Currently I call Bancroft my home; but I am a fruit of a distant tree. I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey; immigrated to Canada at the age of eighteen.

No one knew it back then, but I was born a highly sensitive child (HSP). It was difficult for my parents, who were working long hours, to deal with a bundle of emotions. As a young child, I remember spending a lot of time alone crying myself to sleep. Yet that same sensitivity allowed me to experience life more deeply. I had a creative mind drawn to animals, art, poetry, and dance. I didn’t feel comfortable around too many people.

In my teens, I discovered philosophy and psychology. I devoured books that explained what it is like to be an emotional being. I discovered art and fell in love with it. I draw regularly to express my emotions that I could not express. Around 15, I found a small yoga book and began practicing in my room. Yoga became my grounding practice, especially in life’s darker moments.

I struggled with dyslexia, depression, digestive problems, severe anxiety for most of my life. Like most women, I was abused and experienced Trauma. I believed that I was living in a cruel world, felt alone and unworthy. Over the years I learned to value my sensitivity, build my resilience and practiced various techniques to regulate and understand my emotions.

Today I live my dream life. Living off the grid in nature, surrounded by trees, working part time with flexible hours doing what I love. I am in a mutually loving and supportive relationship, we have 2 cats and 2 dogs. We are having lots of fun creating our unique retreat centre and homestead we adore.

Great thing about life is that; it gives you pleasures with the pain. I had ton of fun in my rebellious years–found love and made a good life for myself using my creativity and had a good career. But in my 30’s life slowly started steering downwards. I was feeling sad, uninspired and stuck in my work and personal life. This was when I found martial arts. I trained consistently with discipline for 9 years and became 3rd degree black belt.

This art was a significant player in my personal transformation and healing as it complemented my highly emotional nature and allowed me to find my strength. Also carried me through major life changes.

The power I experienced up until that point was destructive and only caused suffering. So I blocked myself from expressing this energy. But the fire was consuming me from the inside and I didn’t even know it. Classical martial arts, rooted in the introspective lineage of Tibetan monks, offered a different path—one of healing rather than aggression. This training was very difficult for me and took many years for me to accept and understand how it was healing me.

During that time, the universe brought me a lifeline—my friend and coach, C.K., whose guidance helped me through the hardest parts of my journey.

Looking back at those years, my heart is filled with wonder and gratitude for how the universe delicately weaved my unfolding and continues to do so with beauty and grace.

I am a creative and adventurous soul, determined to design and live life on my own terms. My journey through coaching and martial arts has taught me exactly how to do that.

In 2018, yearning for a deeper connection with nature, I took a leap I'd never imagined before—I left the city to live off the grid. With my partner as my anchor, we bought a piece of rural land in Bancroft, Ontario, where we set out to build a home and a retreat centre. After years of pouring our hearts into this dream, it was finally coming to life. But the stress and toll of those years took an unexpected turn.

In 2024, at the age of 43, I was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. The news shattered my world. I was terrified that I might not live long enough to enjoy the dream we had worked so hard to build.

But by then, I had already made a deep commitment to living authentically. I felt connected, loved, and fulfilled. I refused to see cancer as the end of my story. Instead, I chose to meet it as an ally—a profound opportunity to release old narratives and reclaim the parts of myself I had long silenced. It became a journey of cultivating the unconditional love I had withheld from myself.

It has been, without question, a humbling and transformative path—my greatest teacher. With each step, my truest self emerged, and I rediscovered my reasons to live. Today, I feel more aligned and genuinely joyful than ever before.

As my healing continues, I’ve softened into a deeper trust in life. I now see the loving spirit in all things, and I recognize the sacredness of the soul’s heroic journey back to Self.

• 500 hr+ Yoga Teacher Training, School Yoga Institute

• 60 hrs Certified Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy by The EmbodyLab

• Certified Life Coach, OHSC, UK

• Affiliated with My Life Team by Master Certified Coach Cheryl Keates

• 3rd Degree Black Belt -GoJu Ryu Karate, Hasu Dojo

• Reiki Master Practitioner

• Personal practice of Shamanism, White Light Energy Healing, Forest Therapy, Qi Gong and EFT

• Bachelors of Graphic Design, OCADU + 20 years of professional experience both corporate and self employed

• Over a decade of teaching experience in Toronto and Bancroft

• Locally offering services at the Grails Springs Wellness Spa