Train your brain, Befriend your body & Feed your soul through scientifically validated techniques and the power of the mind-body-spirit connection.
Hi! I'm Dr. Leah Taylor.
You can call me Leah.
I work with individuals and groups helping you heal habitual patterns and somatic armoring you’ve collected over years of trudging through life, doing the best you can to get by and stay safe.
You’re here because you’ve reached a point where staying safe is not the goal and getting by isn’t cutting it anymore.
You want more and you know it’s available. You’ve seen glimpses of it and now you know you’ll never be fully satisfied and at peace until you’re living the life you’re here to live. The problem is that you’ve tried to do things differently and it never sticks, life gets in the way and old patterns return.
That’s because you need a guide. A healer. Someone who has been there before you. Someone who has dedicated their life to understanding why you do the things you do and how to partner with your own body to heal the past and elevate into the now.
That’s where I come in.
I used to be just like you, uncomfortable with big emotions, self-medicating to get by and transcend the quick and easy way.
Unfortunately, that only kept me numb and stuck, not able to move through my own stuff because I didn’t have the tools to hold the emotions I needed to feel in order to release and heal.
I missed so much, always keeping myself busy or numb. Living what looked like an amazing life, but it was all surface level. I didn’t have the capacity to fully show up and be present for it like I do now.
From a very young age, I noticed a disconnect between my mind and body. I felt proud of my head and all my cognitive abilities, but when I looked down at the rest of my body, I didn’t even recognize it as my own.
My journey home to myself started with live music. Blown apart by the percussive beats of Rusted Root on the dance floor of the House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach.
It was my first spiritual experience and the first time I fully felt alive and integrated in my whole body. I was enchanted. I wanted to feel that again, and again, and again. I soon found Phish and other jam bands and saw as much live music as possible.
I was so intrigued by the mind-body-spirit activation of live music, I pursued a Master’s in Somatic Psychology and a Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine to learn as much as I could about how our bodies work in an integrative way and what an experience like live music means for our healing and wellness.
In addition to pursuing a deeper understanding of the mind-body-spirit connection through my education and research, I began to put into practice the mind-body tools I was learning in my PhD program. I also invested in coaches and mentors to help heal my own past traumas and limiting patterns.
Even though I pursued the professional path of a therapist in the beginning, I always knew my work and my own healing was bigger than what could fit in a small session room. I knew it was the things I did every day, not once a week for 50 minutes, that would make the biggest impact on my life.
By focusing on healing my nervous system and my own unique blend of lifestyle medicine that includes my thoughts, behaviors, and emotions each day, I healed my own anxiety, chronic stress, and numbing behaviors and learned what it takes to fully feel, heal, and elevate into my whole embodied self.
In turn, I lost weight, improved my mood, sleep, focus, and ability to remain present for all my big emotions.
This helped strengthen my relationships and allowed me to follow my own authentic path and purpose as a teacher, mentor and healer.
Now I get to take decades of education and practice and break them down for you. To help you heal past traumas and patterns that are keeping you stuck, easily understand your unique mind-body-soul medicine (that doesn’t come from a pill), and empower yourself to lead the life you desire and deserve.
A few fun facts about me…
- I’ve seen over 1,500 concerts and wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on live music and how it relates to wellbeing.
- The reason I focused my dissertation research on live music is because I see it as an integrative medicine vehicle for healing large amounts of people at one time that millions of people already love to do!
- My favorite book in high school was The Mists of Avalon. I’ve visited the Tor twice and always wanted to be Morgaine le Fey.
- I’ve trained as a temple helper in embodiment and spiritual practices for over 7 years, the established time frame to become a high priestess, according to my favorite book. 😉
- I was a travel agent in my 20s and manifested my dream of getting paid to travel.
- When I was a little girl, I told my mom I would live in Colorado and California. I was born and raised in North Carolina (born in Greenville, grew up outside of Asheville, and went to school in Wilmington).
- I now live in CA (by way of CO) with my husband, who I met at Phish Vegas ’03, our energetic and curious son, and the cutest dog ever.
Why me...
- I have a Master’s in Counseling and Somatic Psychology.
- I’ve supported groups and individuals in therapeutic settings for over 15 years including hospitals, counseling centers, schools, and integrative clinics.
- I have a Ph.D. in Mind-Body Medicine with an emphasis in Integrative Mental Health.
- I embody a deep understanding conceptually and through personal practice of how to utilize the mind-body-spirit connection for mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health.
- I have advanced training in trauma interventions and treatment.
- I have advanced training in nervous system regulation and polyvagal theory.
- I have advanced training in embodiment and movement.
- 13+ years as a movement instructor.
- I am certified as an Integrative Wellness Coach.
- I have enough supervised hours and training to be a therapist, but decided against licensure because it was not aligned with the fullness of my work.
- I only teach you what I use in my life.
Let's work together on your healing journey.
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