🎧 If you’d prefer to listen to this story, CLICK HERE to tune into the full podcast episode.

Hey loves,

Whew, this episode was a big one to record, and now sitting down to write this blog post… I can feel the waves of memories rushing through me. So much shifted in such a short time, and it truly marked the beginning of me becoming who I am today.

This part of my story begins in 2012—my awakening year.

It was around that time I started noticing patterns in myself. Unhealthy ones. I was in a relationship that I just knew wasn’t meant for the long haul. But I was scared. Scared to be alone. Scared to let go. And that fear—it hit me hard. I had this moment of awareness, like, “This isn’t healthy. I should be okay being alone.” And something deep inside me whispered: “It’s time.”

That year cracked me open in ways I didn’t expect. It led me on a journey—to Egypt first, and then straight into a semester abroad in Australia. Studying at an arts conservatory, immersing myself in dance, and confronting more of those inner patterns that weren’t serving me. That was the moment I started making decisions not from logic, but from intuition.

Even though I didn’t have a clear “how,” I could feel in my bones—it was time to change.

I asked myself quietly, What do I really want for my life? And even if I didn’t have the full answer yet, I was ready to find out.

✨ From Graduation to the Beginning of Embodied Ritual

After graduating college in 2015, I jumped into exploring all the things I never had time for as a full-time student. I started yoga teacher training, studied energy healing (hello, Reiki I!), and—such a big one—I met a life coach for the first time. That moment was transformative. The very next day, I met my now-partner, Cody. I had no idea at the time that this would be the man I’d raise a family with.

2017 brought a new chapter: motherhood. Within just four months of dating, I became pregnant. I had recently come off birth control (after 13 years!) and my cycle was all over the place. I was trying to track it naturally, but clearly… nature had her own plans. I had this vivid dream of giving birth to a baby girl, and shortly after—Lily came into our lives.

Giving birth in 2017 was beautiful and life-shaking. That first year of motherhood flipped me inside out. I was struggling—panic attacks, depression, identity loss. I stopped dancing. I stepped away from yoga. All I knew how to do was be mom—and even that felt disorienting at times. I was praying constantly for guidance.

And then, in 2018, when Lily was just shy of a year old, Cody encouraged me to go with him to Tribal Gathering in Panama. An 18-day event with 60+ tribes from around the world. It was magical… and messy. I was so deep in my identity crisis, I didn’t even know who I was anymore. But something in me surrendered. I let it all go—the titles, the expectations—and just said, “God, show me.”

And what came through? Dance.
I started offering little movement workshops. Nothing fancy—just what I could scribble on paper and feel into with my body. And then, at the end of the festival, someone said to me, “Cynthia, you’re a dancer.” It was like Spirit gave me back a piece of myself I’d forgotten.

That moment helped birth what would soon become Embodied Ritual.

After we returned home and Lily turned one, I felt this huge pull to start a business. I didn’t know what I was doing—I just knew I wanted to weave together all the things I loved: movement, ritual, embodiment, healing. I hired a business coach. Took some online programs. Tried things out. At first I kept separating everything—energy healing over here, dance over there—but eventually, I realized… it’s all connected.

✨ Tribal Gathering Round Two & the Medicine Path

In 2019, I returned to Panama to Tribal Gathering again—this time to offer my very first Embodied Ceremony. It was a full circle moment. I held sacred space, guided people through intention, dance, ritual. It was powerful. It was the clearest I’d ever felt about my purpose.

Then came 2020. Yep… the year everything shifted again.
That was the year I started sitting with Ayahuasca.

She had been calling me for a while, but I was still breastfeeding and just didn’t feel the time was right. But by the end of the year, the call was loud—and I answered. My first couple ceremonies were beautiful. Deep, loving, clarifying. But then came December 2020. That ceremony changed everything.

It was rough.
I was cracked all the way open.
Memories and trauma I hadn’t processed surfaced. I left that ceremony not feeling lighter—but lost, disoriented, not okay. It triggered a kind of psychotic break. I couldn’t care for myself, let alone my family. It took about a week before I could even ask for help.

And when I did, that’s when the next phase of my healing journey began.

✨ The Path of Trauma Healing and Becoming Trauma-Informed

In 2021, I started studying with Embodiment Unlimited—shout out to my mentor Mark Walsh. That was where I got certified as an embodiment coach and began my deep dive into trauma education. They made it so clear: if you’re going to work with the body, you must understand trauma.

It all started to make sense. The somatic flashbacks. The PTSD symptoms. The Ayahuasca ceremony. My body had been trying to speak to me—and now, I finally had the language to listen.

I continued my studies, eventually earning my NLP certification and diving even deeper into subconscious healing. I returned to Ayahuasca in 2022, nervous but more equipped. And of course, she whispered, “You still need deeper support.”

That was when I finally committed to working one-on-one with a trauma coach—someone who could walk with me through my complex PTSD, especially related to sexual trauma. That long-term healing journey cracked me open in new ways… but it also restored me.

✨ Coming Home to Myself

This whole chapter—from 2012 to now—has been a decade of awakening, healing, and remembering. It hasn’t been linear. It’s been messy, painful, magical, confusing, liberating.

And I wouldn’t change any of it.

Because through it all, I’ve remembered who I am.

A dancer.
A mama.
A ceremonialist.
A space-holder.
A trauma-informed guide.
A Spiritually Embodied Leader.

And if there’s anything I want you to take from this—it’s that your healing journey is yours. It won’t look like mine. It might be faster, slower, gentler, louder… but it’s sacred. And it’s worth it.

Thank you for reading, for witnessing, for walking this path with me.

🌿 Want to listen to this episode instead? You can catch it here:
👉 The Spiritually Embodied Leader Podcast – Episode Link

With all my heart,
💛 Cynthia