I was invited to the practice of yoga as a young teen, as an attempted recruit by Hare Krishna monks in the parking lot of a rock show. I quickly began to devour spiritual texts and became a vegetarian with a devoted yoga practice. At 23, I completed my first yoga teacher training in my hometown of Los Angeles at Rising Lotus in 2008. After working for 2 years in LA as a yoga and meditation teacher by day, and expressing my creativity as a drummer in some no-name rock bands by night, I grew restless with the feeling of emptiness in a big city. I knew that there must be more for me “out there somewhere” and I felt a calling to go to the coastal redwoods I visited growing up.
I wanted to live in the forest and experience the yoga that existed outside of studio walls and endless traffic. I wanted to stretch my limbs out wide like the giant redwoods and spread my toes on the soft cool forest floor. I longed to merge with the water flowing down my spine in cold canyon waterfalls where faeries lived under ferns and my ancestors spoke to me through beams of sunlight.
After a month-long immersion of studying Shiatsu and Reiki at Esalen Institute in Big Sur in 2010, I found my soul’s place of belonging, a feeling of home I hadn’t yet known. I knew I had to first make a pilgrimage to India before making any other moves. I was intent on following my heart to deepen my bhakti yoga practice and visit the ashram of Sri Aurobindo & The Mother. The teachings of The Mother touched a primordial part of me that I hadn’t yet fully awakened to, or even really understood as a young maiden. I knew something vital was there for me. I also realized I needed to go back home, and that traveling alone in India was not for the faint of heart.
Impassioned by my travels, I returned home to California and followed my inner compass - and as fate would have it, I ended up in Big Sur falling in love with my husband. I remained there for 10 years, where I deepened my understanding of reciprocity with the living world through land stewardship.
My life in Big Sur was very exciting- all my passions swirled together bursting out from my soul into the world! I honed my skills as a bodyworker on the Esalen Massage crew, lead groups as a somatic movement teacher and graciously served as a gardener at Esalen Institute, all while keeping the drummer in me alive playing in bands with friends. I partnered in an herbal business, crafting handmade, homegrown herbal products which we sold locally.
After making countless beautiful memories and enjoying many wild & inspiring times, I left my maidenhood behind, embracing motherhood with an open heart.
In becoming a mother I faced the biggest challenges of my life. Everything I had built over the previous years seemed to dissolve immediately after giving birth - first my dream job, then my band, and finally, the community I thought I had.
Alongside postpartum depression and isolation came wildfires, the death of my father, the loss of my husband's job, then more isolation due to the sudden closure of the world and living circumstances requiring us to find a new home and move, twice. The first three years of motherhood challenged me to my core; it was de-stabilizing beyond anything I'd ever experienced. This was not at all how I had envisioned my early motherhood to be.
I was unrecognizable to myself as I descended into the depths of darkness and through the transformative fires of loss & grief. I now see that it was all medicine in the making. I have alchemized my pain through a reckoning of my soul and deepening my relationship to my lineage.
Through my matrescence, I have been called to focus in a clear direction: To Serve Mothers, both the human kind and the great Mother Earth herself. I walk a path that has not been clearly laid out for me, but feels more like a wild scavenger hunt, bushwhacking through uncharted territory with a backpack of skills I have acquired along the way. I have spent many years studying the physiology, magic and mystery of being a woman, and finally, through motherhood, I found my soul’s calling was within me all along.
I have always known Queen of Cups was the archetypal mother I would come to embody. I have come full circle: offering my skills, experiences and love of life in a service oriented business.
As a certified Innate Traditions Postpartum Care Provider, I offer education, planning and in-home care for pregnancy through postpartum and beyond. As a woman, I love nothing more than to gather with other women and celebrate our wild and wise ways! As a mother, I am devoted to continually learning more about how best to support mothers while honoring my own family’s needs as well.
I am honored to be of service in this way, evolving with women as we walk the path of matrescence together.
What People Are Saying
“Cara’s work blends soft feminine touch with direct intentional movements. Her combination of in-depth anatomy knowledge and energetic intuition makes her vastly different approach personalized and unique.
M.D. Los Angeles, CA
“Something about your circle really did it for me. It was you, the words, the held space and then remembering that it’s all inside of me. And singing the mantra at the end, ooooh mama! Excited for more!!”
M.H. Tahuya, WA
“Each circle was thoroughly enjoyable and just what I needed! I loved the music and your voice guiding us through the meditations.”
J.T. Belfair, WA
