Who Am I? A Story of Healing, Redemption, and Calling

Hi, I’m Anna. My life’s work as a Christian psychotherapist and yoga teacher wasn’t something I stumbled into—it was something God patiently shaped in me, chapter by chapter. Every season of my life has carried its own beauty, its own pain, and its own invitation from the Lord to heal, surrender, and be remade.

This is that story.

Chapter 1: The Stage That Shaped Me

Before I ever stepped into the world of mental health, I spent 15+ years performing in regional and professional theatre. I loved the stage—the creativity, the storytelling, the way emotions could be transformed into art.

That passion led me all the way to New York University, where I earned my master’s degree in drama therapy. I didn’t know it at the time, but God was already preparing me for a future of helping others express, heal, and reclaim their stories.

Chapter 2: When Strength Became a Struggle

After stepping back from performing, I found a new pursuit—bodybuilding. And for a while, it was exhilarating. It made me feel powerful, seen, and driven.

But slowly, strength became striving.Discipline became obsession. And my body—fearfully and wonderfully made—became an idol I tried to perfect rather than cherish.

God used this season to show me the cracks I didn’t want to see: disordered eating, self-criticism, and a deep ache for identity and worth. This chapter was painful, but necessary—it was the unraveling before the rebuilding.

Chapter 3: Stillness, Surrender, and a Return to Jesus

Everything changed when I discovered yoga—not as a performance, but as a practice of stillness. For the first time in years, I learned to sit with myself. To feel my emotions.To breathe again. And in that stillness, God met me.

He began restoring my relationship with my body, but even more, He drew my heart back to Jesus. The Lord used movement, mindfulness, and breath to soften places I didn’t know were hardened—and to heal the ones I thought were beyond repair.

Stillness didn’t just reconnect me to myself.It brought me back into full relationship with Christ.

Chapter 4: A Calling Rooted in Redemption

Healing changed the course of my life. I pursued my PhD in Mind-Body Medicine, specializing in mental health, because I felt called—deeply called—to help women integrate their minds, bodies, and spirits in ways that lead to freedom.

My purpose today is shaped by every step of this journey:the creativity of theatre,the discipline of bodybuilding,the stillness of yoga,and the redemption of Jesus Christ.

God wastes nothing. Not a chapter. Not a tear. Not a season.

Chapter 5: The Selah Space — Launching March 2026

Now—years later, and fully aligned with what God has asked of me—I’m preparing to open The Selah Space, a community for women who are ready to heal, breathe again, and rediscover the God who meets us in both stillness and struggle.

This space was born out of my own healing, but it exists for yours.

Whether you’re battling an inner critic, navigating chronic anxiety, wrestling with identity, or simply longing for peace…

There is room for you here.There is rest for you here.There is healing for you here.

Your Turn: What Has God Used in Your Story?

Just as God used each chapter of my journey to shape my calling, He is shaping yours too.

• What chapters has He used to bring healing or transformation?

  
  

• Where did breaking become rebuilding?

  
  

• What season brought you back to Him?

I would love to hear your story.Because your chapters matter.And because healing happens when we pause, breathe, and share what God has done.

www.theselahspace.org