Well-Being: Bodywork

Well-Being: Bodywork Services

* Bodywork Suspended While Sheltering In Place *
For the safety of all, especially those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and healthcare workers and others who are unable to stay at home, my massage/bodywork offerings are suspended until authorities have determined it is safe to resume these services. Please circle back for my Bodywork services after the public safety crisis has passed.
Meanwhile, please consider my other services, which may support your sense of well-being during this time.

“You have no need to travel anywhere.
Journey within yourself, enter a mine of rubies and bathe in the splendor of your own Light.” ~Rumi

Breema Bodywork®

Breema®, the Art of Being Present
Breema is a nurturing practice of movement, touch, and presence which is rooted in 9 simple principles -- which Breema refers to as The Nine Principles of Harmony -- to support harmony of body, mind, and feelings. Whether doing Breema Bodywork® with another person, the personal practice of Self-Breema Exercises®, washing the dishes, etc., the practitioner works with these principles with the wish to be more fully present with self, others, and life in general. The ultimate aim is to raise our consciousness to experience our essential nature, which is peace.

The principle of "No Judgment," for example, supports one to be in a place of peaceful acknowledgment of what is, encouraging openness, receptivity, and centeredness. As the practitioner aligns with these mindfulness principles through presence, movement, and touch, the recipient is afforded a nourishing, supportive connection with another (or with self, during Self-Breema practice) -- a connection that invites the recipient to feel more present in a joyful, whole, and grounded way. Such an experience can bring about positive improvements in adaptability to and relief of stress; sense of well-being and harmony; clarity of thought; and physical health.

Breema Bodywork®
During a Breema Bodywork session, the recipient remains fully clothed and receives the bodywork, which includes stretches, leans, brushes, taps, holds, etc., on a carpeted or cushioned floor. The practitioner uses not only fingers and hands, but may also use her/his feet, legs, arms, and/or abdomen to support and make contact with the recipient. For example, one Breema hold is to raise the recipient's legs towards vertical, resting the heals on the practitioner's abdomen for a supported leg inversion.

Preparation / Considerations:

Clothing: Please wear clean comfortable clothing, including clean socks (anklets or longer) and full-length pants. (Long-sleeve shirts are ideal (especially during colder weather), but short-sleeve shirts are fine, too. Your body temperature may drop during the session, so you may want to wear extra layers.)
Space: Open floor space for us to work is needed of at least the dimensions of a 5' x 8' living room rug. Ideally, your cleared floor space would measure approximately:

Length: Your height + 4 feet;
Width: Your width (at your hips) + 4 feet
I will bring a foam mat unless your floor has a thick carpet/rug.

Format: Each appointment will begin with a short body-centered meditation (approx. 2 minutes) &/or a short Self-Breema exercise (approx. 3 minutes), followed by the Breema Bodywork. If you want your Breema Bodywork appointment to include instruction/practice of multiple Self-Breema exercises, please let me know.

Please see here for hourly & package rates, etc.

Book an Appointment

Breema's Nine Principles
of Harmony

Body Comfortable
Firmness & Gentleness
Full Participation
Mutual Support
Single Moment, Single Activity
No Extra
No Force
No Judgment
No Hurry, No Pause

Please see here for a discussion of each of the 9 Breema principles.

Breema was developed and continues to be taught at The Breema Center in the East Bay. For more information about the philosophy of Breema &/or to see a video showing Self-Breema and Breema Bodywork, please see here.

Reiki

Reiki is a form of energy work developed by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui in the early 1920s to support self-healing and well-being.

The Reiki practitioner has no intention to manipulate the body or impose an agenda to "fix" it in any specific way. Instead, the Reiki practitioner serves as a catalyst to support harmonious flow of energy through the recipient in a way that is guided by the inner wisdom of the recipient's body, and/or, as some may experience it, guided by Universal or spiritual forces. Such a change in the recipient can bring about positive improvements in adaptability to and relief of stress; sense of well-being; clarity of thought; and physical health.

Reiki Session
During a Reiki session, the recipient remains fully clothed and receives the gentle hands-on &/or hands-off touch on a carpeted or cushioned floor or, if one is available, on a massage table.

Considerations:

Please wear clean comfortable clothing. Your body temperature may drop during the session, so you may want to wear extra layers &/or have a blanket nearby.
Open floor space for us to work is needed of at least the dimensions of a 5' x 8' living room rug. Ideally, your cleared floor space would measure approximately:

Length: Your height + 4 feet;
Width: Your width (at your hips) + 4 feet
I will bring a foam mat unless your floor has a thick carpet/rug.

Please see here for hourly & package rates, etc.

Book an Appointment

Massage

Available only to my clients with whom I work with regularly throughout their Birthing Journey and/or through my other Well-Being support services. Transporting my massage table to and from appointments is not in alignment with my relationship to the Breema® principle of "No Extra." Accordingly, I do not offer bodywork that requires me to transport a massage table and so clients must have a massage table on their promises that will be used for any massage appointment.

Massage is a bodywork modality where the practitioner applies touch to the recipient's skin, while also impacting the deeper layers and systems of the body, using oils and/or lotions to nurture and support the recipient's body to self-regulate. Massage is done with the recipient laying on a massage table, between clean sheets (and under a blanket, if needed), and with the recipient undressed to his/her comfort level. Massage is not done over clothing or near enough to clothing worn during the massage that would risk accidentally getting it soiled with massage oil/lotion. Accordingly, recipients often get completely undressed. (Removing bras, for example, allows access to the entire upper back and shoulder, including the areas underneath and around where the bra straps would otherwise be.) Important!:
* Always undress to YOUR comfort level.
* You will be 100% out of my sight while you transition between being fully dressed and laying between the sheets.

Soizig's Approach to Massage
I have always resonated with the concept of "No Force," (which I later learned is one of the 9 Breema principles of harmony). Having been profoundly affected and thus inspired very early on by subtle touch during my training in Polarity Therapy and Myofascial Unwinding (and in subsequent trainings in other gentle yet potent styles of touch), I have long appreciated the power of less is more -- of not forcing change or an agenda on the body. Accordingly, this informs my touch. This is not to say I won't/don't do "deep tissue" work, but overall, my approach and philosophy is more nurturing and of inviting the body to let go of tension through more subtle means. While not formally doing Breema Bodywork during massage sessions, my intention remains to be connected to Breema principles of harmony while incorporating Swedish massage techniques, integrating elements from Deep Tissue, Myofascial Unwinding/Release, Zero Balancing, Chi Nei Tsang, Reiki, and/or other modalities as I feel called to use them.

Please see here for hourly & package rates, etc.