my approach

i work inside the gap between the gap™ — the quiet physiological space where the nervous system settles, clarity returns, and embodied presence becomes possible.

about michelle

from performance to embodied presence

for much of my life, I lived inside performance culture — achievement, responsibility, and a nervous system that rarely had a chance to fully settle.

on the outside, it looked like strength. on the inside, my system carried long-held stress patterns that never had a safe pathway to fully reorganize and release.

over time, through steady practice and nervous-system work, that imprint began to shift — not through force, but through presence.

lineage, devotion, and choice

i chose a different path: regulation. embodied presence. a life where it is safe for the nervous system to settle.
lineage, for me, isn’t hierarchy — it’s devotion.
i honor what shaped me, and i translate what i’ve absorbed into something simple, practical, and safe for the body — where presence, not performance, sets the rhythm.

my work is shaped by direct transmission in the yoga tradition and ongoing devotion to embodied practice — listening not only to the mind, but to the body and the nervous system.
earlier in my career, my work was featured in washington, dc, for helping people restore coherence in their environments. that same devotion now lives in the spaces i help create through breath, nervous-system regulation, and (when relevant) rider–horse work.
if you’d like to read the original feature, you can find it here: hillrag article
yoga, meditation, and breath-centered practice became the way my system learned what real safety feels like. breath stopped being a technique and became a way of relating to life.

the gap between the gap™ 

the gap between the gap™ is the quiet space between pressure and response — where physiology reorganizes, perception clears, and coherence becomes possible.
as we drop into that gap, posture softens and the body begins to trust the moment again.
it’s a field horses recognize instantly — exquisitely sensitive, sentient beings who read what’s real beneath the surface.
and it’s a field humans can return to — through breath, awareness, and nervous-system regulation.
my role inside this field is simple: to hold a steady, regulated presence where your nervous system has permission to soften, reorganize, and remember itself.

i come to this work as a former competitive athlete, a long-time yoga and meditation practitioner, and a certified trauma-informed breathwork facilitator.
for over three decades, i’ve lived inside the practice of regulating my own nervous system — not perfectly, but persistently.
this means i don’t just teach techniques; i work with the realities riders (and performers) carry — pressure, expectation, past falls, and the quiet ways stress stays in the body long after an event has passed.

in sessions, i bring:

• a regulated, trauma-informed presence that lets your system exhale
• somatic breathwork informed by neuroscience and lived experience
• an equestrian understanding of seat, rhythm, balance, and feel
• deep respect for the horse as a sentient partner already reading your internal state

my work is not about fixing what’s “wrong” with you.
it’s about helping your nervous system return to a rhythm your horse can trust — so performance, partnership, and presence can arise from the same coherent field.

a glimpse into my equestrian story

my love for horses began early and has returned as a living thread in my work. horses taught me that regulation is connection, presence is leadership, and partnership deepens when the body is honest. that understanding now lives in the way i support riders — and the way i honor the horse as part of the field.
If you’d like a glimpse into my equestrian world, you’re welcome to read Celestial Hooves in insights

this work did not come from theory. it came from lived reorganization.
i don’t anticipate — i orient.
i don’t perform presence — i hold it.

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