" 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 a gentle soothing touch to ease the sting of a scraped knee, healing touch is understood universally for it power to relieve suffering. Touch can convey comfort, energy, peace, it can rejuvenate, and it can help clear stagnation, thereby allowing for better health and happiness to fill the body.

Touch can be calming or invigorating, it can help relieve stress, help cope with fear, or lull a person (or animal) to sleep. Conscious integrative touch combined with awareness of breath and compassion can work like magic in bringing about health and well-being. No longer a mystery to the modern world, there is little doubt of the connection between our experiences and memories, and our feelings held within our physical bodies.

An example of  body memory is seen with some war vets who suffer from post-traumatic stress. Their experiences in the  battle field, the actions, sights, sounds, scents, continue to live on in their bodies and minds (bodymind) long after they are removed from the war environment. Their emotions come home with them inside of their very musculature and emotional body.

Certain events, from mild ones to those described as traumatic are experienced in a variety of ways by non-military people as well. What might be a breeze to cope with for one person becomes a trigger for panic attacks for another. For example, students who study with additional pressure to please parents and culture may develop headaches, ulcers, nausea. And in the business world we see people feeling the demands of their work in their bodies who will often describe: aches and pains, tension headaches, blood pressure issues, tightness in the jaw, insomnia, and so on.

We know our senses influence our feelings and experiences too. Scent for example, with its associated memories, can trigger either pleasant sensations or uncomfortable even debilitating ones. There is a a powerful link between sense, memory, thought, and mood. The visceral sensation of  fear is a contractive energy and for some people it is a gut feeling, felt in the organs and muscles. People use expression like: down to my bones,made my blood run cold, a kick in the head, feeling smothered, frozen in place. Emotions like fear, anger, and shame can cause the heart to beat faster, the muscles to tense, energy contracts, breath is held tightly and body temperature shifts too. A person's vision can be diminished as well, tunnel vision kicks in from fear or shock (compared to peripheral vision of a relaxed and expanded energy).  An open warm feeling is felt by the body as pleasant, described as peaceful, joyous, fluid, it has a feeling of hope connected to it rather than gloom.

Of course some pain can be the result of a single action or a repetitive one. There are times the body will hurt in response to mechanical motions such as over doing it at the gym or from a specific sport. Falling off a bike, typing  long hours on a computer, or living a sedentary lifestyle will be felt by the body in some way too; but even the cases of  "explainable" pain can include a potential for personal insight and healing in more ways than expected.

There may be a number of nuanced reasons we experience frequent chest congestion or tightness in the jaw, and feel out of alignment or ill. The sense that something is not right in one's own body may be the result of abuse, assault, childbirth (giving birth and being born) because these experiences leave an imprint carried within the psyche. In some situations I have be witness to a past-life experience being a cause of an ailment and when that tension is explored the person was healed.  Cellular (ancestral and genealogical) memories/stories from our ancestors can impress themselves on certain people as well, and this kind of transpersonal experience is felt in the body.

Somatic therapies are integrative, combining deep listening involving the ears, heart, and compassionate touch. Painful touch is not the goal with this work. Lighter touch is profoundly effective. however, breath awareness will allow tension and tissue to relax so that deeper touch is possible if deemed helpful.

Results come about with less resistance, armour, or painful tension. The idea is to ease pain, not to create more! Emotional, spiritual, and physical awareness flow together with this work. Self-reflection and the resulting insight, create connections to the bodymind that result in holistic health. There is no need to fear this work, not if you desire insight and to feel better.

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! The opening of energy channels, the easing of physical and emotional constriction will lighten your mood and increase health, grounding practices will contribute to calmness and peace. Some people describe feeling their healing guides close by and becoming aware of their own soul's wisdom as a result of letting go of pain and making space for joy.

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"Half-way through our session, the tightness and pain was already gone!I just had to call you for another healing session right away, your hands and intuition worked their magic. I feel freer and lighter than I have in  many months. Thank you"  --Mark, Santa Barbara

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Imagine a therapeutic experience designed to help you specifically.

 

What if you were able to access your body’s intelligence to release unhealthy outdated beliefs and negative experiences?

 

What if the doubt, worry, stress, sadness, grief or anger you carry inside of you could be made conscious, and released while the insights remained?

 

What if your inner pain and wounds, specific to your own body's story, were brought forth into clarity?

 

Imagine freedom from constricted breathing, tension and anxiety.

 

Imagine therapeutic practices that touch more than the body.

 

Imagine becoming aware and enhancing your internal feeling of fluidity.

 

Imagine feeling connected, becoming aquatinted with aspects of yourself that had previously been hidden. Somatic therapy provides results that creates space for happiness.

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Background

I am respectful of my intuitive gifts, they inform my healing work. My sense of  knowing, of healing-touch has been with me from a pre-teen young age. By the time I was seventeen I became much more aware of my instinct as a guide, people began to tell me they felt better after my hand touched and soothed their knee, shoulder, heart, or head; they also described being soothed by my voice. When I was about seventeen I was fortunate to spend a couple of weeks with a woman who helped me become conscious of what I had doing  instinctively. She pointed out that each time I would place my hand on her body instinctively, touching places of pain (shoulder or knee) she told me that after I removed my hand she always felt better and she encouraged me to notice this instinct in a more conscious way.  As I became aware of my healing instinct I also began to study methods to enhance my skill.

I have been working professionally since 1983 when I began to meet with clients. Today my counseling/healing work blends my intuitive cross-cultural abilities with transpersonal counseling and somatic methods (and truthfully, a whole lot more).  Women and men describe  feeling soothed, nourished, and happier as we co-create their integrative health.

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Reflexology, 1983

Reiki, Therapeutic Touch, Shiatsu, 1980's

Aromatherapy, 1984

Five-year inter-tribal Native teachings, 1980's

Reichian /Gestalt, deep tissue, bodymind integration, 1991

Clinical Hypnotherapy, 1994/95

Thai Massage/assisted Yoga, 1990's, 2002

DanceKinetics - Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, 1996

Yoga instructor: White Lotus Institute, Santa Barbara, 1994

Massage Therapist: Santa Barbara Body Therapy Institute, 2005

Certified Women’s self-defense 1980's, 1990's, 2000's

California-State sexual assault-rape crisis counselor, 2000

 

Therapeutic massage

Thai massage

Assisted stretch/Yoga

Reichian breathwork

Energy therapies

Essential oils/ herbs/nutrients

Gua sha (dermal scraping to stimulate/removes stagnant chi)

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Empowerment:

Mothers/daughters - Teens/young girls

understanding breath, voice, boundaries

tools for  empowerment

awareness and connection to the body. 

Stress Relief :

Yoga, healing ritual, somatic practices, breath awareness, helped the residents of a women's substance abuse treatment facility, Marin County, CA

Stress Relief also helps everyone else!

This work is for people of all sizes and fitness levels. For people who want to to know themselves, for people who want freedom from constriction and aches, for athletes who want improved performance, and for recover from injuries.

Those who benefit include:

dancers

tri-athletes

scientists

doctors

nurses

clergy

disabled

students

recovery from trauma

and so on