I'm a wholistic spiritual director, yogini, certified Ayurveda health coach by the Shakti School and a wellness pro in training by Yoga Health Coaching, and a big time cat lover who's a dog lover in the making. Shhhh, don't tell my cats, please!
I've made a career out of loving people (aka being in service), half of which was in seven countries within Eastern and Southern Africa. Working with 19 nationalities and numerous tribes within Africa, I sat at the feet of many a wisdom teacher. All shared the same foundational truths. At our core, we are here to live in solidarity with one another and the earth, to honor the body's natural intelligence, and to trust that this God soaked world always is for us.
I struggled, though, to embody their wisdom. I travelled and worked a lot. Pushed myself way too much to be there for others and told the body regularly what was good for it and not. I ignored what I learned from my many wisdom teachers, including the inbuilt one called my body, spirit, and soul. Recipe for disconnection! Recipe for dissatisfaction!
This pattern of turning against myself became exacerbated to a height I couldn't have imagined previously. When the focus of service shifted to that of my mom and I relocated to her home in rural Oklahoma at the age of 42 to be a caregiver, my desire for control amidst what felt so uncontrollable and unsafe became the key ingredient for cooking up a whole lot of physical and psycho-emotional imbalances.
These imbalances felt like the opposite of soulful living, and yet, soulful living isn't about perfect health or a perfect job, bank account, lover, conditions to thrive, etc. It's about being soaked in all of life's ingredients and brave enough to reach out for help in familiar and new ways when it all seems too much in order to learn how to be with life. Disconnect from our soul selves doesn't happen in isolation, and healing doesn't as well! Read that sentence again, please.
I leaned into the familiar lessons of my wisdom teachers in Africa and that of my mom, who kept reminding me of how proud she was of me for being me. I expanded my gaze to sit at the feet of energy medicine healers, mental health professionals, and Ayurveda practitioners. Through their guidance, I honed my ability to recognize the common signs of moving away from the soul and how to course correct, starting with myself(!). I infused my toolkit with how to target each layer of our being to awaken and embody our true selves.
To be who we are made to be begins and ends with anchoring ourselves in our souls, the deeper truth of who we are, and living with soul power. Transformation from a place of inherent wholeness lights me up and that's what I'm devoted to on this journey for myself and others, including you!
Fun Facts
The scariest thing that I've ever done was to buy a plane ticket to visit a yoga school in California. No joke! I travelled regularly around Africa by myself for years, and that ticket freaked me out for three days! Hello, fear! The soul knows when it's time for a shift and won't stop until you listen!
I've got the same master's degree as a Catholic priest. It's possible for women! I'm trained in pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, ethics, and preaching, among other things. My dedication to service got solidified with this practical oriented theological degree.
I started my first full time job at the ripe age of 32 years old. What can I say? I had priorities. Service! I also developed another priority, paid service! ;)
I first learned the physical practice of yoga in Africa. The same can be said for Zumba too. I developed such a Zumba crush in Mozambique that after yoga school I got licensed to teach Zumba. Soulfood comes in all forms!
I dropped my Southern accent when I was 15 years old. I wanted people outside of the Southern U.S. to understand me. Little did I know until I got to college over 800 miles away that I spoke with so many localized expressions that I still was hard to understand at times!
I've taken horse medicine a few times, eaten fried bugs, and lived to tell about it all! I did quite a few things living on the shores of Lake Victoria in Tanzania that I never anticipated. Let the trust in Life flow!
I almost was named Melarosanna. Tara is so much better! Don't you agree?! Tara means star, light of the soul, the meeting place of kings, and sacred earth. There's the Goddess Tara in Buddhism and Hinduism too.
I was housekeeper and cook in London. During grad school round #2, I split my time studying international development, cleaning and cooking for an international community, and acquiring a taste for Ottolenghi. I fed the mind, body, and spirit!
During my senior year of college, you'd find me cheering for the football team on Saturdays and on Sundays seated up with the priest on the altar. Didn't seem strange at all to me, but I did get some second glances from visitors when handing them communion as they realized why they recognized me.
I love eating with my hands, especially chapatis! It's sensual, playful. As for chapatis, well, I had my first one in Tanzania. If you'd told me then that 10+ years later that I'd be making them almost daily(!) with homemade ghee, I wouldn't have believed you. Why? I couldn't conceptualize then that fried bread could be good for you. Thank you, Ayurveda!
I speak Kiswahili and rusty basic Portuguese. In Kiswahili, to encourage someone is to give them your heart. This is my kind of language and way of life!
I have a soft spot for chair yoga. "Yoga is to be and breathe with that which is eternal." (unknown) Doesn't matter if it's in a chair or whatever surface you got under your feet. Yoga is yoga! Making it trauma informed and for every body is my jam!
