MY PROFESSIONAL STORY 

Hello! My name is Erin Passarello and I've always enjoyed being outside, being active and have always considered myself an intuitive and sensitive person. My journey started in 2010 with pursuing a more holistic approach to physical therapy where I began treating patients with chronic pain utilizing Myofascial Release and CranioSacral Therapy. From there I transitioned to inpatient care then to sports medicine still utilizing my background in MFR and CST. 

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In 2013, I broke my wrist in a mountain biking accident. Out of work, I chose to pursue a dance class -something I'd never done before but had always been interested in. I met someone who taught healing dance and was introduced to belly dance (not something I would have picked at the time) and felt much more grounded, vibrant, and centered in my body. I continued to take belly dance classes and workshops and while still working as a PT.

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I began to teach belly dance classes around 2018, blessed by my first teacher to start my own classes. Still working as a PT, I incorporated  certain dance movements with my patients to help improve function and movement.  

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MY PERSONAL STORY

While I worked as a PT, my life continued to unfold as a spiritually gifted person deeply connected to the Earth and the more than human world.  Through my work as a CranioSacral Therapist, I was introduced to a medicine woman from Ireland. I became extremely interested in taking workshops and classes about the elements of the Earth as a consciousness, Earth's cycles. I became more interested in books such as Nature Speak by Ted Andrews and began to follow the natural rhythm of the year and it's energies. 

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I love to mountain bike so I thought: why not ride bikes and teach a belly dance or stretching class outside? In 2018 I began leading bike rides with classes outside at Dupont State Forest while continuing to work as a PT employee. 

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I took a break from my own business in 2020 due to increased stress working in the healthcare field during a new pandemic and continued my PT job for stability. 

Through my business coach I was introduced to my now good friend Lena with Earth Path Education. I was invited to teach belly dance at the annual Growing Goddess Rite of Passage Ceremony for girls and young women in Black Mountain. I arrived having no idea what I was getting myself into regarding the ceremony- I thought I was just there to teach dance. One of the facilitators suggested I become initiated as this was something I had never experienced: being recognized as an adult women by other adult women. I took part in nature based ceremonies that touched the depths of my soul I didn't even know existed- healing very old wounds I didn't even know were there. At the end of the week I felt like every ounce of pain and anxiety had been lifted. I felt expanded and like a whole new me and the most deeply connected to the Earth I'd ever been. 

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I KNEW after this experience that I wanted to eventually help adult women reclaim their power by giving them what we've never had: permission to show up as a powerful creatrix of the Earth. I began writing a book about the contrast of how I grew up with how seen and supported I felt during my own rite of passage (which I hope to publish end of 2023). 

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Riding my enthusiasm into fall of 2020 I signed up to take a year+ long Rite of Passage Guide training for girls and women. I completed the course January of 2022 with interest in continuing my education in other ways. 

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Excited to be outside on bikes and following the rhythm of the year, I launched my first group mountain biking program called Earth Cycles in 2022.  

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As I learn, change, and grow, so do my offerings. Please check out the rest of my site!

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Credentials/ Memberships

• BS in Recreational Therapy (WCU 2006)

• NC PT License #12470 (WCU 2009)

• Certified CranioSacral Therapist (Techniques level, 2015)

• Certified Rite of Passage Guide (2022)

• In process: Certified Functional Nutrition Informed Professional 

• In process: Sacroiliac Joint Specialist Certification 

• Medallion Member of IAHP (International Association of Healthcare Practitioners)