My personal journey
Hi, my name is Jackie.
If you are reading this right now, that means our paths have crossed and for that I am happy. I am happy because I have discovered that my purpose and passion in life is to empower individuals like you, with the healing tools that reside within. I want to share the capacity we all have to manage stress, increase resilience and self-regulate our emotions.
I love working with people who have a strong desire to learn and grow, those who take ownership for their own happiness and are committed to taking the necessary steps to improve the quality of their lives. Because when we are willing to do the inner work, not only do we see changes in our own inner worlds, our outer worlds change as well.
I pursued nursing because I was fascinated by the amazing complexity of our physical bodies. In nursing school, I learned about alternative therapies including healing touch and found that an in-class demonstration completely relieved my back discomfort. This sparked my curiosity to learn more about our innate abilities to heal.
This curiosity to learn continues to this day and has grown to a passion that drives me to be a lifelong learner. Over the years I have studied Healing Touch, Qigong and Tai chi, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Eden Energy Medicine, meditation, nutrition, HeartMath® and others.
I earned my Bachelor’s in Nursing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1989 and started my RN career. Then in 1998, I returned to school to earn my Masters of Science and began working as a Gastroenterology Nurse Practitioner (NP). In 2001, I met my husband Tim and moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 2002. My career continued, as did the rest of my life, including our wedding (2003), and the birth of our two children, a son, Alex (2004), and a daughter, Morgan (2006).
While all of this might sound wonderful, I was becoming an emotional wreck. As my life became more complicated with a full-time career as an NP, a husband and two young babies, and finding out I had dyslexia at the age of 40, I felt overwhelmed, anxious and exhausted and my usual coping skills were failing me. I found myself becoming more and more negative and reacting to situations rather than responding appropriately.
I realized I needed more inner ease and peace but had no idea HOW to tap into that. Depressed, anxious and close to a nervous breakdown, I realized that reading about healing was not enough – I needed a practice. You know the saying, when the student is ready the teacher will come? Well, I was ready and thankfully, my teacher came.
Up until 2012, I'd only heard and read about HeartMath® but then I learned that my employer, Gundersen Health System was going to offer HeartMath® programs to its employees. I was asked to become a certified HeartMath® Certified Trainer and soon found myself training nearly 1,000 employees within an 18-month period.
It was by far the highlight of my entire nursing career! The feedback was heartwarming. Participants were extremely grateful for the tools and techniques. Not only did I see the changes in our class participants, but I was noticing a greater sense of ease and calm in myself, too. I was finally beginning to feel the inner peace I had been seeking for so long.
At the peak of my nursing career, in 2013 I left Gundersen to become a stay-at-home mom and primary support person for my aging parents, specifically my father who has Alzheimer's. Though no longer employed at Gundersen, I knew that I would once again teach HeartMath® tools and techniques somehow in the future.
Well now, the time has come! My parents have moved to La Crosse and are settled in. My children are in High School. And I am ready to once again share the incredibly powerful HeartMath® tools and techniques with individuals like you. So, if you’re ready for more inner peace and resilience, join me on this journey by enrolling in one of my offerings today. It will be an honor to work with you.
