About Me
I began my entrepreneurial journey as a photographer. I picked up a camera at the age of 16, and continued on that path for the next 20 years. (Every image of me on this website is a self portrait!)
Everything changed, however, when I escaped a psychologically abusive relationship at the age of 21––specifically when I finally opened up to my friends about what I had been through. Being able to get these stories "off my chest" led to an immense feeling of relief. The relief quickly led to surprise when they, in turn, began sharing their own experiences of the violence they had endured.
The feeling of relief and the new understanding that abuse and sexual violence were way more prevalent than I could have imagined made me feel compelled to do something. I wanted to offer other people the opportunity to feel the same sense of relief I felt, by sharing their stories in spaces where they would be met with compassion, support, and understanding. So in 2012, I founded Reclaim Your Voice, a grassroots survivor-led organization, and since then my team and I been hosting free events for people to work through their trauma. We are a 100% community-funded initiative. In 2021, we received the Mayor's Community Safety Award from the so-called City of Toronto.
Because I knew this cause was bigger than myself, I began taking to stages to share my story and raise awareness about abuse, facing my life-long and paralyzing fear of public speaking. In doing so, I discovered I had a gift for public speaking and a dormant talent for spoken word poetry! It's still mind-blowing to me to know that what was once my greatest fear has become the thing I most love to do! There was so much beauty to be discovered in my life, once I reclaimed my voice. I started Reclaim Your Voice with the intention of supporting other people on their healing journeys, but the community that has grown around this initiative has unexpectedly ended up supporting me so much on mine.
In 2019, tired of living in fear while the person who abused me continued to stalk me virtually, I booked a one-way trip to Southeast Asia to write out my memoirs of experiencing and healing from psychological abuse. When I returned home, I created a one-woman show called Jungle Flower Dragon Heart, where I shared those memoirs through storytelling, spoken word poetry, and the self-portraits I'd taken on my journeys through Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The show opened to a sold-out audience and since then I've been invited to share my story at universities and colleges across Canada and the US, and to facilitate trauma-informed workshops for their students. I was able to transmute my story, my pain into something that could support other people, and in shining a light on what I lived through, I created safety for myself–the abuser left me alone.
My journey has taken me on an unexpected route, but through following my heart and prioritizing community care, I have landed exactly where I'm meant to be. It is a privilege to be able to find so much joy in what I do, and to be able to operate from this place of joy. My intention is to support the people I work with in connecting with their own joy and inner peace, knowing that there is so much more waiting for them beyond their stories of pain and trauma.
My Journey
Hi, I’m Jungle Flower! I’m a trauma-informed facilitator who takes a holistic approach to supporting people on their wellness journeys, with a specialty in working with people who’ve experienced abuse and S.A. I use sound baths, somatic approaches, writing, pranayama and art to help people process their trauma and live whole and integrated lives.
After escaping a psychologically abusive relationship, I founded Reclaim Your Voice in 2012 and began offering free events to bring together the survivor community. We received the Mayor’s Community Safety Award in 2021 from the so-called City of Toronto. My intention in creating this organization was to support people on their healing journeys, but I didn’t expect how much this growing community would help me on mine. There is so much power in connecting with people who have shared similar experiences. We learn from each other, we remember that we are not at all alone on our paths, and we realize that we too have so much wisdom to share.
At my sessions, you are in the driver’s seat of your experience. All of my exercises and instructions are merely suggestions and you can engage with them in a way that feels safe and comfortable for you.
I have spoken, performed, and facilitated workshops and sound baths at universities across Turtle Island and as your guide, I hold sacred the trust you bestow upon me. I am here to remind you that you are your healer; my work is to help created the conditions for your soma to heal, which it innately knows how to do.
Certifications & Awards
Usui Reiki Level 1 & 2
Attuned by Reiki Master Dan Miron
2024
Embody Lab
60 hr Integrative Somatic
Trauma Therapy Certificate
2024
Sound Healing Academy
Practitioner Training
2023
Hoame Meditation Center
100 hr Meditation Teacher Training
2022
Write Your Self
Trauma-Informed Writing Guide Certification
2019
NIA Centre for the Arts
Art of Facilitation Training
2015
Certifications
Awards & Scholarships
2014 Yinnergy Award
2015 VolunteerToronto Legacy Award
2016 Roger Fisher Scholarship
2017 Write Your Self Scholarship
2021 Mayor's Community Safety Award
