WHAT ARE SOMATIC FACIALS TO ME - AND WHY HAVE THEY BEEN
AN INTEGRAL PART OF MY FACIALS FOR SO LONG
My facials have had a somatic foundation for nearly 20 years now. As the word ‘somatic’ has become more trendy, I felt it was important to clarify the meaning as I was taught it.
My work is rooted in the belief that healing happens when we feel safe enough to soften—when we stop trying to fix or force, and instead begin to listen.
Somatic work offers this invitation. It meets the body as it is, in the moment, and allows it to express what it’s been holding—physically, emotionally, energetically. There’s no pressure to perform, no need to explain. Just presence, attunement, and a slow return to regulation.
I’ve personally received somatic therapy for over two decades—working closely with my teacher in a process that has transformed every part of my life. This work helped me reconnect with my body after years of dissociation, and continues to inform how I move, relate, and hold space for others.
The approach I now offer is deeply Yin—centered on receptivity, stillness, and allowing. In a world that prioritizes doing, this way of working offers a much-needed counterbalance: the opportunity to be with rather than do to.
Much of my touch work has been shaped by the Jade Tao Method, a lineage rooted in ancient Chinese somatic philosophy. It is not a method of fixing, but of listening—through the fascia, through the pulse, and through stillness. This lineage, and my teacher’s guidance, continue to be central to how I live and work.
From my teacher:
“Oftentimes we look at our issues and ask ourselves yang (action) questions, ‘What can I do? What do I need? What can I add?’
But we also need to ask the yin questions, like, ‘What can I stop doing? What can I let go? What do I not need? Where can I allow?’”
In Chinese Medicine, blockages in our system are actually caused by a build up of “too much.” A place that has a concentration of energy that is not flowing due to our own holding onto that which we do not need.
When we allow space. When we allow the flow, our system can once again find it’s balance.