Hana Clare Raftery
Somatic Life Coach - M.S. in Occupational Therapy - Yoga Teacher - Ayurvedic Health Counselor - Breathwork Facilitator - Reiki Healer - Safe & Sound Protocol Provider
My Story
As a highly sensitive toddler-mom and multi-passionate solopreneur, I know burnout well.
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I’ve burned out in all the ways you can imagine. I’ve burned out from sensory overwhelm and overstimulation. I’ve burned out from pulling all-nighters studying. From people-pleasing and over-giving emotional support to bosses and friends. I've burned out from vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue in community mental health work. I’ve burned out from working multiple jobs to pay the bills while following my dream to start my own business. Then I burned out from starting my own business. Most recently, I’ve burned out from the sleepless nights and endlessly overwhelming and overstimulating challenges of early motherhood.
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The impacts of chronic overwhelm and overstimulation on my nervous system are very real for me. Throughout my life I’ve experienced digestive issues, hypersensitivity, anxiety and panic attacks, low libido, challenges with sleep, fatigue, pain flare-ups, disconnection in my relationships, lack of inspiration and creativity…and I’ve tried a lot of different approaches (medical interventions, diets, talk therapy, you name it) to manage these symptoms with varying success.
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Most approaches I have tried help a little for a while, but feel like a bunch of different bandaids for different symptoms. The approaches that have been most successful for me, the ones that really get to the root of it all and creating last change across the board, center around understanding and honoring the needs of my highly sensitive nervous system.
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By necessity, I have been on a life-long journey of deepening my understanding of the nervous system and setting up the structure of my life to honor my body's needs through the study and practice of yoga, ayurveda, breathwork, reiki, meditation, life coaching, occupational therapy, polyvagal theory, somatics and sensory processing science.
It is an honor and a privilege to bring my decades of study and lived experience to others as they navigate a pathway out of burnout. My goal is that you leave our work together feeling more rested, vibrant, and creatively fulfilled.
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Some fun facts about me:
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Birth Order: Eldest Daughter
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Astrological Birth Signs: Aries Sun, Libra Rising, Libra Moon
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Ayurvedic Dosha: Pitta - Vata Predominant
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Myers Briggs Personality Type: INFJ
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Enneagram: 2
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Human Design: Projector
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My Point of View on Healing from Burnout
1) Burnout is not your fault.
Burnout is not your fault. You aren’t "doing it"wrong. There is no hack. We live inside exploitative external systems like capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy that make it nearly impossible to get what we need for body systems to thrive (especially for marginalized bodies). We are taking in 24 hour global news cycles, addictive social media feeds and fluorescent lights instead of morning sunlight, home cooked seasonal meals, and the nourishment of friendship. We live in isolated nuclear families and many of us don't have the support we need. We don't have time or space to process our emotions. In many cases, we are stuck working long hours in a role that doesn't allow us to express our creativity or offer our gifts to the world.
Healing from burnout is not all about better self-care, it's about better community care and system change.​
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2) The world needs your creative aliveness.
Now, more than ever, the world needs the neurodivergent folks and highly sensitive folks...the ones who feel deeply and think differently...to see a new path forward for our world.
The world needs your sensitivity, your creativity, your passion, your ALIVENESS. The world needs your deeply attuned mothering, your healing arts practice, your non-profit, your art, your writing. The world needs your vision and your gifts. Burnout robs us all of that.
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3) Understanding your unique nervous system needs is necessary to heal from burnout.
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Healing from burnout is not necessarily about “working less” and “resting more.” If you have experienced trauma, are neurodivergent, or have sensory processing sensitivities, your nervous system requires a different approach to rest and work.
Traditional ways of approaching rest will likely make you even more anxious or cause you to dissociate (meditation is NOT always the answer and can often make things worse!!). Traditional ways of approaching work will likely be boring or overwhelming for you (9-5 jobs absolutely do NOT work for everyone and there are other ways!!). If you are following the mainstream advice that is not meant for your nervous system, you may even be exacerbating the overwhelm and overstimulation and cycling deeper into burnout.
My Resume
Formal Education
B.S. in Exercise Biology, U.C. Davis, 2012
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M.S. in Occupational Therapy, San Jose State University, 2015
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Certificates & Training
200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, Avalon Yoga Center, 2008
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Massage Therapy Training, Massage Therapy Institute, 2009
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Art of Yoga: Using Yoga and Art to Empower At-Risk and Exploited Teen Girls Teacher Training, Mary Lynn Fitton, 2013
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Prison Yoga Project Teacher Training, James Fox, 2013
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Advanced Yoga Teacher Training for Special Populations (Aging, Prenatal, Cancer, Youth, and Trauma-Informed Populations), Niroga Institute, 2014
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MBSR: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training, Stanford University, 2014
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Trauma, Memory, and the Restoration of Oneself, Bessel Van Der Kolk, 2016
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Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Mentorship, Rolf Gates, 2016
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Y12SR: Yoga for 12-Step Recovery Training, Kyczy Hawk, 2018
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Reiki Level I/II Training, Arda Ozdemir, 2018
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Mamayurveda: Ayurveda for Women's Health Training, Sunny Rose Healey, 2019
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Breathwork Facilitator Training, Michael Brian Baker, 2019
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Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, Scott Moore, 2019
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800-Hour Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Radiant Living School of Ayurveda, 2020
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Ayruvedic Postpartum Doula Certificate Training Program, Sacred Window Studies, 2020
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Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training, Bliss Baby Yoga School, 2020
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500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, Rolf Gates, 2020
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Integrative Somatic Parts Work Certificate, The Embody Lab, 2022
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Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders, The Embodied Recovery Institute, 2022
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Safe and Sound Practitioner Certificate, Unyte Integrated Listening Systems, 2023
My Teachers
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