Meet the
TENDing Method Team
Body Luminary: Where Healing Meets Wholeness
Body Luminary was founded by Michele Renee to help people with chronic health conditions discover what becomes possible when we stop trying to fix our bodies and start learning to tend to them.
The TENDing Method grew from Michele's personal journey with Long COVID, chronic Lyme disease, and rheumatoid arthritis, and her deep commitment to creating trauma-informed, body-based approaches to healing. What started as one person's quest for better living has become a comprehensive program taught by a collaborative team of experts who each bring unique wisdom to this work.
My best healers are my four-leggeds. This is Mini, my Great Pyrenees. She tended me carefully day after day, year after year.
Act 6: The Transformation
I'm not "cured." I'm not "back to normal."
But I've come from 0% capacity back to 50%. From completely bedbound to building a meaningful life. From utter despair to sustainable hope.
I have good days and hard days. My diet is very clean and quite limited. I tire easily. My days are highly variable, especially if I fail to pace well.
But I've learned to live—meaningfully, sustainably—with what is.
I've learned that healing isn't returning to "before." It's about creating something new. Something that honors both your limitations and your potential.
I've learned that transformation doesn't happen through force. It happens through tending.
Act 7: The Mission
Now I teach what saved me.
Not because I have all the answers. Not because I've "overcome" Long COVID.
But because I've learned how to tend myself through it. And I believe deeply that you can too.
For five years, I've been testing these practices on myself. Learning what works. Discarding what doesn't. Adapting evidence-based approaches to the reality of living with chronic illness.
The Tending Method isn't a cure. It's a way of being with your body that creates the conditions for healing—whatever healing looks like for you.
It's the nervous system regulation that helps you shift out of constant threat.
It's the individualized nutrition that supports your unique microbiome.
It's the sustainable pacing that prevents crashes.
It's the practice of putting yourself first without guilt.
It's the deep work of facing trauma with compassion.
When I'm strong enough, I'll return to the national stage. I'll write the book about this journey. I'll speak at conferences again about what I've learned in the trenches.But right now, in this moment, I'm here with you.
Teaching the foundational practices that brought me from 0% to 50%.
Sharing what I've learned about sustainable healing.
Walking beside you as you learn to tend yourself.
Because you don't have to do this alone anymore.
Your body is speaking. It's speaking to you in the only language it knows. Together, we'll learn to listen.
Act 2: The Overdoer
I didn't just study healing—I consumed it. Massage therapy. Craniosacral therapy. Doctor of Chiropractic. Masters in Acupuncture. I was in my final capstone course for my Masters in Applied Nutrition when everything changed.
For seven years, I served as Associate Professor and Director of Integrative Care at Northwestern Health Sciences University, where I didn't just teach integrative medicine—I built the MHS in Integrative Care program from the ground up. I wrote book chapters. Spoke at national conferences. Founded Stockheart Whole Health, an integrative clinic in Minneapolis. Literally wrote the definitions of what integrative care should be.
I went 100 miles an hour. I tried to do it all, learn it all, take care of everyone. I never thought I was good enough. I didn't think I had limits.
I'd collapse for a couple of days, sleep it off, and then go full throttle again.
I had no idea I'd been living with chronic Lyme disease for years. My body had it partially under control—a delicate balance I didn't even know existed.
Act 4: The Humbling
For months, I was 100% disabled. I couldn't work. Could barely think. My body—which I thought I understood so deeply—had become a mystery, sometimes a frightening one.
Here's the humbling truth: all that knowledge, all that expertise, decades of training in how bodies heal... and still I struggled.
I knew the theories. I knew the techniques. I had taught practitioners how to facilitate healing in others.
But knowledge isn't the same as listening. Techniques aren't the same as attunement.
I had spent my entire career helping other people's bodies. Now I had to learn to tend my own.
And I had no idea how.
Act 5: The Turning Point
The real shift came when I stopped trying to fix my body and started learning to tend it.
To listen instead of override.
To notice instead of push through.
To respond with curiosity instead of frustration.
I had to unlearn everything the missionary kid had learned. I had to accept that my needs mattered. That rest wasn't weakness. That asking for help wasn't failure.
I learned to treat my body like a garden—not forcing bloom, but creating the conditions where growth becomes possible.
Some days that meant 15 hours of sleep.
Some days that meant saying no to everything.
Some days that meant asking for help, even when it felt impossible.
I learned to:
Attune to my nervous system and regulate it gently
Nourish my microbiome like tending soil
Move in ways that restored rather than depleted
Reduce the inflammatory load my body was carrying
Face unresolved trauma with curiosity and kindness
Put myself first without guilt
Long COVID became my master class in integrative care. Not the kind you teach in a university. The kind you live. The kind that strips away everything theoretical and leaves only what actually works.
I went from zero prescribed medications to over a dozen, including an IV infusion that I receive every 8 weeks. I am truly walking my talk about using whatever works to help me feel better, and that involves confronting some of my own beliefs and biases.
Michele Renee, DC, MAC
Founder and Creator
My Story: From Overdoing to Tending
Act 1: The Missionary Kid
I was born in Madagascar, where luna moths flutter through warm tropical nights, drawn to light in the darkness. My childhood was spent moving around the world with my missionary family, witnessing communities literally starving before my eyes.
I learned early that other people's needs were more important than my own. That being of service was my role in this world. That my comfort, my limits, my needs—they didn't matter as much.
This shaped everything beautiful about who I became: my deep appreciation for multiple healing paradigms, my drive to help as many people as possible, my ability to hold space across cultures and traditions.
But it also planted a seed that would nearly destroy me: the belief that I wasn't allowed to stop.
Act 3: The Crash
In 2020, Long COVID "let everything out of jail," as my doctor said. The “everything” she was referring to were previous infections, genetic predispositions, and the like. But for me, there was so much more.
Everything I'd been holding together—my health, my capacity, my carefully constructed life—came crashing down. Soon after, I was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, severe sleep apnea, and hypothyroidism.
It turns out this is incredibly common. Co-infections. Overlapping inflammatory conditions. COVID sets it all on fire like an out-of-control forest fire.
The woman who "did it all" couldn't even get up.
I went from zero prescribed medications to over a dozen, including an IV infusion that I receive every 8 weeks. I am truly walking my talk about using whatever works to help me feel better, and that involves confronting some of my own beliefs and biases.
Dr. Renee’s Approach:
The TENDing Method emerged from my own experience living with [condition] and recognizing that conventional approaches were missing something fundamental: the wisdom of listening to our bodies rather than trying to override them. I developed this 10-week curriculum to share the practices and insights that transformed my relationship with my health—and my life.
What I Bring to TENDing Foundations:
Personal understanding of living with chronic conditions
Development of the complete TENDing Method curriculum
Trauma-informed facilitation and nervous system regulation expertise
Compassionate, body-centered teaching approach
Dr. Karen Lawson, MD, DABIHM, NBC-HWC
Collaborator, Co-Instructor, & Health Empowerment Specialist
I was always fascinated by the brain and how it worked in the health of the body.
I studied physiology and biochemistry, did research in brain science for a drug company, and decided that I really wanted to work with humans, not animals.
I went to medical school where I discovered the great schisms in medical science and the silos that divided not only areas of healthcare but the parts of every human patient. I lived and thought holistically myself, and wanted any medicine I did to be the same.
I chose to do my residency in Family and Community Medicine, hoping to find holism there. After spending 5 years in Primary care, I realized that I would need to look elsewhere. Moving my work into Emergency Medicine, I created time and resources to begin studying other approaches.
I spent years studying Mind/Body approaches, including meditation, breathwork, movement practices, yoga, healthy nutrition, classical homeopathy, and more. I made the move into practicing Integrative and Holistic Medicine full time. I launched 2 clinics and thought that I had found a way to help people find paths to greater health and well-being.
But then I discovered something else...
Patients came to see the diverse practitioners on my team for help, but they still were often passive consumers of information and processes. They had things done to them and they were told what they needed to do—but they rarely made sustainable and meaningful behavior changes that were needed to find better health and wellbeing. There had to be another way.
I found it—integrative health and wellbeing coaching. As a University of Minnesota assistant professor, I developed the first academic graduate program in the field—first a Certificate program, then a full master's degree. I taught in and directed those programs for 17 years. I helped lead the initiative to standardize and regulate that field nationally, founding the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). I served on that board for 9 years.
Now, in private practice, I work as a Health Empowerment Specialist, providing unique support and guidance to individuals seeking to find clarity and direction in their healthcare plans, establish their own vision for wellbeing, create value-driven action plans, and implement sustainable lifestyle behaviors to manifest their best health.
I find that there is additional benefit in working with groups, where participants gain from learning from each other and finding new sources of social support. I'm thrilled to bring my expertise in behavior change and coaching techniques to the knowledge and experience Michele is sharing in the TENDing Foundations program.
Credentials
Doctor of Medicine (MD)
Board Certified in Holistic and Integrative Medicine (DABIHM)
Trained in Classical Homeopathy
Certified Yoga Teacher
Nationally Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC)
20 years of experience in Coaching
Published author of multiple professional papers, book chapters, and articles
International presenter and facilitator
What I Bring to the TENDing Method:
Deep expertise in sustainable behavior change
Integration of mind/body approaches with practical coaching
Experience helping people move from passive patients to empowered participants
Understanding of how to create meaningful, lasting transformation
Dr. Brenna Erickson, DC
Co-Developer &
Migraine Specialist
What I Bring to the TENDing Method:
Deep understanding of nervous system regulation and neurological conditions
Expertise in gentle, body-centered healing approaches
Experience adapting the TENDing Method for specific chronic conditions
Practical knowledge of root-cause, whole-person care
Learn More: Website: www.drbrennaerickson.com
Instagram: @migrainewhisperer
Practice: Stockheart Whole Health, Minneapolis
Credentials
Doctor of Chiropractic (DC)
Minnesota's only Directional Non-Force Technique provider
Additional training in Functional Medicine, CranioSacral Therapy, and Applied Neuroscience
Specialization in nervous system regulation
Extensive experience with migraine and headache disorders
Known as the Migraine Whisperer, I
specialize in helping people with migraines and chronic headache disorders regain their lives. I provide relief to those who thought it impossible—including people who have suffered for years, even decades.
My approach is grounded in nervous system regulation and gentle, precise care that works with your body rather than against it. I'm passionate about neurology and getting to the root cause of issues, empowering my patients through non-invasive lifestyle, nutrition, mindfulness, and movement-based modifications.
As co-developer of the TENDing Method, I've adapted this foundational curriculum specifically for people living with migraine, creating a specialized version that addresses the unique challenges of this neurological condition.
I completed my Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Life West Chiropractic College near San Francisco in 2017 and have additional training in Functional Medicine, CranioSacral Therapy, and Applied Neuroscience. I'm Minnesota's only Directional Non-Force Technique (DNFT) Chiropractor—a gentle approach that involves no cracking, popping, or sudden movements.
I grew up in a holistically minded environment where chiropractic care, homeopathic remedies, herbal infusions, and essential oils were complementary to a healthy lifestyle. I briefly considered becoming an MD to help people achieve optimal health, but was discouraged by many aspects of the industry's contradictions. I shifted my focus to the connection between mental and emotional health and the physical body—which led me to chiropractic care and nervous system work.
My work has been featured in Minnesota-based magazines and podcasts, and I teach regularly on Instagram as @migrainewhisperer. I moved my practice from Northern California to the Twin Cities in 2019 and currently practice at Stockheart Whole Health in Minneapolis.
Why This Team?
Medicine. Coaching. Nervous System Healing.
The TENDing Method works because it addresses what most chronic illness approaches miss: the integration of body awareness, sustainable behavior change, and nervous system regulation.
Monet Goode
Michele created the curriculum from lived experience.
Together, we offer you a complete approach—not just information, but transformation. Not just tools, but the support to actually use them.
Not just knowledge, but embodied wisdom.
Emmett Marsh
Dr. Karen brings two decades of expertise in helping people actually implement what they learn.
Eleanor Parks
Dr. Brenna adds deep knowledge of nervous system function and gentle healing practices.