These photos were taken in the winter of 2003. I was living in Boulder, Colorado with a freshly minted Master’s in Teaching, working at a gourmet pizza place and teaching PE part-time at a private school in Broomfield. One afternoon in the school’s basement library, I pulled a book off the shelf—*Taking Charge of ADHD* by Russell Barkley—and devoured it.

It wasn’t that I saw myself in the pages, but rather the students I’d always been drawn to. The ones I connected with most deeply.

By June, I was sitting at a picnic table in the mountains of western North Carolina at my first staff training with SOAR. Before grad school, I had set three non-negotiable criteria for myself:

·       Spend more time outdoors than indoors

·       Spend more time moving than sitting

·       Spend more time in service to people than to tasks

That summer, it became crystal clear: the people I was best suited to serve had ADHD, and the best way to serve them was by moving through the mountains.

Spending a decade deeply immersed in the daily lives of kids (and parents) with ADHD gave me a perspective I never would’ve gained in a classroom or an office. In the field, I witnessed executive functioning challenges in real time—overwhelm, meltdowns, explosions, shutdowns—and also moments of brilliance, humor, creativity, empathy, and resilience.

I saw how breathwork, mindfulness, movement, and time in nature could regulate the nervous system and return it to a state of equanimity. I saw how celebrating strengths instead of trying to “fix” struggles allowed these brilliant, round, multidimensional humans to shine and to thrive.

And I could relate. As a kid, I was called lazy, disorganized, sloppy and messy, forgetful, irresponsible, obnoxious… and I did look like all those things. But I was also told I was clever, joyful, creative, and idealistic. My parents often told me through a sigh that I “marched to the beat of my own drum”—and I was lucky to have people in my life who saw that and encouraged it. That recognition gave me permission to pursue an authentic life.

The pursuit of that life led me to yoga in 2007, and eventually to starting Pioneer Yoga in Dubois in 2014. I witnessed the profound effect the yoga practice had not just on me, but the groups of ADHD students and adults I continued to serve. The shift in coherence of energy before and after a session was palpable to everyone in the class. Learning that you have access to, and control over, the state of your nervous system is incredibly powerful.

This site was built over decades through the adventurous pursuit of health and happiness, and my commitment to serve others with the things I do best.