Meet Crystal
Life becomes richer, more sensual, and more reverent when I slow down.
This applies to parenting, work, and commuting just as much as it applies to eating.
One thing we can rely on is that we’re going to eat food—on average three times a day.
That makes it the perfect opportunity to slow down, connect with our bodies, and get in touch with our needs.
Ayurveda has had a profound impact on my life.
I began studying Ayurveda in 2007 after practicing yoga for three years. For the first time, It gave me the language to understand my subjective experience as part of the greater whole—including my community, my environment, and the Earth itself.
That also includes the food I put in my body to fuel my existence.
I share my passion for Ayurveda with others as a doorway to deeper connection to self, other, and world.
It’s a vehicle for transforming what can seem mundane—our daily meals—into something profound and sacred.
Ayurveda has helped me learn to self-regulate, accept my unique qualities, and see myself as interconnected with nature.
Known as “the science of life,” Ayurveda is much more than a set of diet rules or daily self-care practices. It’s a way of seeing ourselves as deeply embedded in our environments, and recognizing how those environments affect the body, the mind, and sense of self.
When it comes to food, Ayurveda provides a lens for understanding the way certain energies work on the body-mind complex, from the concrete realities of digestion and elimination to more subtle and mysterious workings of the psyche.
A truly Ayurvedic understanding of food is so much deeper than eating “right” for your type and avoiding certain “off limits” foods.
Ayurveda is really about nourishing ourselves with food—body, heart, and soul.
Hi, I’m Crystal.
I’ll be facilitating your journey.
I’m a former academic, expat, preschool teacher, yoga & meditation instructor, and corporate marketer.
I know, it’s a lot!
These days, I’m a mama, writer, crafter, and lover of the sacred.
I weave together the wisdom of my varied life experiences to bring you Embody Ayurveda.
The specifics
Crystal has an academic background in philosophy and religion, both Western and Eastern. She grounds her esoteric studies with embodied practice as a 200-hour Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher and lifelong practitioner. She’s also a certified Yoga Health Coach with Yogahealer International and a certified Ayurvedic Wellness Coach with The Shakti School, currently undergoing her second year of certification as an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor.
My self care journey
Tune in to the video on your right to learn how I discovered that real health starts with self-acceptance.
It’s my silly and very personal story of how I found deep self care and nourishment, plus how I bring that experience to Embody Ayurveda.
Gratitude & acknowledgment.
I honor and acknowledge the land on which I live is the aboriginal territory of the First Nation People of the Clear Salt Waters, specifically the Suquamish and Duwamish Tribes. I offer respect and appreciation for this land and the enduring presence and deep traditional knowledge of the Indigenous People with whom I share this land today.
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I’d like to thank my many teachers for sharing their unconditional love, support, and wisdom with me on my journey:
Rene Urbanovich, Mike Harutunian, Emily Kosloski, ERYT, Blaire Chodor, ERYT, Linda Wismath, ERYT, Narayan S. Champawat, PhD, Dharman Rice, PhD, Francisco Vasquez, PhD, Mary Gomes, PhD, Sean Kelly, PhD, Susan Fauman, ERYT, CAHC, Jagadamba Macaraeg, Dharma Bodhi, Sukhalaya Yogini, Claudia Anfuso, Radhe Lesney, MFT, Rita Harrison, Cate Stillman, Katie Silcox, and Shaktí Caterina Maggi.
May all beings everywhere be free from suffering. May all beings know their true nature.