Stephanie Iris

I’ve dealt with depression, anxiety, skin issues, digestive issues, low energy, toxic habits (excessive use of smoking weed, drinking, over eating), being the “different one” in my family, feeling isolated/closed off from wanting to connect with people due to trust issues, dealing with loss of a parent at a young age. For the past 10 years, I’ve learned many important lessons on this journey of self-discovery and the most important has been making the changes for me, no matter what others think. When I first started learning about holistic modalities, it was foreign to some of my family members, so they could not understand why I was choosing this particular path. That caused some friction in my life but now I can see the valuable session they taught me, just because I want to live a particular way, doesn’t mean everyone does but we can still love and accept each other for it. Really it’s all about choosing what works best for you; there is no one size fits all when it comes to personal discovery everybody's story is different and that what keeps life interesting! 

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Things that helped me the most was the constant practice of getting to know my mind, body and spirit through the studies of massage, yoga and Ayurveda. Massage and yoga have been a grounding force in my life. It has been very helpful to learn about the body’s anatomy and physiology and relating that info to my own body and my clients. I’ve learned self-massage techniques, yoga postures, and strengthening exercises that help me to manage body pain. Yoga has helped me to pause, breathe and observe the state of my body and mind. Ayurveda has helped me to get to know myself and see the world in a new way that makes sense to me. I’ve learned how to cleanse my body, which got rid of skin issues (I did get and still do get facials to keep my skin looking youthful and clear) and increased my energy levels. I’ve let go of toxic habits such as excessive use of weed, addiction to sugar, and drinking alcohol. All of these habits have been replaced with habits that actually make me feel good and have helped reduce depression and anxiety, such as dancing, yoga, painting, singing for fun, being out in nature, breathing, Ayurvedic self-care practices, tantric pleasure practices, being part of women circles to celebrate the feminine nature and having a supportive partnership where we can act and play like children and hold space for each other’s self-discovery process. Additionally, Ayurveda taught me how to regulate the cycles of my body including the digestion and elimination cycle, moon (period) cycle, sleep and wake cycle, and cycles of the seasons – learning lifestyle and food choices during each season. Ayurveda even covers herbalism and how there are specific herbs that are great for digestion, elimination, more energy, relieve stress and so much more. Ayurveda translates to the knowledge and wisdom of life, so in many respects it can be a life long study of self and the world. Having these 3 modalities in my life has made me feel way more in tune with my body’s wisdom. When I do things that nourish my soul, body and mind, it creates ripple effects. Making time for me lets me be a better person to husband, my family, friends, clients, acquaintances and myself. Ayurvedic knowledge helped me have compassion for the state of the world; it’s natural to be destructive, in transformation, or rebirth at any period in life. Nothing is good or bad it just is. All of this that I mentioned has helped me cope with my deepest wound, the loss of my dad. In the beginning of self-discovery and when I was specifically getting emotional help with this topic, I was under the impression I could “heal” from it and the pain would go away but now I see this wound is part of who I am, it is my super power of knowing what it is like to lose someone you love and gaining wisdom from that experience. Every day it is my choice whether I want to relive my pain or live a life that feels good. Some days are better than others and that’s okay for me because it’s part of the human experience. I am just happy to know I have the power of choice, the power of observation, and a whole “tool box” filled with things I can do that make me feel empowered, centered, joyful and grateful for life!