Services
In-person in Healdsburg, home visits around Santa Rosa, and online consultations.
When Massage Therapy and Chiropractic don’t yield lasting results, when Physical Therapy is complete but there is still pain and limited range of motion, Somatic Education gently and enjoyably retrains muscles and the mind that controls them into new, more functional patterns.
Getting Started
Your 90-minute initial consultation includes:
A whole-person intake and assessment - listening to your story and medical history.
A treatment specifically for you - blending many modalities and responding to your needs.
Scroll down to explore the range of modalities we will be draw from for your treatment…
ESSENTIALS
CLINICAL
SOMATO-EMOTIONAL
Deep Relaxation and Regeneration – The blissful art of letting go.
To release held tension, let go of stress, and drift into regenerative bliss, we need to work with someone who listens deeply to our needs, and is attentive to how we respond to the treatment. Somatic Education is a nonverbal conversation of movement and touch between educator and client, guided by the client’s positive responses. Embody the art of relaxation, expand your capacity to recover from stress, and reduce your tendency to react to situations with habitual stress responses. You may choose to work on a specific problem, injury, or progression, or simply enjoy the pleasure and benefit of deep relaxation and regeneration.
Inflammation Reduction
Inflammation is the body’s way of healing tissue, but sometimes inflammation gets stuck in a chronic cycle, and becomes a problem. There are non-pharmaceutical, wellness-based methods that work with the body to modulate the natural inflammatory response. Diseases and injuries like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, plantar fasciitis, tendinitis, etc. and autoimmune disorders like lupus and fibromyalgia can all be part of a chronic inflammatory cycle. Stress also plays a huge role. Similarly, lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet, exercise, and repetitive movements affect inflammation. Taking each of the contributing factors into account, Somatic Education reduces stress, aligns joints, activates muscles and improves circulation, shifting the inflammatory response toward balance.
Back, Neck, Disc and Sciatica Recovery
This treatment program is for clients who want short-term relief and long-term, systemic change. Deep relaxation, inflammation reduction, core activation and ergonomics are among the tools we use. Clients often engage with this program during Physical Therapy, after Physical Therapy is complete but there is still pain, or when Massage Therapy and Chiropractic don’t produce lasting change. Clients may engage with the program as a pre-surgical approach to regain function, or as a post-surgical approach to recovery.
Postural Redefinition and Ergonomics
Posture is a sculpture in the shape of how we feel. When a person is shy, tired, or feeling dejected, we see it in their posture. When a person is genuine, vital, and feeling safe, we see that too. The self-correction that we do when we remember to “sit up straight” is short-lived and can contribute to muscle tension and soreness. Instead, we find and expand the sensation of authenticity that is the foundation of natural posture. Changes during treatment are usually quick, pleasant and noticeable, and through repetition and practice, can become lasting postural redefinition. We may also work with the ergonomics of sitting, standing, sleeping, and repetitive daily movements.
Muscle Activation and Toning – Remembering what your body forgot.
Muscle activation is integrated into most Somatic Education treatments, and it is often used as a focused treatment for dancers, athletes, and anyone who wants to balance and optimize their movement.Wherever there is a tight sore muscle in need of relaxation, there’s a weak, deactivated muscle accompanying it. Whenever there is injury to nerves, muscles, tendons, ligaments or joints, there are weak, deactivated muscles. Muscle activation finds those sleeping muscles and gently wakes them up.
Chronic Pain, Repetitive Stress, and Traumatic Injury Recovery
Long-lasting pain and complications from repetitive activities (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, Tendonitis, Bursitis, Plantar Fasciitis, etc.) and traumatic injuries (car accidents, broken bones, damage to cartilage, surgery, nerve damage, sprains, etc.) involve physical and neurological changes. We are not the same as we were before. Recovering from long-lasting pain is a progression into something new, so we approach it as a process of discovery. Starting with pain relief, treatment moves through the stages of recovery and adaptation into movement rehabilitation.
Thawing Frozen Shoulder
Frozen shoulder can be the real deal - adhesive capsulitis that starts with pain and gradually reduces the range of motion of the shoulder. And, in the midst of that, there is also normal stress tension, often aggravated by the stress of the condition itself. Somatic Education looks to what can change in the system, what can let go. Range of motion increases, and with less stress in the system, recovery time can often be significantly reduced. This treatment can be used as a pre-surgical approach, and for post-surgical recovery.
Hip and Knee Replacement Prevention and Recovery
Systemic inflammation, alignment, and muscle tone are all contributing factors to the degeneration of the joints. Before hip or knee replacement becomes necessary, there is often a long period of pain and dysfunction. We can significantly reduce contributing factors and slow degeneration when we catch it early in the process. After joint replacement surgery and Physical Therapy, Somatic Education supports the long-term reintegration process by reducing spasms and activating muscles.
Reduce Contractures from Cerebral Palsy, Traumatic Brain Injury, and Neuropathy
Damage to the brain, spinal cord, and nerves can cause painful and debilitating contractures. In the midst of that, we are also human beings who experience stress and develop normal muscle tension. That ordinary muscle tension can contribute to contractures, making them progress more quickly. The stress-related aspect of the contraction is easily released. When tension is released from contractures, range of motion increases, pain decreases, and the progression of the contracture is slowed.
Neuromuscular Repatterning – Transforming unconscious habits into choice-points.
Neuromuscular repatterning is a natural, internal process that happens every time we learn something new. When we first start to play a new musical instrument, the movements are unfamiliar, but then over time they become second nature. We also learn from pain, injuries, and emotions. Limping is something we practice when we sprain our ankle, and by the time the injury has healed, aspects of limping may have become second nature to us, leading to imbalances that contribute to ongoing pain and future pain. When we practice neuromuscular repatterning on purpose, we discover habitual movement and emotional patterns that contribute to pain or dysfunction, and we move them from the realm of the unconscious to the realm of choice. Once something becomes a conscious choice rather than an unconscious pattern, we are free to choose what feels right and good.
Whole Person Intake and Assessement – For informed healthcare choices.
I have the time to hear your whole story, and I listen closely to your thoughts and ideas about what is happening for you, because you are the person who best knows how you feel. During the intake process for each treatment, I take the time to gather all the little pieces of information and put them together, for us both to see the bigger picture. Assessment includes health history and previous care, analysis of past and present signs and symptoms, interface with current care providers, clear explanations of what is happening in your body now, and a treatment plan moving forward. Whole person intake and assessment are part of every treatment, and are also helpful stand-alone tools for clients who need to make informed healthcare choices.
Prenatal and Perinatal Sacroiliac Joint (SI Joint) Stabilization
Before and after giving birth, mothers often experience low-back pain due to SI joint destabilization. Using comfortable side-lying techniques and the BodyCushion system, we reduce tension and activate essential stabilizers. The treatment is also relevant for SI joint-related pain that lingers long after childbirth or is present for a different reason.
Death, Dying, and Grieving
If you have chosen to accept death and not to fight against it when the time comes for you or for someone else, Somatic Education can help you let go. Letting go into death is the same internal process as letting go of held muscle tension, of held attitudes, and of held emotions. The final breath is an exhale. Anyone can practice for dying, young or old, sick or healthy. The process of recognizing the grace of dying reminds us of the preciousness of life and how we live it.
Nonverbal Communication & Co-regulation with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Because Somatic Education is fundamentally a nonverbal conversation between the bodies of educator and client, it is often a language that works well for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is direct and unambiguous - the interaction of touch and movement either feels right, or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t feel right, the educator notices, and in that recognition there is safety. Also, because Somatic Education relies on autonomic downregulation and repatterning through repetition, the environment is one that feels comforting and predictable. Everything is slow and gentle. The work is also good for care providers who want to learn how to use co-regulation to create a calming, comforting atmosphere in the relationship.
Somatic Insight and Trauma Recovery
When we let go of tension sometimes we also recognize and let go of our reasons for holding that tension, and in that moment, insight arises. We understand what we were doing internally that was not self-supportive, and we let go of that unhelpful internal holding. The letting-go makes space for fresh openness and clarity. The process is the natural outcome of Somatic Education, though we can never quite predict what will open it up or when it will happen. Invariably, however, people experience somatic insight as being safe, trustworthy, and true, because it’s not something anyone tells you - it comes entirely from within.