Somatic Bodywork
in Asheville, NC
Nervous System Focused Bodywork To Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit
“Touch is as vital to our existence as food. It is the first sense we develop, our first and most primal communication, and the only sense without which we cannot survive.”
I am a trauma-trained bodyworker with 25 years of experience in the healing arts, including 16 years of practice as a bodyworker. I have over 1,500 hours of training in massage and bodywork, as well as advanced training in nervous system regulation and trauma healing through Somatic Experiencing International. In addition, I am a certified trauma recovery coach through the International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching. I offer client-centered care, and creating a space of safety and agency for my clients is my top priority.
My Somatic Bodywork sessions are a combination of practices taken from my 25 years of practice in the healing arts. This work is intuitive, slow, gentle, and purposeful, with a nervous-system focus. The primary goal of Somatic Bodywork sessions is to help my clients cultivate a sense of safety, calm, ease, groundedness, and resilience within their nervous systems and bodies.
What is Somatic Bodywork?
Somatic bodywork is a holistic, mind-body healing modality that combines massage therapy and bodywork with practices designed to help calm the nervous system and process pain. When the client is viewed holistically, the practitioner is aware that the physical body is deeply connected to and influenced by the mental, emotional, spiritual, and energetic levels of one’s being. The understanding is that the physical body holds memory, and that trauma and unprocessed emotional experiences can get trapped in the body, eventually manifesting in physical pain and chronic health conditions.
In somatic bodywork, the practitioner helps the client to focus on body awareness through physical sensations, breath, movement, and touch. Through this deeper level of awareness, the client can move through oftentimes very old patterns of pain, trauma, fear, and grief that have been held in the tissues of the body. Once these energies are integrated through somatic practices, the client can experience a greater sense of ease, calm, groundedness, agency, and resilience, allowing them to experience greater levels of peace and contentment. This work expands the client’s capacity to experience the ups and downs of life and feel their feelings without becoming overwhelmed.
Attuned, therapeutic touch helps the nervous system recognize that it is no longer under threat.
How Somatic Bodywork Supports the Nervous System
In childhood, healthy physical contact from our caregivers supports a healthy emotional connection to ourselves and others, creating lifelong resilience.
When our development and ability to be resilient are thwarted by relational wounding or shock trauma, maladaptive patterns arise within our physiology. These maladaptive patterns may seem effective for a while, with no apparent side effects, but eventually, the side effects become apparent. This is the point where many people seek healing support.
Attuned touch work is a crucial aspect of healing from chronic stress and trauma, and it is achieved when the practitioner is present and receptive to the client's needs. When someone is attuned to your needs, you feel a deep sense of safety and feel deeply seen and understood. Attuned physical touch supports the healing of physical, emotional, and physiological aspects of our being.
Attunement fosters co-regulation, meaning that the practitioner’s attuned, regulated nervous system helps the client’s nervous system to regulate more easily. The internal sense of safety that is created with this type of connection is the first vital step in healing from chronic emotional dysregulation, stress, and trauma.
Somatic Bodywork sessions are designed to support the healing of body, mind, and spirit.
My Approach to Somatic Bodywork
I employ an integrative, multi-modality approach in my Somatic Bodywork sessions, designed to bring healing to every level of your being.
In my sessions, I draw upon the following practices, and sessions are tailored to your unique needs when we meet.
Somatic Experiencing, SE Touch work, CranioSacral Therapy, integrative massage (gentle Swedish/deep tissue/myofasical release/Trager approach), Integrated Energy Medicine, Reiki, mindfulness practices, archetypal healing, shamanic healing and nature-based healing practices, parts work/parts integration, inner child healing, sound healing, soul retrieval, cord-cutting, and shamanic power retrieval.
Somatic Experiencing, SE Touch, and CranioSacral Therapy/bodywork are the primary, foundational practices, with other practices included on an as-needed basis.
*Sessions can have a foundation of integrative massage (unclothed and fully draped) or a CranioSacral Therapy approach (clothed) according to your level of comfort and needs at the time.
On a physical level, my work is designed to alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain, stress, mobility issues, and muscle, joint, fascia, and visceral injuries. Emotionally, it aims to restore nervous system regulation, resilience, and the ability to cope with life's ups and downs with relative ease.
When Somatic Bodywork is Especially Helpful:
struggles with chronic stress and tension
patterns of physical tension and chronic pain
migraines or TMJ
anxiety or panic attacks
depression and fatigue
mobility issues
feeling unmotivated or stuck
insomnia, nightmares, or other sleep issues
major loss or life transition
despair or hopelessness
chronic health issues
symptoms of PTSD or CPTSD
feel disconnected, numb, or shut down
have an old or recent physical injury
have experienced a shock trauma (accident, attack, or natural disaster)
are exhausted, overwhelmed, or burned out
are navigating the peri/menopause transition
have an autoimmune condition, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, cancer, or some other complex, multi-layered syndrome
healing from a surgery or medical procedure
lack of vitality and confidence
oscillating frequently between anxiety and shut down
desiring a deeper level of healing than the usual bodywork offers
My approach is not one size fits all. I seek to listen, assess, and address my client’s needs each time we meet.
Benefits of Nervous-System Focused Bodywork:
A somatic, nervous system focused approach allows for a deeper level of awareness and attunement to happen between the practitioner and client. In many ways, this connection mimics the physiological connection between an attuned caregiver and infant. This space fosters a sense of curiosity, openness, compassion, and acceptance, and encourages creative movement to happen. This is the space where deep healing can occur.
As we continue to expand and deepen our therapeutic relationship through our work together, your sense of safety and my sense of understanding of the unique needs of your body will deepen and expand in turn. This deepening will create a sense of greater attunement, leading you to an increased sense of feeling met, heard, understood, validated, and deeply cared for.
Some of the potential benefits of this work…
nervous system regulation
increased sense of calm and ability to relax
capacity to deal with the ups and downs of life without overwhelm
an internal sense of safety
alleviation of anxiety and depression
pain reduction
better sleep
deeper connection to and acceptance of your body
greater sense of agency and control over your life
alleviation of symptoms of chronic health issues
stress reduction
greater sense of trust in yourself and life
increased levels of self-confidence
restoration of health and homeostasis
return of focus and motivation
higher energy levels
alleviation of trauma symptoms
greater ability to accept life on life’s terms
return of flexibility and mobility
a sense of agency in your life
a grounded connection with your deeper self
This work is most effective when we meet regularly. Reduced-rate package options.