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Founder and Facilitator of Wellbeing

Meet Carol

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My personal life has always involved a nurturing element. During my high school years, I babysat for several families and housesat for others. My free time was spent dabbling in creative arts and dance.
I began my professional teaching career as a Reading Specialist in the Chicago Public Schools. After taking time off to raise my son during his formative years, I founded an in-home childcare business. In 1998, I returned to formal teaching as an early childhood program specialist at South Seattle Community College. After 18 rewarding years in the higher education environment, I retired and discovered yoga. I find inner grace and a humbling energy in my yoga practice. Now it is time to share that love for yoga with others. I hope that my Sound Wellness Cottage will be a place for personal growth and balance.

Always Learning

Carol’s Certificates & Training Programs

Like all of you, being mindful of my wellbeing, wellness, and overall health is a journey for me as an individual. It is also important to me as a professional. As a wellness coach and yoga teacher, I want to continue to grow and learn. Thus, I’m excited to share the wellness and health certificates and training programs that I’ve completed so far and that I’m looking forward to completing in the future too.

Certificates & Training Programs Completed:

  • Restorative Yoga Teacher Training — taught through Yoga Renew and certified through Yoga Alliance
  • Reiki Healer Levels 1 & 2 — taught by Reiki Master Ayanna Olokunsu
  • Yoga Anatomy & Yoga Sequencing — taught by Jason Crandell and certified through Yoga Alliance
  • 200-Hour YTT: Trauma-Informed Training for Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin, and Restorative Yoga — Yoga Alliance through Shiva Yoga; completed 11/9/2025
  • 60-Hour Group Fitness Teacher Training for Sculpt, Barre & Mat Pilates — Yoga Alliance through Shiva Yoga; completed 5/24/2026

Symbols & Reflections

About Our Logo & Approach

Carol, our Founder and Facilitator of Wellbeing, has always appreciated the unalome and lotus symbols. To her, they show the journey that is life and the opportunities that we all have for rebirth and creation along the way. The Sound Wellness Cottage logo was created with inspiration from these symbols along with Carol’s wishes for her brand.
The logo is a visual depiction of life’s twists and turns along with the key idea being that each of us can follow our own unique life path to enlightenment. We all have our initial start where we unfurl and begin our life’s journey. We travel along a path that takes twists and turns. We encounter challenges, loss, triumph, love, joy, and so much more that stretch and shape us into our future selves. Our paths cross back over previous aspects of our lives, and ultimately, bring us to a higher understanding of ourselves and of others. Carol wanted the logo to be a symbol for all of us; one that shows the journey, lessons learned, wounds attained and healed, and finally, how we hopefully arrive at a place of love, acceptance, and understanding for others, but especially for ourselves.
Like a lotus, we can choose to close ourselves off/up OR to remain open. It’s powerful to think about how this flower grows in mud, closes up and submerges itself at night, and then opens again at the water’s surface in the morning. One can see the hope and strength of growing in mud while becoming a thing of beauty (hope and optimism) OR one can see the mud around the lotus, not noting the beauty of the flower and its resilience (defeatism and pessimism).

It’s powerful to reflect and ask yourself these questions every so often:

  • How do you approach setbacks? 
  • How do you approach life? 
  • Do you celebrate and appreciate your resilience and your beauty enough? 
  • What role does gratitude play in your life?
  • What role does wellness play in your life?
Contact us
“Carol is AMAZING! She exudes warmth from the moment you meet her. She is incredibly kind, and a wonderful teacher/healer. The Restorative Yoga class and Family Yoga class that we took with her were fun, educational, and healing. We can't wait to take more classes and to experience Reiki sessions with her too! Carol, thank you for sharing your gifts and your lovely cottage with your community!" 
Kendra Toner
Kendra TonerHappy Client & Cottage CommUnity Member
“I took a Restorative Yoga class as well as a Family Yoga class at Sound Wellness Cottage. Carol's instructions were clear and calming. She is very effective at simplifying postures to create a yoga experience that I will never forget. I felt very grounded and peaceful after the classes. She has ignited a passion within me for embarking on a self-healing journey!"
Brian Toner
Brian TonerHappy Client & Cottage CommUnity Member
“Visiting Carol’s wellness cottage is a very unique and delightful experience! Carol is not only a great yoga trainer, but she is really knowledgeable about many aspects of life. She offers many insightful thoughts and tips while you stretch and relax. A session with her feels like a learning experience about how to bring your body and mind to peace and balance. You leave feeling renewed and positive.”
Eunice Lommen
Eunice LommenHappy Client & Cottage CommUnity Member
"Visiting Sound Wellness Cottage is a truly wonderful experience. I have always wanted to explore yoga but have never had good experiences trying it out. Carol is so very welcoming and a wonderful teacher. She is always willing to accommodate all my various physical issues and is wonderful about planning for modifications that would work for me. I found restorative yoga under her tutelage to be a fantastic and mind opening experience. Not only do I find working with Carol a way to enhance my flexibility and mobility but a truly restful and calming practice. I highly recommend Sound Wellness Cottage and so completely appreciate Carol."
Theresa Cannon
Theresa CannonHappy Client & Cottage CommUnity Member