I'm Rachel (she/her), a Berlin-based, American-educated, polyvagal-informed Awareness-Oriented Structural Integrationist (see below for more about what that means & the 10 sessions) with a certificate from Pacific Center for Awareness and Bodywork in Hawaii. I'm trained in various therapeutic and relaxation massage methods, as well as anatomy and physiology. I specialize in somatic integration: mindfulness-based, deep connective massage, and guiding support for increased embodied awareness.
I have a university degree in Deconstructing the Status Quo from an intentional community program (Johnston Center at the University of Redlands) and previously worked for six years in social services in the field of mental health with adults and kids. After feeling the limits of focusing only on the mind, I changed course to dig more into embodied ways to support wellness in others and myself. While the internal journey continues always, I now incorporate this holistic perspective into Heart Embodied Massage to support the healing, empowerment, wisdom, and full potential I believe is inherent in each person.
I'm into meditation, and poetry, and listening to the music of the trees and independent artists, and getting muddy while working in gardens, and laughing lots, and continuing to learn about somatics and neuroscience, and exploring the way habits and change work on the personal and social levels through the felt sense of them. I grew up among the redwood trees on the West Coast of the US, and have a deep sense that being in nature supports healing and finding compassion for self and others beings. I spent 2018 co-managing an ecological, rustic meditation center in France, where I have lived and volunteered since 2020 (Check out the center and come by for a retreat: Ekuthuleni Retreat Place.) I have co-led several retreats and workshops on embodied exploration.
I have a university degree in Deconstructing the Status Quo from an intentional community program (Johnston Center at the University of Redlands) and previously worked for six years in social services in the field of mental health with adults and kids. After feeling the limits of focusing only on the mind, I changed course to dig more into embodied ways to support wellness in others and myself. While the internal journey continues always, I now incorporate this holistic perspective into Heart Embodied Massage to support the healing, empowerment, wisdom, and full potential I believe is inherent in each person.
I'm into meditation, and poetry, and listening to the music of the trees and independent artists, and getting muddy while working in gardens, and laughing lots, and continuing to learn about somatics and neuroscience, and exploring the way habits and change work on the personal and social levels through the felt sense of them. I grew up among the redwood trees on the West Coast of the US, and have a deep sense that being in nature supports healing and finding compassion for self and others beings. I spent 2018 co-managing an ecological, rustic meditation center in France, where I have lived and volunteered since 2020 (Check out the center and come by for a retreat: Ekuthuleni Retreat Place.) I have co-led several retreats and workshops on embodied exploration.
MY Philosophy
The Möbius Strip may appear to be 2-sided, but trace one side and you travel the whole. Likewise if we follow the effects and patterns of our body, we end up in our thoughts and emotions then back in the body. Our psychology, our bodies, and our nervous, endocrine and immune systems are inseparable.
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My integrated approach comes from understanding that physical tension can result from many places: recent acute injuries, past accidents, chronic postural patterns, habitual reaction patterns, referred pain or tension from other areas of the body, trauma, emotional patterns, social injustice, and from the physical effects of acute or chronic stress. There's a reason "stressed" implies both a physical tensing and a mental-emotional state of tension.
The integration of body and mind is during the past several decades also increasingly supported by exciting new scientific research in the fields of psychoneuroimmunology, somatic psychology, trauma and poly-vagal informed therapies, and neuroscience. In order to support change, we need to support and feel our whole selves in healing, which means in embodied and contextual ways. |
What is Structural Integration?
A JOURNEY INTO AWARENESS AND ALIGNMENT
Structural Integration is a type of deep tissue bodywork based on the work of Dr. Ida Rolf. The work focuses on creating more balance within the body through deep, slow, exploratory work through neuromuscular and connective tissue (fascial) layers of the body. The sessions are participatory, with some active movements and with the training of present attention, increasing awareness of the sensations of restrictions and alignment, in order to be able to bring back the possibility of choosing alignment .
Most of us have learned unhealthy postural and mental patterns of tension -- from society, parents, traumas, social oppression, daily stresses becoming chronic, and misinformation. Over years, these patterns build up into limitations and pain, physically, mentally, emotionally. But we can relearn patterns of ease and openness, starting with increasing awareness of these connections.
Most of us have learned unhealthy postural and mental patterns of tension -- from society, parents, traumas, social oppression, daily stresses becoming chronic, and misinformation. Over years, these patterns build up into limitations and pain, physically, mentally, emotionally. But we can relearn patterns of ease and openness, starting with increasing awareness of these connections.
AN INTEGRATIVE MIND-BODY APPROACH TO GO DEEP
"The mysteries of the soul are revealed in the movements of the body." -Michelangelo
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The 10 Sessions focus on discovering and clearing imbalance, tension, and subtle misalignments in the body, while being open to explore how these might connect to behavior, beliefs, or thought patterns that keep them solid. Becoming aware of chronic patterns and deep beliefs in a holistic and empowering way is not something that can be achieved within one or two sessions alone. Each of the sessions contributes its own goals, with cumulative results, knowledge, home practices and awareness. Physically, the first 3 sessions focus on the surface muscles and superficial layers of tissue; the next 4 on the core of the body; and the final 3 on integrating the body and exploring a deeper sense of alignment, wholeness, and balance.
Conscious or subconscious emotional aspects or beliefs are often the foundation of tensions in the body. If we remain unaware of the influence of our emotional/mental patterns effects on our physical habits, these patterns make it hard to regain long-term balance in the body because the patterns are two sides of the same coin, with feedback loops into the other. Working through these 10 Sessions together let's us explore all of this in a deeper way than in just a stand-alone session.
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WHAT TO EXPECT
The 10 Sessions require a commitment and some degree of continuity to achieve the cumulative result, and to learn and experiment with new patterns. If possible it is best to have weekly sessions, so that the series takes around 10 weeks from start to finish. If weekly sessions are not possible for your schedule, every two weeks is also possible.
Each session includes check-in time, body-readings, bodywork and awareness explorations, and suggestions about exercises to take home to support your individual needs. These sessions are about 2 hours long. Wear comfortable underwear during the work, an expect to gently move and actively participate in the work, both on or off the table, as well as between sessions. These sessions can be deeply relaxing, and they can also be intense. These sessions will also include much more communication than is usual for massage. We will be working together to support your individual needs.
Come for a full Session 1 trial (2 hour appointment) for 70 EUR.
If you want to proceed with the series, my standard price for the remaining sessions is 100 EUR payable per session, or a 10% discount when paid in 2 block instalments (Session 2-6: 450 EUR, Session7-10: 360 EUR).*
Come for a full Session 1 trial (2 hour appointment) for 70 EUR.
If you want to proceed with the series, my standard price for the remaining sessions is 100 EUR payable per session, or a 10% discount when paid in 2 block instalments (Session 2-6: 450 EUR, Session7-10: 360 EUR).*
MY EDUCATION & Trainings
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- Healing Practitioner (Heilpraktiker) Training Reks am
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- Polyvagal Theory: Claiming our Evolutionary Heritage as a Social Species, online course with Dr. Stephen Porges through Embodied Philosophy, (3.2022)
- Non-violent Communication: A Somatic Approach, online course with David Weinstock through Embodied Philosophy (12.2021)
- Neuroaffective Touch: A Somatic Toolkit for Healing Emotional & Relational Trauma, online course with Dr. Aline LaPierre through Embodied Philosophy (7.2021)
- Circadian Clocks: How Rhythms Structure Life, Statement of Accomplishment with Distinction, online trough Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (4.2015)
- Preventing Chronic Pain: A Human Systems Approach, online through University of Minnesota (8.2014)
- Minority Mental Health Awareness Training, Oregon (7.2011)
- Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training, Oregon (5.2011)
- Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training, Washington (3.2009)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training, Washington (6.2008)
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