“Life is short.”

“Live life to the fullest.”

Those short, but profound phrases are why I’m here.  

But before we get to that…

Hi, I’m Michelle and this is my first blog post!  I am more than a bit giddy as I type this … excuse me while I take a deep breath and do my little happy dance to celebrate the fact that I’m feeling the fear but doing it anyway!

You see, I have had “start blogging” on my bucket list for the last two years! I am no stranger to checking off bucket list items, but this, turns out, is well stressful, overwhelming and scary!

But, like I said, I’m doing it anyway.

Back to my story. And my two phrases: life is short, and live life to the fullest.

Several years ago, I was stressed out, burned out and stuck in auto-pilot. I was rushing through life—to do more, accomplish more all while attempting to juggle the demands and responsibilities at work and home.

Life is short.

10-11-2012. The straw that broke the camel’s (my) back.

On that day, I tragically lost my beloved Portuguese Water Dog, Hogan. He was my first “baby” and worked his way deep into my heart.  He was mischievous, energetic, and we referred to him as Hogan Houdini, for his uncanny ability to escape any contained area. Hogan had a tumor growing on his spleen and sometime that day it ruptured and in a blink of an eye he was gone.

This rocked my world. It was the catalyst to the unraveling of many years of stress that I had been carrying around. What started as grief led to stress-related health issues including anxiety and panic attacks. On the outside, I looked like I had it all together, but on the inside not so much. I was disconnected, stressed, overwhelmed and frustrated. Why couldn’t a smart, independent, successful health professional figure it out on her own?

Enter coincidence, happenstance or synchronicity.

It took me a while, but I figured it out. You see, one month before I lost Hogan, I started a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher Certification Program.  Having spent my entire career as a Physical Therapist, I had learned all about the human body—about flexibility, range of motion, strength, and how to restore optimal functioning after injury or disease. The addition of the mind-body connection was the missing link for me and the beginning of my own transformational journey. Because of this training, I was able to learn how to use self-care to heal and calm my body during the tragedy that was to come.

Live life to the fullest.

My transformational journey continued in 2014, when I began working with a coach.  This led to remarkable self-discovery and clarity. I started to live intentionally and on purpose—to use my values to guide my decisions and to align my goals with a future vision. This was the icing on the cake!

That transformation led me to want more, so I embarked on a rigorous certification program through the Coaches Training Institute (CTI) to become a CPCC, which stands for Certified Co-active Coach. I also received my Associate Credentialed Coach (ACC) designation through the International Coaches Federation.

And now, because of my training and transformation, I am passionate about helping you to achieve your own transformation–to stress less and live more fully!

Come along!

I invite you to sign up for my “Stress Less, Live More” newsletter. I’ll be sharing powerful tools for transformation, including techniques for reducing your stress, how to outsmart your overwhelm, mindset makeovers, and tips to live life to the fullest mind body & beyond!