I grew up on 160 acres of woods and fields near Radford, Virginia. I have always had a deep love of nature and a desire to explore and understand the world and my place in it. I enjoy gardening, travel, cooking, being outdoors, and spending time with friends, human and non-human.
In addition to my work as a massage therapist, I am deeply interested in ecology, permaculture, local food systems, and herbal medicine. I consider massage just one approach to healing, placed within the broader context of our need to find balance and connection within our greater ecosystem. In this time of ecological destruction and social upheaval, understanding trauma and how to recover from it are more important than ever. I believe that strengthening our connections to the land, to ourselves, and to each other are critical to that recovery process, and somatic bodywork can be a powerful tool, especially in deepening our connection to ourselves and helping us access our resilience and healing potential.
I decided to become a massage therapist, oddly, after working as a dog musher. Working with dogs gave me powerful insights into the nature of connection, communication, and well-being. How was I able to communicate so well and understand the needs of my dogs, even though dogs can’t speak? Why was I so comfortable around the dogs and so awkward around other human beings? Could it be possible to develop the kind of loving, trusting, communicative relationships with my fellow humans that I had with my dogs? What was stopping me? These thoughts led me to seek out training that could help me understand what we mammals need from our environment in order to feel comfortable and connected. I gravitated toward a program that focused on neuroscience and psychology, in addition to standard massage training.
As a fairly new therapist, I am so excited to have found this calling. I look forward to many years of learning and growing alongside my clients and colleagues.