When she was a child, Alexandra  found her sense of freedom at the barn.

Horses were her world—a space where she felt connected, alive, and
fully herself. She rode competitively through her early twenties, chasing
the balance of discipline and partnership that only equestrian sport can offer. But like so many riders, Alexandra experienced injuries, concussions, and the pressure to just get back. When she stepped away from riding, she didn’t know that the time apart from horses would hold so much potency and magic. 
 

During that decade away from the barn, Alexandra began a deep personal
healing journey in her 20s.  She immersed herself in yoga, breathwork,
massage therapy, and somatic trauma healing, searching for ways to
understand the patterns of fear, pain, and disconnection that were living in
her body. Through this process, she discovered how the nervous system shapes not only how we heal—but how we live, move, and connect.
 

This exploration led to the creation of her first two educational coaching programs: Embody and Breathe.

Embody helps individuals reconnect to their physical and emotional landscape through somatic awareness, while Breathe offers therapists and facilitators the opportunity to be a certified Be Free Breathwork Facilitator. These programs became the foundation of Alexandra’s work—bridging modern neuroscience with accessible, body-based healing.
 

When she eventually found her way back to horses, she noticed she was able to ride with more presence than before, a deeper connection and awareness of her body that replaced the tension and perfectionism of the past.  The barn became a place of regulation and relationship, not performance and pressure.
 

That return almost 4 years ago inspired the birth of Joyful Equestrian—a space where Alexandra is helping riders heal from injury, fear, and disconnection through nervous system education and somatic awareness. Her work supports equestrians in rebuilding confidence, calm, and trust in themselves and their horses, transforming how they experience both healing and horsemanship.
 

Alexandra’s approach is grounded in over a decade of trauma-informed,
body-based experience:
 

• 15 years as a certified yoga instructor

• 12 years as a breathwork practitioner

• 5 years as a somatic trauma therapist

• Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner training through the International
  Institute for Trauma Healing
   

Today, Alexandra blends these practices to help equestrians regulate their
nervous systems, process the lingering effects of stress or trauma, and reconnect with the quiet confidence that lives beneath fear. Her sessions and programs are warm, grounded, and designed for real equestrians with real lives—people who love their horses and want to show up for them from a place of presence and ease.
 

She is the co-founder of Be Free Healing Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, and the author of Somatic Practices for Equestrians: Healing Equestrian Injury, Accident, and Concussions. Alexandra is also a devoted mother of two human boys, a boy dog, a boy cat, and a GIRL horse. Her name is Peanut!