About Me

Growing up I relied heavily on intellect, and pushed my body aside.

I was born and raised in in Flushing, Queens, which is considered to be one of the most culturally diverse places in the world and is a borough of New York City. I spent a lot of time either immersed in my studies at school, in extra-curricular activities, or hanging out with friends. I stayed really busy. I didn’t feel a sense of home in my body or the ability to rest and relax. I spent a lot of time pushing against my body through excessive exercise or restrictive eating. I certainly didn’t know how to talk about what I was feeling, like the insecurities I had about my body or the disconnect I felt while living in such a concrete landscape.

I began to learn everything I could about cycles of menstruation and fertility.

During my first semester at college, I randomly took a class called “Women, Images and Realities.” That class opened my eyes to core topics I feared looking at beforehand, and provided me with a safe space to begin having healthy conversations about my body and sexuality. I took any class I could about society’s impact on gender and the body, such as “Women and Drugs”, “Women, Love and Sex” and “Feminist Theory”. Myself and like-minded friends began to organize events surrounding marginalized sexual identities and natural cycles, and joined the many voices working to normalize the conversation. We organized Take Back the Night rallies, which were marches throughout town with the intention to bring awareness to LGBTQ violence. We attended local AIDS walks. We ran “Red Tent” events, where we learned together how to make reusable cloth pads and how to chart our menstrual cycles as an alternative to hormonal birth control. I remember feeling a growing sense of home in my body, and complete awe that so many others had similar desires for deeper connection with their bodies, rather than to cast their challenges aside. In being a part of a bigger community working towards similar goals, I also cultivated greater compassion for myself. I realized that I was not alone in the kind of challenges I had been struggling to come to terms with on my own for so long. 

The abortion speak-out that changed my life.

Myself and a few others decided to run an abortion speak-out. We left little leaflets all throughout campus, asking for anyone who had had an abortion to come join us and share their stories, or just listen. I was overwhelmed by how many people came. The room was packed to the brim. Teachers, librarians, students. Old, young. All different races and gender identities. Teachers, friends and strangers alike. Stories ranged from heartbreaking to deeply inspiring. One thing that stood out to me as I listened to all of the stories was that almost everyone went through their abortion process alone. This sparked a desire in me to extend my support to people having abortions and going through various challenges concerning their reproductive health. I knew in my heart that no one should go through hard times alone.

Yoga helped me find a deeper sense of home in my body and help others do the same.

After I graduated college, my continued interest in the body, and my comfort with the Eastern spiritual practices I was surrounded by in my friends homes growing up, led me to study yoga. My training began in 2011 through the Ashtanga system. That training then brought me to study the healing art of Traditional Thai Medicine at the SomaVeda® College of Natural Medicine: Thai Yoga Center, where I completed a 1200hr program in integrative Thai yoga therapy. I started offering therapeutic programs, or a series of 7 sessions wherein I offered an integration of Thai Yoga bodywork and varied aspects of holistic health I was trained to provide through my studies with SomaVeda®, including EFT guidance (Emotional Freedom Technique) and nutritional support . My private practice continued to grow and deepen alongside my group yoga class instruction. 

That’s when somatics entered the picture.

As I taught group yoga classes and led private sessions in SomaVeda® Thai Yoga, I felt like there was something missing. My practice felt mechanized, and I found it hard to access a deeper wisdom which I knew existed inside of my body. That is when I found Embodied Flow™, a school of yoga I began training with in 2015. Embodied Flow™ explores movement through a fusion of somatic exploration, tantric philosophy and Hatha yoga to experience yoga as a living art form. Embodied Flow™ seemed to put all of the pieces together, where I could make sense of the intuitive cycles my body was urging me to pay attention to while establishing devotion to a spiritual path as an adult. I went all over the world to study with Embodied Flow™ including Bali, Greece and Spain. I made a point to really “go for it”, to learn everything I could about the body and how to become embodied within it from teachers who I admired.

Herbalism offered me a new means to understand and connect to natural cycles.

As I began accepting my body more and continued to learn about what it could do, I realized in a whole new way how much my own menstrual cycle and reproductive system are linked to the cycles of the natural world. My desire to feed my body well led me to participate in the local food movement, where I began learning about herbal medicine. I started to attend plant walks and working with herbs to form various home remedies including infused oils, tea and bath blends.

Herbalism seemed like a natural progression to the holistic healthcare and body oriented teachings and lessons I had been experiencing all along. I moved onto an herb farm and took my first herbal intensive training in 2017 with Dina Falconi. In 2018 I began both working as a floor manager at a local herb shop. I also became the head medicinal herb farmer at a private local sanctuary in High Falls NY where I designed and implemented medicinal herb gardens, gathered and preserved the harvest, made herbal remedies, and managed a small herbal apothecary on the property.

My private practice became an integration of all I’d learned up until that point.

As I continued on with my private practice in Thai Yoga therapy, people kept showing up who wanted help with core issues related to their sexual, menstrual and reproductive health. Painful periods, or no periods at all due to restrictive eating. Sexually transmitted infections. Miscarriages. As I worked deeply with my clients within therapeutic programs, I sought to hold space, deeply listen, and help them to establish a sense of safety and trust in their bodies through bodywork using herbal applications, somatic explorations, yoga and meditation. I’ve seen amazing progress happen with these modalities in these spaces. Women getting their periods back. Charting their cycles. Taking time out for themselves. Learning how to love their bodies one day at a time, and starting beautiful self care practices and daily rhythms for health and connection as they did.

When the pandemic hit, I began training in end of life care.

When 2020 came, I found myself needing to pause my bodywork practice, leaving me with some extra time to train in skills I hadn’t yet, but had much interest in. I knew that the majority of my clients had experienced either an abortion or miscarriage at least once in their lives, often several times. It made me sad to know that most of my clients went through these times alone, and that I was mostly seeing people after long afterward. My focused studies on end of life care specific to pregnancy loss, as well as abortion doula care, helped me understand how to provide deepened support to people going through these experiences in real time, just as birth doulas do for those going through active birth. As I opened up my bodywork sessions again, focusing on active abortion and pregnancy loss care became a way provide further comfort and care regarding their menstrual cycles and reproductive health, no matter the circumstance. The awareness that holds true throughout my life’s work is the importance of feeling supported, especially during hard times concerning one’s menstrual, reproductive and sexual health.

What I’m up to now…

I currently offer private sessions for individuals seeking support with their sexual, menstrual and reproductive health, especially pertaining to loss and struggle. Generally speaking, these women are in significant moments of challenge concerning their cycles such as during miscarriages, abortions, menstrual challenges, and reproductive health uncertainty. Sessions integrate my training in meditation, somatics, herbalism, nutrition, gender and sexuality to offer support for people who want to feel a sense of reconnection and trust with their bodies, usually after feeling like they’ve ignored or misunderstood their needs for some time. I also work to help my clients develop routines that integrate rest into their lives and foster deeper connection to their cycles, including through cycle tracking and honoring menstruation through rest. I also teach yoga classes with a focus on embodiment and lead workshops on herbal self care practices. This is all in service to our growing ability to make meaning out of our life experiences and understand that we are not alone in our struggles and that change is a natural part of life. I offer sessions and classes both in-person (Ulster County, NY) and virtually. 

I’d love to connect with you!

Signing up for my E-Newsletter here is a great way to begin getting a feel for my work, and receive tips and resources on practices that I often work with, like herbal self care practices and yoga, as well as news about upcoming events.

Want to schedule a bodywork appointment? Check out my services page here to learn more and schedule.

You can also practice yoga and meditation with me by dropping into a weekly yoga class here.

Want to chat before signing up for a service? Schedule a discovery call with me here, and let’s chat!

You can also get in touch with any questions via my contact page, linked here.

I currently have openings in my weekly yoga classes, herbal self care workshops, and one on one session work. I would love to hear from you soon.

Elizabeth Gross BA/CATP/CTI/YT

Certifications and Trainings

• 2011: Bachelor of Arts in Women & Gender Studies from SUNY New Paltz (BA)

• 2011: Bachelor of Arts in Italian Cultural Studies from SUNY New Paltz (BA)

• 2012: Ashtanga Yoga 200HR (YT)

• 2015: SomaVeda® Certified Advanced Thai Yoga Practitioner (CATP) and Instructor (CTI)

• 2017: Herbal Intensive Program (Led by Dina Falconi)

• 2018: Embodied Flow™ Yoga Certification: 300HR (YT)

• 2018: Inner Yoga Mastery Teacher Training Program with David Harshada Wagner

• 2021: End of Life Doula Certification (The Dying Year)

• 2023: Hospice Volunteer Training (Hudson Valley Hospice)