How Mindfulness and Creativity Developed the Approach We Use
What drew you to mindfulness, and how did it become part of your work at Healing Arts Center?
Unlike most who find mindfulness through an app or online, mindfulness found me in college while working with kids, and stayed with me. The more I practiced, the more I understood its impact on those I worked with. By the time Healing Arts Center began, mindfulness was already central to my approach. This set the foundation for how I would later connect mindfulness with other approaches at Healing Arts Center.
Today, that foundation supports our work in somatic coaching, nervous system regulation, and mindfulness-based support for adults in Virginia Beach and the greater Hampton Roads area.
How do you see creativity and mindfulness connected in your work at Healing Arts Center?
Mindfulness was something I first brought into the classroom as a teacher. I watched it change how my students showed up, and that led me to start running workshops for caregivers and fellow teachers who were handling their own stress in some of the most demanding roles there are. From there, I spent years working as a mindfulness coach at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach. The curriculum was dictated by the company, and over time, it became clear that it was not providing my clients with the support they actually needed. Something was missing. Mindfulness alone was getting them only part of the way there. When I began weaving creativity into the practice, everything transformed. People needed a way to express what they were uncovering, not just sit with it. At Healing Arts Center, that combination of mindfulness and creativity turned the approach because that is what the people in front of me kept showing me they needed.
We also explore embodied expression through practices like sensory somatic writing, as in our blog “Somatic Writing with Sensory Words” (https://www.healingartsvb.com/blog/somati-writing-with-sensory-words), which guides people to bring bodily awareness and sensations into their writing practice.
Do you have to write to work with me?
Writing is one of many ways people find their voice at Healing Arts Center. It is not a requirement. Every person who comes through our doors brings their own process and pace, and that is completely respected. Nothing happens without your consent. The work is built around you, not the other way around.
Is there a practice or belief that guides everything you do at Healing Arts Center?
Writing is something I come back to with clients again and again—not because they need to be good writers or have something they want to publish. Instead, writing matters because it is one of the few places where there is no pressure to be poised, positive, or whatever version of themselves the world has decided they need to be. It’s not about spelling or grammar or anything else that stops people from trying it. Here, the overwhelm and pain, the things that have never been said out loud, can come out exactly as they are, without condemnation or an audience. This practice supports the environment we strive to cultivate for every person who seeks support through Healing Arts Center.
At Healing Arts Center, we want every person who walks through our doors to have that same experience. A place where what you are carrying can finally come out of the shadows. Where you are allowed to be exactly as messy, honest, and human as you actually are. This vision informs the outcomes we hope clients take with them after their time here.
What do you want clients to walk away with after working with you at Healing Arts Center?
Most of the people who find their way to me have been carrying something alone for a long time. By the time they arrive, they have learned that it is safer to stay silent than to risk being dismissed again.
What I want for every person who works with me is simple: to be heard, seen, and respected in a way they may never have experienced before. When this happens, something opens up within them. They begin to offer themselves the same dignity they've sought from others—they write it, feel it, and claim it as their own. This is the real shift I intend for. I validate their pain, and then they learn to validate their grief, the injustice, and their pain story.
Clients often describe leaving sessions with greater emotional regulation, deeper self-trust, and practical tools they can use between appointments.
About Victoria
Victoria is a certified Neuro Somatic and mindfulness coach with over 15 years of experience. She believes growth involves the whole person and that the body holds wisdom beyond the mind. Victoria co-founded Healing Arts Center in Virginia Beach in 2022, a veteran-owned mindfulness and wellness collaboration serving Hampton Roads and military families.
At Healing Arts Center, we believe every story matters. Experience growth, connection, and belonging—our team is here to support you with human-centered care, creativity, and compassion.
Website:
https://www.healingartsvb.com
Book a Session (Vagaro):
https://www.vagaro.com/healingartscenter
Contact Victoria or visit healingartsvb.com to begin your journey today.
