the golden fermata
The Golden Fermata is named for a symbol in music—an intentional pause between the notes, where time stretches and deep listening becomes possible. It’s the space where the feeling of the music lives. It is not an ending, and it is not a beginning. It is a breath. A listening. A return. This pause—the fermata—is an opportunity for healing through presence. Not in rushing forward. Not in fixing. But in the stillness where the body speaks, and we finally have the space to listen.
The Golden Fermata is an invitation into that sacred pause: to remember, to reconnect, and to choose how you respond.
i would love to tell you a story…
hello… my name is emma…
it is such a joy and honor to meet you in this virtual living room.
if you have a few moments, perhaps pour yourself a cup of tea, grab a favorite corner to cozy up and settle in for a bit…
in 2022, i was hit by a car and told i would never walk again. it was a moment that changed everything.
who i was as a woman, mother, nurse, wife, mom, daughter, friend, plans for the future- everything was up for renegotiation.
there was certainly fear present —and yet somehow offered the clearest invitation i had ever received:
how do i move forward now?
i stood at a threshold between two paths:
one, the safe and expected route of allopathic medicine—surgery, pharmaceuticals, and a deep disconnection from the body.
the other, uncharted and uncertain—an integration of everything i had studied in critical care nursing, herbalism, medical astrology, somatic work, and ancestral healing. there were no models for how to stay in relationship with the body, the earth, and the cosmos in the midst of profound trauma—while still honoring the necessity of western intervention. but i knew what was true for me.
to separate my healing from the plants, from the stars, from the lineage that lives in my bones—that would have been the greater wound. so i chose the unknown. i chose integration…
five months later, i was off all narcotics—guided by the body itself, with yoga, breath, and plants as my companions. these practices held me through an additional five surgeries—healing without narcotics or muscle relaxers. not suffering—healing. and i learned to walk again, in all of the ways—on a path that honored every part of me: nurse, herbalist, daughter, mother, mystic, and maker.
but my understanding of healing didn’t begin—and doesn’t end—with physical trauma. this sweet, tender body of mine has known personal and professional trauma. and it has also known what it means to return. relationship with plants has been foundational in that return. offering me a way to listen to my body, to rebuild trust, and to tend to the grief that had long been buried. in the presence of the plants, i found safety—not because the pain disappeared, but because i no longer believed i was alone.
nature understands the cycles of life, including death and decay.
in a culture of quick fixes and bandaids, when I encountered pain and endings, my initial response was what did i do wrong?
i felt like i should have been able to fix or prevent the discomfort. the process of remembering and re-aligning with the wisdom of the natural world answered these questions directly and gently…
observing nature, gaia, and the nature of life as a cycle: including death, pain, and endings was a profound reminder. it has been, and continues to be, a somatic reminder of process and it’s teachings.
my healing has been holistic—from the physical to the emotional, the energetic to the ancestral.
because these layers are never truly separate, The Golden Fermata is an invitation. a seeing. a feeling. presence. a knowing. there is no wound too big. no story too heavy. no pain too complex. you are welcome here—exactly as you are.
where i come from
this path didn’t begin with my accident. i was trained as a critical care and emergency room nurse. i worked in hospitals for over a decade, served as an administrator in our local hospital system, and managed NICU and pediatric departments.
i was also raised in a home of paradox and magic—my mother cared with her hands through nursing and reiki. she studied yoga and meditation was a common household phrase. my father was a pediatric physician’s assistant who left his career to start a winery in oregon in the 1980s. my grandmother came from italy. my grandfather’s family immigrated from bohemia.
my grandparents were dynamic, vibrant people, their home was a gathering place for artists and creatives- a place where stepping outside of the box was encouraged and celebrated.
they taught me that wisdom lives in both tradition and rebellion.
that healing doesn’t always follow a straight line.
and that doing something before it’s widely accepted isn’t just possible—it’s often necessary.
making medicine, weaving together different ways of knowing, and walking paths that don’t yet exist— it’s not just what i do. it’s who i am.
the philosophy
i created The Golden Fermata to share the ongoing teachings of my experience:
that healing is relational, embodied, and sovereign. that plants offer their medicine freely, without requirement or prerequisite. that there is no one right way—it is an invitation to dance, and co-create with life. these offerings are with the understanding that:
herbalism should be accessible, not gatekept.
plants are not commodities—they are companions.
you do not need permission to begin, end, pivot, dance, reimagine the whole thing.
there is deep wisdom in the pause—and that pause can change everything.
at The Golden Fermata, i offer herbal tinctures and hydrosols attuned to astrological rhythms, experiential workshops, and invitations to come home to yourself. this work is not about fixing. it is about remembering. and i would be honored to walk beside you.
