Welcome to Heart to Soul Cardiac Wellness!
I specialize in optimizing cardiac patients pre and post-cardiac surgery and in cardiac disease prevention.
As a cardiac ICU nurse at a prestigious teaching hospital in NYC since 2006, I understand the entire disease process, medical treatment plans and surgeries and recovery process your cardiac patients experience. I understand their fears and their needs.
My wellness program is designed to complement your Western medical treatment plans, procedures, surgeries and medications to optimize your patient physically and mentally. I found that there was a big hole in assisting a person to make changes necessary to optimize their cardiac health and as a byproduct, their overall health as they moved forward after a cardiac event, or were preparing for cardiac surgery. I created Heart to Soul Cardiac Wellness as a resource to assist your patient in preparing for and stepping through life before and after cardiac surgery and after a cardiac event and hospitalization, with a plan for body, mind, spirit and soul. I also have developed a cardiac disease prevention program which has successfully dropped my clients’ cholesterol 30 points in two months without any additional medications.
How the Heart to Soul Cardiac Wellness program works:
The eight week, weekly lecture curriculum includes a work plan and homework assignments, further customized based on the patient’s own knowledge base, health status and goals.
I trend baseline vitals, labs, to include lipids and inflammatory markers, A1C, blood glucose and insulin administration history and an EKG, at the beginning and at the conclusion of the eight week program. I educate the patient on the process of what they will experience, and provide them with support so they can approach this life hurdle in a frame that is mentally clear and grounded. I work with the patient using modalities such as whole food plant based nutrition, and Ayurveda holistic care, for wellness maintenance or in prep for surgery. We prepare the oral cavity for ventilation, use early incentive spirometry to exercise the lungs, implement customized cardiac yoga, to strengthen the intercostal muscles and open the sternal area musculature in prep for surgery. The cardiac yoga I am trained in and develop for each patient is customized for their cardiac and medical history, medications and exercise tolerance. I also incorporate meditation and mindfulness tools to alleviate and redirect stress. I support the patient when facing the uncertainty of their disease process and surgery and step them through post op by providing tools so they can maximize their control, comfort and assimilation into their “new normal.”
The goal of my program is to educate, support and give cardiac patients tools so their health can be optimized, translating to less stress, fewer readmissions, fewer post-op complications, and a positive redirection in their cardiac and medical wellness journey. This equates to a healthier and more grounded patient for you.
Please note: The successful patient in this program is highly motivated to completely change their nutrition and lifestyle, is open to new modalities they may not have experienced, and will be compliant with the program.
While health and healthcare is priceless, my program is not covered by insurance. My program is a health and wellness investment.
I would love to help your patients, and greatly appreciate your patient and colleague referrals to me and Heart to Soul Cardiac Wellness. I live in NYC but am available to work with clients anywhere via Facetime or phone!
To work with me or to refer a patient or colleague to me, I may be contacted at: Hearttosoulcw@gmail.com
I am grateful for your referrals! Thank you!
My Qualifications:
I have been a registered nurse specializing in cardiac ICU since 2006. Prior to becoming a nurse, I managed medical practices, and also was a systems and operations manager for a medical billing company, which brought me to NYC from Southern California. I teach yoga! I teach ISHTA based flow. I create a specialized, customized cardiac yoga class, working with the patients’ cardiac diagnosis, comorbidities, medications, and operative status, all of which can impact mobility and exercise tolerance.
My qualifications include 500 hours certified ISHTA (Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda) yoga teacher training, 100 hours certified in highly specialized Cardiac and Medical yoga teacher training. I am certified in Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition by the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies through Cornell. I hold an additional nursing certification: CCRN, Critical Care Registered Nurse. My nursing degree is from the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing in New York City. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. I am a Californian who happens to live in NYC!
I love to learn, and remain current in my specialty by attending cardiology, wellness and yoga conferences, and am continually exploring new holistic modalities to incorporate into the Heart to Soul Cardiac Wellness, LLC program. My patients and my clients are my best teachers, though, in the school of life!
I enjoy sharing tips from my learning journey on my Instagram account: @hearttosoulcw Check it out!
More about my experience:
In my 12 years of experience as a cardiac intensive care unit (CCU) nurse at a premiere teaching hospital in New York City, I have worked shoulder to shoulder with some of the finest Attending Cardiologists, Interventional Cardiologists, Electrophysiology Cardiologists, and Cardiothoracic Surgeons and their teams of Interns, Residents, Fellows, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and medical students in caring for patients. I have rounded bedside with these teams daily. I have taken care of patients post cardiac arrest, kept them alive on left ventricular assistance devices, intra-aortic balloon pumps, numerous intravenous and central lines and multiple lifesaving drips. My care for patients on complete life support has included ventilators, initiating and maintaining hypothermia protocol, in which a patient is placed in an induced coma and chilled for 24 hours, then gradually rewarmed for 24 hours. I have cared for patients who have had open heart surgery, bypass surgery, valve replacements and aneurisms and other cardiac surgeries. My care has included pre and post procedure care for cardiac catheterizations, pacemakers, stents, cardioversions, and electrophysiology ablation. I have assumed complete life support and total care for patients.
To work with me, or to refer patients or colleagues to me, I may be contacted at: Hearttosoulcw@gmail.com