Hey there, I’m Shelah.
I’m a writer, gardener, yoga teacher, nutritionist, artist, book nerd, wife, mom, and professional noticer of tiny beautiful things.
I live on a small farm in North Florida, where life includes garden beds, good books, stained glass, coffee, dogs underfoot, chickens who have mostly retired from productive employment, and four turkeys who seem to believe they have been appointed to a supervisory committee.
Glimmers in Chaos is my online home for all the pieces of life that help me feel more grounded, curious, creative, and alive.
I’m interested in wellness, but not perfection. Growth, but not hustle for hustle’s sake. Beautiful things, but especially the imperfect, slightly wild kind that happen in real life.
Yoga Changed More Than My Body
My relationship with wellness did not begin from a particularly peaceful place.
Years ago, I was severely overweight and struggling with severe anxiety. I walked into my first yoga class feeling deeply uncomfortable in my body and completely unsure that I belonged there.
So I hid in the back of the room.
Then I went back.
Twice a week, I kept showing up, still hiding in the back. Over time I lost 100 pounds, but yoga gave me something much more important than weight loss.
It taught me how to stay present when I was uncomfortable. It taught me to listen to my body instead of treating it like a problem that needed to be fixed. It helped me understand that health could be something supportive rather than punishing.
Eventually, I became a certified yoga instructor myself, with a particular love for making movement accessible to people who may not see themselves reflected in traditional fitness spaces.
That experience still shapes the way I approach wellness today.
The Official-ish Stuff
I’ve collected a few certifications and professional hats along the way. They inform my work, but they are not the whole story.
- Certified Nutritionist
- Certified Yoga Instructor
- Certified Personal Trainer
- RRCA Running Coach
- Reiki Master
- Writer and lifelong student of what helps people feel better in their own lives
These days, I’m less interested in chasing an ideal version of wellness and much more interested in creating a life that is sustainable, nourishing, interesting, and actually enjoyable to live.
Life Beyond the Yoga Mat
Most of my life happens far away from anything resembling a perfectly curated wellness retreat.
There is dirt under my nails. There are unfinished creative projects on the table. There are books stacked in places books probably were not intended to be stacked.
My husband and I live on a small farm with Bodhi, our long-haired Border Collie, and Lyra, our blue heeler. The property is also home to our aging flock of chickens, affectionately known as The Freeloaders, and four curious turkeys collectively known as The Turkey Committee.
I garden, grow food, make stained glass, read voraciously, teach yoga, write, experiment in the kitchen, and occasionally disappear down a creative rabbit hole for considerably longer than planned.
Somewhere in all of that, I keep finding glimmers.
Why Glimmers in Chaos?
Because life can be wonderful and heavy at the same time.
I don’t believe noticing beauty requires pretending the difficult things are not happening. Sometimes the smallest moments of goodness matter precisely because life is complicated.
A flower opening in the garden.
A sentence in a book that makes you stop.
A dog sleeping at your feet.
Good coffee.
Creating something with your hands.
The strange little burst of joy that appears in the middle of an otherwise ordinary day.
That is what I mean when I talk about glimmers.
Glimmers in Chaos doesn’t pretend the world isn’t heavy. It helps us notice that there is still light inside it.
Pull Up a Chair
If you’re interested in living a little more intentionally without making life another giant self-improvement project, you’ll probably feel at home here.
Wander through the garden. Read a book review. Try some yoga. Make something. Cook something seasonal. Sit with an honest conversation.
Take whatever helps.
Leave whatever doesn’t.
And keep an eye out for the glimmers.
Shelah
Feral Botanist