We had the good fortune of connecting with Lilly Roche and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lilly, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I worked for many years in our traditional medical system. I mostly did occupational therapy in the home health and skilled nursing settings. I felt limited in these spaces in the way I could work with individuals towards greater healing. While I was working in these settings, I studied yoga, meditation, chaplaincy, sound healing, and Internal Family Systems. After many years of studying and personal healing, I knew it was time for me to integrate all I had been learning so that I could offer it to others. Having my private practice allows me to utilize my whole being to walk alongside others in their healing journey. It is my deepest honor and pleasure to spend such quality time with individuals and to see their growth!

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
It has been such a journey to get to this point in my career. I opened my private practice called Soul Embodied about three years ago. Before that I spent nearly 10 years working as an occupational therapist in traditional settings. During this time, I learned so much, but I began to feel limited in my ability to fully offer the individuals I worked with a healing experience.

As an occupational therapist, we are often known to help people with bathing, dressing, toileting and upper body strength. While these are all parts of our field, we are also trained in mental/emotional wellbeing, spiritual care, and pelvic health. We look at each person as a whole comprised of many parts that functional together to create health.

I like to think of myself as an occupational therapist who dug back to our roots. I incorporate mental/emotional wellness and spiritual care as foundational corner stones to my practice. I also furthered my studies in women’s health focusing on pelvic wellness because I saw this was a missing area for many of my clients.

Each session I have with clients is unique to their specific needs that often change from session to session. We clear out stagnant emotions, unburden limiting beliefs, build self confidence and creativity. We move beyond old patterning to find new ways of relating to others and the greater world. I believe each individual is here to create beauty in the world and that the journey to offering it is through our healing.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As a nature lover and owner of two dogs, I spend lots of time outside…. yes, even in the snowy winter months of Michigan! Our favorite spot to visit in Grand Mere in St. Joseph. The dunes are stunning and you cannot beat the miles of beach front to walk along. We’d make sure there was time for a swim during summer months. We might even try to venture out on the ice in the depth of winter.

My home is also another favorite spot! I have 2.5 acres of mostly wild land filled with nettle, motherwort, pine trees, and blueberries. I’d likely have you over to wonder and forage for yummy treats to add to dinner!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yoga and Internal Family Systems are a HUGE part of what I offer others. Yoga has been such an essential part to my healing journey. It has taught me how to regulate my nervous system, how to become more clear in my mind, and how to nourish my body.

Internal Family Systems has given me a way of relating to my mind and emotions from an integrated perspective. A deep bow to my yoga teachers who have spent many dedicated years of practice to pass along the lineage. A big thanks to Dick Schwartz who is the founder of Internal Family Systems. His continued work in this field feels like such a gem to have in navigating the world.

Website: https://soul-embodied.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilly.roche.s/

Image Credits
MS, OTR/L, YT 500, IFS Coach

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