Acerca de
I learned how to listen, to listen, to listen with a still heart with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgement, without opinions.
~ Herman Hesse
The Way I Work
I incorporate a variety of techniques into my bodywork practice, but the overarching theme of my healing art form is Craniosacral Therapy. I use skilled listening hands to connect with the body's differing layers of tissue and fluids and integrate the information I receive to assist the body in it's healing process. In addition to working with the craniosacral system (cranium, spinal cord, and sacrum) and it's varying rhythms, I often utilize myofascial release to free restricted fascial layers in the body, intraoral techniques to ease muscles, nerves, and fascial strains inside the mouth, visceral mobilization to enhance motility within and mobility around the organs, meridian unwinding to open lines of energetic flow, and reflexology to aid clients in relaxation and resource areas of disharmony.
​
Unlike the traditional Swedish massage, and more like Thai massage or Reiki, clients remain clothed during their treatment session. I encourage my clients to dialogue about their experience as we move through the treatment session, but also ask that they take the opportunity to quiet the mind and thus voice in order to access the stillness that the body readily uses for self healing. So much can happen when we allow the mind to step aside and let the body take the lead.
My Professional Journey
Many moons ago I fancied the idea of being a pediatrician. After several more moons waxed and waned, I discovered naturopathic medicine and thought it was perhaps a better suited calling. However, in the middle of my undergraduate studies, I found myself in SE Asia, and my sights shifted yet again. While there, I played in the ocean, sat in silent meditation retreats in the Buddhist tradition, met amazing people from all over the world, and had my ear filled with the wonders of yoga. I followed the yogic hum and lived at Satyananda Yogic Ashram in Bihar India to fulfill my curiosities about the many facets of the yogic tradition (after first returning home for a hot minute to obtain my BA in Anthropology from Western WA University). My soul was riding the wind by now and my next stop was back to Thailand to study the art of Thai Massage with a variety of teachers, the last being Asokananda, amongst the hill tribes of northern Thailand. This undertaking was a bit of an unexpected coming home for me. I hadn't realized that the dance teacher from my youth, a wonderfully talented and humble Thai man named Pak, had been incorporating Thai massage, via partner stretching and energy work, in to all my years of study with him. Without a break in step, I returned home and attended a 1000hr massage therapy training program in Seattle in order to legally practice the skills I had been honing for so long.
My profession took form. I practiced in the company of naturopathic doctors, Ayurvedic doctors, and chiropractors. I practiced in day spas, luxury hotel spas, and in private practice. I fell in love and started a family. And when my creative energy bounced back from the depleting years of early motherhood, I hungered deeply for further education. Simultaneously, my curiosities grew about clients who's points of tension existed just beyond my reach or the boundaries of my knowledge.
I returned to studying the human form, via a certification in craniosacral therapy. I had dabbled in CST since massage school in 2002 and knew for many years that this may be my next area of professional growth but didn't know when or why. After a brief, yet alarming confrontation with my health, I knew it was time to lean in to my curiosities and desires with gusto. I didn't fully understand the concept of CST right away, or even how to palpate the fluid body and ended up taking 4 introductory classes (all from different teachers) to get a solid angle on what the work was about. I found a brilliant mentor in Seattle, Lauren Christman, and completed my foundation training, certifying with her, while continuing to study with the endearing Belgian educator, Etienne Peirsman, in New Mexico. Their widely different approaches to the work gave me a solid understanding of the full spectrum of CST - of the physical or biomechanical realm and the more spiritual or biodynamic understanding. Through their trainings I began to sense deeper, see more, and know better. I began to reclaim and retrain my own nervous system, better understand the body/mind continuum, and sense my connection to all living things in a more illuminated way. Another Homecoming.
The practice of craniosacral therapy delights me at the soul level. It is backed by science yet holds magnitudes of mystery that intrigues me in and out of the treatment room every single day. I look forward to sharing my excitement and continued curiosities with you while supporting you in body-centered health as my professional journey evolves.
