
Throughout my life, I have been drawn to uplifting others. That has always come naturally to me so it makes sense that I would make that into my profession. By combining modalities that are pertinent to me, I concocted Freeheart Transformative Coaching and Inner-active Movement™. Between those two, I use Transformative Coaching, Guided Meditation, Expressive Movement, Expressive Art-making and Quantum Touch to address the whole person; body, mind, heart and spirit.
With 30 years working from psychiatric settings to private practice, my main credentials include a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education & Psychology, a Master of Arts in Dance/Movement Therapy, Professional Certification in Transformative Coaching, Practitioner Certification in Quantum Touch, decades of Expressive Art-making courses and practice, and mother of a marvelous person with 'disabilities'. While that is a qualifying list of Doings, the proof is in pudding and it is my way of living predominantly in unconditional Love and Well-being that ultimately attracts my clients.
Write to me HERE and let's see how I might help you with that!
With 30 years working from psychiatric settings to private practice, my main credentials include a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education & Psychology, a Master of Arts in Dance/Movement Therapy, Professional Certification in Transformative Coaching, Practitioner Certification in Quantum Touch, decades of Expressive Art-making courses and practice, and mother of a marvelous person with 'disabilities'. While that is a qualifying list of Doings, the proof is in pudding and it is my way of living predominantly in unconditional Love and Well-being that ultimately attracts my clients.
Write to me HERE and let's see how I might help you with that!
Sarah's Life Journey

Sarah and her beloved son, Zion
Stalwart pioneers are my forebears. Prominent Mayflower folk are on my mother's side and on my father's side is an indentured servant from Holland in 1637 and some of the first people to trek by covered wagon on the Mormon Trail to Northern California circa 1848. They were all looking to make a better life. This family history was simply fun to share with friends until I came to understand how my life has been influenced by the mindset of these people, even after so many generations. I've always eagerly embarked into the new and unexplored and have had a commitment to use my experience in these fields to bring out a better life for myself and others.
During childhood, I lived in the coastal area of San Diego where I spent much time alone in nature building an indelible connection to the natural world and the Spirit realm. I loved frolicking in the ocean (still a favorite pass-time) and making art on the ground out of stones, leaves and whatever I could find, and dancing, singing or silently communing with the plants, animals and rocks in the open chaparral-covered bluffs. I was also a empathetic kid and knew that I wanted to grow up to lift up people who are struggling in their lives. This pioneer spirit, an empathetic sensibility, rich connection to nature and an innate inclination to inspire happiness in others laid the path to my future. With my unique blend of education and training, I have combined these ingredients into Freeheart Transformative Coaching and Inner-active Movement™. My work, like me and Life, continues to evolve. (See the coaching blend HERE and movement info HERE.)
When I was five years old, creative dance classes planted fertile seeds which grew into my study of mime, gymnastics, modern dance and later a master's degree in Dance/Movement Therapy. I was the "outside-of-the-box" girl, dancing up a joyful sweat in my living room when I was a little girl and alone or sometimes with brave friends at the edge of high school dances. Freeform expressive movement continues to be a big part of my connection to my Spirit.
I enjoyed my high school biology classes so much that I declared a Biology major at UC Santa Barbara. Somehow, though, I never got into a biology class. I just kept following my inner guide and found myself exploring different sports like rugby, ultimate Frisbee and bicycling and became increasingly fascinated by human relationships. This dual interest steered me in the direction of UC Davis where I majored in Physical Education and Psychology.
While at Davis, I took dance classes and joined Nexus Modern Dance Collective as a performer and choreographer. After graduation, I began working as a counselor with mentally ill adults. Alive with the power of expressive movement and ignited by my growing exposure to psychology, I went enthusiastically to get my Master’s Degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from Goucher College near Baltimore, where I worked in a school for "special needs" children and in a state psychiatric hospital with adults and elderly.
Master's degree in hand, I returned to San Diego and worked as a Dance/Movement Therapist in some reputable psychiatric facilities with people of all ages. However, I came to understand that these settings were not a good fit for me. My preference is an environment that encourages happiness and personal growth, so I chose to move on, forge ahead...just like my forebears did.
When I realized I wanted to move away from the psychiatric milieu, I was working as a movement therapist and counselor in a day treatment program for mentally ill adults. During that time I met and later married a very unique man named Ty. Soon after, our son, Zion, was born and I felt a strong pull to shift my career, at least for a while, to full-time mothering. In this new career, my natural tendencies of pioneering alternative approaches to life and being of service to unique individuality became my signature approach to mothering. Those tendencies were amplified when my son was 9 months old and we discovered that he had significant visual impairment, was "developmentally delayed," and were told that he might never walk or talk.
It took months just to begin to sort out diagnoses and to find interventions that felt right, a process that went on for years. However, when Zion was a year and a half and I was adjusting somewhat to the world of fervently tending to his development, my husband died in an auto accident. We had been challenged by financial difficulty but loved each other deeply and his death, mixed with my struggle to come to terms with my baby's disabilities, sent me into a dark period. I couldn't recognize it at the time but those circumstances demanded I develop a deep trust in myself and my inner voice, a commitment to enjoy Life NOW, and a decision to fully embrace my unique being or else live a life in which I would be unhappy at best.
I'm grateful that I was already experienced in using transformational tools to develop that deep Self trust because the unusual and alternative directions I chose turned out to significantly support the greatest potentials for Zion and for me. Parenting Zion certainly heightened my appreciation that each of us is fabulously unique for some very good reason, even though what that reason is can, at times, be a mystery.
After Zion entered special education preschool, I was drawn to expand my first career focus again as a facilitator of personal transformation and co-founded San Diego Center for the Moving Arts ("Where you move the art, and the art moves you!"). "The Center" was housed in a huge dance studio in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego and was created to provide an urban retreat where teachers and artists could provide classes, workshops and events for the public. I treasured what I created at the Center, but after three years it became clear to me that I needed to leave. As it turned out, the business of the business interfered too much with my desire to work directly with people, most importantly Zion.
Upon leaving The Center, I volunteered in Zion's 1st grade special ed class. While there, I saw that the well-meaning teacher was becoming frustrated with Zion. He was so much more drawn to interacting with people and the world outside of the classroom than, for example, in making the sound of the letter "F" when that letter was presented to him on a card. At the time, it seemed to me a miracle that he had developed enough to be in that situation at all, and I felt called to support him to connect with those things that drew him forward. Driven again by that pioneer spirit, I took him out of public school to "life school" as I called it--simply following his, and my, inspired interests in the world at large. I recognized that, no matter what our age, the truest motivation to learn comes through the freedom to explore things about which we are intrinsically curious.
Zion and I engaged in a wide variety of activities during that time: camping, open mic night (Zion was having his own kind of fun with the guitar in those days), reading books aloud, zoo visits, people visits, dancing (contact improv was fun for us both) and playing in general. We were both learning a tremendous amount about ourselves, each other and Life. I have no doubt that supporting Zion's uniqueness and encouraging whatever attracted him contributed hugely to his thriving in life. Because he learned to confidently be himself, amazing people came through to support him, events fell open to him and he accomplished things in ways I never could have orchestrated myself.
During Zion's three years of "life school," we lived off credit cards. That took faith on my part, but what a valuable investment! During those precious years, he grew in inner confidence and joyful connection with the world. At age 9 because it felt right to both of us, he re-entered public school. Then he rapidly learned to read--even though he had to hold books a couple of inches from his face--and write--albeit in large, some would say awkward letters due to his fine motor coordination--because he was then attracted to do so of his own accord. Zion's life-long enthusiasm for learning came from the permission he always had to follow his own interests. After finishing at San Diego High School with an honorary "Certificate of Completion", and attending The Hatlen Center for the Blind in Richmond, CA and The Davidson Program for Independence at the Junior Blind of America in Los Angeles, Zion and I found him a home in the Los Angeles area supervised by the Center for Living Independently for the Multi-handicapped Blind (CLIMB, Inc.). He became beloved and happily active in the community there and is still known as one of the most joyful and magical of people!
I got going in my first career again when 9-year-old Zion went back to public school. Because it comes truly from Me, I greatly enjoy my work; it uplifts ME! My life journey is being and learning about Love ...and being what I'm learning. I am pleased and honored to be in service of the same for others.
(Sarah's Life Journey continues on the "My Zion Adventure" page)
During childhood, I lived in the coastal area of San Diego where I spent much time alone in nature building an indelible connection to the natural world and the Spirit realm. I loved frolicking in the ocean (still a favorite pass-time) and making art on the ground out of stones, leaves and whatever I could find, and dancing, singing or silently communing with the plants, animals and rocks in the open chaparral-covered bluffs. I was also a empathetic kid and knew that I wanted to grow up to lift up people who are struggling in their lives. This pioneer spirit, an empathetic sensibility, rich connection to nature and an innate inclination to inspire happiness in others laid the path to my future. With my unique blend of education and training, I have combined these ingredients into Freeheart Transformative Coaching and Inner-active Movement™. My work, like me and Life, continues to evolve. (See the coaching blend HERE and movement info HERE.)
When I was five years old, creative dance classes planted fertile seeds which grew into my study of mime, gymnastics, modern dance and later a master's degree in Dance/Movement Therapy. I was the "outside-of-the-box" girl, dancing up a joyful sweat in my living room when I was a little girl and alone or sometimes with brave friends at the edge of high school dances. Freeform expressive movement continues to be a big part of my connection to my Spirit.
I enjoyed my high school biology classes so much that I declared a Biology major at UC Santa Barbara. Somehow, though, I never got into a biology class. I just kept following my inner guide and found myself exploring different sports like rugby, ultimate Frisbee and bicycling and became increasingly fascinated by human relationships. This dual interest steered me in the direction of UC Davis where I majored in Physical Education and Psychology.
While at Davis, I took dance classes and joined Nexus Modern Dance Collective as a performer and choreographer. After graduation, I began working as a counselor with mentally ill adults. Alive with the power of expressive movement and ignited by my growing exposure to psychology, I went enthusiastically to get my Master’s Degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from Goucher College near Baltimore, where I worked in a school for "special needs" children and in a state psychiatric hospital with adults and elderly.
Master's degree in hand, I returned to San Diego and worked as a Dance/Movement Therapist in some reputable psychiatric facilities with people of all ages. However, I came to understand that these settings were not a good fit for me. My preference is an environment that encourages happiness and personal growth, so I chose to move on, forge ahead...just like my forebears did.
When I realized I wanted to move away from the psychiatric milieu, I was working as a movement therapist and counselor in a day treatment program for mentally ill adults. During that time I met and later married a very unique man named Ty. Soon after, our son, Zion, was born and I felt a strong pull to shift my career, at least for a while, to full-time mothering. In this new career, my natural tendencies of pioneering alternative approaches to life and being of service to unique individuality became my signature approach to mothering. Those tendencies were amplified when my son was 9 months old and we discovered that he had significant visual impairment, was "developmentally delayed," and were told that he might never walk or talk.
It took months just to begin to sort out diagnoses and to find interventions that felt right, a process that went on for years. However, when Zion was a year and a half and I was adjusting somewhat to the world of fervently tending to his development, my husband died in an auto accident. We had been challenged by financial difficulty but loved each other deeply and his death, mixed with my struggle to come to terms with my baby's disabilities, sent me into a dark period. I couldn't recognize it at the time but those circumstances demanded I develop a deep trust in myself and my inner voice, a commitment to enjoy Life NOW, and a decision to fully embrace my unique being or else live a life in which I would be unhappy at best.
I'm grateful that I was already experienced in using transformational tools to develop that deep Self trust because the unusual and alternative directions I chose turned out to significantly support the greatest potentials for Zion and for me. Parenting Zion certainly heightened my appreciation that each of us is fabulously unique for some very good reason, even though what that reason is can, at times, be a mystery.
After Zion entered special education preschool, I was drawn to expand my first career focus again as a facilitator of personal transformation and co-founded San Diego Center for the Moving Arts ("Where you move the art, and the art moves you!"). "The Center" was housed in a huge dance studio in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego and was created to provide an urban retreat where teachers and artists could provide classes, workshops and events for the public. I treasured what I created at the Center, but after three years it became clear to me that I needed to leave. As it turned out, the business of the business interfered too much with my desire to work directly with people, most importantly Zion.
Upon leaving The Center, I volunteered in Zion's 1st grade special ed class. While there, I saw that the well-meaning teacher was becoming frustrated with Zion. He was so much more drawn to interacting with people and the world outside of the classroom than, for example, in making the sound of the letter "F" when that letter was presented to him on a card. At the time, it seemed to me a miracle that he had developed enough to be in that situation at all, and I felt called to support him to connect with those things that drew him forward. Driven again by that pioneer spirit, I took him out of public school to "life school" as I called it--simply following his, and my, inspired interests in the world at large. I recognized that, no matter what our age, the truest motivation to learn comes through the freedom to explore things about which we are intrinsically curious.
Zion and I engaged in a wide variety of activities during that time: camping, open mic night (Zion was having his own kind of fun with the guitar in those days), reading books aloud, zoo visits, people visits, dancing (contact improv was fun for us both) and playing in general. We were both learning a tremendous amount about ourselves, each other and Life. I have no doubt that supporting Zion's uniqueness and encouraging whatever attracted him contributed hugely to his thriving in life. Because he learned to confidently be himself, amazing people came through to support him, events fell open to him and he accomplished things in ways I never could have orchestrated myself.
During Zion's three years of "life school," we lived off credit cards. That took faith on my part, but what a valuable investment! During those precious years, he grew in inner confidence and joyful connection with the world. At age 9 because it felt right to both of us, he re-entered public school. Then he rapidly learned to read--even though he had to hold books a couple of inches from his face--and write--albeit in large, some would say awkward letters due to his fine motor coordination--because he was then attracted to do so of his own accord. Zion's life-long enthusiasm for learning came from the permission he always had to follow his own interests. After finishing at San Diego High School with an honorary "Certificate of Completion", and attending The Hatlen Center for the Blind in Richmond, CA and The Davidson Program for Independence at the Junior Blind of America in Los Angeles, Zion and I found him a home in the Los Angeles area supervised by the Center for Living Independently for the Multi-handicapped Blind (CLIMB, Inc.). He became beloved and happily active in the community there and is still known as one of the most joyful and magical of people!
I got going in my first career again when 9-year-old Zion went back to public school. Because it comes truly from Me, I greatly enjoy my work; it uplifts ME! My life journey is being and learning about Love ...and being what I'm learning. I am pleased and honored to be in service of the same for others.
(Sarah's Life Journey continues on the "My Zion Adventure" page)