My Story

My love and joy with being around horses was apparent while growing up in Queens Village, New York. Saving money to ride in the summer months, in Mastic Beach, learning English and Western styles were the formidable years setting the stage for my racing career. In the midst of my year in college, it was to Belmont Park that I went to for a job as a hot walker, to be with horses. After a long week of rejections I journeyed to the training track. A divinely guided moment followed that brought my racing mentor Mr. Root and an eager horse lover together! Saying I was small enough to be a jockey I found exciting, and proceeded to Barn 16 to begin!

After a few years of travel to farms in Ocala, Florida to break yearlings, then back to Gulfstream Park or Belmont Park or Saratoga, it was to Maryland that my career began as a young apprentice in 1977. In this tough circuit, I was fortunate to find myself as the leading female rider, and set a record of being the first woman to be on the program for jockeys (top 10). Going to Japan in 1982 was thrilling for three weeks of travel and competition with the Ladies Cup. It was on the return of this trip that motherhood came calling, and the danger of this game had to slow down.

The seeds of health and wellness were planted early in my life through the modeling of Grandma Re, my little Filipino nurse guide who always had a natural answer for our family. From baking soda tooth paste, to Vitamin C, and putting half a grapefruit on a low gas flame as bug repellent, she preferred not always the medical model she was trained in, but the more holistic and natural ways for solutions.

To this day, I carry on this outlook and approach with clients these last 34+ years as a Licensed Massage Therapist in Maryland, and member of the ABMP professional association. My passion is to empower, educate and encourage healthier choices for life through massage therapy and aromatherapy.

All clients benefit from Young Living essential oils, moist heat, along with massage techniques honed through the years. My recent training of Thai Rocking massage is a calming addition during the massage. Others are Raindrop Therapy®, the dropping of specific essential oils on the back to improve the immune system, enhance relaxation, all helping to support the body/mind. Training in hands free massage has helped me use the forearms and elbows to aid in release of tension and holding patterns for a more flowing experience.

My first book was published in 2019 ~ The Pause to Relax Ladies, For Robust Heart Health. Having had a medical moment of AFib that landed me in the hospital, I was forced to peek into the lens of my life in regard to stress, sleep, and slowing down. In my book, I share powerful analogies from my years of riding racehorses, illuminating the parallels between an extraordinarily demanding sport and the dangerous pace and speed of women's lives and its impact. My own life lessons learned to ensure abundant health were actually blessings in disguise! My 34 years as a holistic educator and LMT allowed for crisp clarity to empower others for an enhanced quality of life, especially in the midst of these pandemic years.

As I dug deeper in research I found that heart disease is the #1 life stealer of women and felt called to share this timely nugget of information with all. When reading the fact that women surpassed men of dying from CVD in the 1980s, my drive deepened to get the word out. This small inspiring book is in E-book format, on Amazon, in bookstores, and includes my Wise Heart Health for Women program I created, along with 9 Pillars of Heart Disease Prevention I have taught for years.

With the meteoric rise in stress levels and the need for holistic solutions due to the pandemic, it becomes clear to see the value and need for this guidebook, as chronic stress impacts heart health.

My greatest joy, along with loving my 6 Grandkids, is helping others connect the dots to naturally embrace health and wellness to thrive, not merely survive through 2022 and beyond.