We Belong to the Wild.
Hi there,
My name is Erin, and I am a Holistic Coach, Author, and Educator. I live and work on the traditional land of the Chumash people, now known as Santa Barbara, California, with my partner and two children, and a growing community of change makers, courageous explorers and grounded visionaries.
I am enchanted by borders and estuaries, in the natural world as well as in the human body. These are the places of greatest diversity, fertility, and possibility.
I am naturally drawn to the edges— I have always been curious about the place where solid land gives way to fluid water; the moment land leaps the horizon to dissolve into sky; and the magic of blue sky turning to mysterious space.
Perhaps you’ve felt a pull toward these places as well? It’s a feeling of something being a little weird, a little wild, and often pretty terrifying. This is because it is new territory, and it’s asking us to rearrange who we were into who who we are becoming. It takes courage, and often a leap of faith, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Our bodies know how to heal and our psyches do too. Making it through the crossroads of your life is process of unlearning and rooting into ancient ways of being that your body can remember. This is the work of embodied belonging, and weaving yourself back into the web of life. As a Holistic Coach, I have worked in ceremonial spaces with plant medicines and facilitated the integration process for a variety of journeys and understand the particular sensitivity required. This work is the journey of coming back to life.
If this sounds like a journey you are ready for, please contact me below for an introductory consultation.
With Love,
Erin
I learned most of what I know about love and life from nature – I love to walk, sit, and sing in forests, meadows, and near creeks and streams. I have always found peace, solace and wisdom in the patterns of the trees, water, and elements, and feel deeply restored and nourished when I return to my roots as an instinctual, grounded, and primal kind of human animal.
My childhood was my first container for spiritual learning. I grew up as a middle child in a family of high contrast and tension, lacking tools for communication and acting as a mediator on many levels. My companions came from the characters, archetypes and legends I found in books and stories, and I retreated into the wild spaces near our home in Central Florida to soak in the wisdom of other worlds and to contemplate other ways of being.
I set out on a journey of self discovery to experience everything, traveling far and wide to find the answers to the questions my heart held. I found yoga, herbs, meditation, and spiritual practices and communities all over the world that guided me back home to my own sense of belonging and healing needed at my core. I’ve explored the deeper layers of my psyche and been inspired by the landscapes I have found both internally and externally. After considerable resistance, I eventually circled back to psychology and my role as a counselor in order to weave together the threads of wisdom and meaning I have gathered through the journey of my life, and these offerings have come together in the tapestry of Wild Sage Coaching.
My children, birthing and raising them, have taught me the rest of what I know about love. They have challenged me, pushed me, dissolved me, and asked me to confront who I thought I was time and again, and the results continue to inspire and ignite my personal evolution. I am especially drawn to supporting women at the threshold of mothering and see this as an initiatory period and time of potent transformation. I experienced two very distinct birthing ceremonies, both in California and Colombia, and I am humbled to share some of those insights with other new moms. I feel lucky every single day to be partnered with Travis, founder of the True North Integration, dedicated father, pioneer in the field of medicine work, and transformative life coach. We collaborate in ceremony and couples work, and you can stay tuned for more on those offerings soon.
I have trained in depth psychology, Indigenous North American and Celtic Traditions, family systems, ceremonial facilitation and somatic healing and continue to gather wisdom and experience every day I am alive. I’m infinitely grateful for all of my teachers past and present who have supportesd and offered guidance. My offerings today are guided by my learning from personal relationships and time spent in communion with nature.
I’m passionate about individual healing and growth because this work ripples out across our relationships and is the foundation of a fair and just society that values the qualitiy of life and embraces our need for joy, beauty, and connection. This is why we are here. I’m interested in something much bigger than our personal work – I want us to reconnect and reanimate– to the earth, to landscapes within and without, to our communities as villages, to the plants and animals, ocean and the sky above.
The wound may be collective, but so is the cure. We need each other, and we need to be seen, heard, and understood to heal the world around us. The pain inside of us is hurting those around us and creating larger problems that deaden our experience and threaten our existence as a species. Tending to our inner landscapes and committing to a path of healing and a life of growth supports paradigm shifts that ripple out in all directions.
At this time I offer 1-1 work both in person and remotely, and also have packages and online immersions that open seasonally. For more details about current offerings, click below.
Educational and Therapeutic Training
MA, East-West Psychology and MFA, Creative Writing at California Institute of Integral Studies
MSTCM, Master’s work in Traditional Chinese Medicine
PsyD in process at Pacifica Graduate Institute
Author, The Other Side of the River (Womancraft Publishing, Red Wheel)
Three- Year Apprenticeship and Initiation in Traditional Celtic Indigenous Practices and Facilitating Ceremony with Holly Hamilton of Awakening Avalon
Western Herbal Medicine Training at Pacific Rim College
Permaculture and Earth Activist Training with Starhawk
Hakomi Level One Training
Off the Mat and Into the World Leradership Training
Zen Hospice Training
Mind-Body Resources for At Risk Youth with Hala Khouri
The Art of Yoga Project Facilitator
Reiki Master in the Usui Sansei Lineage