For people building a life their body can live in.
Body Luminary
The Body Luminary is a space for learning how to live more sustainably in a human body.
Through nervous-system-aware education, embodied practice, community, and whole-person care, we help people move away from constant pushing and toward ways of living that support connection, capacity, rest, resilience, and meaning.
Whether you are navigating illness, burnout, transition, caregiving, overwhelm, or simply longing for a gentler way to live — you are welcome here.
This space is for people who are:
tired of living in constant override
recovering from burnout, stress, illness, or survival mode
trying to reconnect with themselves
caring for others while learning to care for themselves too
seeking more sustainable ways to live, work, heal, and rest
longing for more rhythm, gentleness, and connection
You do not need to have the “right” words for what you are experiencing to belong here.
Tending is different than fixing.
Many of us were taught to treat the body like a machine:
push harder, override signals, optimize performance, keep going.
Tending offers another way.
At The Body Luminary, we view the body as something living — responsive, relational, cyclical, intelligent, and deeply connected to environment, nervous system, community, and meaning.
Tending means learning to listen.
To notice.
To respond with care instead of force.
Not because we are giving up on healing —
but because sustainable healing rarely grows from self-abandonment.
And tending is not only for people who are suffering.
It is for anyone who has ever wondered what it would feel like to actually thrive in their body — not just get through the day.
Not just the absence of illness, but the presence of something worth living toward. More aliveness. More connection. More you.
🌙 Learning & Workshops
Body literacy, nervous system education, rest, rhythms, and practical whole-person wellbeing.
Pathways
🌿 The Tending Method
Support for chronic illness, post-viral conditions, nervous system healing, and sustainable living in changing bodies.
🤍 Connection & Community
Practices, reflection, accountability, and spaces to reconnect with yourself and others.
✨ Practitioner & Leadership Education
Whole-person care, integrative healing, trauma-informed systems, and sustainable practice.
You do not need to perform wellness here.
Rest is welcome here.
Slowness is welcome here.
Ambivalence, uncertainty, grief, fatigue, complexity, and becoming are welcome here.
We believe care should be accessible to people across changing capacities, identities, health experiences, and seasons of life.
You are allowed to arrive exactly as you are today.
A little bit about us, your guides.
Michele Renee, DC
Her Story: From 100% disabled with Long COVID to 50% capacity—not through another protocol, but through learning to TEND instead of FIX.
Her Expertise:
Doctor of Chiropractic
Masters in Acupuncture
Functional Medicine Training
20+ years treating complex chronic illness
Director of Integrative Care, Northwestern Health Sciences University
What She Brings to TENDing: The vulnerable truth of what it's actually like to live with chronic illness—and the practices that create healing conditions when there is no cure.
Her Teaching Focus: Body literacy, self-compassion practices, sustainable pacing strategies
The Guide Who's Walked This Path
Karen Lawson, MD
Her Background: Board-certified physician with specialized training in integrative holistic medicine and health coaching.
Her Expertise:
Deep expertise in sustainable behavior change
Integrating of mind/body approaches with practical coaching
Helping people move from passive patients to empowered participants
Creating meaningful, lasting transformation
What She Brings to TENDing: Medical credibility and evidence-based frameworks that help you understand WHAT'S happening in your body and WHY the TENDing approach works.
Her Teaching Focus: Integrative Health & Wellness Coaching & Empowerment
Health Empowerment Specialist
Founded by Michele Renee, The Body Luminary emerged from years of clinical practice, whole-person care work, and lived experience navigating complex chronic illness.
Our work bridges nervous system science, integrative care, embodiment, contemplative practice, and deeply human approaches to healing and sustainability.
The Nervous System Specialist
Brenna Erickson, DC
Her Background: Chiropractor specializing in gentle, nervous-system-focused care for chronic conditions.
Her Expertise:
Doctor of Chiropractic
Directional Non-Force Technique (DNFT) specialist
Craniosacral therapy
Migraine and chronic pain specialist
Trauma-informed body-based practices
What She Brings to TENDing: Deep understanding of how nervous system dysregulation drives chronic illness—and the somatic practices that restore regulation without forcing or pushing.
Her Teaching Focus: Vagal nerve regulation, somatic practices, trauma-informed body awareness
Your body is not a problem to solve.
It may be asking for a different way of living.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be sick or chronically ill to belong here?
No.
The Body Luminary is for anyone seeking a more sustainable, more alive relationship with their body — whether that means healing from illness, recovering from burnout, or simply reaching for something more than meh.
Some people arrive here because of chronic illness or burnout.
Others arrive because they are tired of living in constant override. And others arrive because they are technically fine — functioning, managing, getting through — but they know something is missing. They have forgotten what it feels like to actually thrive.
The absence of illness is not the same as thriving.
You are allowed to want more than okay.
You are welcome here.
What does “tending” mean?
Tending is the practice of responding to the body with attention, relationship, curiosity, and care instead of force, punishment, or constant optimization.
We believe bodies are living systems — not machines to dominate or endlessly push past.
Tending does not mean giving up on healing.
It means creating conditions that support sustainable healing, regulation, and wholeness.
Is this medical care?
The Body Luminary offers education, practices, workshops, community experiences, and whole-person healing frameworks.
Some offerings may involve licensed practitioners or integrative care approaches, but this website is not a substitute for individualized medical advice or emergency care.
We encourage people to work collaboratively with trusted healthcare professionals when appropriate.
What if I don’t know what’s “wrong” with me?
You are still welcome here.
Many people sense that something in their life, body, nervous system, or way of living is unsustainable long before they have language, diagnosis, or clarity around it.
You do not need certainty to begin listening to yourself differently.
I’m exhausted. Where should I start?
Start gently.
You do not need to consume everything at once or “do healing correctly.”
We recommend beginning with whichever pathway feels most accessible today — whether that is reading, listening, joining community, attending a workshop, or simply slowing down long enough to notice what your body may be asking for.
Is this only for people interested in alternative wellness practices?
No.
Our work is grounded in whole-person care, nervous system awareness, lived experience, contemplative practice, and evidence-informed approaches to health and healing.
Some people arrive through integrative medicine, some through burnout, some through chronic illness, some through leadership or caregiving, and others simply through curiosity about living differently.
You do not need to subscribe to any particular belief system to participate.
What kinds of topics do you explore?
Topics may include:
nervous system health
embodiment
chronic illness and post-viral life
burnout and sustainability
rest and recovery
body literacy
trauma-informed living
integrative and whole-person care
rhythms, rituals, and seasonal living
identity, grief, meaning, and transformation
What if my capacity changes from day to day?
That is deeply understood here.
Many people in this community live with fluctuating energy, health, attention, pain, caregiving demands, or emotional capacity.
We strive to create offerings that are accessible, spacious, and adaptable to different seasons and levels of capacity.
You are allowed to participate imperfectly.
You do not need to arrive fully healed, fully certain, or fully functional to begin.
You only need a willingness to become more present to your own life.