about
Amber
I’m Amber—
I’m Amber – like the stone. Perfect Amber has no healing properties; the magic is in its flaws. I’m an old soul at heart who’s living in the digital age and still shooting as much film as I can. My quest to heal my own broken parts has motivated most of my collegiate and life studies. I believe that who we are and what we do matters. Within each of us is the capacity to make a difference in this world – especially when we show up consciously in ways that promote individual and collective change.
With a singular purpose, I work in two fields: photographic art and somatic education. I’m equally passionate about both and find that oddly enough, each complements the other. As an artist, I create high caliber portrait and product photography for your small business to thrive. As an educator, I empower individuals to resolve trauma and post-traumatic stress using Somatic Experiencing®, mindfulness exercises, and yoga. You’ll find my very academic bio below.
academic bio
Amber Shumake, M.Ed., SEP, E-RYT 200, has been teaching passionately and professionally for over 13 years. With authentic and engaging instruction, she invites students to define the direction, collaborating to ensure the content seems relevant.
Amber earned her B.S. in Education as well as a M.Ed. in Counseling from Texas Christian University. She has also trained in Somatic Experiencing (S.E.), a body-oriented therapeutic method founded by Peter Levine and taught worldwide which releases stored trauma and stress to bring the nervous system into a state of balance.
Amber is the facilitator and founder of Whole Heart Yoga Fort Worth. This non-profit organization’s mission is to promote more peace in the community by offering yoga and mindfulness to underserved communities who do not have access to, or feel excluded from, yoga studios.
With her respected colleague and longtime friend, Lauren Wessinger, Amber offers The Practice: a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. Amber’s passion is making yoga, trauma-informed in order for people of all experience levels, mobility, ages, races, cultures, sizes, genders, sexual orientation and gender expression feel included. In addition to training teachers, she leads international yoga and meditation retreats.
Amber consistently collaborates with local Fort Worth nonprofits and commercial businesses to help create cultures of mindfulness and wellness. Educating social workers and direct service providers on the effects of trauma, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue, she equips them with practical somatic tools to release stress, prevent burnout, and increase sustainability.
In her private practice, she utilizes a variety of holistic techniques to empower individuals to heal unresolved trauma, minimizing the effects of post-traumatic stress and integrating challenging life experiences so they can re-engage with life purposefully and joyfully.
To bring levity to the gravity of her work, Amber enjoys creating art. Specializing in photography, she creates high caliber portraiture for individuals, families, and small businesses.
She resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her wife and their young adopted son.