My Story
From Chaos to Clarity
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The Long Road Back to Myself
I didn’t come into this world playing it safe.
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I had intensity for connection and belonging, a mind that never slowed down, and a curiosity that pushed boundaries early. I began experimenting with substances in adolescence, long before I had the tools to understand what was happening in my brain or body.
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Over time, my nervous system became overloaded, and the need to escape discomfort became my baseline—fueling cycles of intensity, avoidance, and disconnection.
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And so began a long relationship with addiction.
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For more than twenty years, I lived inside cycles of substance use, alcohol, toxic relationships, and relentless overachievement. I wasn’t chasing chaos for its own sake—I was trying to find relief, purpose, and a sense of safety inside myself. Outwardly functional, inwardly unraveling, I looked like someone “holding it together” in a culture that quietly rewards disconnection.
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What I understand now is this:
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Addiction wasn’t the problem. It was an adaptive response.
A nervous system doing its best to survive. A brain wired for relief, not regulation.
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Neuroscience explains this. Compassion changes it.
Where Training and Lived Experience Met
I spent years working as a nurse in detox and psychiatric settings, supporting people through crisis while quietly struggling myself. I understood addiction clinically—diagnoses, protocols, medications—but none of that training taught me how to rebuild trust in my own body or live with sustained clarity.
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What changed everything wasn’t a dramatic rock bottom or a single moment of collapse. It was a growing and undeniable need to change.
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It was learning how to sit with discomfort instead of escaping it.
How to regulate my nervous system.
How to work with my brain rather than against it.
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Through education, practice, and lived integration, I began to reclaim stability, agency, and meaning—slowly, deliberately, and without shortcuts.
That process became the foundation for Dharma in the Dirt.
Why Dharma in the Dirt Exists
Dharma in the Dirt was created to support people in early recovery who feel disconnected from themselves, their bodies, or their sense of direction.
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This work exists because I know how overwhelming recovery can feel when the nervous system is dysregulated and identity is uncertain. It offers a structured, evidence-informed approach that integrates neuroscience education, nervous-system regulation, movement, foundational nutrition, and reflective practices that support purpose and long-term change.
There are no quick fixes here.
There is guidance.
There is structure.
There is compassion rooted in real experience.
What Guides My Work
I believe sustainable recovery begins with understanding how the brain and nervous system function under stress—and learning practical skills to restore regulation and resilience.
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My role is not to fix anyone.
It is to support people as they:
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Learn how addiction affects the brain and body
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Build emotional and physical stability
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Develop daily practices that support long-term recovery
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Reconnect with values, meaning, and purpose
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This work is honest, paced, and deeply human. It respects the intelligence of the body and the capacity of the individual to rebuild their life with the right support.
