Today we’d like to introduce you to Maya Weber Hipskind.
Hi Maya, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
After high school, I started taking college classes and feeling aimless as I had no clue what I was going to do the rest of my life. I started figuring out what I did not want and quickly came to know that I wanted to find a way to help others.
In 2012 I obtained both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in social work, graduating top five in my class. Since then, I have worked with adults with various mental health diagnoses, families with children exhibiting disruptive behaviors, child survivors of sexual trauma and exploitation, children and adolescents with inappropriate sexualized behaviors, and complex trauma. By 2018 I obtained a social work license, becoming a registered LCSW with the state of Florida, granting me the ability to work with clients independently.
My love for yoga began in 2014 when I took my first class. Due to increasing stress as an individual therapist, I turned to yoga in order to find my strength. I became determined to make it to a class when I wasn’t working. I had so much passion for what I did to aid clients and their families on a daily basis, however, I began finding myself absorbing their pain. Slowly, it felt as though yoga brought back my light.
I eventually completed my yoga teacher training through the Fluidus Method, developed by well-known local Miami yogis, Jason Lawner and Carlos Toa Sanchez. The Fluidus Method is a form of teaching yoga that emphasizes both optimal postural alignment as well as somatic body awareness, all while practicing asana. I slowly began to see the physical impacts of emotional distress and trauma in the body connected with the benefits of restoring simple functional movements along with intricate body awareness.
In 2016 I began teaching adults and children in community classes across Miami, leading students in various types of movement such as Vinyasa, Restorative, and Power, taking into consideration the Fluidus Method alignment. However, harmonizing the practice of yoga asana, mindfulness, breath and somatic engagement within the flow of each class has been the gateway to understanding how the mind, emotions, and body find connection; therein assisting my clients with how they can associate with their bodies in a world that can be chaotic, rushed and judgmental. Quickly, I noticed that if clients were able to connect and relax their physical body, they would respond to emotional triggers with much more ease, promoting a reduction in symptoms and an increase in overall functioning.
In the spring of 2021, I obtained my Hypnotherapy certification, taking me further into the world of understanding the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind and how they play a role in the creation of belief patterns and cognitive distortions that ultimately lead us to our habits and why we do what we do.
My goal as a therapist and yoga practitioner is to share this form of healing with others. I take what I have learned through the years of experience and practice, and combine it with a sense of meditation through movement, prana, and somatic connection, allowing one to feel grounded in an effort to promote overall welling.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road to where I am currently has not been easy, nor simple. Being in private practice is scary in so many ways, especially since my professional experience has been in non-profit agencies where there are loads of supervision and overhead above me, which felt safe because I knew if I needed backup of any kind (primarily legal), I would not have to face it alone. However, once I was able to find ways to network within my community, I was able to find crucial connections that have helped me along the way with any burning questions or concerns that have come up. Once I realized that I truly was not alone and that there are others around me who have been in private practice much longer who are willing to help me without question, I felt safe and free to explore the depths of my entrepreneurial and private practice bounds.
Outside of the scope of basics on how to run my business, I knew I needed to “do the work” just like my clients were doing. When my mother passed in 2020, right on the brink of us striving to understand the pandemic, for the first time I became aware of my own traumas and that I had much more shadow work to do in order to feel truly whole and fulfilled.
It was not until her death that I was able to admit that I also came from an upbringing that left many scars and trauma responses to this day. I found that to be able to be fully transparent and aligned with what my clients’ needs are, I also had to face parts of my shadow that I had not realized even existed. This is the work I continue to do to this day and is crucial in the understanding of how I relate to my clients and their experiences. And if you have ever done shadow work before, you know what I’m talking about!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Most recently I have dedicated my practice to helping my clients heal from trauma through both cognitive and somatic engagement practices. Throughout the years there has been a growing body of evidence indicating that the connection between the mind and body are closer than we realized, which is extremely exciting as we have come to understand that one cannot be truly separate from the other. As a therapist, I strive to guide my clients through their own understanding of this connection and how it affects their story of trauma and limiting distortions, ultimately allowing them to move forward and begin the healing process. As a somatic release practitioner, I use various modalities to facilitate a somatic experience for my clients, in turn connecting the physical responses being played out in their bodies with corresponding cognitive distortions that may be linked to past traumas.
In turn, what I provide for my clients is an understanding and awareness of how trauma can manifest in the ways we show up to the world; ergo what we believe about who we are, what we are capable of, and how we make choices based on these beliefs. I guide my clients through a combined intervention of cognitive restructuring of maladaptive patterns and habits, conjointly with how the body responds to daily functionality.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Since I have been in private practice, there has been a positive shift towards understanding the connection between the way we cognitively process our world, and the way our bodies physically respond to our internal and external worlds. As we move closer towards accepting this union, we can not only hope to treat and heal trauma but hopefully live in a mindset of full awareness and acceptance without judgment and fear. This can allow more people who are experiencing current or past trauma triggers and reminders to seek out the assistance needed to move forward with grace and compassion.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mayaweberyoga.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayahippy_lcsw/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayamazingyoga
Image Credits
John Miller
