Our Mission
Health is the most valuable thing we can have. My work’s purpose is to teach people how to live healthy, happy lives. Health is a relative term for many people; we all measure it differently. Regardless of your goal, achieving it is what makes you feel good, healthy, strong, able. Life is so much more fulfilling when you feel good everyday.
Athletics have always played an important role in my life
For me, athletics have always played an important role in my life. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t involved in a sport. I was the kid who wanted to do everything; gymnastics, soccer, karate, horseback riding, ice skating, basketball, baseball, field hockey, softball, etc.
I believe that my experience with participating in athletics has helped me hone my skills of not only working on a team and having exposure to a weight room and exercise at an early age, but also in developing the very important kinesthetic awareness that every person needs for proper technique and good movement control.
“A further sign of health is that we don’t become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it’s time to stop struggling and look directly at what’s threatening us.”
– Pema Chödrön
The CHEK totem pole, showing the different systems of the body, and how they are prioritized for function. Understanding this is crucial to understanding why dysfunction/injury can develop.
I went to Australia to study holistic health and wellness
There was a time in my life that I wasn’t healthy. I thought I was eating healthfully, but I wasn’t aware of the effects some foods were having on me. I was emotionally closed off, physically exhausted, overworked, and my dietary needs were not being met the way I thought they were. I had stomach pain everyday. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I was left asking what is IBS and why do I have it? I thought I was physically healthy, so how could my body start failing me? Then my back started to hurt. I couldn’t do yoga, I couldn’t run; I was in pain. I got an MRI. I had severed the the cartilage on either side of my spine at the L4/L5 junction. Stomach and back pain? That was it. I was not healthy. I was 25 years old at the time.
That’s when I started studying how to make my health better. I took my first classes with the CHEK Institute. My eyes were opened. I learned about the proper way to care for my body and mind and I changed essentially all of my habits. A year later I ran the Boston Marathon. I made a radical change to my health and I felt great. In 2010, I went to Australia to study holistic health and wellness with the crew at Origin Of Energy. I not only learned a lot about the body and its capabilities, but I learned a lot about myself, and the type of trainer, person, friend, role model and even parent that I want to be. It led me to where I am now, wanting to spread the knowledge I have, while I continue to learn and grow, and help as may people as I can lead the healthiest, happiest lives they can. Everyone is entitled to good health, whatever that means to them.