individual work

re-centering journeys

  • Intake Session

    When beginning with any new client, I start with a postural and biomechanics-based assessment (joint by joint assessment in all three dimensions) to see where you most easily inhabit your body and where challenges lie. Depending on your case, I will also use a gait assessment to see how this translates to natural movement.

    I also will ask for injury, surgery and other history, which can often give much insight into the course your body has taken.

    When we know these baseline elements (where you are able to move, your body’s history) we begin to gently introduce you to the more challenging aspects of your body. We do this primarily through mindful and gentle movement and breath in a supportive and safe environment.

    Based on your own goals and how your body responds, the direction we take is guided by you.

    Before you book an intake session, I kindly ask you to contact me so we can have a conversation and see how and where my skills may be useful for your personal goals.

  • Ongoing Work

    There is no timeline for the work I do with clients. I encourage most people to give themselves at least three to four months and/or three to four sessions to begin to see real shifts in their physical and mental states. However, that initial timeline includes a genuine and steady commitment to the gentle self-exploration and movement practice we set up in the initial session/s. While it can take some time to really understand and integrate the movements and ideas I share with you (and I do my best to ensure that you are able to do so), the overall work becomes much more impactful when a client is ready to build that work into their own daily life.

    Sometimes changes can happen instantaneously, although most often the more profound work takes months or years, especially when the body and mind has been “stuck” in a certain pattern or state for years or decades.

    I do not work like most body workers or yoga therapists, aka I do not request a client to come see me weekly or monthly unless that is clearly the best route for the person. I request people to come when they are ready and they feel that the changes in their body let them know it is time to take the next step or that they need more personal guidance.

More on how I work…

We all carry our history within us; every event that led us to this moment in some way resides within the framework of how we arrive into the present physically, energetically, mentally and spiritually. From how we came into the world to the myriad of events that dramatically shift our outlook and perceptions; from intense physical or emotional experiences to how we were taught to behave or carry ourselves; from how we naturally interpret life to the ways we were taught (or pushed sometimes) to do so… all of these aspects of our personal history shape us into the form and function in which we step into every new moment.

In my work, I use my skills and experience to see where a person may be stuck or held in a pattern, I work to witness someone’s blind spots and also to see where some of the origins of their current state reside… and I offer guidance toward unraveling patterns and freeing stuck places in order to guide them toward more freedom of choice and far more meaningful awareness in their bodies and lives based on what is possible in an unforced setting.  What does unforced mean? It means we are not attempting to control our experience or force our body to do something, rather having a dialogue in which the body is allowed to show us what it is capable of. In our daily practice, we work with what we feel in a quiet and safe space. We gently ask the body questions and guide it through new territory to see how it responds, we pay attention to how the mind shifts or changes in the face of these questions and guided movements, and then we live the other 90% of our life with some ease to see how the work in the practice space transcends to the rest of our life.

Many times this begins with the physical realm, but it often transcends many layers of the self including psychology, mindset, and spiritual work. This is not a fast process, although there may be periods of time during the work that give rise to rapid transformation. If one considers that some patterns have potentially been present for months, years or even since birth, it becomes apparent that navigating those things can take quite some time. Overall: the willingness for deep patience and an open spirit in this specific regard are important prerequisites to working with me. One can be patient and open in many other facets of life but not find it possible (or not be ready) in this kind of physical work. When that happens, I generally advise people from a very open-hearted place to consider other paths and other practitioners..

When someone chooses to work with me, they make a basic commitment to themselves. That commitment includes the willingness to genuinely try the work and ideas I share as a means to discovering and uncovering their own capacity for inner transformation. This work is meant to build or be added to a personal practice and to be done with some consistency (I often say daily to a few times a week is a good start), Over time we share dialogue about their experiences and process in the work, and we shift things or add new work when the client feels ready. Often, it takes time even to get the details of the work “right”, and so I spend a good amount of time helping the client find their way, especially initially.

Through an ongoing slow and steady practice, there is so much that can be uncovered. But one thing is clear. I can only be a guide and a mirror for the client… and the client is the only person who can truly look within and transform themselves.

With love,

Anya