About Broken Tusk Wellness Education
Broken Tusk Wellness Education exists to share the open secret of how to achieve self awareness so that life is understandable, manageable, and meaningful.
Having spent nearly twenty years in public and private education helping students with learning difficulties, behavioral issues, and physical limitations, I now turn my attention toward adults who suffer from persistent pain and dis-ease. Why? Because before I began all of these practices, that was me.
Back in 1999, I was diagnosed with bi-lateral carpal tunnel syndrome; cumulative trauma from repetitive stress had rendered my hands and arms relatively useless. I was a regular patient at Stanford Hand Therapy for nearly two years and I signed off on my Workers’ Compensation claim with an 11% disability. Soon after, I was rear-ended on the freeway, totalling my car, exacerbating the injury for which I was no longer receiving treatment. The next two years were spent growing increasingly more dependent on a chiropractor and massage therapist, treating sciatica and a new shoulder issue from the accident. Then I was rear-ended again (not as bad). I was so fed up with dealing with insurance companies that I made no claim. That was probably right about the time I gave up and let my body settle into dysfunctional movement patterns that set me on the path to future grief. And that worked, for a while.
Fast forward to 2018: while practicing yoga, I began to notice a pain in my shoulder that seemed to grow more intense when at rest. Curious, I asked my teachers to suggest exercises to strengthen what I thought needed strengthening (my rhomboids), but that made the pain worse! It took a while, but I finally discovered that, as a result of the accidents and how I had coped with the injuries, I had lost all sub-scapular awareness and strength – the weakness was so extreme that I could barely bench press a standard bolster with anything resembling correct form.
My path to bringing a winging scapula to rest and rediscovering structural integrity led me to Clinical Somatic Movement (which corrected my movement and relieved my pain on a somatic level), Myofascial Release (which worked through built-up fascial tissue, allowing for increased movement and freedom), and Alexander Technique (which helped my correct my posture and bring body awareness to the fore of my attention). It has been a long, sometimes quite painful, journey, but I can honestly say that I got myself out of pain. And that felt so powerful that I needed to share it.
As a Wellness Educator, I now offer instruction on how to achieve this for yourself: Kriya Yoga provides a foundation in the self; Ayurveda provides insight on how to live in balance with your inherent nature; Clinical Somatics brings awareness and lasting ease to the body.
Your journey to wellness with me by your side begins the moment you decide to make your life a little better. Whenever you’re ready, Broken Tusk Wellness Education will be here to light your way.
– Astra