I come from women who built something from whatever life handed them. Life handed them a lot from husbands battling alcoholism to their bodies battling cancer.
​
My grandmother turned a stranded pig and a flood into a beauty salon and school in Arkansas in the 1940s that was built to last. From the get-go, beauty was serious business not because you are your looks, but because it feels good to feel good, to adorn God's body, to be in your feminine power and claim your worth. Beauty on the outside was just the beginning. 

I grew up watching older women week after week get styled just so.  I watched students, mostly women, step into new identities (and personal power!) alongside their cosmetology licenses. I watched women pour into other women and walk out different.

I have always been creative, deeply sensitive, and wired for impact. First in my family to earn a Bachelor's degree, then a Master of Divinity degree followed by a Master of Science in Development Studies.

As far away from a beauty salon and school in Arkansas as it may seem, I guarantee you this. I have never stopped being moved by what happens when a woman finally gives herself permission to receive.

MY BELOVED

Endless
resurrections
await you!

Yoga asana found me first, not in a stretchy pants-hard wood floors studio kind of way, but twice a week on the shores of Lake Victoria with local girls giggling, dogs barking, Maasai warriors on guard, and often followed by fried tilapia and whiskey.

A few years later back in Africa again, my mat became my refuge, thanks to the dedication and devotion of a Korean teacher to sharing what helped her walk away from corporate life for good and into her true self. 

Ayurveda made its inroads into the fabric of my being slowly thereafter. A module during yoga teacher training that laid out my patterns for going in and out of balance as plain as day. Books here and there that doubled down on what I already knew. By that point, my body had already begun to quietly decline coffee, then alcohol and eventually late dinners.

​It wasn't willpower causing habit change but from something deeper waking up in me that knew what I needed at that time. There finally was enough room in me to listen and be led. I was becoming someone I didn't have a name for yet. Whoever she was (is!) or whatever she's called, she doesn't take no for an answer!

MY BELOVED

This is only
​the beginning!

During the pandemic, I did what many of us did. I fell apart, big time. No drama queen here. My mom, my number one cheerleader in all things with a faith so strong I still get teary, had late onset schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder; she no longer could live alone. 

While caregiving for her, my nervous system did what many do when your person is suffering. It began calibrating to hers. I had digestion issues, psoriasis, depression set in. After years of being accomplished at leading and being there for others, I was clueless how to do so for myself in a way that addressed the emotional root causes of what was tripping me up.  

That day at the kitchen table when my mother said "You're lovely...I'm not worried about you," I realized that she was saying goodbye to me and that she saw what I didn't want to: My body was trying to heal me, not betray me. God was on my side, not absent. 

My inner teenager who perfected the eye roll wanted to argue with her, but my mom was right, as much as it freaked me out. I was already integrating Ayurveda, energy medicine, and trauma-informed practices with my faith and daily rhythm. I just needed to have more faith in the direction that I was being led. I just needed to listen to my mother's advice she had framed 20+ years ago that she found in the garage. ​

MY BELOVED

Welcome
​home!

In rebuilding my life after her death, everything shifted, not in a whirlwind kind of way or like an exquisitely wrapped package with a bow on top. Rather, it was more like two steps forward sometimes while shaking in my boots and a step or two or three back while life kept handing me the same lessons albeit with a few twists and less intensity each time. 

Emotional integrity became my compass and my jam. It began healing my physical symptoms. Like a tumbleweed gathering more momentum, my decision-making started flowing from heightened intuition. The noise of self-doubt, my inner critic, drastically reduced. Lo and behold, my daily rhythms became prayer in motion.

I finally understood what my mom had been telling me all along through how she rebuilt herself from what life had handed her. My body wasn't rebelling against my faith. It was teaching me how to live it. 

Now my clients discover what I did. Your body isn't separate from your faith. It's where your faith becomes real. Your desires aren't obstacles to holiness. They are invitations from the Divine.

You don't need a theology degree. You don't need to have it all figured out. You just need someone who's been there and knows the way back to yourself.

That's why I'm here.

You are whole. You are holy. You always have been.

“I came out with a peace that can only be felt when you meet a human being who possesses a true gift of healing. I would follow Tara wherever she holds her classes;
​I will always know that she is my soul’s dear friend. A soul in service.” 

Maria Alemán

 Wisdom Worth Remembering:

"Life never limits you. All limitations are self-imposed.
​They are also self-released."

Ryuu Shinohara