Soma Solidarity Bodywork

A Unique Kind of Healing and Shaping

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What is Soma Solidarity Bodywork?

Doctors work ON the body, massage therapists work WITH the body, and this healing work happens THROUGH the body. The work is hands-on, conducted on a massage table, and fully clothed. It helps release contractions in the body, letting go of long-held emotions, pain, and harmful self-narratives. Opening to joy, sensation, and connection. I don’t treat symptoms, but rather help clients shift how they live in, organize, and relate to their bodies and selves. This often has the effect of reducing symptoms or easing habitual issues, but that is a side effect rather than the end goal. The body becomes organized differently so that there is more space, softness, solidity, movement, energy, aliveness, and range. It becomes easier for clients to hear their own voices and access the body’s wisdom.

A woman with blonde hair lying on her back with her eyes closed, resting on a pillow, wearing a blue denim shirt and a necklace.

What to Expect in a Session

Each session begins with 10-20 minutes of dialogue. This informs the work done on the table. We may do centering or relaxation practices before the bodywork begins.

With consent, I start working with the connective tissue in your legs, arms, feet, torso, neck, and face. You are encouraged to engage in breath patterns. We are working to increase your capacity to be present with energy, sensation, and breath.

Memories, images, emotions, and moving energy may be experienced. All is welcome, and there is no wrong or right response. Together, we explore your experience and learn what your body has to tell us.

Some clients leave feeling relief and relaxation, while others leave having connected with an old fear or a need to face something that has been avoided. Our work is done in partnership; it’s not something that is done TO you. We move at a pace customized to what you and your body reveal is right.

A woman giving a leg massage to a man relaxing on a couch in a living room.

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Multimodal and Integrative

We bring together a rare integration of methods to gently release, invite energy, and restore wholeness.

Our bodywork approach weaves in elements of what are commonly known today as:

  • Reiki & Polarity Therapy

  • Structural Integration & Feldenkrais

  • Craniosacral Therapy

  • The Rosen Method

  • Myofascial Release

  • Eye Movement Regulation Techniques

Together, these methods work below the surface on deeper layers of body, energy, and psyche. We dissolve armor, restore vitality, and support you in embodying more of who you truly are.

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Rooted in the Deconstruction of Armoring

A central focus is on deconstructing armoring. Armoring is the way our bodies physically “hold” emotional pain, stress, and defenses against overwhelming experiences. It limits natural breath and energy flow, restricts emotional expression and spontaneity, and shapes posture, facial expressions, and overall presence.

We work with the seven armoring bands originally identified by Wilhelm Reich, recognizing how tension in one band influences the others, creating a kind of “suit” that blocks energy, emotions, and authentic self-expression.

A human body diagram with measurements marked at various points, including head, chest, waist, hips, thighs, and calves, with specific lines indicating measurement areas.

Tying It All Together

In the first phase, you share your current state, goals, and hopes for our time together. We may do an initial somatic practice or process.

In the second phase, you lie on the massage table for hands-on work. We bring touch and listen to your body’s response, explore what is tight, what wants release, how your breath moves, and how energy and emotion flow. Touch may be gentle or firm, inviting softening, expansion, and re-patterning.

Dialogue is part of the process. You may share felt experiences, impressions, or memories. I support you in staying compassionately present, allowing breath, energy, sensation, sound, and release.

Lastly, each session concludes with integrative coaching, connecting experiential take-aways and insights to your goals and desires.

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schedule a bodywork session with me

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Bodywork FAQs

  • Somatic bodywork may feel similar to massage, but it is not massage. Sessions often take place on a massage table, but clients remain clothed. The touch can feel calming, soothing, or deeply therapeutic, but the intention is different:

    • A doctor works on the body.

    • A massage therapist works with the body.

    • Somatic bodywork works through the body.

    I use touch, dialogue, breath, and energy in partnership with you. Together, we listen deeply to what your body is communicating and follow that wisdom.

  • Somatic Bodywork creates somatic openings and releases tension so the body can support emotional and energetic well-being. I use touch, pressure, breathwork, dialogue, movement, and sound to unwind holding patterns in tissues, muscles, and energy—restoring flow and ease.

  • Dress comfortably. Close-fitting cotton leggings, t-shirts, yoga or athletic wear are good choices. Avoid buttons or zippers. Leave jewelry at home, or be prepared to remove it for your session. Thick cotton fabrics like jeans and khakis are less conducive to the work and not preferred.

  • Yes. We can find a mix of somatic bodywork, coaching, practice and process that works for your needs. The mix may be different for each session, depending on your goals, desires, and what is present for you. Currently, the cost is the same for bodywork and coaching sessions, which allows for flexibility. We can partner to discover the right mix for your sessions.

Location and Access for Bodywork Sessions

I do bodywork sessions out of an office on the second floor of my home in a beautiful, tree-lined neighborhood. There is an area for sitting together and talking, as well as an area with a massage table. There is a bathroom on the same floor where bodywork is done.

My house has 2 steps leading to the front door and an ADA handrail. Please let me know if there are any access needs I can support you with. I do have a stairlift that can be used, and advance access must be requested to ensure it is ready for use.

My dog Emmett enjoys attending sessions (with consent), to cuddle on laps or sit beneath the massage table. He believes he is a therapy dog and takes his job seriously.

A small black and gray dog with floppy ears and a collar, standing outdoors on grass.

Fees and Policies

  • Bodywork focused-sessions are 75-90 minutes long. Your first session will be 90 minutes, as we will spend a bit more time in dialogue to start. Returning clients will be scheduled for 90 minutes, to include a 75-minute session and a 15-minute buffer.

    Sessions purchased singly cost $185. Bodwork sessions can also be purchased in value packages. See our FAQ’s page for information about requesting a sliding scale.

Value Packages for Bodywork Sessions 

  • 3-pack of sessions is $500 (savings of $55). Expires 2 months from purchase date

  • 10-pack of sessions is $1,500 (savings of $250) Expires 6 months from purchase date

Cancellation Policy

I have a 24-hour cancellation policy, barring emergency, which we determine together. With at least 24 hours’ notice, sessions can be rescheduled. Sessions missed with no notice or canceled in less than 24 hours are not refundable or able to be rescheduled.

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  • Close-up portrait of an elderly man with white hair and beard, wearing glasses and a gray beanie hat, smiling at the camera.

    “Somatic bodywork showed me that I have viable options to heal and move forward. Dana is the bomb. She is skilled, confident, and caring, and willing to practice in-depth to help me achieve optimum healing. She also offers practical tools and ideas that I can incorporate to maintain and continue a healthy life. If you have any areas in your body that have stored trauma and are keeping you from being your best self, go to Dana. She has been a great blessing to me.”

    ~ Sam, Retired Engineer, Grandpa, Handyman

  • “The bodywork felt more connected and intentional than massage. It helped me release emotional tension (not just physical) and brought awareness to what my body was holding-creating a deeper sense of healing and balance.”

    ~ Jeannie, Mental Health Therapist

  • “Bodywork has provided a sense of grounding and safety that allowed me to regulate my nervous system in ways that talk therapy has never been able to reach”

    ~ Nicole

  • “The bodywork I have done in the past was soley about the body, muscles, and points of tension or problems. This bodywork was more about mind/body integration, unlocking energy, and creating better flow and connection across body, mind, and senses.”

    ~ Kelly

  • “I’d never heard of somatic bodywork until my friend told me about it. Once I did it, I felt a shift in body, mind, and overall well-being. It’s truly powerful”

    ~ Kerry

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    “I’d never heard of somatic bodywork until my friend told me about it. Once I did it, I felt a shift in body, mind, and overall well-being. It’s truly powerful”

    ~ Kerry

schedule a bodywork session with me

schedule a somatic bodywork session