About Tami

Tami Heaton (she/they) is a writer, musician, certified breathwork facilitator and ordained shamanic minister in St. Louis, MO.

Tami is currently studying nervous system regulation as part of the second cohort of the polyvagal certificate program at Dr. Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Institute. She has also studied polyvagal theory and therapeutic yoga with Arielle Schwartz at the Embody Lab.

In 2020 – so early that only three people in St. Louis were on record with it – Tami got sick from COVID-19. While the actual illness was short, the Long Covid was brutal and left her unable to stand long enough to cook or shower most days. Leaving the house was nearly impossible. She was unable to work due to unrelenting fatigue. Her hair fell out. Later that year, a complication from gallbladder surgery nearly killed her.

After almost a year of trying to rebuild enough physical strength to start over, Tami began a regular breathwork and sound healing practice. She quickly regained strength – and her hair started growing back. Beyond that, though, she started to notice a sense of emotional regulation that had been previously missing. Her executive function improved. The cyclical nervous system crashes she had always suffered were more noticeable in this new physical terrain – but the more somatic work she did, the more the crashes were held at bay. Then she started to let go of years worth of trauma, and to feel a new sense of mindfulness day-to-day. Shortly thereafter, she began studying breathwork and polyvagal theory – the science of nervous system regulation.

Tami has done breathwork with a large number of local St. Louis facilitators, as well as facilitators all over the U.S. (She always finds at least one class when she’s traveling.) She cherishes having a strong ongoing personal practice as part of the honor of holding space for others as a breathwork facilitator.

Tami is queer, nonbinary, autistic and ADHD. In addition to her somatic training, she has extensive certification in neurodivergence, intersectionality, trauma-informed care, and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Before beginning breathwork facilitation, she owned a small digital marketing agency for 10 years. She is a veteran project manager and producer and has extensive experience in personal branding and storytelling. She was also a founding skater and marketing director for Gotham Girls Roller Derby in NYC in another lifetime, and has extensive event production experience in entertainment and live music.