About Marla
"Many times when I thought my belly was hungry, it was my soul that was starved."
I spent most of my life struggling with my body and food. The specifics looked different at different times — sometimes it was restriction, sometimes losing control, sometimes both in the same day. I tried everything I could think of to make peace with my body, but nothing shifted the underlying shame and exhaustion.
I remember a moment at the gym after a breakup when I stepped on the scale and saw the lowest number I'd ever seen. I thought I'd feel relief or pride, but instead I felt worse than ever. That's when something clicked: the thing I'd been chasing; the weight that would finally fix everything — wasn't going to fix anything at all.
For years, I approached healing backwards. I thought if I could just look better, I'd feel better. I went to therapy, joined support groups, read every self-help book I could find. All of it helped in different ways, but the core struggle stayed because I was still treating my body as a problem to solve instead of a relationship to restore.
“The stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own.”
~ Mary Oliver
My Journey to Self Love The Work I do Now
The real shift came when I finally surrendered. For me, that moment happened during my pregnancy. My relationship with food and my body changed because for the first time, I wasn't trying to control anything — I was caring for someone else. I started listening to my body's cues instead of overriding them, and I began treating myself with the same care I'd give to someone I loved.
What I learned during that time wasn't about pregnancy itself. It was about what happens when you stop fighting your body and start reconnecting with it. That insight stayed with me. After my son was born, I kept listening, kept caring, kept choosing presence over control. The food noise quieted, the cycling eased, and I started trusting myself in ways I never had before.
The deeper layer of healing came as I reconnected with something sacred — a relationship with God that I hadn't realized was missing. That reconnection shifted not just my relationship with food, but how I moved through the world, how I treated myself, and how I experienced my life.
Now I guide women through their own version of this transformation. Women who have tried so many things, who understand the patterns intellectually, who are exhausted by the noise and the cycling and ready to heal at a deeper level.
I've been featured at TEDx Salinas and in major media outlets including ABC, NBC, and CBS. I'm the bestselling author of BE-Friend Yourself: Finding Freedom with Food and Peace with Your Body. My training includes certifications in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy, Reiki Master, Healer, Tantra, and Yoga. But what matters most is that I've been where you are, and I understand what it takes to move through this.
"Marla and the work she does is the real deal. It is long term, deep transformation. Her understanding and perspective of the connection between food, our bodies and the much bigger picture of why we are here allows for real lasting change. The noise quiets, the reason to eat shifts and the quality and experience of life blossoms. Marla and the work she does is nothing short of a gift. She returns you back to the true expression you were meant to be. "
— Elizabeth G
THE PATH FORWARD
Healing doesn't have a timeline, and it doesn't look the same for everyone. What matters is having support that meets you where you are and helps you reconnect with your body, yourself, and whatever feels sacred to you. If you're ready to explore what that could look like, I'd be honored to walk with you.
How can I help?
Coaching
This is personalized work for women ready to heal at the root. We focus on what's underneath the food struggle — the disconnection, the patterns, the nervous system responses that have been running for years. The work weaves love, spiritual reconnection, and deep receptive healing to transform how you show up in your life and in your body.
You'll experience lasting shifts in how you relate to food, your body, and yourself… shifts that come from changing the frequency you're operating from.
Kingdom Healing
Kingdom Healing transforms body, heart, and spirit through energy work, connection with Spirit, prayer, and spiritual guidance.
This work breaks generational patterns, releases addiction at the root, and restores nervous system peace.
After years of fighting and struggle, you'll find a quiet that settles internally.
Your body softens, your mind releases self-judgment, and you begin to see the joy surrounding you.
Receive my "Body-Love" Meditation
get Free Access to connect lovingly to your body.