the Between".
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Perhaps you, are feeling the IN Betweeen and being called to change your life right now. From someone who has spent years in transformation, don't go it alone...