about
I’m an integrative therapist, mentor, writer, and lifelong student of the healing arts.
Hi, I'm shawn. Welcome.
Life offers itself to us on its own terms. We know this, but we can still find ourselves caught in the noise, struggling to make sense of our lives, and cut off from the embodied wisdom within us.
Presence is medicine — our pathway to listen deeply and remember our wholeness.
Through contemplative practice, immersive learning experiences, and evidence-based psychotherapeutic modalities, we can reconnect with the belonging that has been there all along and, together, discover what it means to be fully human.
My work expresses fluency in the science and art of wellbeing.
mission statement
Shawn Parell (LMHC, E-RYT 500) is a therapist, teacher, author, and advocate who lives with her family in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her interdisciplinary work weaves together wisdom traditions and evidence-based frameworks grounded in the thesis of authentic, embodied well-being.
Since 2002, Shawn has mentored hundreds of yoga teachers and guided thousands of mindfulness practitioners. Over the years, Shawn has partnered with visionary organizations like Sweetgreen, U.S. Green Building Council, and Honest Tea, assisted her root teacher, world-renowned yogini Shiva Rea, and served as Program Director for Anahata International, a non-profit with the mission to bring trauma-informed training to communities in Washington DC, Rwanda, and the West Bank. Her work has been featured in publications ranging from Yoga Journal and SHAPE Magazine to the Washington Post.
Today, Shawn’s in-person work centers on her private counseling practice and the mindfulness courses and retreats she curates worldwide. Her Substack publication, The Guest House, is a commonweal meditation on the central questions of our lives. Through contemplative essays, conversations with expert guests, and live yoga & meditation offerings, Shawn welcomes readers to explore the complexities and creative potential of being human in an era of radical change.
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Shawn (LMHC, E-RYT 500) holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English and Religious Studies from Georgetown University and Oxford University, a Master of Arts (MA) in Eastern Classics and Sanskrit from St. John’s College, and a Master of Arts (MA) in Counseling Psychology from Southwestern College. She completed her clinical psychotherapy training at The Sky Center, an organization with the mission to prevent suicide in youth through family systems counseling, and she is a graduate of Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s distinguished two-year mindfulness meditation teacher training.
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