shannon’s passion is bridging the worlds of science and spirit.

As a young girl, Shannon was fascinated by the natural world. She spent much of her time outside, playing amongst the trees in her yard, riding her bike everywhere, and always in awe of the incredible beauty, sights, and sounds of nature. This love and curiosity about the world around her later gave birth to multiple passions: science, movement, and music. At the intersection of her passions was the desire to understand how the human body works (science and movement), as well as the incredible capacity for humans to create and innovate (science and music).

Like many others, Shannon’s path has had many exciting twists and turns. In 2009, she earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry with a focus on Systems Biology. Systems Biology is an interdisciplinary field combining biology and mathematics to study complex interactions within cells and tissues to understand how an organism functions as a system. This holistic approach made so much sense to Shannon, as it reveals a system’s “emergent properties”: that an organism is greater than the sum of its parts. This very thinking - that we are all greater than the sum of our parts - has influenced every aspect of Shannon’s work and teaching.

Despite her love for science and career as cancer biologist, Shannon often felt like she was living a double life. Her free time was spent flowing on the Yoga mat (and earning 2 Yoga Teaching certifications!), diving into eastern philosophy and psychology, and immersing herself in the worlds of movement, music, and dance. In 2010, Shannon’s health rapidly deteriorated after international travel, chronic work-related stress, and past trauma. This set her off on a long healing journey that opened her eyes to the power of alternative/holistic/energy medicine when the Western Medicine approach failed her. This humbling experience set Shannon on a path of self-discovery and healing, which led to additional education in Transformational Nutrition and mindful movement (Barre, Pilates). With so much to share from her experience, she knew it was time to forge a new path to support others on their healing journey.

In 2015, Shannon transitioned from her science career to pursue teaching movement, nutrition coaching, and energy healing full-time. In 2017, she opened Relevate, a Barre, Pilates, and Wellness studio in San Diego. Relevate means “to raise to good spirits”, where each class is an empowering, life-affirming experience. Shannon’s mission was (and still is) to help others build mind-body connection, find their community, and elevate their frequency so they can live and move with confidence, purpose, and joy. In 2022, Shannon dove deeper into the world of Energy Healing, became a Level 3 Reiki Master and Sound Healer, and is continuously learning healing techniques in the Shamanic and Native American healing traditions. With her extensive background in science, transformation coaching, movement, and energy healing, Shannon has the unique ability to speak the language of science while also being grounded, intuitive, empathetic, and heart-centered.

In a divisive world where the science and spiritual communities are often at odds, Shannon seeks to bridge the two. She believes both worlds have much to learn from one another. While the scientific world demands evidence and intellectual prowess to understand the human experience, this often results in a closed-mindedness that shuns any modality that doesn’t fit into the scientific mold. Conversely, the spiritual world studies mysticism, ancient traditions, and consciousness expanding practices that are not always (or yet) grounded in science, which can turn western minds “off”. While it seems that these worlds speak vastly different languages, Shannon believes there is power in honoring both science and spirit. In balancing our desire to “know” with trusting in ourselves, our journey, and the great mystery of life, we have the chance to live up to our full human potential with open minds and hearts.

Education & Trainings

For Shannon’s professional CV and scientific publication record, CLICK HERE.

STOTT PILATES® Instructor

Level 3 Master Certification (L. Reiss; 2022)
Level 1 & 2 Certification (K. Kuttner, K. Martin; 2018)

Transformational Nutrition Coach

Instructor Certification (barre3, 2015)

Yoga Instructor