About

I’m Dan (he/him).

For more than 15 years, I’ve studied the body, movement, and mental health. I’ve developed my programming from years of study in sports medicine, kinesthesiology, yoga, qigong, psychology, nutritional science, and anatomy and physiology.

My personal journey includes significant weight gain, serious injury, years of mental health treatment, and chronic illness.

From my early teens through my late twenties I judged myself harshly for every pound past the BMI recommendation, for being lazy, eating the “wrong” foods, and many more unfair and unrealistic standards. I prioritized relationships that made me doubt myself because it reinforced my belief that I could never be good enough- that I did not deserve good things. I worked hard to mask my neurodivergence at work and socially and denied my own needs in the hopes of making others more comfortable without a second thought.

In order to start feeling better I had to face the fact that my behaviors and opinions of myself weren’t serving me or anybody else. To be the kind of person that I wanted to be- someone who was reliable, safe, and could make people feel better- I had to first give myself those same things.

In starting that work, I began to reconnect with my body as the amazing vessel it is. Even through significant pain and injury, this body carries me, holds me, and IS me.

The process of re-connecting with my body through movement includes weight lifting, bodyweight fitness, yoga, dance, and meditation. It led me to realize that my body is part of my identity. It is just as much me as the consciousness that lives in my brain. And my obsession with how it looked was getting in the way of knowing my full self.

This mindset would eventually help me realize that I am transgender. I learned to navigate the differences between wanting to change my body to align with societal expectations and wanting to change my body to align with my actual self.

Over the years, I have worked with and learned from personal trainers and physical therapists, studied massage therapy, and practiced thousands of hours of yoga, dance, and other forms of movement. I’ve studied chronic illness and neurodivergence through my own experience, through research, and through listening to the experiences of others.

Just as importantly, I learned to practice meditation, mindfulness, and how to be more gentle with myself emotionally and physically. I take these lessons into my client sessions and group classes.

I’ve taken certification courses in instructional design, adult and adolescent learning styles, and project management. Those skills served me in my first career as a technologist in the mental and behavioral health industry. For 14 years, I worked at organizations with missions to expand access to mental health education and treatment across the United States. I am grateful for all I learned during those years- and even more grateful that I was able to make this change to serve others more personally.

I changed my career because I wanted to share what I’ve learned with others. I want to help other people live with less pain, more freedom, and to experience the joy of self-love.

It is my mission to help others find a home in their body.