When the nervous system is soothed and settled, something tender becomes possible — softly reconnecting with yourself
🍃 Finding Your Way Home
Through Mindful Awareness and the Science of Healing
I guide women from surviving to thriving — through Post-Traumatic Growth, illness, and major life transitions.
Through my own healing and recovery, I learned the wisdom of interweaving mindful awareness with the science of healing. Together, they became medicine for my nervous system.💛
I recorded this last September, and as I re-listened, I wanted to offer these words again.
My healing journey gradually taught me that safety begins in the nervous system, and that healing is less about fixing ourselves and more about softly reconnecting with who we already are.
“She has a profound ability to make you feel seen and heard, even amidst great struggle.”
— Isabel Mata, Writer and Mindfulness teacher
“Being truly heard by Esther releases the built-up steam in my life.”
Even on the days I feel 'I don't need this,' her humanity and uniquely skilled guidance help me find more compassion for myself — and I'm discovering a more fully integrated sense of self-awareness, understanding, and acceptance."
— Kathy, Finding Your Way client
“Befriending Your Nervous System”
a phrase I first learned from Deb Dana
An invitation to a Vagal Toning Practice
When our nervous system becomes activated, we can feel anxious, unsettled, or overwhelmed. Through softly experiential practices, it is possible to softly invite the nervous system toward greater calm, steadiness, and ease.
Over the past six years, as I have continued recovering my ability to walk following a traumatic brain injury (a longer story for another time), I have been learning about healing from the inside out. As I began learning how my nervous system works, I noticed something that felt amazing: little by little, my brain and nervous system began to repair. Day by day, my steps have become stronger and steadier.
💛 I would love to share some of these practices with you.
Together, we'll explore simple ways to befriend your nervous system—a lovely phrase I learned from Deb Dana. Through mindful moments of breathing, soft movement, and simple ways of using our senses—our eyes, ears, nose, hands, and even our mouth—we'll discover practical ways to help our nervous system settle and open space for a little more ease in everyday life.
This is a gentle, experiential 75-minute session. We'll explore simple embodied practices, mindfulness, and practical maps that you can easily bring into everyday life.
Fee: $25
If cost is a concern, please reach out.
If you'd like to experience one of my favorite Mindful Minutes, I invite you to try this simple practice.
Mindful Minute: Left Nostril Breathing
Begin by getting comfortable, either sitting in a chair or standing. Let your feet rest on the floor or the earth.
Find a soft anchor for your attention. Your breath may feel like a comfortable place to begin. If focusing on your breath doesn't feel okay today, let your anchor be your hands, your feet, or perhaps something pleasant to rest your eyes on.
Using your right thumb, first finger, or whichever finger feels most comfortable, softly close your right nostril, allowing yourself to breathe through your left nostril. Inhale to a slow count of one...two...three. Then exhale to the same count. Find the rhythm that feels natural for you, and repeat for two or three breaths.
Then pause.
Simply notice.
Do you sense warmth or coolness? Tingling? Tightness? Or perhaps no particular sensation at all? There is no right or wrong. The invitation is simply to notice with kindness.
I've often practiced left nostril breathing while standing in line at a store or before a medical appointment. Sometimes I've noticed my churning stomach begin to soften. Sometimes I've added one more small practice—allowing my lips to rest in a soft smile. These simple actions have helped me meet whatever was waiting with a little more calm, steadiness, and grace.
And sometimes, little by little, that's where the nervous system begins to settle.
Upcoming Session
Thursday, July 23, 2026
11:00 AM–12:15 PM ET
Online via Zoom
Participants Have Shared:
“Another beautiful class! I appreciate the tempo of your teaching, the pauses, the beautiful slides, the time for questions, and the practice too!” — Orit
“I’m so glad I got to the second class. I learned so much! I have practiced some of what you taught us.” — Karen
Trauma causes disconnection.
Integration softly reconnects us with ourselves.
As our nervous system settles, we begin to gather the scattered pieces of our heart, body, and spirit.
When the nervous system is soothed, there is more space—
to breathe,
to feel the ground beneath your feet,
to softly return to a steady sense of self.
From that steadiness, something becomes possible that may have felt out of reach for a long while.
To be in connection with kindness and care.
To find your way.
“The gift of healing trauma is that the woundedness becomes a gateway to freedom, healing and love.”
— Tara Brach
Accessibility matters to me.
I hold a small number of sliding-scale openings at any time, and I'm happy to explore options if finances are a concern. If you're not ready to connect, you're welcome to explore the resources here at your own pace.
If you'd like to be in touch, there's space for that here — a simple email, or a free Inquiry Call.
The Resource Library
🍃 Finding Your Way weaves trauma-informed mindful awareness practice and healing science — including Interpersonal Neurobiology and Polyvagal Theory —You’re warmly invited to visit these teachings in the Resource Library.