Meet Kayla Gladstone

We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Gladstone recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

This question pops out at me the most because I feel like, I have mastered the art of resiliency throughout my life from childhood until the present moment. I’ve been an Army Brat since the day I was born, which is the dependent of someone in the Army, so our family moved around quite a bit. I went to about 5 different schools between kindergarten and 5th grade so at an early age, I learned how to become this chameleon who needed to adjust to different environments. During that time, I struggled with what I’m now uncovering as unsafe spaces, with a couple of my teachers, and fellow students and wanna-be bullies. I vividly remember being so excited in the 1st grade for my first ever Field Day. The whole school would be able to compete in different games and relay races, so awesome! I remember sitting nervously, getting ready to prepare for my turn in the sac race. As I get up to join the other group of kids, my teacher (who was an elder and pretty strict) turns to me and looks at me with angry eyes and says “Sit down! No field day for you.” I was stunned and didn’t really know what to do, or why I was being called out like this. And I will never know. Because I was afraid to stand up and ask why. From then on, I feared her, and was hesitant in getting comfortable with teachers. I felt that they were cold towards me. Non personable. Not until 5th grade did I feel somewhat safe with some of my teachers. Being bullied in the 4th grade for being new and having no friends, and teachers not being there to interject or feel comfortable talking to, being verbally abused by classmates for wearing my natural afro, being intimidated on the bus by random kids for absolutely no reason…I resorted to people pleasing for a long time, to make sure I didn’t step on anyone’s toes. I had a very quiet, very shy personality growing up. I didn’t speak up for myself much, and always had my sister as my protector. She’d beat my “friends” up for beating me up. Ha! Even until this day she protects me. But those times when I felt emotionally and mentally attacked, I had to start cultivating an inner strength through this shy person in order to protect myself when my sister wasn’t around. Reality tends to hit pretty hard when you realize you can’t always rely on the outside to protect yourself. So I kept my head up, learned from my dad how to fight a little, and would do a lot alone to nurture my creativity and enjoy life as a kid. I would stick with playing with my sister or a couple friends that I had in that particular place we lived in for the time being. Having a small circle of friends always felt trusting to me, and I had a safe place to express myself because they did too. I would say that it was my friends growing up from 5th grade on who helped me nurture my resiliency. We were similar, as they grew up in households with very strict or absent parents; together we felt stronger. So I actually thank them, because I’m having that epiphany right now! As I grew up, I gravitated to the holistic and spiritual realms and it opened me up to even greater self discovery as a young woman and letting go of that trauma to clear my path. I have practiced yoga for about 15 years, have been introduced to and now am working with certain indigenous plant medicines, and am a massage therapist and body worker specializing in Spinal Flow Technique and lymphatic drainage. I love what I do because I have the honor and ability to help others overcome similar traumas and trauma in general. I’m realizing that my path is being lain down by my ability to pick myself up from a low place, and fluidly move into a place of servitude; to understand reflection of the self, learn lessons in the work, and assist in evolving the self and others. I believe that comes full circle, and I’m grateful for my past experiences for shaping me into the strong woman that I am. At times these days, I resort to people pleasing or shutting down if I were triggered into a certain emotional state I was in as a child. I have to mindfully shift that awareness from feeling my throat being closed, and feeling helpless, to speaking up because I have the right to protect myself, and transmuting the energy into something else, like love. Or understanding. Or knowing that particular narratives toward me are simply a reflection of the other persons inner dialogue. I have been on a long journey to strengthening my resiliency, as have all of us. Every day, I gain understanding on how to overcome life situations that we will inevitably run into. It’s no fun without challenges right?

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am in the wellness industry as a massage therapist, Spinal Flow and Soul Touch practitioner and I also guide yoga. I have a fascination with the nervous system and the many ways that we can connect with it in order to tap into healing our bodies as a whole. I went to massage therapy school in my early 30’s and all I knew was that I had a deep yearning to physically help people feel better in mind, body and soul. Working in a chiropractic office, often people told me they felt “broken” or absolutely gave up on healing and resorted to pharmaceuticals or multiple surgeries. Don’t get me wrong, pharmaceuticals do help to an extent, but there’s always a next phase to how one can sustain without them, or with very little. I wanted to help people feel better in every way because I wanted to feel better in every way possible. I could sense their inkling to give up and wanted to ease them into a different mind set to heal. I was hungry for knowledge in truly healing the body. My venture into Spinal Flow led me into significant continuing education classes that broadened my knowledge on the nervous system and its functions, and why it is so important to incorporate this work for people to understand that all bodies have an innate intelligence to heal itself when presented with the opportunity. The Spinal Flow technique is a powerful modality that uses points on the spine and cranium called access points to trigger the nervous system (including the brain and spinal cord) into a positive feedback loop toward homeostasis, that is, the bodies natural ability to heal itself. Accessing these points will cause cerebral spinal fluid to flow up and down the spine and send messages back to the brain at a significant pace as the brain will in turn, send messages to nerves surrounding the spinal cord, influencing them to release physical, chemical, and emotional blockages from the body within. Sometimes you can see the spinal wave increasing as the body speaks to itself, and it is a great honor to witness and hold space for. Soul Touch is another modality that uses more touch and manipulation of soft tissue that assists the body into parasympathetic mode, which is the reset, relax and digest way of living instead of fight or flight. We need fight or flight to an extent, but not on an everyday basis like the way many of us subconsciously function now. The way that we as a whole can go about this type of healing through the Spinal Flow technique and Soul Touch specifically, would shift the way that we think about creating a new narrative around our life experiences, ourselves and communities.

A commonality between humans is that we hold onto lots of negative stories about our childhood. I gave you a few from my life, and we unconsciously begin to shape those into reality as if we are still living it every day. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When we shed the narrative by clearing these blockages that we create with the stories, we begin to realize that we have the capability of filling the cleared void with tools that help us shape who we can be, who we want to be. It takes working in tandem with the practitioner and on one’s own to create consistent change. As I guide yoga or do a healing session with someone, I send a soft reminder that the work we do on the mat or the massage table creates change in the mind and body. That change corresponds to the work we do outside of the mat and massage table that affects those around you . Working cohesively for the greater good.

The most exciting thing about what I do is watching people evolve in such beautiful ways before my eyes. They are shedding emotions that had deeply impacted them for years, releasing physical ailments, and letting go of many things that no longer serve them. It is amazing to watch someone walk out of my space with better posture, with the heart leading the way, a lighter, airy stride. The best part is all of the hugs that I get after sessions!!

I also specialize in lymphatic drainage, helping others with conditioning their immune systems and assisting with post surgery recovery. Sickness, a malfunctioning immune or lymphatic system, and surgery are all forms of trauma on the body. So I like to intertwine Spinal Flow and Soul Touch with these modalities as well to create a whole body healing system.

I wanted to include another huge reason why I ventured into the wellness realm. It was for me to continue my work in growing and evolving so that my daughter could witness it, live it, experience healing as a child, and release blockages even more efficiently than previous generations. It is important to me that our future generations are empowered to embody their gifts and share them with the world without having to overcome giant past traumatic barriers and seeking intense healing. This work is deeply rooted in ways we want to continue to live our lives with authenticity, passion and with significantly less stress. Generational trauma will be deeply severed to create new space to shape our world for the better.

I am launching my first ever women’s Spinal Flow wellness retreat on March 28th 2025! Join us for a transformative weekend experience! You’ll receive multiple Spinal Flow sessions, along with practical tools to nurture and restore your nervous system in daily life. This intimate retreat is designed to create a supportive space for emotional release and healing, guiding you on a journey of connection to the heart. We will be taking part in various activities such as yoga, meditation, kirtan (singing meditation) sound baths, multiple spinal flow sessions, ecstatic intentional dance, and a weekend full of comradery and digging deep, getting curious about what lies in the emotional body and how you can break free and live from the heart. Check out the flyer on my instagram @kayla_adanaya, and my website www.bodyflowbykayla.com

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think one of my qualities is that I absorb constructive criticism and feedback well. I’m always willing to grow and if it means gaining understanding through someone I can learn from and look up to for improvement and suggestions, I’m all for that.

I have a thing for giving people nuggets of knowledge, whether its anatomical or just something that I learned that may help benefit their healing journeys, I’ll give them all the knowledge I have to support. This helped me understand myself even more and take care of my body and mind. Practice what I preach.

The skill of discernment has sharpened over time in order for me to make intelligent decisions with my business as well as who I should surround myself with on a regular basis and protecting my energy space.

As for advice and what I’ve been learning, accept help when the time comes, stay humble especially when you know that you’re living your purpose and doing what makes you happy. Sometimes we need assistance, and that can come in the form of a mentor or a not so great google review. Just move through obstacles and challenges as if they should have been there to begin with, and you have the wisdom and open ears to listen and move through them with ease. Always listen with an open heart, and paying attention to your gut feelings, your intuition, can really help guide you toward what you’re seeking.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking for holistic practitioners who run retreats and are seeking co-creation! I would love to work with others in this space to create an abundance of healing, and transformation. I believe working together to cultivate a safe and nurturing healing space makes for so much great energy and a fulfilling work environment. Whether you do nervous system work, breath work, trauma therapy, body work, plant medicine, cacao ceremonies, indigenous practices, yoga, dance or movement, I would love to connect and further shape my career into retreats and even online classes.
Instagram: @kayla_adanaya
website: www.bodyflowbykayla.com

I am looking forward to working with some lovely souls!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bodyflowbykayla.com
• Instagram: kayla_adanaya
• Facebook: BodyFlowbyKayla
• Linkedin: Kayla Gladstone

Image Credits

Professional photo credits: d.e.d._photography