MEET KATIE
Flying tandem on this path with you
The freedom we seek does not live outside us.
It emerges as we learn to stay present and connected to ourselves and our world, as it is.
My name is Katie, and I've been the voice behind Freebird Meditations since 2012.
HOW IT STARTED
It started simply: a nudge from a friend to record that first guided meditation and share it on YouTube. Over time, more recordings followed, slowly and organically, the way this kind of thing tends to grow.
But the interest in mindfulness, presence, and body awareness had been there long before that first recording, quietly taking shape through other doorways.
My very first love was yoga. I can still recall my first Rodney Yee DVD, how it slowed everything down and helped me feel connected to myself in a way I hadn't experienced before.
Not long after, I read Awakening the Buddha Within, my first real introduction to Buddhist philosophy and mindfulness. It came during a time of anxiety and uncertainty as a young adult, and gave language to experiences I hadn't yet understood. Then I began practicing meditation and mindfulness on my own.
THE PATH
I later studied and eventually trained in insight meditation, and explored a wide range of contemplative, spiritual, and psychological frameworks, mostly to work through my own stuff first (which has been an ongoing process.)
I've always been a curious seeker, exploring all kinds of paths, but there came a point, many years later, when I stopped looking outward and became more interested in what was already here. I remain deeply grateful to all my teachers, and I still love learning, but my path shifted toward turning inward and trusting what emerges from within.
This process takes time, and it continues. As it became more lived, I began to experience a kind of freedom that's difficult to fully describe. Like light through water, it's something you feel before you can name,
THE WORK
Alongside that personal path, I became a mental health therapist, a shift from my original desire to work in Radio/TV/Film. There was a deeper pull toward working with people in a more meaningful way, and I've been doing so for over 20 years.
My therapeutic approach and training have evolved over time. I began with cognitive, insight-based, and existential frameworks. Mindfulness-based psychotherapy became a steady foundation, eventually deepening into trauma-sensitive training and approaches.
Then came somatic work and the beautiful practice of nervous system regulation through Somatic Experiencing®. I recognized almost immediately that this was where my work was heading, and I am currently completing my training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner.
This work met me personally before it ever became part of my professional work. It came from a desire to understand my own nervous system, and to soften the ways past experiences, including trauma and a back injury, were held in my own body.
As I began to integrate the experiences SE provided, something shifted. Life still brought challenges, but I could meet them differently — with more presence, more ease, and a greater sense of alignment with what was actually there.
That experience now informs everything I share through Freebird. Supporting others in developing a more grounded relationship with themselves through nervous system awareness, mindfulness, and embodiment has become one of the most meaningful parts of this work.
In a world that often lives from the neck up, the ability to experience peace and ease as something embodied is both profound and deeply needed. Even small moments of this can open the door to something new.
REGULAR LIFE
I love home life and keeping things simple. In my spare time, when I have it, I enjoy creating art, photography, food, spaces, and experiences.
Movement is also essential for me, especially dancing. Dance is my main medicine, even with an injured back, I still use it to find ease in my body and nervous system, process difficult emotions, and bring a little play and levity to life.
Nature is another place where I feel most grounded and connected, whether hiking, tending to my garden, driving down back country roads, or simply listening to the wind move through the trees. I am a country girl at heart.
Alongside all of this, I share my life with a man named Wolfie and one of the greatest gifts in my life has been our relationship and the little family we've built together. He's quite gifted musically and, once upon a time, was a house music producer and DJ, a genre we both will always love. Lately we've been slowly crafting ambient, spacey electric guitar tracks together. You may hear some of his work woven in here someday.
At the heart of it all, though, I'm just learning to live in a way that feels honest, embodied, and open to the deeper mystery of being here and living this one life we have all be gifted.
THIS SPACE
This space exists to share practices and perspectives that help you reconnect with yourself in a real, grounded way and feel what's possible, not just think about it.
A place where you can land.
A place to get curious about your experience.
A place to explore at your own pace, with no pressure to be anywhere other than where you are.
Supporting you in returning to yourself in a way that is steady, grounded, and not overstimulating is needed in a world that already asks so much of our nervous systems. So perhaps this can be a space to deepen your connection to your own experience, your body, and your life as it is.
Your path may look different than mine. It often does. But if something here resonates, even a little, you are welcome to explore. And perhaps, in your own way, you may one day feel called to light the path for someone else.
With metta,
May we all be happy. May we all be safe.
May we all know peace, and may we all be free.
Wishing you steadiness & ease on your path...
Wherever it takes you, Katie
BACKGROUND & TRAINING
YEARS OF TRAINING, ONGOING STUDY & LIVED PRACTICE
Bringing mindfulness, somatic approaches, nervous system healing, and contemplative traditions into everyday life.
B.S. in Psychology
M.S. in Counseling Psychology
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
LPC Supervisor
20 years in therapy, assessment & applied psychological practice
Certified Mindfulness-Based Therapy Practitioner & Meditation Teacher
Certified Somatic Attachment Therapist
Trained in Trauma-sensitive Mindfulness & MBSR-trained practitioner
Koru Mindfulness Educator Training
20+ years of personal practice in insight meditation (Vipassana) traditions
Certified Yoga Instructor (200 hr)
Somatic Experiencing® (SE™) Practitioner Training , Currently completing Year 2 of 3
EMDR Trained Therapist
Certified Neuropsychotherapist (C-NPT®)
Specialized training in somatics for chronic pain & medical trauma, addiction and attachment
ADHD-Certified Clinical Services Provider
Certified Integrative Mental Health Provider
Psychedelic harm reduction & peer support
Spealized Training in Caregiver support
1,500+ hours of advanced training & continuing education
All work offered by Freebird Meditations is informed by mindfulness and somatic training and is offered as contemplative practice and education, not as clinical care.