Meet Layne Burkette

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Layne Burkette. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Layne below.

Layne, we are so happy that our community is going to have a chance to learn more about you, your story and hopefully even take in some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Let’s start with self-care – what do you do for self-care and has it had any impact on your effectiveness?

For me, self-care isn’t something separate from my everyday life—it’s woven into the way I move through my day, the way I connect with myself, and the way I show up for others. As a Professional Counselor, Yoga Psychology and Meditation Teacher, Somatic Practitioner, and mother of 4 children, I use the same tools I teach—because they genuinely support my own nervous system, my parenting, my work, and my wellbeing.

Every morning, before anything else, I bring a hand to my heart and connect with ME. That simple nurturing touch is my anchor. I take a slow breath, offer an affirmation that resonates with where I am that day, and allow myself to soften into presence. That tiny intentional pause sets the tone for everything that follows.

Throughout the day I lean on my somatic practices—breathwork, movement, healing affirmations, tapping, grounding, and the nervous system skills I’ve spent 20 years teaching individuals, children, families, professionals, and businesses. I do them with everyone I work with, and I do these skills with my own family, too. I believe, “My calm is their calm”. When I slow down, others slow down and soften. It is a beautiful, shared language of connection and co-regulation.

These practices have changed my life, and improved my mental and physical health, along with lowering stress and overwhelm. My ability to connect and hold healing space—both personally and professionally—has grown in ways I never expected. I move through challenges with more steadiness and clarity because I’ve taken the time to care for myself first.

Self-care is essential, and woven into everything I offer to the people and communities I serve: accessible somatic skills, supportive tools for families and schools, and practices that help real people feel more calm, more connected, and more at home within themselves.

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 founded Life Balance with the goal at heart: to help people feel more calm, regulated, and connected—both to themselves and to the people they love. Through somatic skills, mindfulness, and movement practices, I support individuals and communities in regulating their nervous systems, building emotional resilience, and reconnecting with their inner strength and ease. My work spans a few different areas: I support adults, families, children, educators, and business and organizations, teaching simple, accessible tools that help regulate the nervous system, develop emotional regulation, and build resilience.

What excites me most is watching those small, everyday shifts ripple outward. When a parent learns to pause and breathe before responding to their child, a teacher discovers a simple classroom practice that brings calm and focus, or a leader begins a staff meeting with a somatic skill to connect as a staff, the effect isn’t just immediate—it shapes relationships and communities. That’s the magic of this work: it spreads!!

I also create programs and offerings designed to make this work easy to access. My “Somatic Skills Membership” is a virtual plug-and-play option for individuals, families, mental health clinics and businesses who want practical tools for regulation. My Family Connection Mini-Bundle helps parents and kids connect through simple, short practices. I partner with schools and organizations to bring Somatic Skills for Educators and Students, and I have an Employee Wellness offering as well for businesses and organizations. I love teaching live workshops, trainings, speaking at events, and coaching people one-on-one.

Earlier this year, I had the incredible opportunity to co-author The Perfectly Imperfect Family and speak at the 2025 Happily Family Conference, which reached families across the globe. Both experiences reaffirmed how deeply people are craving simple, meaningful ways to cultivate calm within their families and communities.

My goal with Life Balance is to make somatic practices approachable, engaging, and something people can weave into their everyday life, truly feeling the benefits. I believe it is all about embracing calm, resilience, joy, and ease in real, tangible ways—and sharing tools that last a lifetime.

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?

Looking back on my journey, three qualities stand out as pillars that have helped shape who I am and how I show up in the world: compassion, self-awareness paired with embodiment, and gratitude.

Compassion has been the heartbeat of my work. It’s what allows me to truly see people—whether I’m across from a client, guiding a group, or teaching a child. Meeting others with empathy and care creates the trust and safety that healing requires. Over the years, I’ve learned that to offer compassion deeply, I also have to extend it inward—to tend gently to my own humanness so I can keep showing up with an open heart.

Self-awareness and embodiment go hand-in-hand. I pay attention to my body, my breath, and the subtle signals of my nervous system. These practices, which I teach to adults, families, educators, and children, help me regulate my responses, have plenty of space for emotions, and navigate challenges with clarity and calm. I am passionate about teaching these to others with the same care I teach myself.

And gratitude—simple, daily gratitude—keeps me grounded and connected to the abundance in my life. It’s the quiet noticing—a morning breath before the day begins, the laughter of my children, my chest warming and softening as I give myself permission to feel an emotion, a felt moment of intentional peace with someone I am working with—that roots me in what truly matters. Gratitude keeps me present, connected, and inspired to keep sharing this work.

Together, these qualities form the rhythm of my life and the foundation of everything I teach: compassion in connection, awareness through embodiment, and gratitude as a daily practice of joy and presence. They’ve not only shaped my journey—they are the tools I now share with the families, schools, and communities I serve, helping others find calm, connection, and resilience in their own lives.

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’m always open to collaboration with individuals and organizations who share a heart for holistic well-being, mental, physical and emotional health, and nervous system support.

I enjoy partnering with therapists, wellness professionals, private practices, holistic care centers, and mental health clinics who want to integrate somatic and mindfulness-based tools into their client work or wellness offerings. I also collaborate with schools and educators who are ready to bring somatic skills into the classroom—for both students and staff. I am equally passionate about working with organizations, corporations, and wellness programs that value employee well-being. These collaborations often include my Somatic Skills Membership, staff trainings, workshops, retreats, or co-created programs that blend science, psychology, and embodied practices in a deeply accessible way. I offer customized trainings, keynote presentations, retreats and plug-and-play programs that make implementation simple.

My approach is both evidence-informed and heart-centered, blending my background as a licensed professional counselor with yoga psychology, somatic education, and mindfulness.

If anyone reading this feels a spark of curiosity or alignment, I’d love to connect! You can learn more or reach out through email, my website or social media—let’s explore how we can create more calm, connection, and compassion in your life and community. Be You.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lifebalancebeyou.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifebalancebeyou/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifebalancebeyou
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/layne-burkette/