Blog Stories

EMDR is having quite a moment.

Most people who’ve done any exploration of the therapy world have heard of it — and many arrive at my office already asking for it by name.

Which I love!!

But what is EMDR? How does it work? And how do you know if it’s the right tool for your healing?

Something happened to me yesterday.

I opened Nextdoor for the first time in years; my original intention simply to figure out how to unsubscribe. But then, I started reading.

Someone was defending themselves after making a hard decision that a group of people labeled cruel. She wrote that she’d cried all night. She edited the original post to ask for mercy and understanding after an evening of piling on.

I felt an urge growing.

I wanted to dig in and read every cruel remark. My gut said: defend her. At the same time a smaller part questioned—what if she was wrong? What if she was backpedaling after being called out? Reading would tell me.

I stopped myself.

There’s something strange happening over here.

People (others—and me) are used to my energy. I’m a connector of concepts and insights, and I tend to quickly weave those things into unique offerings—workshops and groups. So it’s been… weird.

Nothing from Renee.

I have a couple of people who regularly check in.

“You’re not ready yet? You don’t know where this is leading you yet?”

No.

Because this rhythm is so different for me, I could easily slip into believing it really is “nothing.”

But it isn’t.

At the beginning of the year, I told myself I was taking the first quarter to find a new rhythm. It’s going quickly.

January was dedicated to wrapping up system transfers before releasing my virtual assistant. That took more time than I anticipated. I also tried to match my husband’s schedule for his days off, which disrupted my ability to get anything extra done. I ended up feeling behind on my annual plan.

Dreamwork was a significant contributor to my personal growth in my 20s and 30s. It became a constant companion in my healing repertoire—one that helped me listen more deeply to myself, beyond what my waking mind could easily articulate.

I’ve run dream groups at various points throughout my career, and there is something endlessly juicy about giving the subconscious mind the space and presence to communicate directly with you through dreams.

The trick, of course, is learning the language.

While dream symbolism dictionaries are a common tool, I hold them lightly. At best, they’re meant to get you thinking more symbolically—they are not the ultimate translator of your subconscious mind.

Your feelings are.

When clients sense that their dreams are trying to communicate with them, here is part of the exploratory process I guide:

What subtle things do you allow to come between you and your own happiness?

This is a question worth some mindful exploration.

It’s taken many forms for me over the years.

I can’t relax until the dishes are done.
Until the trash is out.
Until the house is less messy and dinner is made.
Until everyone else is taken care of.

I can’t be happy until I’m a success.
Until I’ve done my personal growth correctly.
Until I’ve wrung every last drop of wisdom out of life’s current lesson.

I can’t be happy until my child has the right supports.
Until they feel better.
Until my upcoming trip.
Until I live out my ideals around movement, food, productivity, service…
Until I’ve poured myself into loving the world enough.

Some of the things we put between ourselves and happiness are—if we’re honest—ridiculous.
Others feel justifiable. Even righteous.

And yet, when you really sit with this question, something meaningful can emerge.

It’s not that we actually want life to be neat, resolved, or finally “okay enough.”
Nope.

Over my Christmas break, I noticed something that was music to my soul: spontaneous and brief bursts of belly laughter coming from MY mouth at the most random moments.

I would laugh at a television character who was just being quirky or weird.

I would laugh at myself acting as though something was important that was not.

I would laugh (and yes, this is my newest surprise obsession) at my new-to-me Snoopy face on my Apple Watch. This one has been particularly yummy and wholesome as I flip my wrist over and over just to see him spin pizza dough over his head and get it hung up on the minute hand.

It’s bizarre and entirely delightful.

I remember moments when life was so heavy, spontaneous laughter was not a remote possibility. In fact, mining a mere “surface smile” was impossible.

Some moments came when life became so complex that I didn’t know if I could help family members I cared for deeply. Others came when I was in the deep end of hypervigilance with PTSD.

When the nervous system is overwhelmed, it may mute both highs and lows—not to deprive us, but to create a sense of stability.

But that’s a narrow slice of the full range of this wild ride we call life.

I have been doing a lot of reflection on the power of community and connection for the next phase of my business. In a time when corporations are, indeed, running the world with a questionable moral compass, I feel that how we do business is an important consideration.

Back when my service was running a yoga studio, we only called ourselves “owners” for the sake of language the taxman understood. To everyone else, we referred to ourselves as stewards of the space and the community.

That distinction mattered to us.

We didn’t own what happened there. It belonged to all of us. As stewards of what happened, we had a clear mission. We returned to it again and again to make decisions. And we were surrounded by humans (contractors) who were in business with a servant’s heart. We led with our values as a compass.

There is a tension many values-driven business people eventually run into:

Businesses rooted in service often underperform not because the work lacks value, but because care gets confused with self-erasure. We start to believe that if our work is humane, it should be free. That counting ourselves into the equation is somehow a betrayal of the mission.

The first quarter of this year has very much been designed as a slow simmer—lots of behind-the-scenes changes so that when the second quarter arrives, we’re not scrambling. We’re synced. Grounded. Ready.

I don’t want that to feel like I’m disappearing on you—in fact, quite the opposite.

I want to keep you in the loop as things shift, especially because these changes are ultimately about making our shared work more accessible, more spacious, and more sustainable, even if it’s not quite happening yet.

Here’s what’s been unfolding as 2026 gets underway:

A New Learning Portal (and More Support Inside It)

We’re in the final stages of building out a new learning portal. If you’ve purchased courses in the past with lifetime access, you should have received emails inviting you into the new platform. Please open them—they’re safe, and they’ll walk you right through getting set up.

A few things to know:

The old learning portal will remain active through the end of the summer, in the form you are used to, so there’s no rush.

The new portal is still being reviewed and refined, so you may notice imperfections in January. We’re actively smoothing those out. This is why there is overlap in your access to the two systems!

This new space will ultimately hold more classes than the old portal ever did. I’m gathering recordings from previous groups and revisiting and polishing older content and presentations so they can live here in a more usable, supportive way.

What this means for you: on-demand, reasonably priced access to material that can meet you where you are, when you need it. So while I will be doing more in-person work this year, the asynchronous and online offerings will still be available–no pressure, no chasing live schedules–just steady support.

I’m here to live wildly, finish fiercely and change the world by being fully myself.

~~Renee

I used to be stone deaf. I would see people stand up and go through all kinds of gyrations. The called it dancing. It looked absurd to me—until one day—I heard the music!

~~Anthony De Mello, The Song of the Bird

During my break, I marked the end of the year with my typical celebrations, and I also spent time celebrating the life of a family member who passed. There were a few significant encounters that demanded presence that I happily offered. In all . . .

Today I riff on the beloved Dani Rojas and shout:

“Yoga is life!”

I no longer think of it as the snake oil I used to promote in my late 20s when I first started teaching (wow—I started teaching 26 years ago). It won’t solve everything, but it will level you up on a lot of things.

Yoga is one of many solid paths for mindfulness—paths that help regulate your nervous system, tend your body, cultivate peace, deepen compassion, and grow your whole self.

And after years of training in so many modalities—EMDR, hypnotherapy, meditation & mindfulness, breathwork, somatics, trauma work, neuroscience, parts & IFS work, and beyond—each may give me more of the science, but…

EMDR? Body awareness, breathwork, and stilling mind fluctuations. Like yoga.

Hypnotherapy? Deep relaxation and cultivating the mind. Like yoga.

IFS? Self-compassion, body awareness, meditative states. Like yoga.

So after all these modalities…

all these trainings & certificates…

all these deep dives into the nervous system, psychology, spirit, trauma, and transformation…

I keep coming home to yoga.
Over and over again.