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Discover Our Ayurveda School Graduates Part 1

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Our graduates are up to some really amazing things post-Ayurveda School, and we want to share them with you! Whether you're interested in becoming an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach, or just want to learn the masters of Ayurvedic wisdom, there are endless ways to use your certification. Read below to gain some inspiration and see what some of our fellow grads are up to. You can even reach out to them directly for more information on their unique offerings!

 

Jordana Shay 

"Since graduating from Shakti school, I have created my first 3 dream offers, and I am so thrilled to share them with you and my Shakti family!

DHARMA READING + STORY CLARITY INTENSIVE (Half Day) 

I help guide women who are on their spiritual path, but feel burnt out, back into the story they were born to live. To find their highest calling at this moment in time. If you know you were born for something great, but don't understand how to bridge the gap between your lived story and your purpose, this is for you. Finding our purpose can be easier than we think - like a puzzle, we just need to know how to fit the pieces of our story, original essence and dharma together. We always have the answers within and with the right questions, frameworks and prompts, I'm able to help women remember who they truly are.

And, because finding our purpose can feel so hard, I make my intensives super fun and engaging - with spiritual games, dances, practices and jigsaw puzzles galore!

GAME OF GODDESSES (Half Day)

For all women who have a deep desire to step into the woman you were born to be - whether that’s to rewrite your story, share your unique medicine, or create that entrepreneurial vision. But feel stuck and resistant to moving forward in your life story.

Game of Goddesses is a women’s power reclamation journey into the story you were born to live.

Combining both the masculine outward journey towards transformation through the lense of the hero's journey, with the feminine embodied path to transformation, we deep dive into a journey of embodiment practices and rituals designed to embrace the exquisiteness of your full aliveness as a woman, the human experience and the experience of stepping into your most confident and courageous self. Practices include identifying your unspoken desires, improv identity,  embodiment shadow work like dancing your shadows and connecting with how they serve and protect you, ritualizing the crossing of the threshold into the unknown and more.  My goal is for you to get so comfortable and intimate with ALL of yourself, you can finally move through the fear and resistance into taking action. So you can get what you deeply want in life.

AYURVEDA INSPIRED CHILDRENS' BOOK

3 Breathes to the Sky, my very  first children's book, (in audio form), an Ayurveda inspired bedtime story for kids, empowers parents and children to become the fullest version of themselves.

On this wild ride your kids will take 3 deep breaths and go on a journey all the way up to the sky where they will meet the Sun, their north Star,  the Moon and  Rainbow who will help them celebrate their day, show them how to connect with their ancestors for extra safety and love,  and how to activate their highest creativity and fullest expression. As well as teach them about the connection between sleeping and healing.  Through this book, my children have learned that being who they truly are is the greatest gift to our planet. And that is the message I would love to share with your children too."

 

Abby Ampuja

"In true 'Gemini style', I have been keeping busy with many adventures since finishing Shakti School Level 1 (and starting Level 2!) I continue to run my own business, "Empowered Coaching", where I offer resiliency coaching, reiki healing, with some sweet Ayurvedic tools and wisdom peppered in (https://ampujaabby.wixsite.com/spot-of-serenity). I am planning to offer a workshop this fall for my community entitled "Ayurveda 101", and I've already gotten some keen interest when I mention it to friends and clients. I worked as a professor of Special Education at Meredith College this past year, where I offered resiliency and self-care workshops for both pre-service and in-service teachers--the 'waterfall down the back' is always a big hit! The other branch of my business ("The Empowered Learner") involves working with kids who have exceptional needs; I primarily focus on SEL (social emotional learning), resiliency, and nervous system regulation (http://empoweredcoachinggroup.com/). In a nutshell, the work I've done at Shakti School has seeped into all aspects of my life--both personally and professionally--and I couldn't be more thrilled! Grateful for this community and all that it continues to offer and teach me on my journey of evolution. Many thanks! Namaste."

 

Eva Peterson 

"Hi, I’m Eva, a Level 2 Shakti School graduate. With over 3 years of experience as a Life Coach and Ayurvedic Health Counselor, I guide leaders and changemakers to reconnect to their intuition, their body, and the cycles of nature so that they can heal burnout, master life balance, and ultimately create the change that they want to see in the world while truly enjoying life. I'm also the host of the Happy Me Happy Earth podcast where I share self-development tools and seasonal Ayurvedic self-care practices to help you reconnect to the cycles of nature and your true self.

I strive to embody the love-based, judgment-free, feminine form of Ayurveda that I learned at the Shakti School each day. I have integrated these teachings into my unique coaching business, and continue to revisit the lectures years later as I deepen my understanding of Ayurveda. The wisdom passed on to me through the Shakti School has not only enabled me to heal myself but has also empowered me to help others reconnect to their inner healer. I’m incredibly grateful and honored to be a link in the chain of Ayurvedic healer women. It’s a powerful lineage that extends thousands of years into the past, through the Shakti School into me and my fellow Shakti sisters, and into the future for thousands of years to come!"

 

Megha Choksi

"Megha is an intuitive Energy Healer and an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach. She relocated to Abu Dhabi from Singapore where she began her journey as an Usui Reiki Practitioner. She combines her knowledge of Ayurveda along with Chakra Healing to help you release stress, find balance and gain inner clarity. Through Ayurveda Wellness Coaching, Megha will help you tap into your own body’s inner wisdom to live a life more in alignment with nature and its biological rhythms. Prior to this, she has worked in corporate for over 12 years across different geographies. Her passion and purpose in life is to support people on their self healing journey.

The Shakti School’s teachings helped to deepen my knowledge of Ayurveda and allowed me to better understand myself and my connection to nature. It taught me to be an observer without any judgment and witness how the dance of the different doshas impacts our emotions, actions and our bodies. It has helped me to manage my stress and anxiety and allowed me to live a life in alignment with nature and it’s seasons. I am grateful to Katie Silcox, who is an amazing teacher, mentor and a spirit woman. Her lectures and resources have inspired me to find my purpose in life as a healer and motivated me to share the wisdom of Ayurveda with my clients and friends and family."

 

Mindy Schlechter, MSW, RPYT

"Mindy Schlechter is an Ayurvedic psycho-spiritual wellness + life coach, hypnotherapist, prenatal yoga instructor, long-time labor and delivery social worker, and mama of 2. She teaches women how to hold the same nourishing space for themselves that they hold for others, and her coaching programs focus on restoring self-trust and intuition for healing. She is the owner + founder of Effloresce Coaching where she serves women who are seeking conscious conception, fertility & pregnancy health, postpartum balance, and support during early mothering years. Mindy is also deeply committed to the power of sisterhood and witnessing women along their quest for root-cause healing, as they move away from trauma and stigmatizing diagnoses and embrace their intrinsic wholeness. Mindy’s approach aims to help usher humanity into their next evolution, a consciously created “new earth” of light beings which starts by healing the women who will bear this new generation (and the lineages that will come after them!). Specific service offerings include 1:1 session work (in-person & remote) utilizing cognitive techniques like NLP and hypnosis, somatic techniques through movement/yoga, mindfulness based practices, and Ayurvedic counseling for holistic health. Effloresce also offers group coaching, prenatal yoga classes, women’s circle facilitation, and specialty workshops.

Graduating from Shakti School in 2021 allowed Mindy to finally fit all the pieces of her training together into one cohesive offering that serves mamas on all 4 levels; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual! She is now enrolled in Level 2 and plans to deepen her offerings and scope of practice upon completion."

 

Claudi Sult

"Claudi is an Ayurvedic Health Counselor (600 hrs), mama, enthusiastic traveller, conscious creator and (com)passionate foodie. With her new project “Moonlit Mamas” she opened a holistic healing haven for Mamas in all stages of motherhood. Weaving together the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, Tantra & other feminine form medicine, she helps women to cultivate peace & balance, abundant energy & radical self love. Reconnecting with the woman beyond the mother & allowing her to make herself a priority! Claudi holds space through empowering workshops, 1:1 consultations and women’s circles & ceremonies, both online and offline in Portugal’s wavy Southwest coast.

Initially, I signed up to Shakti School for my personal healing. But only a few weeks in, the healer woman in me started to awaken - which has been in my lineage a long time ago, yet dormant through for many generations. The last 2 years transformed me to the depths of my tissues. I learnt to come back home into my body, heal my nervous system, open my heart, let go of my little demons, surrender and fully trust in the ever-present love and support of Mother Nature, the elements, the universe. On top of that, I found a "home" full of inspiring, light-spirited Shakti women, who continue to guide and hold me beyond our studies. Bowing to Katie & the team for gifting this to the world."

 

Kellie Hoffman

"Shakti School did inspire me to open my own business. During level 2, I also took Brooke Sullivan’s Sage Roots 200 hour level yoga training. I like doing the combination of yoga and Ayurveda because I feel they belong together. I love bringing these teachings to my community. My business is Be Centered Health Coaching & Yoga."

 

Caterina Boutagy

"Since completing my first year of ayurveda school, I have been building an online platform called Studio Ojas. It's a space where I share ayurvedic recipes, PDF guides, and lots of yoga and body yantra (meditation) practices. Alongside Studio Ojas, I also have a yoga retreat business called Rasa Lila. I just finished up a retreat in Bali where I offered my first ayurvedic herbal wisdom workshops, and my clients absolutely loved it. I am so grateful to all that I have learned in Shakti School, and how I have been able to weave the teachings alongside my work as a yoga teacher."

 

Jackie DeConti

"As a lover of many things, I am the host of Elixir Podcast, founder of Madre & The Muse, an Ayurvedic wellness company, and co-founder of Terra Sol Sanctuary, a yoga studio in Wilmington, NC. 

Having graduated from Shakti School Level 2 in 2022, as an Ayurvedic lifestyle guide, I work within the realms of feminine-form Ayurveda to inspire and empower women - infusing ancient wisdom with rituals and practices accessible to the modern world. With a multifaceted background in education, yoga, art, and music, I offer one-on-one Ayurvedic wellness consultations, private and public workshops, weekly live music yoga sessions, and yoga teacher trainings. My offerings weave in mindfulness and playfulness through a variety of experiential modalities. I am so grateful to the teachings that I learned from the incredible teachers in Shakti School and the community of fellow graduates that I still am connected with today."

 

Veronica Burgess Loomis

"My passion is in helping mothers with teenage daughters shift from feeling shame, disconnection and overwhelm to feeling empowered, connected and supported to strengthen their mother-daughter bond.  As a mother of two daughters, I wanted to create an offering for mothers who may have spent many years disconnected from this part of themselves emotionally, physically and spiritually. I also wanted to create a space for mothers to come together and feel supported as they are in the cycle of their daughters moving from childhood to womanhood. We need community and connection and I learned that from being in Shakti School. I have experienced firsthand how the teachings of Ayurveda and Tantra have had an impact in my own life and how I approach mothering. By integrating the feminine-form teachings from Shakti School, I was able to reconnect to my body and reclaim my story and all my parts and pieces. I found the most benefit in attuning to cyclical living and implementing womb care into my life. This allowed me the deeper connection to my own intuition and to mother from within. The more aware we are of our own cycles the more we can share this with our daughters to support them in their transitions. The teachings and the sacred container of Shakti School is something so invaluable and I can't seem to sum up in words. I deepened my understanding of myself, tapped into my heart in ways I never had before and made so many lasting connections. And I am still feeling the ripples of my time at Shakti School through my life in such a beautiful way."

 

Tara McKinney

"I’ve made a career out of serving others, though not in a way that always honored my needs. Ayurveda and The Shakti School helped me change that. They gave me so much more than teachings and practices. They gave me more access to the deeper layers of my being. I learned how to prioritize filling my cup and serve others from there. For that, I bow to all my teachers, including my Shakti sisters. 

I recently launched two businesses. Soul in Service Consulting focuses on enhancing nonprofits’ sustainability and impact via program design and personnel development. I help nonprofits align the way staff work with the rhythms of Mama Nature in order for staff to think more clearly and creatively, feel better in their bodies, and experience a higher quality of life overall. As staff receive more aligned support, it uplevels the support they offer those they serve. 

Also dear to me is accompanying women out of patterns of depletion and into ones of nourishment. Soul in Service offers Catholic women a Christian approach to wellness that helps them shift from faith as self-sacrificing service into faith as self-nourishing service. I integrate Catholic pastoral theology from my Master of Divinity (the professional degree of Catholic priests) with the teachings and practices of Ayurveda and yoga. Presently, I offer three ways to work with me: a three month group program; individual accompaniment via spiritual direction, coaching, or mindful movement; retreats and immersions."

 

Hadlee Garrison

"Hi I'm Hadlee, and I'm an Ayurveda Health & Life Coach, and founder of Happy Healthy with Hadlee. I help ambitious women stop the all-or-nothing cycle when it comes to their health so they can stop obsessing about their bodies and start really thriving in body, mind, and spirit. My health coaching program, Happy Healthy Habits, combines the foundational habits & routines of Ayurveda, food & body psychology, and nervous system regulation & emotional processing to help members experience greater health, energy, confidence, capacity, and joy in their everyday life.

I had coached people utilizing the wisdom of Ayurveda for 3.5 years before starting Shakti School. But Shakti School helped me bring all of these concepts so much deeper – both in my personal embodiment, and in making me a more effective coach. I especially appreciated the focus on emotional processing and nervous system support that is woven throughout Shakti School, which I haven't found in any other training. I'm so grateful to Shakti School – I have found that I'm so much more confident and compassionate with myself and others, and my clients' results have become even more profound than they were before! Thank you Katie and all the other amazing teachers in Shakti School!"

 

Claudia Batschari

"I have started my own business already during Level 2. It is called 'Ayurveda with Claudia’ and it is all about bringing everything I have learned about Ayurveda, wellness, and the feminine etc. in the last 2 years, into my community. My interest is to empower people and to give them tools to come closer to themselves again, trust themselves, get more embodied and remember their gifts, strength and inner voice.

I have- and had already quite a few 'one on one' clients, I first started with family and friends and now the circle is growing wider and wider. I have run 2 retreats (so far with friends), done 1 workshop and 1 very successful online cleanse. I have loved it all and I am learning constantly and my head is brimming with all the ideas I have and I love immersing myself further and further into this realm which I love.

Through my time in Shakti School I have gained so much strength and trust in myself that even if a critical voice comes in, when I feel into myself even deeper, I am vey clear about what my path is- and that it will go well! I feel at home in myself and with myself and it's been the best thing I could imagine. Before I started with Shakti School I have been running my own business called zanzibar-retreats, a website for beautiful handpicked accommodation in Zanzibar, for over 15 years and it is still running strong but I have taken myself more and more out. One of my visions is to eventually run an Ayurvedic retreat in Zanzibar and thus merge these two businesses…!!!

Our little European Shakti Sister Study group is still going strong and we meet once a month online. Watching each other spreading our wings is pure magic.

I am German based in Cape Town (I am currently for a 2 months sabbatical in Berlin) and would love to also extend my offerings to Germany and globally through online options."

 

Sheridan Ruth

"As a somatic trauma therapist specializing in nervous system regulation for anxiety free relationships with love and money, Ayurveda school has been infused into my work and given me new ways to support my client’s nervous system’s through the deep healing process. It has also supported me as I’ve expanded into more 1:1 work and even opened up Body Based Business coaching."

 

Amore St Ives

"Amore has the roots of the Pacific Northwest and the spirit of the Southern Coast.  She spent many of her formative years exploring the healing powers of nature in Portland Oregon that initiated her love of untethered travel and learning.  She went to school at The University California - San Diego, The Art Institute, Ashford University and Shakti School of Ayurveda to follow her passion for people, movement, art and wellness.  Currently she holds degrees in psychology, interior design, theatre dance and a Masters in management.  She is also a certified personal trainer and wellness coach.  In 2001 she served in the Peace Corps, Ghana Africa as a health and sanitation teacher to local villages.  Upon returning from Africa Amore was diagnosed with two auto-immune diseases; ankylosing spondylitis and ulcerative colitis.  This has only activated a deeper yearning to learn and share her experience and knowledge as a collective community of healing.

She continues to tap into her exploratory nature through her world travels, continuing education opportunities and yoga practice.  She is E-RYT 500-hour yoga certified, 600-hour Ayurvedic practitioner and plans to complete her doctorate in Ayurvedic medicine and philosophy.  Over the past 10 years she has facilitated countless trainings, workshops, retreats and community events integrated in yoga, nutrition and whole life wellness. Currently she is the CEO of Modrn Medicin, a wellness center including yoga, Ayurvedic café and treatment room in San Diego, CA.

Modrn Medicin: Modrn Medicin uses a whole system approach to wellness through the inclusion of nutrition, movement and community.  Our storefront location in San Diego, California offers health enhancing foods and drinks that are infused with medicinal plants.  We include the benefits of these healing remedies as part of the MM experience as well as offer educational workshops.  Our menu evolves seasonally to enhance the restorative effects of plant based medicine. MM also offers movement classes, sound healing, community acupuncture and special events.  Our community can also work with a private Ayurvedic counselor for customized health plans.

Shakti school has been instrumental in solidifying the root foundation of Ayurvedic healing for my own wellness journey, the services I offer my private Ayurvedic clients and the core values of my Ayurvedic company, Modrn Medicin. It also empowered me with the confidence to open the first physical Ayurvedic cafe in San Diego, California. I am so thankful for the community that Shakti school created for us and the endless opportunities to share the wonders of this ancient healing. It will be a part of me and my dharmic service always."

 

Crystal Hoshaw

"I've been studying and embodying Ayurveda in my life since my teens, but Shakti School finally gave me a way to synthesize my learnings and become certified so I can help others. Through my business, Simple Wild Free, I offer group and 1:1 coaching for women to make peace with their bodies and their plates through embodied eating. Using the wisdom of Ayurveda, intuitive eating, somatic practices, and mindful self-compassion, I teach the techniques and the mindset shifts necessary for receiving deep nourishment from food—on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. Shakti School has been a huge catalyst in my work, as the community itself has the depth and self-awareness to reflect on how we apply Ayurveda to our own lives. Through the wisdom of the SS teachers, I saw that even Ayurveda isn't immune to the ills of wellness culture, and that a compassionate, feminine, and embodied approach is the key for myself and thousands of women out there to find true healing and self-acceptance."

 

Emily Iannuzzelli

"Seasons IV was founded by two sisters who struggled to find seasonally appropriate skin care. Inspired by Ayurveda, each formulation is designed to provide your skin exactly what it needs in the Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. We source the highest quality ingredients so you can glow year-round!  Emily Iannuzzelli is a graduate of Shakti School and was inspired by Meredith's Klines skincare module.  Recognizing how much work it takes to learn Ayurveda, Emily wanted to translate the wisdom of Ayurveda for clients who may not have the time or resources to dedicate to studying.  Emily has also translated the wisdom of Shakti School into several offerings at her improv theater in Baltimore including "Improv and the Nervous System," "Meditation for Improv," and "Improv as a Mindfulness Practice.

Emily Iannuzzelli is a graduate of Shakti School and was inspired by Meredith's Klines skincare module.  Recognizing how much work it takes to learn Ayurveda, Emily wanted to translate the wisdom of Ayurveda for clients who may not have the time or resources to dedicate to studying.  Emily has also translated the wisdom of Shakti School into several offerings at her improv theater in Baltimore including "Improv and the Nervous System," "Meditation for Improv," and "Improv as a Mindfulness Practice."

 

DaLisa Fritts

"I’m DaLisa, a Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor, RYT-200 Yoga Instructor, fur mama and people person. A few of my favorite things are sun dresses, being barefoot in the grass, and a fully stocked kitchen.

My wellness journey started in my 20’s, but really I had struggled all my life with my health. My journey actually began when I became aware that even though all my issues were “normal” they didn’t have to be my reality.

I wanted more for myself, my future, and my family. I wanted to feel like the best version of myself everyday, and to bring that feeling of wholeness out in other women. To be a source of education, empowerment and support - the stuff we didn’t learn or have access to growing up.

DaLisa Fritts is a certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor specializing in women’s health from the Shakti School of Ayurveda. She is the founder of Blooming Luna Wellness where her mission is to educate, empower & support women on their life-long wellness journey. Specializing in stress management, nervous system work and loving awareness, DaLisa uses Ayurvedic practices, yoga, self-care and breathwork to help clients tune into their body’s wisdom & restore healthy balance in their life. By reconnecting to our natural rhythms through seasonal foods, herbs, spices, daily practices, movement & self care we can tap into the body’s inner wisdom and restore balance in our digestion, sleep, and mental health. 

DaLisa works in-person & virtually one-on-one as well as hosts workshops & retreats with women of all ages and life-stages to help them feel their best, bring awareness to their unique needs, and take control of their health."

 

Diana Damian

"Peristeam Hydrotherapist and Ayurvedic Wellness Coach since 2020, born and raised in Romania, living in Berlin since 2009. Pelvic Steaming with a plan is my jam. I combine my knowledge of Ayurveda and Pelvic Steaming to balance out the reproductive system. Since my training I have supported women in getting pregnant naturally, managing endometriosis and fibroids, dissolving cysts and trauma, balancing out painful periods and cycles as well as vaginal infections, during labor preparation and postpartum recovery, as well as in welcoming the menopause with ease. My next project is to approach teens and the menarche, to "start them young" and have an impact on the long run. On my website you can find podcasts, testimonials and blog articles.

I work as a steam guide, with constant support via chat or email over a span of 1, 2 or 4 months - depending on what timeline suits the client best. Having someone on your side during the changes which come with pelvic steaming is an important part of the healing journey. After filling out the (menstrual analysis) intake form I create a tailored steam plan including Ayurvedic diet and lifestyle guidelines according to your symptoms. Depending on the root causes, steaming might not be enough. In the end it all comes down to your digestion, both physically and mentally. Ayurvedic guidelines support you in increasing your digestion on all levels which impacts directly the reproductive system."

 

Zeynep Kesmis

"As a mother of two, it has been a challenge to remember to take care of myself and Shakti School just provided me the gentlest space to do that. The whole year was a journey to myself. This endless journey is one that I could not go alone. I feel so grateful for having joined this community and having learnt so much. All the teachers and Katie have affected my life in many ways and whenever I practice Ayurveda, I remember all the lovely teachers we had, the authentic ways they each told us their approaches. There really is something so magical about this school that is hard to put into words for me! I simply cherished the wisdom and compassion conveyed.

After receiving so much love and light, it was inevitable for me to share what I experienced. To fulfill that, I had the courage – putting myself out there is usually the least I like to do - to establish a personal website where I could connect and provide hopefully similar support that I received in my own journey.

I just feel that this positivity has a big ripple effect and we are all connected much more than we realize. This website is practically me practicing to follow my heart!"