About Robyn
Hi everyone!
I’m Robyn and I’m a Breathwork Facilitator, Yoga Teacher, Energy Healer, Writer, and CEO of Pretzel Kids, one of the nation’s largest children’s yoga companies.
I’ve been on my healing journey for more than 25 years. In fact, it all started when I was in China in 1999 on assignment for a travel publication. I got sick with a mysterious illness on a riverboat on the Yangzhe River.
I don’t remember much about that trip except that I somehow made it back home to a Boston hospital where I was diagnosed with a neurological disorder called POTS, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.
Over the next two years, my life was on ‘pause’ while I was bedridden with two young children. I was unable to continue my work as a freelance journalist and travel writer. Unable to care for my preschooler and baby. Unable to drive. Unable to do much of anything.
Losing hope and upon the recommendation of a friend, I went to see a hypnotherapist, who also happened to be a meditation teacher. Not just any meditation teacher but a bigwig who wrote a book with the Dalai Lama.
At that time I had no idea who the Dalai Lama was.
Over the course of my hypnotherapy sessions (long before hypnotherapy was ‘a thing’), I learned pranayama tools to help regulate my nervous system. That teacher also encouraged me to try yoga as I slowly recovered. Three years later, I became a yoga teacher and opened Breathe Joy Yoga in suburban Boston. Before long, BJY was a thriving yoga studio offering classes, workshops, retreats and a 200-hour yoga teacher training program.
In 2016, I sold the studio to run Pretzel Kids. Everything was moving along swimmingly and then came…..COVID. You know the year.
I found myself sick again with symptoms very similar to the neurological disorder I grappled with 20+ years earlier.
Vertigo. Brain Fog. Extreme Fatigue. Tachycardia. Digestive Issues. And a slew of other ‘mystery symptoms.’
After months of going from doctor to doctor, I finally assembled a team of holistic practitioners who were able to figure out the root cause: A combination of mold illness, reactivated Lyme disease, and long-COVID. Coupled with that, I was suffering from PTSD (drawing all the way back to my illness in 1999) and my nervous system was severely dysregulated.
I spiraled.
I was emotionally right back on that riverboat in 1999, unable to stand as I was so dizzy.
Armed with some answers – finally – I drew on all the healing tools I had in my toolbox: Meditation, breathwork and yoga – for starters. I also turned to detoxing methods like infrared sauna, red light therapy, ionic foot baths, a vibration plate and more (just ask me about my biohacking room that has taken over my home office!)
I also worked on retraining my brain to get my nervous system out of perpetual fight or flight and back where it belonged: In rest and digest mode.
As I recovered over the course of 3 years, I stumbled upon a new-to-me breathing technique, one I hadn’t practiced before: Somatic Breathwork. You see, the body holds onto EVERYTHING. And while I was already healing, somatic breathwork was the missing key.
One simple breathing technique pulled me immediately out of my head and allowed me to release stagnant energy and stuck emotions – held deep in my body.
For me, my biggest roadblock was and still is Fear.
Somatic breathwork has helped me turn that into Courage.
Experiencing such a powerful healing shift took me down a new path and I became certified in energy healing breathwork (levels 1-5) with David Elliot.
I now lead heart-opening breathwork journeys all over New England, and I offer 1:1 breathwork/energy healing sessions.
Oh yeah, in my spare time, I grow my own vegetables, search for flea market finds, take photos of faraway lands, meditate for at least 5 minutes a day, teach yoga, and hang out with my 3 adult sons, 2 dogs and 1 husband.
TL;DR
A yoga, pranayama and meditation teacher/trainer for more than 20 years, I was originally certified to teach Hatha yoga in 2003 at Maha Yoga Center in Bridgewater, MA under the mentorship of Diane Lagadec. I completed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Memorial Health, and I’m an early graduate of Off the Mat, Into the World‘s ‘Yoga in Action’ leadership program led by Seane Corn, Hala Khouri and Suzanne Sterling. Now also a certified breathwork facilitator/energy healer (Levels 1-5 with David Elliott), I have been sensing and feeling energy fields ever since I can remember. To heighten my perception, I became certified in Meridian Yoga, Reiki, and Reconnective Healing®. Also a Psych-K® facilitator, I bring energy healing into both group breathwork and 1:1 breathwork sessions.
In my experience, breathwork and energy healing – paired together – is the fastest way to peel back your layers, release tension and break through emotional blocks. I am grateful to share this healing modality with all of you in classes, 1:1 sessions, and at retreats that I host at beautiful locations, as well as at my lakeside retreat property, WeAre Buddhaful.
And P.S. – While not relevant to my current energy healing work, I have a fancy degree in print journalism and social sciences from the University of Southern California (fight on Trojans ✌️), and was formerly a journalist for several national publications (in case that sort of stuff matters to you.)