I'm Katherine Hanson - 

I am a Registered Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher, holding both a certification in trauma-focused somatic care and a 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification.  I also hold a certification in teaching Children's Yoga with a Trauma-Informed focus, and am a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.  I specialize in helping clients - whether they be adults, youth, or entire organizations - learn to begin to use the body to heal the mind and calm the nervous system as they seek to better manage stress and overcome the effects of trauma.  I am passionate about working with individuals to give them the keys to their own health and healing by cultivating mindfulness and joy through movement. 


And here is my journey...

I started out in life as a water lover, a dancer, a singer, a writer, and an environmentalist.  As a young girl, nothing made me happier than to sing and dance to music and immerse myself underwater.  I always had my head in a book, and found great creative freedom in journaling and writing short stories.  And somehow I was able to innately see how unjustly our environment and many animal species were treated by our man-made world, and I frequently wrote to my local senator asking him to support legislation to protect the environment, particularly the oceans and the marine mammals that live in its seas.  I was unapologetically, and fiercely, myself.

As time went on, however, there were many who thought that it wasn’t enough for me to just be who I was and pursue my inherent gifts.  In the years that followed, I suffered from eating disorders and extreme anxiety from the constant pressure to be thin, perfect, fast in a pool, and from fear of my father’s abuse.  

Mid-way through high school, I got the break I finally needed to begin to return to myself.  I had the opportunity to go to boarding school in Florida, and while it was completely conditional upon my ability to swim fast, it very likely saved my life.  My time spent away at boarding school had allowed me to begin to understand that I was more than a time on a clock or a number on a scale.  It taught me that I have interests that are my own, and hey, I’m actually good at them!  It taught me that I am a good friend capable of forming quality and lasting friendships.  It gave me my first glimpse of what it meant to trust myself.   So on wobbly legs, I began to take the first steps into who I was meant to become.

Once in college, I decided to study art history and I was completely consumed by the subject.  I knew from then on that if I were to truly trust my heart and soul, that it would take me down the right path.  And it was by following that path that I was able to make a name for myself in the galleries of Los Angeles after college, and when it was time to move on to something new in my career, I embraced it with open arms.

However it wasn’t until after the birth of my son that I was able to finally see to the girl I had been as a child, and to understand that she had the answers all along.  As a way to cope with a family trauma and heal from the abuse I suffered as a child, I had turned to dance classes, and I was stunned to discover the healing powers of joy.  My love of dance and music had never left - it had been with me the whole time, waiting for me to remember. 

​Over time my joy had begun to reveal to me who I was and what I loved first, before the world had its way with me.  My joy reminded me of my Original Spirit, and told me that it was good.  Quite frankly, it was joy that gave me permission to be myself again.  It showed me that fierce young girl, with all her passion and life, was still inside of me, waiting to be rediscovered.

Since then, every decision I have made has been in direct alignment with what it is that brings me joy.  I’ve started a business, dedicated myself to my writing, become certified in teaching trauma-informed yoga, and have become fully immersed in dance by developing and teaching a class that facilitates self-healing through joy.  There are a few things that I’ve yet to find my way back to, but I know they’re there, and like old friends reuniting, we will be together again once more.  It is my eternal hope and aspiration to be all that I was created to be so that I may empower and uplift others to be able to do the same.


So here I am, living in joy, embracing fully who I was created and put on this Earth to be.   It is my hope that in whichever way you encounter or experience my work, that it helps inspire you to be true your own Original Spirit.


Grace and peace -
Katherine 
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