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.
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?"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!)
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).
And in August 2016, I was honored to become one of the first 100 internationally certified Yoga Therapists through the association. (C-IAYT)
In 2021, after 15 years of service, I retired as Program Director at the Phoenix Rising School and continue as Emeritus Faculty.
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".
Perhaps you, are being called to change your life right now. From someone who has spent years on transformation, don't go it alone...