Bodywork

Our bodies are people, and most people do not like to be overpowered.

Touch is a direct way of communicating with bodies. Sometimes a lot of pressure is what we need to relax, but often it is like being yelled at when speaking quietly would be more effective. To work deeply with the body—and to genuinely access its deepest tissues—great sensitivity is needed.

As a Licensed Massage Therapist I use touch to help bodies find healing balance.

Osteopathy, chiropractic, physical therapy, craniosacral therapy, structural integration, neuromuscular therapy, myofascial release, shiatsu, and Swedish massage are all forms of bodywork with different perspectives on how to offer healing. 

My bodywork is primarily myofascial and craniosacral with influences from all of the above methodologies, focused on the interaction between the connective tissue network—the fascia–and the nervous system.

Unless we’re using a treatment the specifically requires skin contact I work with my clients fully clothed.  Engaging with the feeling body, and asking it to soften, is inherently vulnerable.  I find loose clothing that moves easily helps hold the safe container needed for transformative work.

You are safe here. 

The fundamental basis of SomaWorks is respect for your body through natural healing.  Bodywork techniques free you from the worries of long-term side effects so common with more invasive medical treatments.  I support you in the opportunity to take responsibility and empower yourself in your healing.

Somatic Movement Therapy

Somatics is a simple and powerful field using movement and awareness to refine how you engage with your body.

Tuning in to the information stream of sensory awareness is an essential and highly effective skill for healing and change.

Most movement is unconscious.

Our movements are a signature–we repeat our unique personal movement patterns constantly. Life’s physical and emotional traumas can interfere with our patterns, changing how we hold and use our body. Inefficient movement patterns lead to chronic pain and dysfunction.  The good news is that shifting these patterns can be done methodically and reliably.  Sometimes the change that’s needed is about the relationships within the body—the sequencing of joints, the strength of muscles, and the flexibility of the connective tissues.  Sometimes the needed change is in relationship to other people and the environments we spend our time—these are also patterns.  So much of communication is non-verbal.  We can work with the body to sensitize to what we’ve been doing, and to then shift how we arrange ourselves in relationship to the outer world.

In our work together we’ll look at what patterns are and aren’t working for you, and we’ll set specific attainable goals.  

As a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist I am certified in Laban Movement Analysis and Pilates.  I also draw from many other related systems and traditions including Yoga, Modern Dance, Body-Mind Centering, Feldenkrais, Chi Kung, and Alexander Technique.  

Coaching

Somatic work fundamentally links movement and awareness.  Somatic psychotherapy methods such as Somatic Experiencing or Hakomi focus on sensory awareness within the body to help clear stuck emotional patterns.  As a somatic movement therapist and coach I will help you with the equally important movement side of the movement/awareness equation.  Movement work is deeply empowering because it allows us to link conscious choice to so much of what our bodies do unconsciously.  We breathe whether or not we choose to, yet the choice to shift the breath can shift your emotional experience.  The same is true in many ways for how we walk or sit.  If you want to shift your experience, shift your body.

As a somatic coach I will attune you to how you inhabit your body and give you practices that empower you to change how you feel.  I can help you to better “stand on your own two feet,” “sit back a bit,” or to “lean in.” We use phrases like these figuratively, yet I can help you practice them quite literally as new life skills.

While I always prefer to work with people in person when possible, there is a tremendous amount that we can accomplish together through somatic coaching in movement and awareness via videoconferencing.  Just choose a distance coaching session when you book.