The seed for my interest in bodywork was planted at the age of 15 when my aunt Tess gave me a session in Alexander Technique on the antique wooden library table in her living room which is where she practiced. I remember being struck by the subtlety of the things I was experiencing through her touch and suggestions, intrigued by the kind of change that could be affected on a very deep level through a gentle facilitation by the practitioner.
In the years between my first session and when I began to cultivate my own healing abilities…I studied and practiced dance and yoga; became an avid hiker, runner, swimmer and bike rider; studied, taught and practiced a variety of disciplines in the visual arts; learned to grow my own food, herbs and flowers, became a Mother, dove deeper into creative and healthy food preparation, and ran a whole foods baking business from my home kitchen.
Craniosacral therapy came into my awareness soon after I gave birth to my daughter when she could not hold down breast milk. I was referred to a CST
practitioner who worked with newborns and the adjustments she made to how we nursed and to the tiny bones in and around her palate seemingly worked a miracle within a few sessions and helped me to avoid the need to do anything invasive. The deeply calming affect on her nervous system also cannot be underestimated.
Some years later, I undertook my first courses of study in craniosacral therapy at the Great River Craniosacral Therapy Institute as well as through The Upledger Institute. Once I got a taste of this kind of work I knew I wanted to know more about the body and explore different modalities of bodywork, which is what led me to my training at Finger Lakes School of Massage where I completed my studies in 2014 and became licensed to practice massage in New York State.
When I first began practicing bodywork, it felt like a very natural extension and synthesis of all the work, practices and passions I’d been engaged with previously — the hands on caring and nurturing of Mothering, the creativity and resourcefulness of cooking and the arts, the lifelong love of embodied activity in Nature, the manipulating and toning of the body in massage, akin to sculpting in clay and forming of the substance of breads and sweets. The feedback I received from clients affirmed that there was a natural knowing in my hands even though I had not been at it for very long. As my knowledge and practice have grown, my curiosity and humility grows along side it, always looking forward to the next exploration in each session!