Meet Your Hosts

Erika Olivas

Erika Olivas is an emotional awareness practitioner, sound healer, and the founder of Aurora Heart Healing LLC. Her work is centered around helping others reconnect with themselves through emotional awareness, nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and spiritual connection. Through years of personal healing and professional practice, Erika has created spaces that encourage authenticity, vulnerability, and meaningful transformation.

Within the retreat, Erika will guide participants through sound baths, emotional awareness workshops, vulnerability and connection exercises, spiritual reflection, and community healing experiences. Her approach blends grounded emotional processing with intuitive and heart-centered practices designed to help participants feel safe, supported, and empowered within their own healing journey.

Erika’s intention is to help create an environment where participants can slow down, reconnect with themselves, build emotional resilience, and experience authentic connection within a supportive community atmosphere.

You can see Erika's retreat offerings here and more of Erika's work at aurorahearthealing.com

Melissa Gerdes

Melissa Gerdes, MPT, is a physical therapist, Somatic Cartographer™, and creator of The Cartography of Possibility™—a philosophy that invites people to stop organizing their lives around protection and begin orienting toward possibility.

For more than 33 years, Melissa has helped people living with chronic pain, complex symptoms, and life transitions discover that lasting transformation doesn't begin with fixing ourselves—it begins with changing how we orient to ourselves, our bodies, and the world around us.

Drawing on neuroscience, nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, manual therapy, and the wisdom of the natural world, Melissa created the Personal Somatic Treasure Map™ and Neuro Agility™—practical frameworks that help people cultivate greater adaptability, resilience, and freedom.

Through experiential practices, meaningful reflection, and a deeply grounded approach, Melissa guides participants to reconnect with what brings them fully alive, expand what feels possible, and develop an internal compass for navigating life's ever-changing terrain with greater confidence and ease.

You can see Melissa's retreat offerings here and more of Melissa's work at bluebirdmanualtherapy.com

Wanda La Russa

Wanda La Russa is a Chakra Alignment Practitioner and sought- after Speaker who helps people balance their energy, cultivate a positive mindset, and reconnect with their inner wisdom. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies with a minor in Human Development and is a Yoga Alliance® Registered 200-Hour Yoga Teacher. Through yoga classes, group circles, talks, and retreats, Wanda blends mindful movement, breathwork, meditation, and energy awareness to inspire resilience, self-discovery, and overall wellbeing.

With a dynamic and engaging style, Wanda has captivated audiences at retreats, community gatherings, sales trainings, and corporate events. Rooted in a lifelong commitment to personal growth and shaped by living and working across the San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley, Texas, and Nevada, she guides individuals to align with their potential and create more balanced, fulfilling lives.

You can see Wanda's retreat offerings here and more of Wanda's work at awakenflowconnect.com

Reach Out

Questions? We're here to help you reset.

Contact

info@thedesertreset.org