About Colure
Colure Caulfield (MA, PGYT, C-IAYT, 500-ERYT, YACEP) | Founder of Wayfinder Yoga + Well-Being
Colure has over fifteen years of professional experience working as a teacher, leader, and program facilitator in the health and wellness field. She specializes in developing inclusive, accessible, trauma-informed mind-body wellness offerings that integrate diverse approaches to holistic health and wellness - including Yoga, Ayurveda, functional and rehabilitative movement, somatics, and mindfulness - to help individuals from all walks of life achieve their personal well-being goals, and feel more balanced, easeful, and free.
Colure has an extensive academic background in exercise science, physiology, and kinesiology, as well as Yoga therapeutics and philosophy, and she has particular expertise integrating these modern clinical approaches to health alongside traditional Yoga and mindfulness practices as a means of meeting the holistic wellness needs of diverse populations. Colure holds a Masters Degree in Yoga Studies from Loyola Marymount University with a specialization and Post-Graduate Certificate in Yoga Therapy, and is an IAYT-certified Yoga Therapist through the International Association of Yoga Therapists - demonstrating not only her commitment to sharing the healing power of Yoga on an individual level, but also to furthering the ongoing growth of Yoga Therapy as a valuable allied health profession within modern clinical spaces.
Colure is passionate about utilizing her expertise in Yoga Therapy, Ayurveda, mindfulness, and movement science to lead and develop mind-body wellness offerings that are inclusive, accessible, intentional, and trauma-informed, while helping to guide students of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds in cultivating personalized well-being practices that support their own unique healing journeys and enable them to live strong, healthy, empowered lives of presence, connection, and peace. Colure believes in the transformative power of Yoga and meditation to effect positive change - both individually, and collectively - and she is committed to making a difference in the lives of those she encounters, both on the mat and off.
My Yoga Journey (so far)
One of the things I love most about yoga is that, at its essence, it’s not really teaching us anything new; Rather, through its practice, it’s reminding us of something we already knew - something we’ve always known, and have perhaps forgotten over time: That what we seek is, in fact, seeking us. And what’s more, that what we seek does not lie outside of us, or in some nebulous future place. Yoga reminds us that the treasures we seek out - be they peace, love, connection, joy, purpose, forgiveness, enlightenment, contentment, healing - will never come from some external place or person. These treasures lie within us; They always have, and always will.
In retrospect, I think that’s what drew me to the practice in the first place nearly fifteen years ago, during a period of my life when I was in a place of seeking - for what, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that a deep-seated feeling of restlessness had taken hold of me; Of incompleteness, anxiousness, and longing. What I didn’t know at the time, however, was that no matter how lost I may have felt in the moment, all of these seemingly disconnected events and experiences had aligned themselves in such a way as to ultimately lead me to where I was going - I was already on the path, and always had been - I just didn’t realize it yet.
“I was beginning to remember that life wasn't just happening TO me - it was happening FOR me. All I had been through had led me right where I was meant to be. And that was just the beginning.”
One day, after years of wrestling with anxiety, debilitating migraines, and chronic neck pain, I found myself standing in a wellness clinic. I was skeptical to say the least - I’d never been big into exercise before, and I’d definitely never had a massage. I almost didn’t go. But I did. And I kept showing up. Because moving my body on purpose and taking that time to pause in the middle of my day to intentionally focus on healing (rather than doing) began to awaken something inside of me that I had forgotten was there.
The long and short of it is this: Soon after, I found myself in a yoga class where, although I spent most of the time feeling awkward and self-conscious, I went from feeling uncomfortable, disconnected, and in pain, to suddenly feeling connected, light, and free. It felt magical. It felt unbelievable.
I quit my desk job, obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science & Physiology, received my first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification, and became an NSCA-Certified Personal Trainer. No longer was I spending my days aimlessly trapped to a desk - suddenly, in what felt like the blink of an eye - I was spending my days on my feet, moving my body, fully present and engaged in the work of helping others feel better in their bodies.
Over the next decade, I went on to obtain my 500-hour Advanced Yoga Teaching Certification, my 1,000-hour Yoga Therapist Certification through IAYT, and my Masters Degree in Yoga Studies along with a Post-Graduate Certificate in Yoga Therapy from Loyola Marymount University. I also opened my first yoga studio in Northern Virginia, and immersed myself in the work of teaching, leading, sharing, and healing.
These days, I am in the work of leveraging my skills and expertise to help create a future where Yoga is revered and respected as the powerful, evidence-based healing science that it is. With each passing day, I am equally humbled and inspired by the myriad ways in which my own healing journey is continually evolving and changing to keep meeting me right where I am; How I’m being gifted new opportunities to grow in my own understanding, wisdom, and compassion - for myself, and others - so that I can continue to share this incredible, healing practice in a way that makes a positive difference in the lives of others.
Why Yoga Therapy?
It occurred to me during my time working with students and clients that more often than not, there is a genuine disconnect between the standard clinical approach to healing and the actual lived experiences of our everyday lives.
I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with clients where they share stories of receiving clinical treatment for some type of acute or chronic complaint, only to find themselves back to experiencing pain, discomfort, and dysfunction once again - ultimately seeking out Yoga as a last resort.
Even my own personal experiences have proved much the same; My path has led me (and continues to lead me) to some unexpected, humbling, and awe-inspiring places. After an autoimmune diagnosis alongside ongoing health challenges in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic took me deep into the belly of the Western medical system (again), I began to understand in an entirely new way how challenging - and exhausting - it is to live with and manage a chronic, disabling condition in a society that places too little value on accessible, quality healthcare, and a medical system that - especially in this post-pandemic world - is strained far beyond its capacity, with clinicians who are burnt-out and exhausted.
My heart holds so much compassion for the all-too-common patient experience of having to constantly endure medical gaslighting, exhaustive self-advocacy, and the complex logistical and financial implications of navigating the medical system. And my heart holds just as much compassion for the all-too-common clinician experience of enduring understaffing, overbooking, overworking, compassion fatigue, and burnout.
All of these experiences have prepared me in special, unique, and powerful ways to be able to apply my lived experiences and learned wisdom toward the healing of others. My intention as a Yoga Therapist is to blend my experiences and knowledge as a Yoga & mindfulness teacher, functional movement coach, and kinesiologist, into a more personalized, integrated, holistic approach to healing - so that my patients and clients are left feeling empowered and equipped to cultivate a new relationship with their own healing path, both acutely, and long-term. Looking back, I am confident I’ve been walking on this path all along - from those early days of aimlessly working desk jobs and finding myself lost in pain and discomfort, to embarking on my own healing journey, and over the past 15 years, being blessed to work in a field that enables me to help others.
At its root, the word “yoga” means “to yoke” - in other words, to bring together; to unite. It’s no wonder my yoga journey began when I found myself in a place of seeking. I was seeking my purpose - my calling. It’s beautiful and poetic, then, that the purpose I’ve been called to fulfill is, at its very core, one of union; of bringing together two worlds to create one integrated, united approach to rehabilitation, healing, and ultimately, thriving.
My heart has always been called to being a contributor; to making a difference in the lives of others; to living a life that is purposeful, impactful, and meaningful. Through my own personal Yoga practice, I’ve been able to discover how the myriad experiences throughout my life have consistently nudged me (sometimes gently, sometimes otherwise) in the very direction I’m meant to travel. My heart has always known the path I’ve been on. And, looking back as I look ahead, I couldn’t be more grateful for it all.
