Somatic Therapies - Breath - Body - Emotions

Imagine a therapeutic experience designed to help you specifically. What if you were able to access your body’s intelligence and release unhealthy outdated beliefs and negative experiences? What if the inner pain you carry (experienced in any number of ways specific to you) came into focus for you so they were seen, felt, and told a story? Imagine becoming free from constricted breathing, tension and anxiety while becoming aware of the possibilities your breath, body, and emotions could give you.

Imagine a form of therapeutic bodywork that touches more than the body, eases achy sore muscles - plus much more than that by including awareness, enhancing fluidity, integration and self-refection, and increasing serenity too. This is the power of somatic therapy, and it can make a significant difference to your health and happiness.

" Terra, I've had pain in my body for as long as I can remember. My issues with joint pain and scoliosis have made it very hard for me to go a day without pain medicine -- that is until my healing session with you! I had no idea what to expect, but the combination of what you did was simply amazing. I can breathe more deeply now and my body feels more flexible than I can ever remember. I slept well for the first time in ages, and I did not feel the usual ache for days afterward, thank you! I look forward to our next healing session." - Zoe, Marin County

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Whether it is a brisk 'rub-down' for an athlete or the tender soothing touch to help a child who has scraped a knee, touch is understood universally for it power to ease suffering, rejuvenate and heal. Conscious integrative touch is all that, and so much more. No longer a mystery to the modern world, there is little doubt of the connection between our experiences, memories, body, breath, and our feelings with our physical bodies. We see this connection with war vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress, or people who experience traumas, shocks, loss, and transitions. Experiences and connected emotions influence the body and its health. We also know our senses influence our feelings and experiences too. Scent for example and its memory of it can trigger either pleasant associations or debilitating ones. There is a a powerful link between memory, thoughts, and moods. Fluctuations and sensations of fear or contraction versus the happiness of joy, love and expanded feelings can be felt emotionally and physically, plus internally and externally throughout one's lifetime.

Yes it is true that there are times the body will react to basic mechanical problems such as over doing it at the gym, falling off a bike, or living a sedentary lifestyle, but even a situation like that (for some people) can become a launch pad for learning about the self and overall better health. There may be more complex reasons we feel achy, out of alignment or ill. The feeling that something is not right in one's own body may be the result of wounds to the bodymind from traumas: abuse, assault, childbirth (giving birth and being born can be a difficult experience in some cases) -plus, imprints carried within the psyche from ancestors and transpersonal memories are often seen in the body.

Somatic therapies, the combination of light to deep bodywork, emotional and spiritual reflection and insight, and a deeper connection to the sensations of the body will create holistic health.

Somatic therapy along with psycho-spiritual counseling is a natural fit for certain people. The feeling of energy moving, and breathe unrestricted is very uplifting!

Open meridian channels, easing of physical and emotional constriction, lighter moods, a connection to grounding and balance result in inner peace.

Certain forms of touch and energy work are calming and meditative, a feeling of closeness to healing guides and the soul's wisdom can result.

My intuitive gifts, including for healing touch, began at a young age. By the time I was 17 I became aware of my instinct for healing touch as people began to tell me they felt better after my hand touched and soothed a knee, shoulder, heart, or head.

I would find my hand had seemed to reached out on its own to touch a person, unaware that I had even done so - it seemed I reached out especially to those I sensed were in discomfort. My touch was met with a positive response with people reporting feeling much better. These actions were brought to my attention by a woman I knew when I was 17. She pointed out to me that I would place my hand on her (in areas of pain such as her shoulder or knee) and that after I removed my hand she felt better. As I became more and more aware of my healing instinct I also began to study to methods to enhance its development.

Today my counseling and healing work blends my intuitive abilities, transpersonal counseling, and East-West somatic methods.

By 1983 I was already instinctively doing healing touch and energy work with clients in my home-town of Toronto, Canada. I also began to study many years, becoming certified in a number of healing modalities.

I have provided body, breath, and centering awareness to a range of individuals and groups. I taught mothers/daughters, teens and younger girls about empowerment and connection to the body. I have been a stress relief coach, plus, taught yoga and healing ritual for the residents of a substance abuse treatment facility in Marin County, CA

I have worked with people from all walks of life and all sizes and fitness levels -- from the disabled, to professional dancers, tri-athletes, scientists, doctors, nurses, clergy, and people of varied abilities, ages, religions, politics, and perspectives.