My Story
They say in order to fully understand a person, we must discover where it is they came from.
While my story has developed into a happy and peaceful place, it’s some of the darker times that have had the most impact on the work I do today.
From my earliest memories I remember being afraid something bad was about to happen. I was raised in an environment full of addiction, violence & uncertainty. Constant chaos and destruction lead me to internalize the world around me was not a safe place. This would have been troubling for most but as a highly sensitive and empathic young girl it felt especially difficult for myself. This family atmosphere caused me to abandon childhood before it even got started, instead spending my days trying my best to ensure my brother and I were fed & safe and that my mother didn’t harm herself.
Growing up without role models and as this desperate and make shift parental figure, I lost not just childhood but the building blocks to become emotionally stable with any ability to distinguish up from down and wrong from right. Even as a person with good intentions the lines of life became blurry.
I want to tell you things got better once I became an adult but I just became the main character in the path of destruction.
For three decades I unsuccessfully tried to navigate life as a broken adult. I was born smart, athletic and capable but my talents and knowledge were never channelled in the right direction. Somedays I grasped at the possibility of breaking free from my self-destructive ways, but my patterns seemed to keep winning. There were times I would begin to make progress only to be dragged into old habits because of a negative self image, poor moral compass and mostly a complete lack of support.
I just have to pause to say - If you have ever found yourself in a similar situation, please know two things:
First, you are not alone. This type of stop and start happens to so many people. Second, I promise you that there is a way, no matter how hopeless it may feel at this very moment.
At my worst I was hospitalized with a life threatening eating disorder, fired from jobs, abusing hard drugs daily & settling for toxic relationships that almost destroyed my life. Not surprisingly I hit rock bottom - hearing that voice inside my head saying ‘You should kill yourself’. That morning as I lay in bed, a shell of a human, tears soaking my pillow case - I prayed for god to come into my heart and show me a way. I promised I would do whatever it takes to create a new lineage of healed women in my bloodline.
Whether you believe in God or not I can say that something in my life changed when I started taking steps towards a better me and those steps felt a whole lot easier when I believed it was with a power greater than myself.
A few months later I met my now husband, James, who was already years into his journey with sobriety and healing . It was the first time in my life I had a person to look up to. Inspired by him, the morning of my 30th birthday I decided to get sober. I could see that the two of us had the potential to create a healthy family just like the ones we’d both always wanted for ourselves, that I could become the mother I always needed. With a lot of hard work and dedication I was able to find some footing in life and was feeling empowered for the first time.
With all my success and this commitment to health and wellness, I felt confident enough to pursue my biggest dream of all, calling in a beautiful daughter and creating a family of our own. She, along with the strong relationship with my husband is what inspired me to keep going in this new found direction.
I found new purpose in life and became a holistic nutritionist with, The School of Integrative Nutrition, helping others overhaul their lifestyles, get sober themselves and ignite purpose again. So many beautiful changes had occurred and I was a much better version of myself than years prior yet I continued to struggle that something still didn't feel entirely right.
The years of trauma lingered in the form of anxiety, depression, hyper-vigilance and a newly diagnosed autoimmune condition called Graves Disease. It was clear there were still unresolved issues. I had charted a new path forward, but my unhealed past was subconsciously eating away at me and I was repeating a lot of my old patterns just in new costumes.
At this point my mind was clear enough to know if I wanted to achieve lasting emotional freedom and reclaim my health I would need to finally heal the deep seated wounds that were still open from childhood.
This is where I dove headfirst into the world of trauma, inner child healing and the mystical. I studied astrology & spirituality, eastern medicine such as reiki, chanting, tapping and chakra healing, meditation, sound healing, kundalini yoga and sacred circles along with even more non-traditional healings such as therapy assisted psychedelics.
these new methods rendered a much deeper level of healing than the things I had tried before including traditional therapy, nutrition, Fitness & Lifestyle as well as sobriety. It was exciting to be making these powerful discoveries and it motivated me to continue down the path.
My biggest breakthrough took place when I attended my first breathwork class lead by the incredible Gwen Dittmar at WMN Space here in LA. After that session, I cried so hard it felt like I surrendered a lifetime of pain from only one session. It didn’t take long for me to realized I had discovered something special and knew this tool would be huge in my own healing and the healing of those I guide. I spent a good part of a year training with my mentor, David Elliott, where we went in depth in to healing including - how to be your own healer, how to expand that healing to the people around you, how to create & hold sacred space and of course the inner workings of Breathwork. This technology gave me the confidence to step forward as an intuitive healer as I now felt I had all the necessary tools to work ones process of self-healing. Over the years I continue to dive into new trainings and continuing education, most recently, working with Paula Mallis of WMN Space to become a certified Circle Facilitator.
This brings us to the present day where I now combine all of my formal education and teachings with my personal journey to support others in achieving energetic and physical wellbeing.
This is why I feel so passionately about combining nutrition and lifestyle with eastern techniques and ancient philosophy because it all works synergistically to support the bodies wisdom to heal.
If there is one key lesson I want to share with the world, it is this.
What we put into our bodies is just as important as what we release because they both work to keep us aligned with our innate and sacred wisdom. Everything we need to heal is already within us.
Life can be so challenging, life can lead us into parts of ourselves that are scary and harmful but we all deserve a chance to begin again. These challenges are often too much to take on alone and I am deeply aware how much easier taking that first step is with an outstretched hand. Which is why I am always here to support you.
It is my hope that my story resonates and helps you to move towards the peace and healing you were born to experience.
In loving service, Candice