This is a safe space for vegans, vegetarians, and plant-based eaters

This is a safe space for vegans/vegetarians/plant-based eaters. You are safe to be yourself here, and you are safe to continue eating that way. I know it’s a difficult path because so many people will try to knock you off of it due to a lack of knowledge and honestly just projecting judgment because they’ve been subconsciously programmed to think eating meat and animal products is American and manly and ‘healthy’, and so on.

It is entirely possible to be healthy and happy on a vegan/plant-based diet. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. How do I know? Because I’ve tried every way of eating, and here I am on a plant-based diet, and I feel the best that I have ever felt. I made this choice for ethical reasons AND for health reasons. Am I still healing some issues? Oh, for sure. But they didn’t start while eating this way...

I think when people are unwell, most doctors and health practitioners when hearing the word vegan, automatically assume that you’re anemic and blood deficient, because society has taught them to think that way. And eating meat is a quick and easy fix—although it rarely fixes the problem. And in terms of Chinese medicine I see women and men that are blood deficient that are eating a diet full of meat and animal products. I also see anemia in their bloodwork while eating this way too. It’s not black and white. There are so many factors that go into disease and lack of health, and it goes beyond what we eat.

However, what we eat is important, it truly is. So if you need help on figuring out nutrition and how to eat well while still being a vegan or vegetarian, then I am here to help. And I won’t try to get you to change your belief systems, and I will not tell you that the only way to not be anemic is by eating meat. I have been vegetarian for twelve years and have not once been anemic. I have been eating vegan/plant-based (I do eat honey) for the past two years and have noticed many big leaps in my own healing journey.

This isn’t saying this is the only path to heal and I have no goal of getting more people on my path, but I am saying that if you have chosen the same path as me, I am here and I will support you and there is a way to find true healing and balance on this path. The world of nutrition is such a mess and is inundated with so many trends, glittery tag lines telling you this is THE way, and really just a lot of misinformation and judgment it put it simply. If you choose eating this way for ethical reasons and for a more sustainable earth, then hold onto that. It’s precious. Your belief systems are your gold. Choosing to not perpetuate violence is pure gold. It is your currency and big companies will try to buy you back any way they can.

I have a deep maternal love for animals and this has fueled me to stay on this path. I felt pressured at one point to up my protein and eat some fish. I did it, and I did not feel better. The protein thing is a myth you guys. All plants have proteins. You also don’t need the fancy protein powders to get it. There are right ways to living this lifestyle and eating nothing but French fries and soy meat is not going to help you heal. You have to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. You need to eat more frequently. We aren’t meant to go hours and hours on end without eating, even if eating animal products will allow you to do so. It’s okay to snack on fruits and veggies every couple hours. This will keep your blood sugars stable—a good combo of natural sodium, glucose, and potassium will keep you balanced and will keep your adrenals happy. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to live this lifestyle. I am here to show you the healthy way to live this lifestyle. I feel it is my gift to share this journey with you and help guide you in any way you may need.

Please welcome Dana to our healing space

Dana Penenberg of Integrative Energetics 

Hi everybody! I am happy to welcome Dana Penenberg, who will be joining us at our healing space here in Los Angeles. She is a reiki master and craniosacral therapist. You can read more about her modalities and her style below.

A little bit about Dana:

I am a certified master practitioner of Holy Fire Reiki and Integrative Craniosacral Unwinding. I am a Los Angeles native and graduate of Bennington college with a background in dance, somatic disciplines, and psychology. I have pursued the study of pre and perinatal psychology with Annie Brook and have experience in infant developmental movement. A 12 year recovery from Chronic Lyme disease led me to my Reiki and Craniosacral teachers. I have spent this time cultivating my understanding of true healing through trial and error, involving some of the top medical specialists, through western and eastern modalities, and across multiple states and countries. I am drawn to this work because it supports and activates the individual's own healing process. I am devoted to the unfolding of the healing process on all levels and subsequent strengthening of purpose in my clients. I love working with mothers and infants through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and am pursuing doula certification to support this experience with my energy work.

Here is a further description of the healing work that she does:

The primary intention in my work is to assist the transition of spirit into the physical. I have found that opening up the craniosacral system is an embodied way of existing dimensionally.

Holy Fire Reiki is an upgraded form of the energy, which is said to bypass the ego of the practitioner. It works to heal blockages continuously as they arise. It resolves issues thoroughly and efficiently while maintaining respect of free will. This Reiki induces a sense of safety and a deeply nurturing feeling of being loved.

Craniosacral is so restorative to the nervous system. It awakens the parasympathetic processes and unwinds shock and trauma through the tissues and field. Giving a session feels like existing in divine love, channeling and embodying a feminine receptivity and nurturing. I perform manual techniques that cater to the parasympathetic nervous system and cradle the tissues and field into full expression.

This modality is very beneficial for trauma, PTSD, car accidents, anxiety, or neurological conditions. I am able to source the emotional root of the symptom or injury with clients, which usually resolves physical pain as well. This work is very potent around pregnancy and birth. I often trace symptoms back to birth events and resolve those threads to relieve the present. This can prepare a mother to give birth without repeating traumatic cycles.

Somatic processing and inner child integration are foundational aspects of my work. Whether or not we are able to verbalize events, or if they are preverbal, they are living in our tissues and need space to express and move through us. I process through birth and childhood with clients to integrate in places where they have fragmented, contracted, or dissociated. This usually results in tremors, chills, or tears, evolving into vibrations or an increase in sensation of the body. These responses are discharges of the nervous system and an ultimate return to wholeness and embodiment. A client enters with renewed neural connections into the present.

Throughout a session along with verbal and somatic processing: I listen in the field, unwind the field, the organs, open the diaphragms, unwind the cranial bones, bring the client to a stillpoint, and open the field to vibrancy. I set my fulcrums and ask how I can resource for my client. I listen, follow, and reflect. I support the unfolding of their innate intelligence, which reveals pathways out of the subconscious, tissues and field. The midline, energetic essence is reinforced so the client is attuned to their soul’s purpose and earthly expression.

My healing experience with Dana:

I had the honor of having a healing treatment with Dana recently and I’d love to share my experience for those of you that I think could truly benefit from this type of healing modality. If you have a sensitive nervous system like me, this is for you. If you’ve ever experienced trauma that your body never quite processed and hid away (maybe everyone?), then this is for you. Dana helped me correlate my fear of feeling trapped (being panicked on an airplane has become a very real and very irrational fear for me, and I have just been feeling trapped and anxious anywhere where I can’t leave whenever I want to), to a trauma that happened at birth. My birth was rather quick, showing that I was more than ready to get out of the womb—I felt trapped and was taking on my mother’s emotions (but really, the negative emotions from my dad towards my mom). I could feel it for the last few years, and I felt it was something that needed to be released but I didn’t know how to. I never had a fear of flying before so innately I knew this was an old fear that wasn’t properly processed.

I know everyone has a different experience during energy healing sessions, as it will be whatever you personally need. So, mine is unique to me and what I needed. At the beginning of the treatment I felt this wild oscillation of energy through my body. It felt like my body had no container, like I just existed in an infinite outer space. I have felt this on a few occasions during mediations, or randomly in the middle of the night. I’ve always felt afraid though, because it was so startling and I would always open my eyes, and shake my body around to feel it again. So being able to feel this type of energy in a safe space allowed me to sit with it and feel it without opening my eyes and shaking myself to get the feeling to go away. Once I released into it, it stayed for the time it needed and then it was gone. It really only lasted a couple minutes. Isn’t it funny when that happens? The emotions and feelings we are always looking to hide and run away with, when felt, pass quite effortlessly and quickly. The rest of the treatment was very healing, and I felt my body begin to release and relax more and more. It was very gentle, but coming from someone who feels subtle energy so deeply, I knew it was powerful. I highly recommend a treatment from her.

Please visit Dana’s website to book your appointment here.