I’m Maria & here’s the story of how I became a self care coach.

I'll never forget the moment…

the universe delivered the message that it was time to do the one thing I’d been avoiding for over a year.

I was driving to the destination spa where I taught yoga and REO Speedwagon's “Time for me to fly” came on the radio.

When I heard the lyrics,

“I make you laugh, you make me cry, it's time for me to fly…”

stream through the speakers I burst into tears as it hit me that I had to take ownership of my life’s trajectory and end my relationship of 3 years with someone who had become my best friend even though it meant heartbreak because the path we were on together wasn't the path life was calling me down.

While I was totally sure of what I needed to do I had no clue what would come next. Grad school? Moving somewhere new? Starting over? Where would I even go?

The prospect of the whole situation was terrifying but what was even scarier was the thought of ending up an old woman who wondered what her life could’ve been if she would have followed that impulse and stepped out into the unknown each night before she fell asleep.

Over the next days, weeks AND months…

I went from devastated, to heartbroken, to sad, to excited and at some points totally enamored by the magic of life’s unfolding with a lot of uncertainty and meh in between. (Stay tuned for the book I'm writing that includes the full story on this part. It's kinda my favorite because I ended up meeting the person who I would eventually marry the same day I got the message from the universe and the way the whole thing played out was magic in every sense of the word.)

Fortunately I kept my eyes wide open for guidance and it met me at every turn. Five months later I was boarding a plane bound for San Francisco with two suitcases and a sky full of butterflies in my belly off to find a new home and start grad school in counseling psychology.

Those first few months living in the city stripped me down to raw bones. All my insecurities and vulnerabilities were brought to the surface each day in my graduate classes and then, raw and open I'd walk out of school into the jungle that is the San Francisco city streets.

Repeating this cycle day after day, week after week for one year changed me. It was humbling, it was eye-opening and on some level it broke me down.

It chipped away at a facade of confidence I wore to cover wounds and stories of unworthiness and put a spotlight on those stories so I could no longer ignore them or their impact on me.

At the time it seemed like the most unfortunate outcome.

“How could someone who seemed so confident & sure become this heaping puddle of mush who was still acutely aware of her dreams but didn’t believe she could ever live them?”

Ultimately, what this experience gave me was an opportunity to decide how I wanted to move forward, how I wanted to serve and whether I wanted to rebuild my life on the sinking sand of old false stories or the solid ground of the truth of who I am.

As you’re probably already aware, I picked the latter and for every twist and turn my journey took I was met by the most perfect guides at the most perfect time.

Right around the time when I hit my lowest low - I was breaking down in tears almost daily because I felt so pathetic, so worthless, I was making barely any money and didn’t believe I could get hired anywhere that paid above minimum wage - I was reintroduced to the teachings of Abraham-Hicks and instantly I knew that what I heard day after day in the YouTube videos I listed to constantly was the information I needed to get myself out of the hole that I’d dug so deep.

What I learned then was that I had a built in truth-o-meter that was always active and that never lied and that when I used the information it gave me I had the power to choose what thoughts to believe and which to release and that was the start of me consciously and deliberately rebuilding my self concept.

The best teachers I’ve known are the ones who turned my attention inward to the wisdom of my own guidance and now I am honored to get to be a guide who helps lead you to hear, understand and trust the wisdom of your own heart.

i’m so glad you’re here!