Hi, I'm Brittany

This is my story

My journey to the healing arts began from self healing. For the majority of my life I felt as though I was a hostage in my mind and body. A prisoner of an internal hell created by negative thought patterns, anxiety and depression. I suffered from widespread chronic musculoskeletal pain, daily debilitating headaches and migraines, gastrointestinal issues, low energy, poor immunity, skin issues and insomnia.  I had no control over my health, over my thoughts or my emotions. Pain dictated my life. I began to suffer from OCD tendencies, twitches and tremors due to anxiety. Depression left me in emotional states where I would dissociate from my body, be unable to feel appropriate emotions, have healthy eating habits or leave the house. I never would have imagined that one day I would not only be flourishing in health and happiness but teaching others to find their own inner healer. I have spent my entire adult life dedicated to my healing and my transformation didn't happen overnight.  It has been a very long journey and I continue to heal and grow more and more each day.
When I began to first seek help for my pain my doctors couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. My medications made me more sick and my anger and frustration grew as questions were left unanswered and symptoms persisted. For years I suffered in desperation to understand my illness, then I decided to shift my focus. I began to explore holistic healing practices. I began to study different traditions of healing, practiced yoga and meditation, changed my diet and started receiving massage therapy. I found that healing touch was especially therapeutic for me, massage sessions would be some of the only hours of my week when I didn't experience pain.
I spent time studying psychosomatic illness and how our mental and emotional state can create physical illness. I began to correlate my symptoms worsening to when my stress was heightened. It was difficult at first to wrap my head around the idea that my mental/emotional state could really be manifesting physically in my body as chronic pain and my other physical issues. The more I read the more it began to resonate with me.
I felt called to learn more about Eastern Medicine. Eastern Medicine, like Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), views and treats an individual with no mind/body duality as we do in Western Medicine. This means the entire person is treated and the mental and emotional state is taken into consideration during the healing process. I began receiving Eastern bodywork. The techniques were unlike anything I had experienced before, incredibly unique and therapeutic. During my sessions I could feel energy flowing through my body in ways I had never felt before and trapped emotions started rising to the surface. I was waking up. I began to learn how to listen to my body, and understand the deep inherent wisdom and healing capabilities my body and mind possesses, as all of ours do. I began to intentionally processing the patterns, thoughts, emotions that would come through during bodywork sessions and I felt years of trauma and pain leave my body. I felt anger leave my body, depression and anxiety were balancing out and my heart began to open. This experience allowed me to understand just how connected physical health and mental health are. How true healing happens when you care for the entire person. Their mind and their body, their spirit and their matter.
I was studying psychology in college at the time, but knowing I wanted to integrate this body/mind connection I decided to switch my focus to holistic healing. I began studying at Pacific College of Health and Science in Chicago, here I studied Chinese Medicine, kinesiology, anatomy and physiology, meditation, both Eastern and Western forms of massage therapy, bodywork, and energetic movement practices. I had profound experiences working in my school’s clinic leading up to my graduation in 2015. My clients were having strong emotional releases during their sessions, experiencing less pain, and were overall feeling happier. It was at this time where I began to understand that this was my gift and it was no coincidence that my life played out in the way it had for me to end up right here.
I received a degree in massage therapy and Asian bodywork from Pacific College of Health and Science. I continued my education at Thai Massage School of Chiang Mai, Thailand and became a Reiki practitioner through my studies at Zen Shiatsu Chicago. I started to think about how I could best share my gifts, honor these practices, serve my community and bring holistic healing into other people’s lives. Spirit and Matter was then born where I began offering coaching in addition to body and energy work to hold even more space for my clients. In 2021 I began my studies with Shipibo plant medicine in the Amazon jungles of Peru. I study with incredible Shipibo shamans and regularly receive master plant dietas as a student of this medicine. I regularly organize groups to travel to Peru for deep healing. This has become my most dedicated path as I work to become a doctor of Shipibo plant medicine. Through my healing journey I have worked with and studied with fantastic teachers and coaches over many years. In working together, the knowledge that I guide you in discovering is your own innate wisdom. Once we learn how to feel safety in our bodies, inhabit our bodies, live mindfully from a heart centered, and grounded space, we can truly heal. My mission is to hold space for you that allows you to feel deeply seen, heard and cared for.