Things you might like to know about me...
I have been involved in alternative health and transformational growth work since the early 1980s, first studying acupuncture and shiatsu in China and Japan and actively engaging in spiritual work through meditation and spiritual studies. For some 26 years I have had a practice based in sophisticated systems of bodywork - Rolfing® Structural Integration, craniosacral work, visceral work, and nerve mobilization. I am certified as an Advanced Rolfer® by the Rolf Institute® (now the Dr Ida Rolf Institute®), the only school founded by Ida P. Rolf and authorized to teach her work.
Many people seek out Rolfing to optimize posture, find pain relief, recover from injuries, improve sports performance, and other physical goals. I'm happy to help with those, and my work is also deeply informed by the mind-body-spirit interface. My own journey with bodywork has paralleled personal growth in other dimensions of experience, and I'm available with interest, curiosity, and a skillset to help clients when they have broader goals of overcoming blocks to somatic awareness and embodiment and working with the body-held elements of a trauma history as discussed in Bessel van der Kolk's The Body Keeps the Score. I've completed the first year of Somatic Experiencing® training and as a trainee am authorized to bring certain elements of that into the bodywork process. However, my scope of practice is the body, so it is strongly advised that you also be working with a therapist while exploring the physical elements of any trauma history. I love to see people’s excitement and relief when something finally works to get them out of pain or open up the energy of transformation in their lives, whether it's physical relief or a holistic opening of more of their authenticity and potential.
My Training
I have more than 2200 hours of study in manual therapy: Rolfing SI, craniosacral work, visceral work, nerve mobilization, and other modalities. My Basic and Advanced Rolfing certification is from the Rolf Institute®. I have done two Advanced Rolfing Trainings, one in 1999 and one in 2015/2016. My craniosacral training includes both biomechanical and biodynamic approaches and was undertaken with the Milne Institute, the Craniosacral Therapy Association of North America, and osteopathic teachers. My visceral manipulation training has been with leading European and U.S. teachers. My nerve mobilization studies have been with two major teachers of the work in the Rolfing community.
Besides this bodywork training, my understanding of the body and body issues is informed by Somatic Experiencing, the Diamond Approach, and psychodynamic and depth therapy.
- I'm currently in the second year of the three-year Somatic Experiencing training, which offers neurobiologically-based interventions to help restore resiliency in the nervous system, particularly working with fight-flight-freeze dynamics.
- As a teacher of the Diamond Approach, a modern path of embodied consciousness work, I have understanding of the ways body armoring can reflect egoic states as well as an open-ended curiosity about what the body is manifesting as an expression of the consciousness.
- I've studied with Rolfer Will Johnson, who has made the crossover of Rolfing and meditation/spirituality his specialty. I've completed training related to embodiment and "The Line", and learned to apply Rolfing work to assist meditators in easeful body alignment for sitting practice.
- I round out my interest in body-mind-spirit with a deep interest in psychology, and am currently working towards a master's degree in counseling and studying psychodynamics and Jungian theory.
If you have read this far you can tell that I like to continually learn and grow. I find the body fascinating, and once you relate body and consciousness there is never-ending potential. I remain committed to professional development through regular continuing education, organizing and participating in bodywork trainings related to Rolfing SI, osteopathy, and related fields. I also continue my personal work in mind-body-spirit domains. With all of this input, I find that my work is continually evolving and increasingly effective.
I wrote about some of this during a long tenure as Editor-in-Chief for Structure, Function, Integration: The Journal of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®, and I also interviewed many other Rolfers with similar or parallel interests. The Journal is available to the general public on Amazon. You can read some of my articles related to bodywork at these links:
I practice bodywork in Seattle's Phinney Ridge neighborhood (near the Zoo, between Green Lake and Ballard).
"Rolfing" and "Rolfer" are registered service marks of the Dr. Ida Rolf Institute®. "Diamond Approach" is a registered trademark and/or trademark of The Ridhwan Foundation in the U.S, Europe, and various other countries throughout the world. Portrait © Russell Horning