Hello! Thank you for being curios.

My name is Melissa. Social Entrepeneur & Healing Artist; specializing in Recovery from Addiction, Sustainable Behavior Change, & Psychedelic Therapy Integrations.

My eclectic professional and personal experience has given me the opportunity to look at one area of being human from a multitude (or multiverse) of perspectives, creating sustainable behavior change.

Context

At a young age, I could feel the world’s pain, well before I could cognitively understand it. As soon as I thought I understood it, I went on a mission to try to change the world for the better. It was a journey that would start with trying to influence everything outside of me, and one that has lead me back around to changing what is inside of me.

Credentials

Traditional Education: This path has led me to a MA Equivalent in Yoga, BA in Political Science and a BA in Environmental Studies, Teaching Certificate from Street Yoga, Master Beekeeping Certificate, trained in Heart-Centered Business practices from the Heart of Business, and more recently a Certificate as a Peer Wellness Specialist for mental health and substance abuse disorder. I am also working under the guidance of a licensed Psychedelic Therapist, and aspiring towards QHMA I and PAT licenses.

Professional Experience: I tend to be an early adopter, and have had the pleasure of being a part of many up and coming businesses, programs, and projects. I gravitate towards positions that include educating, mentoring, motivational speaking, networking, coordinating; and developing vision- creating, assessing, and implementing. I thrive in the collaborative environments.

–Yoga: I have shared Yoga professionally in one form or another for the better of 25 years working with college students, teachers in training, cancer patients, at-risk youth, folks in recovery, people who are obese, children and parents, and those undergoing a therapeutic psychedelic experience. Yoga Nidra has become my area of expertise, for it is accessibility and effectiveness. I have been on the Board of Directors for Street Yoga and co-facilitated the National Conference on Yoga Service at Omego.

–Art: I have been an independent artist; painter, content creator for cartoon strips, fashion concept designer, tilist, and florist. I have co-owned a successful community art hub and event venue in Michigan, but sold it when I moved to Portland, Oregon to pursue my career in Sustainabilty. Although, I bring a creative mindset and artistic touch into any work that I do.

–Environmental Sustainabilty: I have been the Oregon Green School Cordinator for Portland Public Schools, VP for Portland Urban Beekepers, Community Sustainabilty Liason for Marion County and in charge of the Zero Waste Campaign for the State Fair. I have also been a Nature Interpreter pilioting Jane Goodalls Roots and Shoots program. I have given workshops on topics such as, Science and Spirit of Living Water, to name one amongst many.

Lived Experience: The path I have taken has also included living on the streets, addicted to drugs, comingled in toxic relationships, institutionalized, and estranged from family and friends for upwards of a decade. This lived experience is just as valuable as any education or professional experience I have had, perhaps more so. As I heal, it is less a story about suffering incredible loss and seemingly insurmountable hardship, and more about the process of recovery and actualizing one’s potential.

Philosophy

I may not have recognized the later at the time, but it has all been about the same work – healing. In order to heal the world and create culture change, we have to heal ourselves and learn to master behavior change, and we can’t do it alone. For myself, the most profound healing has come from my intimate relationship with Nature and Spirit, and finding relationships with other people who nourish these connections.

1:1 consulting, coaching, referrals: Today, I love working in person-centered service, along side anyone interested in being 1% better today then who they were yesterday. I believe in the harm reduction model. I also believe that healing from trauma is possible. I do my best to meet people wherever they are at, and encourage what works today to look different than what works tomorrow.

Community Engagement: I know from experience that when we show up for each other in this way, consistently, that communities can form around this. These restored connections benefits all, 7 generations forward and 7 generations back. “It takes a village” isn’t just about raising healthy kids. We are much stronger as a network than we are alone.

CONTACT

I will post contact info after I am back from “maternity leave”. I am giving birth to creative work that has been incubating for 20 years! It is time to get this work out!!! My baby should be crawling by Fall 2025.

I am happy to meet 1:1 in person or virtually. I also love what comes from collaboration whether it be co-hosting/co-mediating healing groups and sessions, working with other healing artists to facilitate workshops or guide journeys, or co-creating artwork of various sorts. In addition, I offer educational presentations on topics to do with recovery, spirituality, creative process/creativity, and altered states and integrations.