a little about me
Welcome, I'm Suzy
This was the hardest bio I have ever written because it is so deeply personal. My stress, anxieties, traumas, and depression have always been my secret shames that I worked very hard to hide from others and ignore inside.
Honestly I thought there was
something wrong with me and
I didn't want anyone to know.
Sound familiar?
and this is
My Story
So you don't have to
When I finally did seek professional help for nervous system disregulation, it didn't solve my suffering. There were medications with side effects, therapists that kept me stuck.
I had to figure out how to heal myself.
When ignoring my anxiey, panic and depression didn't work, I tried to outrun, numb and medicate it all away.
I walked through the fire
I remember often feeling guarded and nervous. Most people probably couldn’t tell as I was a high achiever, a happy and polite little girl with a loving family, good friends and a good life.
What could I possibly have to worry about? The nervousness, worry and anxiety were often accompanied by shame.
It all started...
My first puppy
Snowy
In my childhood
Friday night. TGI Fridays in Huntington, Long Island. It was the summer between third and fourth grade and I was changing schools the next fall. (ANXIETY!) But that one night that my parents took my brother and I out to eat, I was told something that terrified me right before we left:
First panic attack
Off we went to TGI Fridays which had just opened in our town. It was loud, crowded and FULL OF CHAOTIC ENERGY. Waiters wore red and white striped polos with suspenders and whacky buttons. The walls were covered with old neon beer lights and funny, vintage posters. The table mats were made for kids, with games and puzzles and crayons at every table. The food was fun! The energy was fun! So why was I not having FUN? It was this juxtaposition of internal terror at the thought that my parents would split in this crazy busy place that sent me spinning.
Summer '85
My parents might get divorced. Notice I say might (because they never did).
Out of nowhere, I felt panicky and nauseous.
“Oh God”, I thought. “I’m going to throw up in the middle of a crowded restaurant. I’ll be mortified. I need to get out of here.”
Yup, my fight or flight response was activated and I was a runner. My parents didn't know what was wrong but they let me lay down in the car. Even though I was starving, my sympathetic nervous system was activated and it was not a time to eat. My body was acting like my life was in danger. This happened in June and for the rest of the summer, I barely ate a thing.
My brother's birthday was at the end of August. I remember putting on my dress for his party and when I pulled my belt to where I normally wore it, it just kept going and going and going. I looked down. I had lost A LOT of weight.
Later that day, something magical happened, which I only understand now. That afternoon, when all the kids at the party started playing soccer in our backyard and I joined in (cause I loved playing soccer), my body and mind forgot the worry, forgot the nausea. I played and moved my body while having fun which reset my disregulated nervous system from fight or flight to rest and digest. I got hungry and I felt normal again. I felt safe. Through play, exercise and social connection, my body rebounded. The following week, I got through my first day at my new school and all was right in my world… for the time being.
Saved by play
It affected my confidence, my work, my dating life. It touched every part of my life. And it wasn't until my senior year of college, after a particular trauma that triggerd more panic attacks and hypervigilance that I started psycho therapy. And it helped me undertand a lot about myself, my family and my past.
Sometimes my nervous system disregulation stopped me in my tracks and sometimes I was able to trudge through it but it always lurked, making it impossible to enjoy my life.
That was the first time I remember my life being severely interrupted by my disregulated nervous system It was certainly not the last.
You name it, I've experienced it:
anxiety, depression, PTSD, panic attacks and burnout.
The First
But not the last
Therapy is like looking under the hood of your car to make sure the system is working well. It is so you can understand yourself better and clean up the cobwebs of the past.
So it was up to me to figure out how to get out from under nervous system disregulation. I had to learn how to heal myself. It took many years of therapy, a bachelors in Psychology from UC Berkeley, hundreds of self help books, psychotropics, introspection, journaling, meditation, nutrition, body work and an undeterred desire to feel better. No one else was gonna help me but me.
Doctors and therapists didn’t help, not really. Their solution? Drugs with horrible side effects that didn’t really work, on top of being horribly addictive. Nor did they explain what was really going on with my nervous system.
But for anxiety?
It didn't help
(truth be told, I don't think at the time they knew. We are lucky to know A LOT more now).
There are ways to get back to balance and feel happy and calm, despite the cyclone of chaos that may be whirling around you. So I decided to teach what I know and became a stress and anxiety coach. Because not only did I get an early and intense education into the land of a disregulated nervous system, I also happen to have had unique experiences along the way that made me uniquely qualified to do this work.
I had always thought my sensitive reactions to the world was a curse. I certainly felt cursed in the past. But really it has been one of my gifts. I am not alone in being an anxious stressball or a sad princess, which is what my grandmother called me. Life in this day and age is more intense and stressful than ever before and there are reasons that our bodies are responding this way. It is not just our genes, as modern medicine would have us think, easily swept under the rug by a pill.
my curse
My Gift
I have a bachelors degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley. After graduation, I pursued my passion of performing as a professional actress and voice over artist.
Psych Degree
Professional Actress
An actor’s body is their instrument and I had years of practice of both relaxing and connecting with my body with various techniques: dance, breath work, Fitzmaurice Voicework, Alexander Technique, yoga and vocal training. Relaxation is a must for an actor.
Licensed
Ever the entrepreneur, while pursuing acting professionally, I became a licensed massage therapist and energy healer and had my own private practice. When in school, I received hundreds of hours of bodywork and it became plainly obvious to me that:
1) there is no separation between the body and the mind
2) physical and mental relaxation are necessary for good health
Massage Therapist
We talked about natural health and wellness, mind body connection and entrepreneurism.
Co-host
The Food Heals Podcast
founded
CBD Fountain
I married another entrepreneur, my husband Michael. Together, we started a hemp CBD brand, CBD Fountain, which I started to help heal my friends, family and pets.
We create organic, vegan hemp CBD products to help people’s bodies heal naturally.
Everything I created was to help either myself, friends, family or pets. CBD helps the body with pain, inflammation, sleep, appetite, immune response and ... ANXIETY!
When I decided to start coaching people on how to regulate their nervous system, I began getting certifications to strengthen my skills and knowledge. Thus far I have become a certified coach from Neurofit and Precision Nutrition Academy.
In addition to supportive nutrition, I have learned tools, techniques, and even some technology that calmed my body mind, stopped my negative and fearful thinking and gave me resiliency in order to live the life a happy life.
What worked for me was a mind, body and spirit approach.
And now I teach this approach to others so they too can live their best lives.
Certs
Etc.
My Mission
To teach people how to naturally regulate their nervous system disregulation with the same tools, techniques and tech I used myself to do the same so that NO ONE suffers needlessly with anxiety, panic attacks and burnout.
I currently live in Los Angeles with my gorgeous husband Mike and two snuggly sheepadoodles:
Ernie and Rosie.
XOXO
Suzy
It has been my personal life’s work to wrestle with my body and mind and find ways to tame the anxiety, uplift the depression, change my mindset and not react to the stressors that happen to come with everyone’s life. And you know what? I did it. And I can teach you how to do the same.
