My Approach to Bodywork
I am trained and experienced with many different modalities of bodywork. When I worked at Harbin Hot Springs -- where they used the many individual modalities as a marketing tool -- you could schedule an appointment with me for whatever modality you chose. But I’ll be honest: I don’t usually enjoy or get my best results being limited to a single modality. I prefer to take a more flexible, intuitive approach (which I call “Fluidics”), grounded in your intentions, the condition of your body, and how you respond to my presence and touch throughout the session. Always, my goal is to help restore your muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and joints to their natural health and functionality -- and to help restore all your body’s systems (respiratory, circulatory, musculoskeletal, digestive, lymph, craniosacral, meridian, energetic, and mental/emotional) to balanced equilibrium.
To do all this is part technique, and part alchemy.
Some of the therapeutic bodywork techniques in which I have been trained include: Swedish Massage, Lomi-Lomi, Deep Tissue, Shiatsu, Thai, Trager®, Craniosacral, Myofascial, Neuromuscular, Reflexology, Healing and Therapeutic Touch, Matrix Energetics, and the aquatic modalities of Watsu®, Waterdance, Healing Dance, Jahara Technique, and Aquatic Energy Work. (I am also significantly influenced by Structural Integration, though I haven't been formally trained in the work.) All of these modalities have their characteristic approaches, techniques and individual moves that are specific to them. Taken all together, they comprise my bodyworker’s toolbox. And the functional result of my training, skill, gifts, and experience, is the now-reflexive knowing of where, when, and how to apply each individual tool.
To do all this is part technique, and part alchemy.
Some of the therapeutic bodywork techniques in which I have been trained include: Swedish Massage, Lomi-Lomi, Deep Tissue, Shiatsu, Thai, Trager®, Craniosacral, Myofascial, Neuromuscular, Reflexology, Healing and Therapeutic Touch, Matrix Energetics, and the aquatic modalities of Watsu®, Waterdance, Healing Dance, Jahara Technique, and Aquatic Energy Work. (I am also significantly influenced by Structural Integration, though I haven't been formally trained in the work.) All of these modalities have their characteristic approaches, techniques and individual moves that are specific to them. Taken all together, they comprise my bodyworker’s toolbox. And the functional result of my training, skill, gifts, and experience, is the now-reflexive knowing of where, when, and how to apply each individual tool.
A practice of presence (the California influence).
The alchemical part of my work is more esoteric. The bulk of my training and practice (though not all) has been in California, the epicenter of leading-edge healing work. The overriding teaching -- and experience -- of all my California-based training is that embodied presence and unconditional love form the ground for all true healing. What I mean by that is, the quality of the attention that I give to you and your body throughout the session is as important -- if not more -- than the mechanical techniques I use. You may not be conscious of it as we work together, but what’s going on in my heart, mind, and energy field contribute profoundly to the outcome you experience.
For me, giving bodywork is, at its best, both a physical discipline and a spiritual practice.
(If you’d like to experience right now some of what I’m calling the “spiritual” stuff for yourself, try the “Gratitude Healing” practice you can find by clicking here.)
For me, giving bodywork is, at its best, both a physical discipline and a spiritual practice.
(If you’d like to experience right now some of what I’m calling the “spiritual” stuff for yourself, try the “Gratitude Healing” practice you can find by clicking here.)
My History
Like many people, I had a difficult childhood. As a result, I spent the first 27 years of my life out of touch with -- indeed, at a fighting distance from -- my body. I was born with a near-fatal lung condition. As a very physically unaware child, adolescent and young adult, I managed to break 13 bones, and had 7 surgeries requiring general anesthesia. During my first year of college, my nickname was “Don’t Touch Me”. At age 27, I began receiving psychotherapy for depression; soon thereafter, a physical process released a nearly overwhelming burst of repressed traumatic childhood memories. At that point, I felt like I faced a fundamental choice: suicide or wellness. And I made the conscious decision then (a decision I’ve reconfirmed many times since) to devote my life to doing whatever it took to become and be well.
For 20 years, my odyssey of personal healing and study included: traditional psychotherapy, orthopedic surgery, physical therapy, Rolfing®, neuromuscular therapy, ballet, modern dance, dance therapy, yoga, meditation, Transactional Analysis®, EMDR, Swedish massage, chiropractic, group therapy, deep tissue massage, anger work, acupuncture, shiatsu, color therapy, touch aversion therapy, Free Spirit Dance, hypnosis, regression therapy, contact improvisation, subtle energy work, psychic healing, Rebirthing®, and an investigation of many different spiritual practices and traditions, including the religious, Earth-based, and New Age.
Then one day at dance camp, I was touched by a Trager® practitioner for the first time. He simply wrapped his hands around my arm -- and his touch was so familiar and so profound, I knew that this form of bodywork was something I could and should be doing. Bodywork began pouring out of me. I had received so much loving, therapeutic touch -- taken in so much conscious care and healing -- that it just started flooding out. I was a bodyworker waiting to happen. I enrolled in the Trager Practitioner training... which lead me to study Watsu® and other forms of aquatic bodywork... which lead me to study other land-based modalities... which then lead me to begin teaching other practitioners, and to develop my own approach... and so it continues.
The “Wounded Healer” may be a cliche, but in my case, it’s apt. Milton Trager (after whom the Trager Approach is named) used to say that we can only help people to the extent of our own personal development. Because I was so damaged -- and so supported and fortunate in healing to such an extent -- I have great experience, empathy and insight into the injuries and challenges that so many people face.
For 20 years, my odyssey of personal healing and study included: traditional psychotherapy, orthopedic surgery, physical therapy, Rolfing®, neuromuscular therapy, ballet, modern dance, dance therapy, yoga, meditation, Transactional Analysis®, EMDR, Swedish massage, chiropractic, group therapy, deep tissue massage, anger work, acupuncture, shiatsu, color therapy, touch aversion therapy, Free Spirit Dance, hypnosis, regression therapy, contact improvisation, subtle energy work, psychic healing, Rebirthing®, and an investigation of many different spiritual practices and traditions, including the religious, Earth-based, and New Age.
Then one day at dance camp, I was touched by a Trager® practitioner for the first time. He simply wrapped his hands around my arm -- and his touch was so familiar and so profound, I knew that this form of bodywork was something I could and should be doing. Bodywork began pouring out of me. I had received so much loving, therapeutic touch -- taken in so much conscious care and healing -- that it just started flooding out. I was a bodyworker waiting to happen. I enrolled in the Trager Practitioner training... which lead me to study Watsu® and other forms of aquatic bodywork... which lead me to study other land-based modalities... which then lead me to begin teaching other practitioners, and to develop my own approach... and so it continues.
The “Wounded Healer” may be a cliche, but in my case, it’s apt. Milton Trager (after whom the Trager Approach is named) used to say that we can only help people to the extent of our own personal development. Because I was so damaged -- and so supported and fortunate in healing to such an extent -- I have great experience, empathy and insight into the injuries and challenges that so many people face.
