Hello, Friend.

I am so glad you’re here, even though you’re hesitant to try yet another approach to healing.

My name is Rachel and I help compassionate helpers, healers, and health care professionals who are tired of looking for solutions to their own trauma healing.

The world of wellness is wild.

  • I’m sure you’ve experienced the media constantly telling you a new thing that you need to “fix” in order to heal (“underwhelmed vagus nerve? great, i’ll add it to the list”)

  • it’s also likely that you’ve worked really hard in talk therapy, but have started to feel burnt out by the cyclical processing around the same stories that bring you pain with no forward movement in sight

  • maybe you’re tired of signing up for care that centers the method and not your unique needs, because you desire inclusion in your process (which is how it should be)

  • or you crave personalized care and attention, but continue to receive general advice that doesn’t work for you at all - leaving you feeling unseen and unheard

  • perhaps you want to start a personal practice as a healing professional and provide your amazing offerings to community (exactly how you want to), but feel like you have to wait until you are “fully healed” to really help others without someone else’s framework

This is where intuitive body-centered work comes in.

As a veteran, caregiver, seasoned health and wellness professional, I know how hard the healing path for a healer can be.

I have learned that depending on outside answers only leads to something that feels like an endless walk around the woods without trail markers.

There was a point in my life where I expected health and wellness professionals to tell me what could be “fixed” and how to remedy my “discrepencies” (ouch), which left me even more exhausted and disconnected.

I researched and tried so many tools, techniques and methods. (I too attempted to stimulate my vagus nerve back online)

Not to mention, I was a health and wellness professional my-self, so why couldn’t I figure me out?? (don’t you wish we came with a users manual?)

It wasn’t until I worked with a practitioner that centered my own intuition and connection to body did I finally realize I had MY answers with me, the whole time (re: users manual).

Don’t get me wrong, my healing journey didn’t end after my new found clarity (I’m not even sure that’s a thing), but it did lead me to the understanding that I was abandoning my-self to find connection and feel whole.

Oof.

Let me be the first to tell you, that ain’t the way.

So, who am I to help you?

  • I am a trauma-informed somatic practitioner, licensed massage therapist, and therapeutic movement guide with nearly 20 years of experience in health care

  • I have supported hundreds of people in their healing process by supporting them in building deeper relationship to their bodies and intuition

  • I bring a down to earth approach to body-centered healing that really supports looking at the big and scary feelings we hide from ourselves, like shame (ew, david)

  • I want every individual I work with to find resolution from trauma response patterns, build practices that foster connection with body, and live life knowing a sense of ease and belonging

Let me tell you what IS possible with a body-based practice.

  • I am able to recover connection to my-self and others by FEELING what is present in the moment without getting overwhelmed, noticing what my needs are, and reaching out for support - instead of avoiding discomfort by self abandoning

  • While I value the wisdom and advice from my community, I no longer feel aimless and desperate for someone to tell me where to go and what to do

  • I feel a deeper sense of self agency that empowers not only myself but other socially marginalized people to set boundaries when it comes to how our bodies are cared for in traditional health care environments

  • I know exactly what I want in life, and am making moves towards my goals centered in stability and joy instead of flailing and going with other peoples “flow” hoping I like the end result (yikes! cringing as I write that last part)

  • I am now a resourced practitioner that has the capacity to hold people in their integrity without shying away from big emotional experiences that might have previously been mutually activating

On a personal note…

  • I am a virgo rising, leo moon, and gemini sun. I give care through counsel, comedy, and considerate affirmation -which I think helps a lot when talking about deep and heavy topics like trauma.

  • I am the oldest of 5 children aka: a seasoned helper and pseudo parent primed for caregiver burn-out! Yay!

  • In the not so distant past, I was in the U.S. Air Force and actively served for 6 years as a dental technician, while being stationed in Las Vegas (twas a wild time).

  • I am a home-body. I much prefer a porch hang over a crowded space, any day, and am most comfy at home with my wife, fur babes.

  • I found my spirit in the garden and I *need to get my hands dirty on a regular basis to connect with my inner wild creature.

Qualifications

    • Studied and practiced Interdisciplinary Movement and Somatic Groundwork with Kaila June

    • Over 15 years of anatomy and physiology education including formal courses

    • Numerous formal kinesiology courses based in health and exercise science

    • Certificate for 900 hours of massage therapy training from National Holistic Institute

    • Certificate for 200 hours of Yoga teacher training from Circle Yoga Shala

    • Certificate for joint mobility specialization from Functional Range Conditioning

    • Certificates for cupping, instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM), and kinesiology taping from Functional Movement Techniques

    Countless hours of continuing education courses including:

    • Functional neuroscience and rehabilitation methods

    • Orthopedic and sports massage techniques

    • Manual lymphatic drainage based in The Vodder Technique

    • Anatomy Trains & Structural Integration informed courses

    • Chest binding health and care

    • Somatic coaching

    • Neuro Affective Touch

    • Polyvagal Theory

    • Pain science

    • Scar tissue care methods

    • Plant medicine

    • Functional Breath-work

  • I am grateful for my community, teachers, and resources that have and continue to support my path of purpose.

    Along with ongoing education and training I am mentored by many practitioners in various fields.

    I believe mentorship is very important for a practitioner's development and accountability in their craft.

    I am open to sharing my mentors names upon request.

I believe the core of why I do this work is to develop supportive connections with others, earth, and myself. Stemming from my value in relationship, is a great curiosity and interest in how our bodies function and form our spiritual experience on this planet. Through my ever evolving practice, I strive to consistently develop and provide quality offerings for those I have the privilege of communing with.

People I work with often identify as:

  • survivors of religious trauma (or raised in the euro-christian environment, like myself)

  • therapists, bodyworkers, and allied health care professionals

  • veterans, teachers, and caregivers

  • LGBTQIA+ identified folks

  • people who experience chronic mental illness and/or neuro-divergence

  • folks with EDS, hyper mobility, chronic pain, and autoimmune conditions

If you’re ready to slow down, look inward, and find your own path, I have some fantastic offerings for you.

I stand behind anti-oppressive care practices that prioritize the experience and empowerment of the individual within the systems.

As we are not made of segmented parts, I consider all aspects of the individual including mind, heart, body, and spirit.

My offerings are trauma informed, and focused through a biological, psychological, sociological, and spiritual lens.

When we work together, all of who you are, is welcome.

Lineage & Land Acknowledgment

I first want to name that all somatic and body based practices originate from various, global indigenous cultures. The majority of modalities, techniques, and tools we see in the western wellness market having been appropriated from eastern practices, many massage techniques included. With this understanding, I continually seek to learn how to best appreciate the lineages of which I practice, and benefit from, in efforts to not perpetuate harmful erasure.

My personal somatic practice began with the lineage of Hatha Yoga, 20 years ago. This practice, along with Ayurvedic principles, have deeply nourished, liberated, and developed the person I am today. I want to take space here and acknowledge that these teachings, which originate in India, have been taken out of context and widely misinterpreted from the source. In the west, this often looks like shapes and movement (asana) being centered in environments, excluding a large portion of the population. As a student, I aim to share my practice with community in accessible ways that honor this 8 limbed spiritual path and prioritize pointing others in the direction of teachers that hold this ancient practice in its full and complex form.

With deep reverence, I name the land on which I practice as the ancestral lands of the Osage people among many others who have called this region home, including the Sioux, Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Quapaw, Cherokee, and Miami peoples. With gratitude for this land and inhabitants (past, present, and future) I prioritize supporting and applying regenerative practices where I am able, within the capacity I contain. Ultimately, I believe these lands should be given back, and cared for by the original stewards.

In addition to these statements, I am active through my practice, relationships, and connection to earth.

I welcome feedback and conversation in relation to these acknowledgements.

As I learn, grow, and evolve so too will the words on this page.