“ I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
— Louisa May Alcott
Hello, and welcome. I’m Esther Brandon.
I first saw these words on the wall of the pond boathouse near my home. They felt like a quiet reminder whispered through time — that resilience is not about avoiding storms, but learning how to meet them with steadiness, compassion, and kindness.
Finding Your Way grew from my own journey through trauma, healing, mindfulness, and post-traumatic growth.
Over time, I came to understand that healing begins not through fixing ourselves, but through kindness, connection, and gently reconnecting with the steady ground beneath us.
This is a trauma-informed space for women, grounded in mindfulness, Interpersonal Neurobiology, and Polyvagal Theory — offered with care, compassion, and kind attention, in your own time and unfolding.
A Window Into My Story
Why Attachment Matters
Through my own healing journey, I came to understand how profoundly early relationships shape the way we feel, connect, and move through the world.
I grew up longing to feel emotionally safe and connected. My parents were good and loving people, and yet I experienced what Dan Siegel now describes as non-attachment — insecure attachment shaped by the absence of consistent emotional safety and connection that can arise even in loving homes.
Even in loving homes, insecure attachment can leave a child caught between the longing for connection and the nervous system’s need to protect against pain. Over time, this can give rise to patterns of self-doubt, shame, and disconnection from one’s own worth.
What transformed my healing was learning that attachment is not fixed. Through mindfulness, trauma-informed understanding, and supportive relationships, repair and healing remain possible throughout our lives.
This understanding became the foundation of the path I now offer: a path toward healing, connection, and gently coming home to yourself — your strength, your worthiness, your wholeness.
At the heart of this work is a simple and grounding framework drawn from attachment research — what Dr. Dan Siegel describes as the 4 S’s of secure attachment: Safe, Seen, Soothed, and Secure.
A Framework for Healing
The 4 S’s of Attachment
Safe
Feeling safe grows from caregivers who avoided actions that frightened or hurt us.
As adults, it allows us to express our emotions and gently trust ourselves and others.
Seen
Being seen grows from caregivers who perceived us deeply and empathically.
As adults, it nurtures a sense of belonging.
Soothed
Being soothed grows from caregivers who comforted us in times of distress.
As adults, it helps us regulate, build resilience, and offer comfort to others.
Secure
Feeling secure develops through consistent care and attunement.
As adults, it fosters a steady sense of well-being and inner balance.
💜 I often describe the 4 S’s as the water and nutrients that nourish the soil of well-being.
💜 A Turning Point
Ten years ago, a breast cancer diagnosis brought me into a time of profound vulnerability. Old attachment wounds resurfaced. Grief moved through me. And slowly, so did clarity.
Beneath the pain, I discovered seeds of resilience — compassion toward myself and others, a reclaimed sense of agency, and a deep capacity for connection.
What I’ve Learned
More than 35 years ago, a mindfulness workshop with Jon Kabat-Zinn shifted the course of my life.
Since then, I’ve continued deepening my practice through mindfulness, contemplative wisdom traditions, and trauma-informed healing.
Through the study and practice of Interpersonal Neurobiology and Polyvagal Theory, I came to understand the important role of our nervous system in expanding our capacity for healing, growth, and well-being.
How This May Relate to You
You may have arrived here in a season of change — through illness, grief, trauma, or life transition.
In a session, we will listen softly to the body’s natural wisdom, intelligence, and rhythms.
This is the heart of my work: holding space for women to reconnect with their strengths and wholeness. Over time, softly being with what is difficult can nurture resilience — much like a tree in strong winds. The tree does not brace or harden. It moves with the force, growing stronger and more rooted.
This is what mindful awareness and trauma-informed understanding can make possible — medicine for the nervous system.
When the nervous system is soothed and settled, something tender becomes possible: not fixing ourselves, but gently reconnecting with ourselves.
Trauma recovery is its own quiet heroism — a soft and steady walking toward the light of our own wholeness.💜
“The places in which we are seen and heard are holy places. They remind us of our value as human beings. They give us the strength to go on.”💜 — Rachel Naomi Remen, Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal
For those who'd like to know more about my background and training, I offer it here.
Trainings & Accreditations
M.S.Ed., Leadership in Early Childhood Education – Wheelock College, Boston
Retired Director of Undergraduate Education Field Placement – Lesley University, 1993-2012
Co-Active Coach Training (CTI), Part of ICF Accredited Coach Training Program (ACTP) (completed November 2016)
ICF Certified Coach (ACC)
Certificate of Completion: The Mindsight Approach to Well-Being — A Comprehensive Course in Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB), taught by Daniel Siegel, MD (completed 2017 & 2021)
Healing Trauma with Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB ) – Dr. Dan Siegel
Jewish Mindfulness Teacher Training – Institute for Jewish Spirituality ( completed August, 2011)
Completed Mindfulness-Informed Professional Training — PESI, Dr. Richard Sears, December 2025
Certificate of Completion, Neuroscience of Change – Coaches Rising (completed December 2022)
Certificate of Completion, The Academy of Inner Science, Connect, Restore, Reclaim – Thomas Hübl & Dr. Richard Schwartz (completed, June 2023)
Certificate of Completion: Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery — Somatic, Movement, & Polyvagal Techniques for Clinicians, taught by Arielle Schwartz, PhD (completed December 2025)
The Spiritual Healing Journey – Thomas Hübl
Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra Guide
“Serving makes us aware of our wholeness and its power. The wholeness in us serves the wholeness in others and the wholeness in life.”
— Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D