Danielle Masters has been on both sides of the traditional healthcare equation—as a college student majoring in nursing, and as a patient battling anorexia, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and then stage I cervical cancer. From both sides, she says, she drew the same conclusion: the most powerful healing tools are the ones that nature gives us.

Inspired by her own experience and personal faith, and drawing from her broad training in natural wellness practices—she’s a certified registered yoga teacher, certified herbalist, holistic nutritionist and consultant for Neal’s Yard Remedies—Masters has built a diverse, devoted clientele who rely on her to help them reach their physical and spiritual potential through positive lifestyle changes. 

“Some of my clients have been movie stars, famous football players and musicians, not to mention the grandma next door,” she says.

Masters is now a proud Panhandle resident, serving the Panama City, Panama City Beach and 30-A communities. But she began her wellness journey in Palm Desert, California, where she attended college to become a registered nurse. It didn’t take long for her to grow disenchanted with Western medicine’s drug-heavy focus.

“During my studies I began realizing that I did not agree with the pharmaceutical practices in the medical industry,” she says, “and I found myself researching and educating myself about natural alternatives to healing."

That personal quest led her to yoga—first as a student, then as a teacher. She found the practice so transformative that she began piling up certifications (children’s yoga, beginner through advanced yoga, chair yoga …) in her enthusiasm to share the experience. “Before I knew it, I was teaching the gifts of yoga to people of all ages all over Palm Springs, California, and loving life,” she says. “All the while, my love and passion for herbal health and holistic nutrition was evolving.”

Then came the diagnosis of cervical cancer. For Masters, who had already been diagnosed with PCOS as a result of her 10-year battle with anorexia, which caused a hormonal imbalance, it was a turning point.

“I took this as a life-changing opportunity to truly practice all that I had learned holistically, in order to finally overcome the eating disorder once and for all and the medical diagnosis naturally,” she says. “Six months later, after much prayer and integrating an herbal supplementation program with organic nutrition and the practice of yoga, I was informed by the doctor that there was absolutely no sign of any cancerous cells in my body … I was completely healed.”

Her remarkable recovery culminated in 2009, when she and her husband, Mark, had a son, Tristan. They’d been told that she would never be able to have children.

As a witness to the miracle of her own life, and now as a facilitator of others’ wellness “miracles,” Masters is more confident than ever that we come equipped with the tools to restore our own health.

“Based on my personal experience and watching other people’s lives transform, I truly believe that by integrating both herbal health and holistic nutrition with organics, exercise and the practice of yoga, you can bring balance into your life through the renewal of the body, mind and spirit—from the inside out.”

That transformation begins with countering the stress of modern life. To that end, Masters offers private yoga classes, personalized to the client’s ability, health challenges and wellness goals. She also teaches Christ-Centered Yoga, an intentional practice connecting the entire being (body, mind and spirit) with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

She complements her yoga classes with education on living a chemical-free lifestyle. Her training as a consultant for Neal’s Yard Remedies—a line of certified organic personal care and wellness products—has reinforced her belief that we should avoid chemicals in our personal-care products just as we do in our foods. “Sixty percent of what we put on our skin is absorbed by the body and ultimately affects the liver, our fat-burning machine,” she says. 

In essence, Masters has written a new healthcare equation: yoga + exercise + organic nutrition and personal care = total wellness. That’s math we can all live with.

For more information, contact Danielle Masters at 850-866-8950 or [email protected], or visit  DanielleMasters.com.