liz andolong

about liz

a little background

I share this story because I think it’s important to be honest about my path and how it’s drawn me to where I am today and why I do what I do.

While I found yoga in a dark, candle-lit room in the small college town of UC Davis in the early 2000’s, and truthfully inspired by Madonna’s Kabbalah phase, my journey began way before.

Being raised religious, I always believed there was something greater than ourselves out there. I enjoyed taking time to collect my thoughts and give space for gratitude often. I drank up being in sacred spaces, loving the tranquility and grandness in the hallowed spaces. I was fortunate enough to be exposed to many different religions growing up, encouraged to explore my curiosity about religions outside what was known in our family. It provided a grounding space for me, a system and framework that life made sense within.

And then I grew up and went through my first, heart shattering life shake up. While the details aren’t important now, how I responded is. Immediately, that faith was forgotten. I was lost and groundless, consumed with escaping and numbing out. I was really good at it too - vacating myself and falling into something else - relationships, drugs, sex, adrenaline highs, cashed out lows; I felt too much and I refused to feel anything else.

Fast forward back to Madonna’s ‘09 Louis Vuitton Spring Collection cover… strangely enough, I dragged myself to a yoga class to see what the hype was about. It was in that yoga class that I found my ground. I found a clarity - a space within my overlapping and cyclical mind where I could breathe again, relax, and slowly edge back into trusting myself. Funny enough, I’m surprised that the peak pose of Astavakrasana didn’t scare me away (we did it in a circle facing each other, with folks in their 60s doing it!!). Nor did ending the class in Savasana, tears streaming down my face, palms outstretched, eyes clenched shut, releasing. All of it drew me further inwards.

Yoga became my “gateway drug,” allowing me a taste for transformation: a sacred space to process my shadow work, a container for healing. That relationship with healing was an on and off love affair, and I’m so grateful my mat and my lessons were always there to support me.

These one hour sessions gave me a glimpse into a space where my body, mind, and spirit could be places where I could safely rest instead of run away from. I began to realize I could cultivate a more trusting relationship with myself, which has become the most powerful realization for me and my life’s greatest work.

Yoga began turning into finding any and all other modalities for transformation and living my best life. It has led me to intuitive vision and goal setting (or coaching), which in turn led me to become a reiki master (CRMT) and meditation in nature leader. It’s granted me access to learning more about aromatherapy, slower practices of asana (physical postures), as well as the powerful work of breathwork. All of these tools created to help supporting one’s healing journey of coming back home.

And that’s exactly what I’d like to help others discover: anything that you need healing, respite, or space from, it’s all within. The tools you need to transform your life are already within you. Let’s discover them together.