I've always been more holistic oriented and my professional and personal health practices over the past 30 years reflect that. My desire is to share my knowledge and experience to help Men on their health journeys. Professionally my career began in the Mental Health profession but because this occupation lacked the physical component of health I went back to school to become a Physical Therapist. It was also around this time I added the first of my two yoga teacher training certifications, specializing in Men’s Yoga. My spiritual journey then took me to Southeast Asia, which I've visited extensively three times, to learn the ancient art of Thai Bodywork. Until recently these modalities are how I’ve been supporting Men’s health, but I wanted to do more. During the early stages of the pandemic I finally took action to expand my ability to help men on a larger scale. That's when I established, The Cardinal Way for Men, a Men’s health movement on my Social Media, Blog and Podcast platforms.
Someone recently asked me, why this mission? In order to answer that question, I need to tell you a little bit of my own personal story. As I reflected on this question I realized my health journey followed the path of my career. My personal development began with my emotional inner work, followed by my physical health and lastly adding the spiritual component. The beginning of my odyssey is not a pretty picture. Sometimes in our darkest hours we get clarity and realize that we need to make some changes. That's what happened with me when I was 26 years old, over 30 years ago. I went home to visit my parents, and went out for a night of heavy drinking as was my pattern on weekends at this time. In the morning, I woke up in urine soaked sheets with a pile of vomit next to the bed and not remembering how I got home. In that moment I felt disgusted, discouraged and disappointed with myself. I realized I was spiritually, emotionally and physically bankrupt. It was in that instant I had an epiphany, a realization that I didn't want to live the rest of my life this way and that I would never realize my full potential on this trajectory. So I made a decision, the first step was to stop drinking and accept 100% responsibility for my own well being. The other thing that I needed to do was break free of the shackles of my cultural conditioning. The model of manhood that we were sold has been harmful to all of us, and to those we love. It’s an outdated model that’s been passed on for generations. The messages that boys and men are not supposed to cry, express emotions, be vulnerable, reach out for help, and we need to be self reliant. We are the ones who can break those generational chains to remake manhood into a vibrant, connected, and positive way of living in alignment with a better way.