” I teach from the path I’ve walked.

I KNOW what it’s like to live on
the edge of CHAOS and EXHAUSTION.

As a solo parent to an autistic child with complex developmental disabilities, health conditions, and adverse experiences-

I KNOW the judgement, grief, and lack of support.

As a neurodivergent, mixed race, woman with traumatic experiences, invisible disabilities, chronic pain, chronic stressors, and autoimmune disease-

I KNOW the fear, overwhelm, and hyper vigilance.

Adaptive Yoga and mindfulness have supported me and my son through a lot of challenges and changes over the past several years (and still do). From sensory and self-regulation to mindful parenting and healing traumas.

My Yoga Practice

I began practicing meditation when I when I was a child. I was a self-taught reader and practitioner. Tucked at the bottom of the closet with books and a flash light- I read poetry, philosophy and about Buddhism and meditation.

I was born with limitations. Premature and with complications, I was diagnosed with severe asthma at birth. After going undiagnosed and untreated for years, I was finally diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 13.

Throughout my teens, I practiced meditation and asana (physical movements) at home. Writing in journals what I could and couldn’t do, what triggered breathing problems, or neurological discomfort.

In adulthood, I’d occasionally visit yoga studios. But for one reason or a few, I’d leave feeling like it wasn’t a space for me.

Over the years, I’d fall in and out of practice and come back to it as needed.

🚨Spoiler alert: I learned it’s a lifestyle of deliberate practice. 😉

I’m The One

In early summer 2009, my practice was my survival mechanism as firefighters peeled open a crumpled car to get me out. I was pinned at my hips between the door and center console. My left leg crossed over my body with my left foot pinned between the door and dash board.

After 10 weeks in the hospital, I left in a wheelchair. At 26 years old, I became the 1 in 4 adults who are physically disabled in the United States.

My back was broken in multiple places from my neck to my sacrum. I had several broken ribs, sustained nerve damage, and my pelvic area was broken in too many places to name.

Most of my capacity for functional movement was gone. I looked “normal.” I looked okay. But on the inside- mentally, emotionally, and physically- I was broken.

Without insurance for physical therapy, I began adapting yoga to my trauma impacted body and brain.

Mindful Mommin’

The following year, I had barely graduated from a walker and was about to meet my son.

Movement, mindfulness, and meditation guided me through a twin miscarriage, a high risk pregnancy, his birth day, postpartum, and navigating his list of diagnoses.

In the early days of sensory processing disorder, autism, health conditions, speech apraxia, intellectual and developmental disabilities- doin’ Mom stuff was WILD (and exhausting, and scary, and hard… like really hard, and overwhelming, and lonely).

Yoga was our grounding practice and our foundation for regulation and connection when implemented.

Among many other great lessons, my son taught me how to adapt yoga to kids with complex needs and limitations.

Liberation + Service

Movement, mindfulness, and meditation not only helped me regain functional movement and emotionally heal from the car accident, it reconnected me with my intuition.

As I followed my intuition through uncertainty to purpose, I empowered my own liberation from domestic abuse and was able to shift into healing, wholeness, and service. 

With intention and deliberate practice, I took my table-for-2 family from that edge to a safe place, within ourselves, to regulate and build resilience.

The adaptive practice I shared with my son was our transformation. I started my business to fill the hole in the yoga community and local therapeutic programs for individuals like me and my son and families like ours.

I teach from the path I’ve walked and I’m thrilled to share my heart’s work with you!

My lived experiences are my MOST valuable credentials.

Qualifications + Certifications

• 10+ Years as Liam’s Student (aka Mom)
• Lived Experiences from my social location
• Excellence in Collegiate Anatomy, Physiology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Behavioral Psychology
• Certified Positive Discipline Educator
• 200 hr Yoga and Mindfulness for Youth with Special Needs (Yoga Alliance RCYT)
• 200 hr Accessible Vinyasa and Hatha Yoga (Yoga Alliance RYT)
• 25 hr Therapeutic Sequences and Alignment for Spinal Health, Injury, Pain and Limitations
• 35 hr Yoga for Accessible and Socially-Conscious Yoga for All People
• 30 hr Accessible Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga
• 25 hr Integral Yoga and Mindfulness for Children

Oh! And…

• Adaptive Yoga Teacher AND Practitioner (I practice what I teach)
• Founder & Owner of TheraPLAYoga

Fun Facts About Your Girl

I live with my son and our doggo in Lansing, Michigan.

My favorite color is glitter. Hot tamales with coffee are my comfort food. Writing has been my therapy since I could scribble.

On this blog, I write about nervous system regulation and social-emotional resilience, among other things.

I love ice cream, books, naps, trees, views of the sky, yard sales with lemonade stands, and I’m obsessed with how the brain works. Especially sensory processing, nervous system regulation, and trauma response.

You’re most likely to catch me doin’ mom stuff, yoga things, nature adventures, or riding a shopping cart like a scooter, and plotting to change the world.

Social Justice

I’m embracing more creative and expansive ways to uphold the things I value, like: inclusion, compassion, and accessibility. Meanwhile disrupting the systems of privilege and power, which contribute to and maintain disparities, social inequities, and gatekeeping in the yoga industry and my local community.

My work towards this shows up in different ways. 

I serve on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Office of Child Support (MDHHS-OCS) Advisory Council, which guides efforts for diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and meaningful change at Michigan Friend of Court. 

I’m a board member for the Michigan Advocacy Program (MAP), which provides low-income and senior people with equitable access to the justice system through direct legal help and works toward systemic solutions. 

As a parent mentor for The Family Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (Family Center), I provide resources and emotional support to parent caregivers throughout Michigan.

As an Accessible Yoga Ambassador and registered Yoga Alliance member, I promote equity and inclusion in the yoga community.

Through an equity-focused lens, I offer trauma-sensitive, anti-ableist mind-body practices as a resource for physical, mental, and emotional wellness.

I work with educators, therapists, and community-minded businesses and organizations on leading with the virtues of inclusion and accessibility.

I partner with other accessibility leaders to uplift low-income individuals and families in the Greater Lansing area, who would benefit from TheraPLAYoga as a physical, mental, or emotional wellness resource.

Socially-Conscious Yoga Studio

Adaptive Yoga Teacher for Diverse Abilities, Bodies, and Brains

I began teaching private and group sessions online just before the covid pandemic. When the world became a bit safer, I transitioned to teaching private, in-home therapeutic sessions to individuals and families.

NOW…

I’m proud to say I’m the founder and owner of Lansing’s FIRST and ONLY trauma sensitive adaptive yoga studio optimized for disabled and neurodivergent kids, teens, and adults; and supports sustainable caregiving.

Located in Eastside Lansing, TheraPLAYoga is Lansing’s Premier Radically Inclusive and Truly Accessible Yoga Studio for Children, Youth, Adults, and Caregivers with Complex Needs, Diverse Abilities, and Backgrounds. 

Offering therapeutic, playful yoga as a modality of self-care, community care, complementary care, and alternative care in private sessions, group environments, and workshops.

When practiced with playfulness, compassion, and easeful poses, yoga can be inclusive and accessible to every body and brain.

My Intentions

My mission is to guide individuals and families with complex needs, diverse abilities, and backgrounds- in understanding and experiencing the profound benefits of mind-body practices.

Discovering ways to reflect, engage, regulate, and connect more playfully in their lives and communities. Empowering my students to practice yoga and mindfulness off the mat with confidence, curiosity, and relentless compassion to become their own most powerful advocate.

With Gratitude,
Glo