About Me

Hi, I'm Rachel!

I believe that feeling at home in your body is the most special thing in the world. And I believe everyone is capable of cultivating that feeling. My passion is helping people create that home within themselves.

I grew up moving all the time – martial arts, gymnastics, and dance helped me find myself and got me through hard times. I also grew up alongside my sister, who has muscular dystrophy and whose capacity for movement is extremely limited. I learned how empowering movement can be and how hard life can be without it. I developed a passion for using movement to facilitate healing, and chased this passion through a degree in Exercise Science and a career as a personal trainer, mobility specialist, and mindfulness teacher.

I understand that not everybody has a happy relationship with movement, and that there are many obstacles to feeling comfortable in your body. I’ve created the Empowered Body Program to help you find the sense of home within your body that has been so life-sustaining for me. This program draws on everything I’ve learned in my formal education, my professional experience, my lived experience, and my own movement practice to share what I’ve discovered in an approachable way that you can apply to your life.

Movement is how I learn. How I communicate. How I understand myself. How I express myself. And I can’t wait to see what it unlocks in you.

I grew up moving all the time – martial arts, gymnastics, and dance helped me find myself and got me through hard times. I also grew up alongside my sister, who has muscular dystrophy and whose capacity for movement is extremely limited. I learned how empowering movement can be and how hard life can be without it. I developed a passion for using movement to facilitate healing, and chased this passion through a degree in Exercise Science and a career as a personal trainer, mobility specialist, and mindfulness teacher.

I understand that not everybody has a happy relationship with movement, and that there are many obstacles to feeling comfortable in your body. I’ve created the Empowered Body Program to help you find the sense of home within your body that has been so life-sustaining for me. This program draws on everything I’ve learned in my formal education, my professional experience, my lived experience, and my own movement practice to share what I’ve discovered in an approachable way that you can apply to your life.

Movement is how I learn. How I communicate. How I understand myself. How I express myself. And I can’t wait to see what it unlocks in you.

Professional Experience

BA in Exercise Science with a minor in Psychology from Willamette University.

Thesis on the impact of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on Chronic Pain in a Physical Therapy Setting

Certified Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine 

Certified Mobility Specialist through Functional Anatomy Seminars, Functional Range Conditioning (FRC)

4th degree Black Belt in Hapkido with 20 years experience teaching martial arts

Participated in 8 week MBSR program through MindfulLeaders.org

Lived Experience

Just as my education and professional experiences have honed my skills and expertise as a coach, my lived experiences have enriched my perspective and empathy. So here are some of the things that I believe make me a better coach.

Growing up along-side and caring for my sister, who has muscular dystrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease. 

Personal experience with chronic pain including migraines from a young age, low back pain, shoulder pain, and overall joint pain

History of injuries including 2 broken bones, torn ligaments, muscle tears, and a torn meniscus.

Personal journey of overcoming struggles with disordered eating and body dysmorphia

Exposure to a wide range of Western and Eastern approaches for managing mental and physical health 

My mission is to help you feel at home in your body.

My mission is to help you feel at home in your body.

I do this by partnering with clients that are ready to learn, listen, and let their bodies take the lead, even if they haven’t felt comfortable or at home in their body for a long time. Especially if they’re in chronic pain that keeps getting dismissed by doctors or have experienced neurodivergence, injury, or trauma. If you’re ready to respect your body’s needs rather than viewing them as a nuisance (or ignoring them), it’s time for you to take control and find the freedom, flow, and ease that is already available to you in your body right now. I can teach you how to listen and act on your body’s authentic needs and desires.

That’s why I created the Empowered Body Program!

Did you know?

Hey! 👋 Since you’re still here, here are some fun facts about me!

😙 I can’t whistle! I’ll keep trying though…

🎤 I’ve sung the National Anthem in front of 2,000 people (and didn’t pee my pants)!

💃 My husband and I are high school sweethearts and now we ballroom dance together (yes, just like dancing with the stars!)

🍂 I HATE leaf blowers. 

💪 My favorite ways to move my body are pole dancing, yoga, pilates, weight lifting, ballroom dancing, gymnastics, martial arts, and non-descript-whatever-I-want dancing!

😻I’m basically a cat 

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