Hi, I’m Stephanie DeRosa and ten years ago, I was barely surviving triple compounded traumas — childhood abuse, military service in Iraq, and sexual assault. 

 

At 21, I had already experienced more trauma than some do in a lifetime. I felt cold, angry, calloused, and disconnected. I was the ghost of the person I had once been. I was deeply depressed, hopeless, and numbing out my pain with drugs and alcohol. I hated myself and that pain came out sideways at everyone around me. I longed for heartfelt connection but I had receded deep into a shell of protection.

 

I didn’t know how to help myself. I had no tools or resources but I knew I couldn’t remain that way the rest of my life. I knew life had more in store for me. In my bleakest moments, in the moments when I believed death would ease my pain, still, I remained committed to life.

 

I have recommitted to my joy, my wellness, and to living fully every moment since then. I’d be lying if I said it’s been easy. It has been grueling and imperfect. But year after year of fumbling blindly in the darkness, I finally bumped into the light switch. I had found many switches along the way — some worked, some didn’t. When I found one that didn’t work, I kept searching, many times shrinking in defeat and discouragement before mustering up enough strength to carry on.

Yet, I always continued my search for the light.

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Over the span of a decade, I have discovered many helpful tools and practices that have supported my healing. But it wasn’t until early 2018, after experiencing yet another major trauma of losing a loved one to suicide, that I discovered Biodynamic Breathwork for Trauma Release. 

 

Breathwork was the first tool to touch the core of my pain and guide me fully back into my body. I began to understand how our nervous systems get stuck in a fight, flight, or freeze trauma response loop if unsupported after traumatic events. I began to learn how to attune to the physiological indicators from my body using felt sense awareness, emotional mapping, dance, meditation, and breathwork. Embodiment was the key I had been missing.

 

As I deepened my embodiment practice and added self-inquiry, radical self-responsibility, Nonviolent Communication, and Somatic Sex Education to my toolbelt, my life began to drastically change. I began to experience true heartfelt connection to myself and others, intimacy, safety in my body and in the world, genuine self-love, peace of mind, full-bodied freedom, and ecstatic bliss for the first time in my life.

 

This human experience is a full-spectrum — there will always be ebbs and flows — but I have finally found tools that support me to navigate those challenging moments with more ease. It is my honor to be here to share those life-changing tools with you.