Sarah Jackson Coaching

Hi, I’m Sarah.

I’m a coach, writer, and teacher living off the coast of southern California with my cutest pookie face pup, Lily. 

Before my work as a coach, I was working on a PhD in spiritual formation and teaching college English; but years of chronic invisible illness and trauma drew me to this work of helping people release stored trauma, rewire their brains, and practice embodied faith. 

I spent much of my twenties and early thirties in bed, incapacitated by chronic invisible illness.

Doctors offered a lot of labels during those years: CFS/ME, CIRS, Lyme, MCS, dysautonomia, anxiety, depression.

With each new proposed diagnosis, I tried new treatments, experimenting with a blend of Western and holistic medicine, but nothing helped in the long-term, with my body always returning to a baseline of illness.

Along the way, repeated traumas intensified illness, clarifying for me the relationship between trauma and health challenges. 

Throughout those years, my grief was overwhelming, and my hope grew threadbare. I wrestled with painful questions for God and wondered if my suffering would eventually lay waste to my faith. 

I spent a lot of time reading the Gospel of John during the years in bed, drawn to the stories of Jesus healing the sick. I was struck that he showed such value for people’s souls and bodies. He valued the whole person.

Fairy tales like Narnia and the Lord of the Rings have what J.R. Tolkien calls a Eucatastrophe — a sudden glorious plot twist that defies expectation.

The Eucatastrophe in my story is that God used my years of illness to teach me the value of my soul. He used those years to help me begin to believe a story in which I was utterly beloved. 

Since childhood, I’d known I was loved, even cherished, by God, but much of that knowledge was cognitive, a function of my head, not my heart.

The emotional heart and limbic brain need experiences of love to really believe it. I needed to taste and see how God drew near with love and compassion, even when I was throbbing with anger and doubt — even when I had nothing special to offer him. 

It was on this foundation of soulful healing that I began to experience physical healing, when I discovered the role of the limbic system in chronic systemic illness and began rewiring my limbic system with a blend of cognitive, somatic, and spiritual practices. 

Over time, with focused, consistent rewiring, I began to get my life back: exercising, traveling, cultivating local community, and building my coaching business. As my neurological capacity opened up, I intentionally processed grief and began drawing protective boundaries, both of which ushered in more healing.

I began to build on my personal and PhD research, completing a certified apprenticeship with a somatic practitioner and completing trainings in BioSpiritual Focusing and Somatic Processing. 

Today, I am grateful to be able to share what I have learned with you, through my monthly virtual class and my monthly membership, Restore.

My focus, in all of my resources, is honoring and resourcing both body and soul by offering holistic practices for the nervous system, mind, and heart.

I am so glad you’re here and hope you find deep healing in this space. 

Further up and further in,

Sarah