My Story: A Winding Path Towards Awakening
I’m Nelya ꩜
I am an energy alignment coach, certified yoga teacher, and conscious community facilitator. Using ancient healing modalities, I guide humans towards a more conscious + healthful life across spirit, mind, and body. This work is my life’s purpose, my medicine – a truth that I uncovered through my own healing journey.
MY WINDING PATH BACK TO PURPOSE
My evolution from a deep state of misalignment is nothing but extraordinary to me, a gift from the universe that I was able to tap into. My current life is miraculous and only a small figment of the dreams of my previous self. Two years ago, when I cried at what my life had become, the woman I am today seemed like an impossibility. And now, as I smile into these words, I know that I am living within a vibration where my dreams become my reality.
EARLY ROOTS
I often tell my clients to close their eyes, and remember what activities brought them pure joy as a child. As children, we naturally gravitate to the things that make our soul sing, and often therein lies our purpose in this lifetime. As the daughter of Ukrainian/Russian/Jewish immigrants, I spent much of my childhood with my grandparents as my mom and dad tried to establish their life in a new land. Being raised in part by my grandparents was fundamental because they dedicated so much time to me. I was constantly drawing, creating, learning, dancing.
I felt most alive when I was in a creative flow or connecting with the earth - grinding plants in a makeshift mortal and pestle or crafting an altar of leaves and shells. I also grew up watching my grandma, Tanya, harness the healing power of plants using remedies that had been passed down by her own mother, Nina, an herbal + holistic esthetician. I often tried to heal family members with made up remedies and coach them towards a more healthful life. Now I look back at these moments from my childhood and realize that it was my budding intuition showing me a path towards my purpose.
THE PATH TO LAW
Despite my childhood inklings towards creativity, herbs, earth-based living, and teaching, my immigrant upbringing led me to a career in law.
Before my first year of law school, however, my now husband brought me to my first Kundalini yoga class in a small studio in the forest. The eclectic studio owner, Volga, became an unspoken mentor as I found awakening in breath work, ancient sound, and movement. For the first time as an adult, I became rooted in my intuition. Just as I was blossoming into a deeper consciousness, I began law school and eventually found myself working as an attorney at a top corporate law firm.
From the outside I appeared successful, and I was fulfilling the American dream that my family never had the chance to realize. But on the inside, I felt lost and disconnected - from myself, my purpose, an aligned community, and my health. I stopped going to yoga and could not bring myself to meditate. I spent all of my time indoors, in front of the computer, frantically responding to emails and requests. My connection to Mother Earth felt broken, calling out to be tended. I lacked the energy to nourish myself. I experienced a deep divide forming, and in this crevice, anxiety, insomnia, and depression found a home. The moments from my childhood that felt like my soul was singing were a lifetime away.
INTO CONSCIOUSNESS
After a few years as a corporate lawyer, I hit my breaking point - emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I left law and started Woven Impact, a corporate sustainability practice, from my home. I began focusing on my wellbeing using meditation + yoga, herbal allies, ancestral wisdom, and other healing modalities. I reconnected to my inner truth and the learnings from my early Kundalini classes, which led me to yoga teacher certification, herbal and Ayurvedic education, and energy healing training.
I also discovered expansive healing through plant medicine, and sat in ceremonies that brought me home to myself and my life’s purpose. My soul began to sing again, and I felt a familiar radiance from my girlhood. Within 6 months of leaving law, I had established nourishing routines and was practicing yoga consistently again. I repaired my relationship with Mama Earth too, and created rituals to reconnect. My life began to revolve around natural cycles - the moon, the seasons, and my own inner cycle as a woman. In this deeper state of awareness I also grounded into my ancestral relations, including my great great grandmother Broha, who was a Jewish mystic and energy healer in Belarus.
GUIDING OTHERS
As I entered the last year of my 20’s, I found myself in a season of positive transformation, what some call the Saturn Return. I created Rooted Sanctuary from my very core, envisioning a sacred space for humans to connect to self, earth, and community. As I lived in deeper alignment, more opportunities blossomed. I led my first Woman’s Circle and experienced the power of co-creating with sisterhood. I deepened into my yoga teaching, focusing on yoga as a spiritual healing modality. And, I began mentoring one-on-one, guiding others using the same ancient practices that pulled me out of my darkest depths and elevated me beyond my wildest imagination.
Although my story has deep lows, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My time in the muck of corporate law, growing up as a first gen woman, and so much more all serve as threads in the intricate fabric of my life. These experiences helped me come back to my purpose. I now know that the possibilities are limitless when you live in alignment with your intuition and soul purpose. For me, this means harnessing ancient healing practices to heal + uplift others while building a conscious and connected community. ♥
If my story resonates with you, let’s connect. My 1:1 mentorship container is a guided journey through many of the modalities I used along my own path - the healing practices that brought me into deeper alignment with myself.
