Tara Matthews, L.Ac.
Soul Body Ojai Spaceholder
I entered the healing professions because it was the most natural thing in the world for me. At first, in college, I studied for medical school because, as an academic, it made perfect sense. Being a doctor would allow me to help. But I also found yoga in college and the practice opened abilities that were not well defined in the western model. A minor injury to my knee as a young adult brought me to Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine, and that was the both the end and the beginning. I began my studies in Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine before I left my undergraduate program and there was only destiny before me.
My yoga practice evolved into teacher trainings, from Hatha to Iyengar and then to Kundalini. And again, I never looked back. Chinese Medicine, Daoism and Kundalini Yoga became framework and lifework, a deep remembering, as they still are,almost 20 years later. In between, I have studied Earth based medicines, energywork, Sat Nam Rasayan, and within a dear Priestess lineage. Working as a solo practitioner for over a decade, my practices became my life.
Upon moving to Ventura County with my family, I found my community and the deeper calling of holding space for other healers and teachers has become an equal calling to my healing work. While I continue to deepen my studies with my own teachers, I also find happiness in providing openings for others to find their path, too~ in real ways. From offering Retreats and Journeys, Teacher Trainings, classes, and healing sessions. These offerings both stretch and nourish me.
There are callings and then there are mandates. Soul Body Ojai is a mandate for me. The community, the land, the space, the inner and outer space of it…the students and clients who move through our doors and classes and under our hands in the treatment rooms, the teachers and practitioners who are my family. This community is a great privilege to be a part of. And there is room to grow together. (And we do!) Thank you for reading this far and sharing my story with me. If I can help remind you of the medicine you bring into this world, I would love to be of service.