The Transformation Process

Many individuals I work with are coming to me because they experience two things. First, they have pain in their body. And second, they sense on some level that they have begun to intertwine their identity with that pain.

Instead of paying for a massage every month or so, these individuals are seeking something deeper more comprehensive - a guided, but fully participatory experience of their own body and mind. The intention of my work is not just the release of tensions, but long-lasting transformational change. This is where Transformational Bodywork shines. 

Every client is unique, just as your treatment will be. But in the process of release and embodiment, clients tend to move through five stages. Your bodywork journey may start at any one of these, and knowing that there is a road map can help encourage you, through the ups and downs of the journey, that you will find relief and wholeness. You will notice the difference after a single session.

Stage 1: Release of Accumulated Energies

Accumulated energy can manifest as nervous or muscular tension, an activated nervous system, or hyper-vigilance, -sensitivity or dissociation in some clients. This initial 1-2 hr treatment helps to release this energy stored in the muscles, help clients re-embody (i.e. feel more connection to their body and their feelings) and emerge feeling more spacious, grounded and connected. Solid muscles will feel loose and relaxed.

Stage 2: Release of Myofascial Armouring

Some individuals have rigid and solid lines of hardened myofascial tension that run through their entire musculoskeletal system. For these clients, the initial sessions entail deep pressure to loosen and break up these solid myofascial structures, so deeper lines of tensions can be released. This stage brings the client back into the body, increasing the emotional sensitivity and depth of feeling, and a lower baseline for the nervous system, and clients better able to relax and unwind.

Stage 3: Deep Myofascial Release

Once the solid, myofascial armouring is released, we can then work deeper lines of tensions and patterns of myofascial holding held through the structure of the body.

Ironically, this deep work requires less strength than the previous stage, but instead works with sensitivity and presence, guiding the client’s awareness through lines of myofascial tensions, and experience tensions as they release.

This stage often brings the gentle release of long-held emotional energy, for example, stagnant feelings, grief, embodied emotions or past trauma, and old wounds that still affect us in the present. This stage is about bringing more energy in the body, more lightness, more grounding, and more clarity in emotional understanding, and better access to embodied wisdom.

Questions that typically come up at this stage: What do I want to achieve? What is it that I am feeling, and why? What can I do about it?

You may find that the answers are not the product of knowledge or thinking, but rather arise from your in-body experience.

Stage 4: Re-Connection and Re-Integration

After the release of localised patterns of tensions, and after long-stored energies have been released, this next stage is focused instead on working with anatomy trains. These include the lines of myofascia meridians that run through the entire body structure, giving it form, structure and alignment.

At this stage, we are working to increase the flow of energy through the body, prevent the accumulation of energies, including emotions, in particular parts of the body. Physical issues such as structural and postural imbalances (e.g. scoliosis) start to be addressed in this stage of treatment.

This stage is about re-integrating disconnected parts of the psyche, and bringing the body back into alignment. Aligning the body helps clients find more alignment and coherence in their lives; to know and live true to their values, in their direction, their behaviours and their actions…to be truly integrated as a person.

Stage 5: Bio-Sculpting and Bio-Hacking

This is for the individual seeking the extra 10% in performance, function or body shape. A release of myofascial tensions, working through the entire myofascial system, and realignment through the body can yield a significant boost in functional strength without any additional strength building or exercise. This stage is for the performance-focused individual.

You experience life through your body.

The pain you feel reflects years of joy, anxiety, grief, determination - the full spectrum of human emotion, held in your physical being. Working through these points of pain is a journey, and I am here to help you move through it with efficiency and care.