Imagine sitting on a pillow in a warm, dimly lit room while a soothing voice guides you through a restorative meditation session. In the words of leader Stacy Hirsch, MES, ACC, CDWF, it is “an invitation to go inside and learn more about your inner workings and to do so as you practice self-compassion, kindness, acceptance and gratitude.
Stacy, a busy mom, is co-owner and director of Hirsch Center for Integrative Medicine, founder of Life Takes Practice, and personal growth and development coach of Live Wide Awake.
With a lifelong desire to make a difference in the world through service, Stacy studied the connection between human health and the environment, nutrition, yoga, meditation, and nonviolent communication.
A long battle with illness led to a passion for health coaching. For three years Stacy struggled with debilitating, chronic fatigue. Her healing journey opened pathways of learning and growth that she now shares with her clients. Studies into how shock and developmental trauma affect long-term health impacted her beliefs about healing. “We all come here with a purpose or a gift to share,” Stacy states. “Trauma and adversity sometimes blocks our path to fully expressing that gift or calling. It blocks our full self-expression. In my experience it is the relationship to the blockage, adversity or stuckness that has the power to impact our physical health.”
Stacy is passionate about finding and treating the root cause of illness. They may be physical, environmental, or emotional – necessitating a whole-body/whole-spirit approach to healing found at the Hirsch Center. Here you will find holistic treatments including nutritional therapy, sauna, massage, and lifestyle changes, in addition to a caring and committed staff. “It is a practice that is for those who want to explore, learn and be curious about their health,” she says.
One aspect of the holistic healing practice is personal growth and development coaching.
With Life Takes Practice and Live Wide Awake, Stacy combines her many skills and strong beliefs in the power of personal growth to help clients “live wide awake.” She teaches fundamental practices, such as hydration, forgiveness, mindfulness, and movement. The focus on practice reminds us that growth is a lifelong process of learning and discovering. “As a coach I get to help hold the container for my clients and the important work they do in learning how to reclaim their full self-expression,” says Stacy in regards to her passion for coaching.
Guidance, acceptance, and generosity are key elements in Stacy’s practice and her life. Recently, she helped launch a program that allows patients of Hirsch Center to offer these things to one another. She realized there was a need in this community for connection – something practitioners of the clinic could not meet. Stacy believes healing happens best in community, but federal privacy regulations made this difficult. Patient 2 Patient was launched in October to offer patients, their caregivers, and loved ones peer support. Patient facilitators hold space each week for those with chronic illnesses to share support and resources with one another.
More projects are in the works for Stacy. She is in the midst of launching an online LTP Lifestyle store and writing a memoir. She is also collaborating on a women’s writing retreat scheduled for spring 2017. She is accomplishing all this while parenting, coaching, and helping to shape the future of the growing Hirsch Center for Integrative Medicine.
When asked what she was most excited about now, her answer was not one of these projects, but the shift she sees happening in the world. Stacy views the turbulence seen daily on the news as a sign of growth, and an opportunity for healing for our country. “We need to become well resourced so we rise to the challenge of addressing our past mistakes instead of crumbling under fear and insecurities. If we can do this then healing becomes available on a global scale. This is the basis for Life Takes Practice. It is a compassionate approach to healing the hardships of the world,” she says. Generosity of spirit and hopefulness are typical of Stacy. Her devotion to the idea that personal growth can, and will, change the world makes her an invaluable asset to the Olympia area. She is a guide to our best selves and community.
You can join her every Friday at 9:00 a.m. There is no cost for the class.
Hirsch Center for Integrative Medicine
3525 Ensign Road NE, Suite G in Olympia
360-464-9965
