For more than 3 decades, I have walked beside people on their journeys of healing. Physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. As a Physical Therapist Assistant with over 30 years of experience in rehabilitation, I have dedicated my life to helping others rebuild strength, function and confidence after injury or illness. My work in hospitals, read centers and outpatient settings have given me an intimate understanding of the vulnerability and resilience of the human body.

Throughout my career, I have witnessed countless moments of courage — patients relearning how to walk, caregivers finding hope in exhaustion, and communities rallying around recovery. Yet, I have also witnessed the quieter moments: the scared expression, the sigh of fatigue, the silent tears of grief that so often accompanies physical loss. Over time, I began to realize that true healing is not just about the body’s capacity to recover — it’s about the whole human experience.

This awareness led to yoga, where I found language and tools that complemented my rehabilitation background. Through studies and personal practice, yoga became both a profession and a calling. As a Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT Candidate), I try to bridge the gap between science and soul — integrating the structure and precision of physical therapy with the mindfulness and self-inquiry of yoga.

My teaching and therapeutic approach emphasizes the body’s innate wisdom — that movement is medicine, that the nervous system can be soothed through breath, and that awareness itself is healing. Whether I have the privilege of guiding someone through a gentle restorative pose or discussing anatomy with a student in a physical therapy program, my message remains consistent: healing is a relationship, not a prescription.

The Intersection of Grief and Healing

As I pursued my work in yoga therapy, I became even more aware of how grief lives in the body. It shows up not only as tears or sadness but as tension, fatigue, and the subtle ways we protect ourselves from feeling. Drawn to understand this more fully, I pursued certification as a Grief Educator and later became trained in Grief Yoga®, a heart-centered practice developed by Paul Denniston.

Grief Yoga® uses yoga, movement, breath, and sound to express and transform the energy of grief. It’s not about performing postures perfectly, but about creating space for emotion to move and for the body to remember its aliveness. Through this practice, I've had the honor of guiding people to connect with compassion, release what’s been held too tightly, and discover that grief itself can be a form of love made visible.

In my workshops, I often reminds participants:

“We grieve because we love. And love deserves space — in our bodies, in our breath, and in our communities.”

The Rise offering and grief education have become places of refuge and reconnection, where people can safely explore sorrow, longing, gratitude, and grace. Whether through journaling, meditation, breathwork, or gentle movement. Here people meet themselves with tenderness. I have been trying to normalizes the truth that grief is not a problem to be solved but a human experience to be witnessed, honored, and shared.

Teaching and Mentorship

In addition to clinical and yoga work, I teach in a Physical Therapist Assistant program at a community college, where I share deep respect for the profession and my passion for evidence-based, compassionate care. My teaching philosophy blends academic rigor with real-world wisdom, encouraging students to see beyond protocols to the people they serve.

I have reminded my students that the most powerful tools they bring to any patient room are presence, empathy, and curiosity. Through mentorship, I encourage future PTAs to cultivate self-awareness, ethical integrity, and compassionate communication — qualities that shape not just skilled clinicians but genuine healers. This holistic approach helps students see the bigger picture: that physical therapy is not only about restoring movement, but also about restoring connection — to self, to others, and to life itself.

Yoga Therapy and Community Offerings

I have spent a lot of energy creating yoga and wellness offerings. I love facilitating community workshops, retreats, and themed classes that weave together yoga therapy, grief education, breath work, and reflective practices. My most recent workshops — I Am Supported and A Retreat to Courage & Grace— blend movement, meditation, journaling prompts, somatic inquiry, and guided Yoga Nidra, creating a full arc from awareness to release to rest. Through my work at Inner Light Community Center and GruvnYoga, I am grateful for the trust people have placed in my space holding.

Philosophy and Mission

At the heart of my work is a simple but profound truth: we are all human, and being human means we will experience both love and loss. Her mission is to normalize the human experience of grief, helping people recognize that loss is not something to hide or rush through, but an invitation to deepen our connection with ourselves and with life.

I believe we must honor grief — ANY kind of grief. We do this through movement, through stillness, through breath — we honor our capacity to love. We try to slow down, listen inward, and rediscover their inner wisdom and resilience.

I know that grief changes us, but it also opens us. When we can meet our pain with compassion, we rediscover the sacredness of being alive.

This philosophy threads through all my work — from clinical physical rehabilitation to yoga therapy to grief education. I have tried to bridge worlds that often seem separate: the clinical and the spiritual, the scientific and the intuitive, the physical and the emotional. This work is about integration — helping people find wholeness within themselves, even in the presence of loss.

A Journey through Loss & Healing

In July of 2020, Jen experienced a prolonged and serious illness with COVID-19. The illness brought not only physical debilitation, but also significant losses and many unwanted life changes. For months, her body and breath felt foreign—tight, restricted, fragile. Her chest caved in. Yoga became her lifeline. Gentle asana and specific breath practices slowly expanded her chest and lungs, allowing her to breathe with less struggle and pain. Breath by breath, she rediscovered what it meant to feel alive within her own body again.

During this time, Jen also worked closely with a psychiatrist and a yoga therapist to cultivate deep rest and awareness through Yoga Nidra and meditation. These practices became essential to her recovery—restoring not just her physical health, but her sense of peace, trust, and belonging within herself.

Now, five years later, Jen carries immense compassion for anyone navigating illness, loss, or uncertainty. She understands anxiety, depression, and insomnia not just through professional training but through lived experience. Her teaching is imbued with empathy, patience, and the profound belief that healing is not about returning to who we were—it’s about gently becoming who we are now.