Hi, you! Thanks for being here. So this page is a continual work in progress because that’s what I am. It’s what you are too. From time to time, what’s listed below will change. I hold these ways of identifying loosely with the understanding that I am all of these and none of them, and so much more. Sometimes identities are added and other times they’re shed, but they’re all part of my story. I hope you enjoy learning more about me.

(Here’s some TL;DR info: my training can be found HERE, and my official media bio can be found HERE.)

What does being your Authentic Whole Self even mean?

(And why does it matter?)

Being your Authentic Whole Self is about naming and claiming the identities you hold in different areas of your life and understanding how they intersect. For some, that might include knowing your elders and ancestors. For others, it’s about your chosen family and representation. Saying who and what you are and owning it is about liberation. It allows you to own your narrative. So that you live your life fully aware of your agency and are able to live in choice no matter what anyone around you tells you.

Being your Authentic Whole Self is also about knowing you’re already whole and worthy, even though you may not always feel that way. It’s about knowing yourself so deeply that you’re able to connect with the aspects of yourself that need more attention, patience, understanding, and compassion. While leaning on the parts of you that are a little bit stronger, more resilient, and grounded in unconditional love. Knowing yourself this deeply will help you understand the reasons behind your needs, desires, and actions and help you communicate your lived experience to others.

This self-knowledge is power. It’s the power to let go of who you were told you should be and embrace who you truly are. This power will help you decolonize your mind. It will embolden you to create your life deliberately with more compassion, grace, awareness, kindness, and suppleness. And slowly with practice over time you’ll notice that the journey you’ve been on to reconnect to your Authentic Whole Self has also helped you be more kind, compassionate, patient, and understanding toward others. You’ll even become exceedingly aware of the impact you have on those around you and, through the ripple effect, the entire world. It’s f’cking amazing!

My Current identities (in no particular order):

• pronouns are she/they/ella/elle. I speak in us & we terms because we are in this together.

• neurotypical

• able-bodied

• queer

• cisgender non-Black, white-presenting woman of color #NBIPOC #WOC

• 1st Gen Puerto Rican on the mainland most deeply connected to my indigenous Taino ancestors #ProudBorikua

• adaptive nonhierarchical leader

• intangible dot connector

• anti-capitalist solopreneur

• aspiring abolitionist

• chronic course-taker & certificate collector

• trauma-sensitive mindfulness practitioner

• proud mama - my son is 30, and one of my best friends

• full-time live-in caregiver for my 94yo mom #familycareiscommunitycare

• settler on Munsee Lenape Land in Jersey City, NJ, right outside Manhattan. #LandBack

• introvert-ish

• happy homebody (working on creating balance here)

• curvilinear thinker and planner

• love luxury and can be a snob (I’m aware of the internalized classism)

• goofball

• cat guardian & caregiver

• decolonizer #Palistinewillbefree

• anti-racist #BlackLivesMatter

• survivor of rape & partner abuse

• dark chocolate enthusiast & devourer of chocolate chip cookies

• compassionate disruptor

• nervous public speaker

• Aquarius sun - Leo rising - Taurus moon

• Enneagram - 9 The Peacemaker

• Human Design - Generator with a 3/5 profile

• Hip-Hop lover, House Head & Salsera

• have an invisible illness that requires daily medication

• have a slightly curved spine (scoliosis)

• soulful, sensual, sexual, sacred being made of stardust & light, aka a complex system of neurons, atoms, and cells.

• recovering people-pleaser & approval seeker.  

Some fun facts:

• I’m the youngest of 9 siblings, and we deeply love and respect one another. I’m so proud of each one of them.

• I randomly drool for no reason... often.🤤

• I spent every summer in Rincon, Puerto Rico until I was in high school.

• The first dance I ever learned was Latin Hustle when I was 5 years old.

• I was a pro salsa dancer for almost 20 years.

• I won a Disney-sponsored salsa dance marathon (32 hours straight!!) at the Copacabana in NYC. (picture above)

• I unschooled my son from the 8th grade through high school.

• I'm suspect of most anything “mainstream". Always have been, even as a kid.

• My Buddhist name is Kunga Yudron. It means All-Joy Turquoise Torch. 

• I once choked on a fishbone and had to go through surgery to have it removed. They couldn’t find part of it! It might still be somewhere in my nasal cavity. 😱

• Run DMC & dancing The Wop saved my life… actually, it saved my ass from getting kicked in the 7th grade, but it sure felt like a life save.

• My entire 6th-grade class “canceled” me for the full school year because I was too much - too showy, too loud, too proud.

• I was born & raised in Hoboken, NJ, but I consider myself more of a NYer. As a teen, I used to sneak out of my house to go clubbing in NYC.

• I’ve had a formal meditation practice since 2007; however, my first experience connecting to the breath and being with what-is was during Bradley’s birthing classes. That’s now almost 31 years ago.

• My hair is extra long right now, but I love wearing my hair super short. I got my first pixie-style cut when I was 9. (picture above)

More...

My Core Values

• Freedom - I need copious amounts of alone time, quiet time, and time to simply be. That’s freedom to me.

• Balance/Harmony - Life is about consciously creating balance (where possible) throughout your day. Even the sensation of being out of balance can bring a sense of harmony when you hold it with kindness.

• Curiosity - Sometimes, we feel like we don’t know, and other times we feel like we absolutely know. That’s part of what the mind does. What’s more important than knowing is living with wonder and curiosity about what else is possible. In Buddhism, it’s known as Beginner’s Mind.

• Wisdom - There’s wisdom deep within us, in our bodies, in our hearts, and in our minds. The wisdom we hold is intergenerational and connects us to our humanity and our spirituality.

• Commitment - I believe growth of any kind requires commitment—the journey within, sometimes even more so.

• Humor - Life is so much more enjoyable when you can laugh, especially at life itself and how seriously we take ourselves.

My Signature Strengths

• Gratitude - Family, friends, chocolate, my bed, my fur babies, a warm pair of socks on a chilly morning, the color of the sky as the sun sets, that I get to be alive and do this work with amazing humans. I am truly grateful.

• Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence - I see beauty in everyone and everything, in the smallest of creatures, in the simplest of gestures.

• Love - Love is why I was born. It’s what I’m meant to share in the world.

• Love of Learning - I’m a lifelong learner. I want to know things, and I bring a sense of gentle curiosity everywhere I am. I have a serious addiction to books and digital courses.

• Fairness - The systems currently in place (and have been in place for hundreds of years) are inequitable and unsustainable. They were built to keep Black People, Indigenous People, and all People of Color in a deep deficit. It’s out of balance, and I’m doing all I can to help bring it into balance. I’m working towards bringing about equity and the decolonization of our minds.

My primary & secondary threat responses

• Appease (aka Please, Fawn) - I tend to downplay and/or ignore my own emotions and needs to help other people feel safe and understood.

• Flight - Self-explanatory. I’m out. Peace.

Q & A

• How has knowing my identities and how they intersect helped me understand, appreciate, and even love all parts of myself? I’m a whole-ass human being with all the emotions, fears, passions, doubts, and joys that come with being a human. I understand that I am who and how I am for different reasons, most of which were completely out of my control. When I make poor choices or stay in played-out cycles, I can acknowledge that I have a few choices. I can beat myself up for being a flawed human or (and) see that I’m a complex, multi-layered, multi-faceted being with the potential to learn, shift, grow, and evolve. I can perpetuate the binary ways I was raised with - good/bad, right/wrong, this/that, or (and) I can learn to live in paradox and hold both the good and the bad that life and I myself are made of. I can believe that I am wholly responsible and at fault for all of my limitations, or (and) I can recognize that I’m part of oppressive systems meant to exploit and dehumanize me for being who I am. I can learn to see that even my “bad habits” and “poor choices” have served me in some way. With this understanding, I choose to be here for myself in compassionate ways. I choose to grow in ways that are stretchy and take me out of my personal status quo in dignified, nourishing ways. I speak to parts of myself and parent parts of myself in ways I wish I had experienced as a child. I get to renounce or (and) reclaim labels placed on me to keep me small and marginalized. I get to know myself and be willing to continue to know, to not know, and to trust in the mysterious unfolding of myself as a human BEing and us as a connected collective. I get to rewrite this story my way… full of audacity and love.

• Why am I so passionate about helping you be your most authentic, most whole, most fully expressed self? This shit is hard, but it’s worth it. It’s also really, really amazing, empowering, and can be lots of fun. It’s all the things all at once. I want you to feel the array of emotions that comes with truly seeing and honoring yourself for exactly who you are and where you come from. With deeply knowing yourself, you start to see that you have choices, and you get to choose how you move through the world. Self-knowledge also comes with self-trust and the ability to self-soothe and self-regulate while opening up to receive support from your community and loved ones. Ultimately, your continuing to feel bad about your body, thoughts, emotions, choices, past, mistakes, family, and life is depleting your life force energy and keeping you separate from the love and happiness you’re searching for. And the love and happiness you’re searching for already exist within you and within your care community right under the layers of shame, blame, conditioning, and programming you’ve inherited. The benefits of learning to appreciate (and love) all parts of yourself impact every aspect of your life, from your physical health to your mental & emotional well-being, to your confidence, to your ability to manage stress effectively, and even your ability to create clear, loving boundaries. Bottom line, I want you to look at yourself in the mirror, gaze tenderly into your own eyes, and say, “I deeply love, honor, and respect you,” and feel those words to be true in every cell and fiber of your being.

• Why should you hire me as your coach? The world needs the magick and medicine you carry in your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit. Hire me because you feel like there’s more to your healing than what’s being sold through mainstream marketing. Hire me because you sense that actually, NO, it’s not all about mindset; trauma requires an entirely different approach. Hire me because you know that the secret to your happiness cannot be pre-packaged in some cookie-cutter strategy. Hire me because you’re ready to dig deep into the depths of your Self supported by a community of like-hearted humans. Hire me because you’re ready to shed, pull back, release, and burn through layers of stuff that are not yours. Hire me because you’re willing to rest and celebrate yourself in ways your elders were unable to. Working with me will change your life, not because I’m an expert, healer, or guru but because I’m practiced in helping you be who you are. I call it Radical BEing. I will work with you as a whole person who already has the wisdom, resourcefulness, creativity, and ability to feel into and choose what works best for you. Disclaimer: do not hire me as your coach if you’re looking for standard tips/tricks/life-hacks/advice or you’re depending on me to tell you what to do. That’s not how I work. If you’d like to review my training, click HERE.

Like my vibe and appreciate the work I’m doing in the world? You can buy me a coffee right HERE.