When she was growing up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Trula Daughtery’s mother always told her that “Trula” was short for “True Love.” It’s fitting, then, that Daugherty went on to become not only a meditation and yoga instructor, but also a Master Teacher and Practitioner of Usui and Karuna Reiki, which is a form of healing energy also known as unconditional love.
Daugherty began meditation in her twenties as a way of healing herself. “I had a lot of anxiety and stomach problems,” she said. “After a lot of testing, the doctor still couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me. He finally asked if I had tried meditation.” She tried it and it worked. It turns out that meditation, among other benefits, helps reduce anxiety, lowers blood pressure, helps with the side-effects of chemotherapy, and may improve learning in children with Attention Deficit Disorder. Meditation so improved Daugherty’s health that she wanted to share the knowledge with others and became an instructor. That was 35 years ago. “Meditation takes your mind off the troubles you’re going through so you can have a new perspective,” Daugherty said.
As she grew older, Daugherty wanted to improve her balance and flexibility, so she started taking yoga, and she grew an inch. “My husband says it’s just that I have straight posture now, but I am an inch taller,” Daugherty said. Again, she found yoga so restorative that she wanted to share what she’d discovered with others and became a yoga instructor.
When Daugherty’s son was in a car accident and broke both of his legs, he worked with a natural healer to heal his bones. The doctors and physical therapists were amazed with her son’s quick recovery, Daugherty said, so when she had an opportunity to learn about the healing power of Reiki she jumped at the chance and soon became a Master Teacher.
“Reiki is a life energy that flows through all living things,” Daugherty said. A Reiki practitioner places her hands near the client’s body and energy field, so that the energy of unconditional love flows from the practitioner and into the client’s energy field. Reiki is said to relax muscles and increase blood flow, which speeds the healing process, as well as help with stress, headaches, insomnia and emotional distress.
Daugherty shares her healing gifts in her spare time, though. During the day, she’s a Systems Analyst for Vail Resorts in Broomfield, Colorado. Daugherty applied for a grant through the company’s generous Epic Volunteer Program to spend this week volunteering with Placer Land Trust, teaching guided meditation, yoga, and Reiki on PLT Preserves, and spreading the word about PLT’s mission: to preserve open space for future generations. “I work in the corporate world,” Daugherty said. “I know how important it is to get away from the computer screen and get outside, bring attention inward, find peace and calm.”
As a kid in Stillwater, Daugherty didn’t have many opportunities to spend time in open space, hiking, biking, or fishing. Since working at Vail— which manages ski resorts across the country including nearby Kirkwood, Heavenly, and North Star— Daugherty has become passionate about the importance of preserving open space for ourselves as well as our children. The Epic Volunteer program gave Daugherty the perfect opportunity to bring her two passions together. “One of the things we learn in yoga is that we are all one with each other,” Daugherty said. “We are one with our environment. We are one together.”
PLT invites you to join Trula Daugherty for yoga, guided meditation and Reiki. The guided mediation and Reiki class will be Wednesday, May 21 from 9:30-11:00am at Taylor Ranch Preserve. Yoga in nature will be Saturday, May 24 at 8:30am with an optional hike afterwards. Registration and other information is available on the PLT website under the upcoming events button.
