Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Garet.
Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always been fascinated by storytelling and dreaming, ever since I was small. I was also a child that felt things deeply and felt a calling, a knowing, that I was here to listen to story, to hold space for others, and to create spaces for making something beautiful from pain and suffering. There have been many iterations of my creative space holding and storytelling. In my almost 50 years of life, I have created stories through song, performance, and poetry. As I moved through life, I shifted to creating space for others’ stories too. This led me to becoming a social worker after a career in vocal performance and musical theater. I worked in so many capacities as a social worker, in community clinics, in hospitals, at New York University as a Crisis Response Counselor. Throughout all these years and roles, I also had a small private practice that I grew slowly over time. I made the leap into my full-time private practice four years ago and feel tremendously proud of myself for taking this leap. It wasn’t easy.
I have always played it relatively safe when it came to life. I would take steps but always with caution. I would ease into new beginnings with a plan but as I found more inner wisdom and stability, I began to take greater risks.
I say ALL of this to emphasize that my ability to take more risk was in great part due to my own inner healing work especially my discovery of experiential methods of healing that included breathwork, reiki, somatic experiencing, and meditation… These healing practices were revolutionary for helping me access myself with greater depths. I spent years in psychotherapy and it was always amazingly helpful and life-changing but these spiritual practices took my healing to the next level.
As a result of this, I trained in becoming a breathwork practitioner and I also began my journey to become a somatic experiencing practitioner which is a form of healing work that focuses primarily on how we hold trauma in the body.
The combination of these two somatic healing methods inspired me to create my virtual healing practice, AiRE healing, which is dedicated to offering these spiritual practices to people everywhere through my group circles and one and one healing sessions.
These healing practices also allowed me to dream bigger and take greater risks, as evidenced by moving from my childhood home to this beautiful sun-filled Florida land. I dreamed of a life that allowed me and my family to be closer to nature and to the ocean. This became even more clear during the pandemic, the desire to get slow, be in nature, and live life more fully. I feel so grateful for taking these risks and dreaming bigger. I feel gratitude for my new life here and for the healing practices that have helped me feel more connected to my purpose and how my offerings can reach more people.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This is the truth of life. Challenge is a part of life. None of us are exempt of this. I have struggled for most of my life to quiet the noise of my inner pain and trauma. The traumas I experienced as a young child shaped my belief in my own voice and in my capacity to feel safe and secure. I struggled with boundaries and insecurities. I struggled with shame and fear. I struggled with taking up space and feeling free to be seen. I struggled with self-love. The road to coming home to myself has been filled with challenges and I am grateful for all the beings, friends, colleagues, therapists, healers, loved ones who gave me permission to make mistakes and be vulnerable and feel seen and supported.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am proud of many of my gifts that I have had the chance in life to grow. I spent my 20-30’s singing on stages for children and adults, writing and performing my own music, collaborating with other artists, and writing poetry. I loved this time in my life and long to return to this creative practice now.
I am also so proud of my practice now as a body and breath centered therapist. I feel tremendously grateful and moved by this work. Holding space for others, especially others in the creative arts, who are seeking to be more embodied in their life and purpose, is an honor and I love my work.
I feel that my creative practices and my training and my Latina roots, I am a first-generation Colombian-American, and my NYC heart & Florida ocean soul make me uniquely me.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Being authentic and staying connected to my inner wild, creative soul. Making connections with others that lead to greater love and healing in this world.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@jessicagaret.com
- Website: www.airehealing.com
- Instagram: @jessicagaretlcsw
